Progress payments made under a building contract are not part of a 'running account' for the purposes of the preferential payment provisions of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), because each progress claim is an isolated payment in discharge of its own debt. The definition of 'settlement of property' in s.120(8) does not extend to payments for immediate dissipation or consumption; the traditional requirement that retention of the property be contemplated remains entrenched. A performance guarantee that is conditional upon the fulfilment of specified pre-conditions (including service of default notices) does not create a debtor-creditor relationship until those pre-conditions are satisfied.
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