Brittanimv, you may have moved on to other things, but here's one citation that might help:
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Anniston Development Co., No. 1012070 (Ala. December 13, 2002)
http://www.wallacejordan.com/decisions/Opinions2002/1012070.htm
That case cites several others for supporting authority including Union Naval Stores Co. v. Patterson, 179 Ala. 525, 60 So. 807 (1912) which apparently describes what isn't considered an open account under Alabama law:
"A contract which is definite in all of its terms, when nothing, under the terms of the contract, is left for future adjustment, whether it be evidenced by a writing or not cannot be considered a mere open account."
Union Naval Stores at 529, 808.
And what is:
"An open and unliquidated account is one where a provision of the contract is left open for further negotiations."
Id.
Since the opinion is from 1912, my guess is that this is probably a case that's frequently cited in Alambama for the basic proposition, but I can't do further free legal research. (Lexis and Westlaw have the on-line legal research market pretty locked up and Findlaw.com wasn't all that helpful on this one.)
Maybe someone with access to Westlaw or Lexis can Shepardize that case for you. Or you could try your local library. It's doubtful that they'd have "reporters" -- the books that publish legal opinions -- but they sometimes have Westlaw or Lexis accounts that patrons can access. Using the citation combined with a keyword like "credit card" or "lease" or whatever is the subject of your contract is likely to turn up lots of decisions that are exactly on point. Reading them will show you how to apply the rule of Union Naval Stores to various fact patterns.
