Hiya! Thank you for the excitement and the question!
The idea is that markets lock directly before you get paid and before bills are due. It may be easier to think of it like:
Delivery Happens (Jobs Done) -> Markets Lock -> Reapers are Paid 25 CC -> Roll to see the current conversion rate -> Markets Unlock -> Bills are Due
For a Reaper's first mission there's roughly a 1/3 chance they won't have enough money to pay their first bill. The starting conversion rate is in case players make any money before the end of their first job through various schemes and such. In the sequel game Digital Angel I retooled this somewhat and made that initial chance of failure closer to 50/50 BUT also started players with 4d6x2 AC to potentially invest/gamble with.
Hope this helps and good luck with the game!