Customer credit limit
A credit limit is the maximum amount a company agrees to sell to a given customer on deferred payment. Once the limit is used up or invoices go past due, further orders need a decision, a prepayment, or they are put on hold.
A limit is usually described by two numbers: the amount of goods the customer may hold unpaid, and the payment term. The exposure covers not only issued invoices but also orders in progress and goods already released but not yet invoiced. Counting invoices alone understates the exposure and shows headroom that is not there.
When the check happens decides what an overrun costs. If accounting verifies the limit at invoicing, the goods are usually already on the road, and stopping the shipment means calling the driver or turning the courier back. Checking at order entry keeps the issue with the sales rep, while asking for a prepayment is still an option.
Polish ERP systems have the limit and the block built in, from Comarch ERP XL and enova365 to Subiekt, WAPRO and Streamsoft. The trouble starts with the channels next to them: an order from the B2B platform, from EDI, from BaseLinker or from email can slip past the check if it enters the system by a different route than manual entry by a rep.
A separate decision is who may raise or lift a limit, and for how long. Without a written rule, a phone call to the owner becomes daily practice and the block stops meaning anything. An approval with an expiry date and a record of who granted it gives collections something to stand on.