Pete Donaldson, president and owner of Donaldson Mining Supplies, was concerned about the firm’s liquidity. He had an easy time selling supplies to the local coal mines but had a difficult time collecting the receivables. He had even tried offering discounts for prompt payment. The outcome wasn’t as expected. The coal mines still took as long to pay as before but took the discount as well. Although he had complained about the practice, he was told that other suppliers would provide the supplies for the same terms. Collections were so slow that he was unable to pay his own payables on time and was receiving considerable pressure from his own creditors.