The service rates were fair if the promised volume materialized. The documentation requirements were manageable with a modest software upgrade. But the payment terms gave the customer up to sixty days to settle approved invoices, and there was no guarantee that a parts supplier would wait that long for Ethan to pay. He sat with the clause for a long time, thinking about how much fuel, oil, filters, brake components, and payroll might have to be purchased before the first check arrived.
The next morning, he called Daniela. "I have a concern about the terms," he said. "Which terms?" she asked.
"Net sixty on labor and parts. I can carry some expense, but I can't finance two months of somebody else's vehicles while I'm trying to replace a lift and hire help. That's not a complaint. It's a limit."
Daniela asked him to explain his estimated monthly outlay. He opened the spreadsheet his accountant had helped him build and talked her through it, line by line. He was embarrassed to hear himself describing the shop's thin cash reserves to a woman employed by a company worth billions. But he remembered his answer to Naomi about not making promises he could not keep, and kept going.
"The last thing I want is for a repair to be late because I ordered a part and couldn't pay for it," he said. "Then we'd both be angry, and I'd be the one who signed a contract knowing the risk." Daniela did not dismiss him. She thanked him, said she would raise the concern, and asked permission to share his calculations without attaching his personal financial history to the discussion.
At headquarters, the question produced a familiar argument. Peter Ashby explained that longer payment cycles improved working capital and reduced administrative demands on accounts payable. Smaller invoices were costly to process individually, and Caine Mobility had designed its systems around consolidated monthly settlements. From his point of view, the arrangement was normal, efficient, and already built into the approved financial model.
Daniela placed Ethan's worksheet on the conference table. "Normal for us," she said, "doesn't mean survivable for a shop buying parts with money it hasn't received yet." Peter looked at the numbers and argued that vendors should maintain adequate liquidity before accepting commercial work. "If they can't support the contract, they shouldn't sign it," he said. Daniela agreed with the principle, then asked what the company gained by screening out every excellent small mechanic who lacked the reserves of a national chain.