Days in AR

Outcome

You can read the Days-in-AR (DAR) KPI, understand what moves it, identify when DAR is leading or lagging, and use it to prioritize work.

Prerequisites

Scope	What it lets you do
reports.read.financial	View the KPI widget

What DAR is

DAR = (Total AR ÷ Avg daily charges) over a rolling window

The rolling window default is 90 days; some tenants use 30 or 60. The dashboard widget shows current DAR + 30-day trend.

DAR range	Reads as
< 30 days	Excellent — payments come back fast.
30-45	Healthy.
45-60	Watch — something is slowing.
60-90	Concerning — backlog forming.
90+	Critical — operational issue.

The number is one signal among many; tenant benchmarks vary.

The diagram

Anything in the highlighted block is in AR. DAR is the average time a dollar spends in that block.

What moves DAR

Direction	Cause
↑ DAR	Payer slow, denials accumulating, follow-up lapsed, large unposted ERAs sitting.
↓ DAR	Faster payment, more auto-corrections succeeding, posting cadence improving.

DAR moves before total AR moves — it's an early-warning indicator. If DAR ticks up while AR stays flat, something is changing in how fast new dollars age.

Reading the trend

The widget plots DAR daily over the last 30 days. Patterns:

Pattern	Meaning
Flat	Steady state.
Sloping up	Backlog forming.
Spike	Big new claim batch (numerator) or payer outage.
Sloping down	Backlog clearing.
Sawtooth	Weekly posting cadence — normal.

Acting on DAR

When DAR rises:

1. Confirm the cause with sub-views:

   • AR aging by payer — concentrated rise = payer issue.
   • Receivables backlog — concentrated rise = posting backlog.
   • Denial rate — concentrated rise = denial wave.

2. Pick the lever:

   Cause	Lever
   Payer slow	276 inquiry sweep (6.4).
   Posting backlog	More posting hours; or Bulk auto-confirm where safe.
   Denial wave	Bulk auto-correction; or supervisor escalation to admin.

3. Watch the trend — DAR responds within days, not minutes.

Validation

Check	Expected
Widget refreshes every 5-15 minutes	Yes (tenant config).
DAR drops as receivables post	Yes.
Drill into the trend opens the supporting reports	Yes.
Sub-view by payer is available	Yes.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
DAR is wildly different from your accounting team's	Different denominator	Confirm window length; some teams use 60-day average daily charges.
Widget shows blank	Reporting scope missing	Ask admin for reports.read.financial.
DAR tracks but trend chart is empty	View is filtered to too-narrow date range	Reset to the default 30-day trend.
DAR drops drastically without an obvious cause	Big patient adjustment posted	Cross-reference Adjustments today; sometimes a balance-write-off batch lands.

Where to next

• 6.1 — AR aging for the bucket-level view.
• 8.1 — Billing dashboards for DAR alongside the rest.