Progress Signals vs Activity Signals
How to measure what actually moves aged AR forward
Aged AR teams are often busy.
Calls are made. Notes are written. Portals are checked. Documents are sent.
And still, the aging doesn’t always improve.
That’s one of the most discouraging parts of this work.
It can feel like you’re running all day, but the pile doesn’t get lighter.
One reason this happens is simple:
Teams track activity signals, but they need progress signals.
Activity signals tell you effort happened.
Progress signals tell you the account moved closer to resolution.
If you only measure activity, you can have a “productive week” that still creates repeat work and deeper aging.
What activity signals look like
Activity signals are things like:
- number of touches
- calls made
- notes entered
- accounts worked
- time spent
These are not bad.
They just don’t tell you if anything actually changed.
An account can be touched five times and still be in the same place.
What progress signals look like
Progress signals are outcomes that reduce uncertainty and move the account forward.
Examples:
- Receipt confirmed (the payer can see the submission)
- Owner identified (a team/queue/person is responsible)
- Work date set (expected review date or turnaround window)
- Routing locked (the account moved to the correct queue)
- Decision milestone reached (appeal logged, claim reprocessed, denial overturned)
- Escalation completed with evidence (not just “escalated”)
- Blocker removed (records delivered, coding fix completed, signature obtained)
These are signals that the story changed.
They reduce the chance of restart work.
Why this matters for leaders (and for teams)
When leaders ask for updates, teams often respond with activity:
“We called.” “We followed up.” “We sent the docs.”
But leaders don’t need proof of effort.
They need proof of movement.
Progress signals make support easier:
- they show where accounts are stuck
- they show what kind of help is needed
- they show when escalation should happen
- they make forecasting more grounded
And for the team, progress signals are motivating.
Because they show that work is counting.
A simple way to shift your tracking
You don’t need a complicated dashboard.
Start with a small weekly “progress scoreboard.”
Here are a few easy measures that teams can track without heavy reporting:
1) % of aged accounts with an owner and a date
If an account doesn’t have both, it’s still fragile.
2) # of accounts where receipt was confirmed this week
This directly reduces resend cycles and uncertainty.
3) # of accounts that hit a real milestone
Examples: appeal accepted into review, corrected claim accepted, reprocess started.
4) # of accounts escalated with evidence
Not “we escalated,” but “we escalated with a clean timeline and a specific ask.”
5) Top blockers causing delay
Missing records, indexing issues, coding fixes, authorization, wrong queue, no payer response.
This tells you what to fix, not just what to chase.
The “progress note” test
Here’s an easy test for any note.
If the note only describes effort, it’s activity.
If the note changes what the next person will do, it’s progress.
Activity note:
“Called, no answer. Will follow up.”
Progress note:
“Docs confirmed received, owned by Appeals Intake, review expected 7–10 business days. Follow up 02/14. Escalate if unassigned.”
Progress notes contain proof + owner + date.
That’s what prevents resets.
The empathy side: people burn out from invisible progress
One of the hardest parts of aged AR is emotional.
People work hard, and it still feels like nothing moves.
When all you measure is activity, it reinforces that feeling:
“Do more. Touch more. Call more.”
Progress signals change the tone.
They recognize what actually matters:
certainty, ownership, deadlines, decisions.
They help teams feel the difference between “busy” and “effective.”
Try this this week (small, practical)
Pick your oldest or highest-dollar accounts.
For each one, ask:
- Do we have receipt?
- Do we have an owner?
- Do we have a work date?
- Do we know the next step if it misses?
Then track one number:
How many aged accounts became “continue-ready” this week?
That one measure often tells the real story.
Because the goal isn’t more activity.
It’s more progress.
At Zybex, we help teams build practical workflows like this—so aged AR stops depending on memory and starts moving with proof. If you want the future posts in this series, sign up with your email using the form below.