Preference defense analysis
Data Intake Checklist
One engagement covers one customer bankruptcy. This page lists everything we need; most clients assemble it in under an hour. Turnaround is typically 48–72 hours from complete data.
The claim against you
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If you’ve been sued
The complaint and its exhibit of alleged transfers — the exhibit as filed is fine, PDF included; we read the table straight off it, so there’s nothing to retype. Or just tell us the case and adversary number; the filing is public and we can retrieve it ourselves. If you have been served, note the date on the summons and the date you were served — response deadlines are short and run quickly.
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If you received a demand letter
The letter and its attached schedule of payments, including any stated response date.
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If neither yet
Nothing needed — the debtor’s own court filings list the payments at issue, and we work from those. The analysis is refreshed against the trustee’s actual schedule when it arrives.
Speak with bankruptcy counsel promptly, and never disregard a summons.
Your accounts-receivable history for this customer
An export from your accounting system in Excel or CSV, covering the two to four years before the bankruptcy filing date, through the filing date, showing for this customer:
- Invoice date, invoice number, and amount
- Payment terms on the invoice (e.g., Net 30, 2/10 Net 30)
- Payment date and amount — the date funds cleared, if your system tracks it
- Which invoices each payment was applied to
- Payment method, if recorded (check, ACH, wire)
A transaction-level export beats a summary or aging report, and column names don’t matter — we map whatever your system calls them. Please send this one as a spreadsheet rather than a PDF: the ledger is the basis for every calculation, and a spreadsheet lets us verify that every row arrived. If your system will only produce a PDF, send it and we’ll tell you what we need transcribed. If you’re unsure what to pull, send what your system produces — we’ll confirm sufficiency when we confirm receipt.
Your shipment or delivery log
Deliveries of goods or services to this customer, with dates and invoice amounts, through the bankruptcy filing date — including anything shipped after the payments now being challenged. Continued shipments are the basis of one of the two principal statutory defenses; days of deliveries can matter dollar-for-dollar.
If you have them
- Credit agreement, supply agreement, or vendor terms with this customer
- Correspondence changing payment terms, or collection-related correspondence from the period before the filing
- Any proof of claim you filed in the case, and any §503(b)(9) or reclamation demand you asserted
A few extra columns, if your export can carry them. None is required and their absence never holds up an engagement — but each one lets us examine a question we otherwise have to report as not assessable:
- How each receipt is classified in your books — the GL account or category (trade receivable, revenue share, royalty, rebate, reimbursement, commission, funds held for someone else)
- Remit-to entity or lockbox, where payment was directed somewhere other than your own company
- Any assignment or factoring designation on the receivable
- Which entity issued the invoice, if your group bills under more than one name
- Your outbound payment records for the same period (payee, date, amount), if money you received was forwarded to someone else
How to send
Email everything to matthew@truenorthanalytics.co with your company name in the subject line. We confirm receipt and completeness within one business day, and your fixed fee in writing before any work begins. Materials you provide are used solely for your engagement and are retained as engagement workpapers.