Schools and offices buy on account, students pay cash

An institutional order is a different transaction from a counter sale: a purchase order, a delivery, an invoice, and payment weeks later at a negotiated rate.

Blending them hides the cash cycle

Counter trade funds the business daily. Institutional trade consumes that cash and returns it in a month. Reported together, a growing institutional book looks like growth right up until the cash runs short.

Matching is where disputes are settled

Institutions query invoices against their own purchase orders. Where the shop cannot match the three documents quickly, payment is delayed for reasons that have nothing to do with the institution's willingness to pay.