The Refill Rate
How to stop aged AR from coming back right after progress
Many teams have had this experience.
You work hard on older accounts. You see progress. The numbers look better.
Then a week or two later, aged AR is back in the same place.
It can feel discouraging, like nothing is sticking.
When this happens, the problem is usually not effort.
It is inflow.
If new accounts keep becoming older accounts at the same pace, the backlog will refill even after a strong push.
That is why the refill rate matters.
What the refill rate is
The refill rate is a simple weekly check.
How many accounts moved into aged status this week, and why?
You can track it by count, by dollars, or both. Start with what is easiest.
The point is to measure the pipeline into aged work, not only the size of the aged work you already have.
Why totals can be misleading
Totals tell you how big the aged backlog is.
They do not tell you whether you are winning the week.
A team can reduce the backlog by working older accounts, but still “lose ground” if too many accounts cross the line into aged status at the same time.
That is why some weeks feel like you worked hard and still ended up in the same place.
The refill rate explains that story.
What the refill rate reveals
When you track inflow, patterns show up fast.
You may see that many accounts become aged because follow-up starts too late.
You may see that a certain payer creates repeated delays.
You may see that internal blockers like records or coding fixes take too long.
You may see that appeals are being submitted without the same required items, so denials repeat.
You may see that ownership is unclear, so accounts drift.
These are not “people problems.” These are workflow problems.
And the refill rate helps you see them earlier.
How to use the refill rate in a practical way
This does not need to be complicated.
Once a week, capture two numbers:
How many accounts became aged this week.
What the top three reasons were.
Then decide one small action for the next week.
If follow-up timing is late, adjust the first-touch timing.
If one payer is causing friction, tighten proof and escalation steps for that payer.
If internal blockers are the issue, improve internal request standards with owners and due dates.
If denial patterns repeat, fix one pattern upstream.
You do not need to fix everything at once.
You need to reduce inflow little by little.
How this supports the team
The refill rate takes pressure off the team because it creates a fair picture.
Without it, leaders often only see the backlog and ask for more effort.
With it, leaders can see the system causing the backlog to refill and can support the right fixes.
It also helps managers coach smarter.
If the inflow is high from one cause, the team can focus on one improvement instead of spreading energy everywhere.
What changes when inflow drops
When inflow drops, aged AR becomes easier to control.
The team can spend more time on the hardest accounts instead of constantly catching new ones.
Escalation becomes cleaner because accounts are not aging due to preventable delays.
Follow-up becomes steadier because fewer accounts are drifting.
And progress starts to stick.
That is the difference between short-term improvement and long-term control.
A strong AR system is not only about pushing older accounts forward.
It is also about stopping new accounts from becoming old in the first place.
Zybex helps teams track refill rate, find the real causes behind inflow, and build simple workflow changes that keep aged AR from refilling week after week.