Summary
An accounts receivable aging report is a document that lists every unpaid customer invoice and groups them by how long each has been outstanding, usually in 30-day buckets (current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 90+ days). It shows who owes you money, how much, and how late it is.
- What it shows: Customer name, invoice amount and days overdue for every unpaid invoice, plus a total per age bucket and a grand total.
- Why it matters: It is the standard tool for deciding which invoices to follow up first and spotting which customers are becoming a credit risk.
- How to run one: Xero and QuickBooks both generate the report from a built-in template; Paidnice sends the reminders and statements once the report flags an overdue balance.
What is an accounts receivable aging report?
An accounts receivable aging report is a list of every unpaid customer invoice, sorted into bands by the number of days since the invoice was issued or fell due. Most accounting software uses 30-day bands, so the report shows how much of your money is current, a month late, two months late, or older.
Each row is one customer or one invoice, with the invoice date, the amount owed and the number of days outstanding. The columns are the age buckets, and the bottom row totals each bucket.
Free: Aging analysis calculatorSort open invoices into aging buckets in a minute.What are the standard aging buckets?
The standard aging buckets on an accounts receivable aging report are current, 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60 days, 61 to 90 days and over 90 days past due. Xero and QuickBooks group by month by default, which gives the same five bands; Paidnice's Aged Receivables by Contact report uses 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 90+ days.
| Bucket | What it means | Usual action |
|---|---|---|
| Current | Invoiced but not yet due | Nothing beyond a pre-due reminder |
| 1 to 30 days | Up to a month past due | Automated email and SMS reminders |
| 31 to 60 days | One to two months past due | Statement, phone call, late fee if your terms allow it |
| 61 to 90 days | Two to three months past due | Escalate to a senior contact, pause further credit |
| 90+ days | More than three months past due | Payment plan, final notice, or a decision to write off |
What information is included in an accounts receivable aging report?
An accounts receivable aging report includes the customer name, each unpaid invoice's number, date and amount, the days outstanding, a subtotal per customer and a total per age bucket.
A summary version shows one line per customer; a detail version lists every invoice.
Why is an accounts receivable aging report important?
An accounts receivable aging report matters because it turns a single "outstanding" figure into a ranked list of who to follow up first, and it is the earliest warning that a customer's payment habits are changing. In the Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey, 51% of employer firms named uneven cash flow as a challenge and 56% named paying operating expenses; the aging report is where both problems first show. In the UK, GOV.UK counts 38 business closures a day caused by late payment.
It sets the order of collections: the 90+ column gets a call today, the 1 to 30 column gets an automated reminder. It shows payment patterns over time, so a customer who drifts from current into 31 to 60 every month is flagged before the balance becomes a bad debt.
Read the report by age band. Of invoices 7 days overdue, 1 in 5 is still unpaid 180 days after the due date. At 30 days overdue it is 2 in 5, and at 90 days 3 in 4.
How do you run an accounts receivable aging report in Xero or QuickBooks?
In Xero, open Reports and choose Aged Receivables Summary or Aged Receivables Detail, then set the date. In QuickBooks Online, open Reports and choose Accounts Receivable Aging Summary or Detail. Both default to 30-day buckets and both export to CSV or PDF.
If you invoice outside accounting software, the report can be built manually: list every unpaid invoice with its date and amount, add a column for days outstanding, then sort into the five buckets. A ready-made version of that layout is on our sister site, the accounts receivable aging report template (XLSX and CSV), with a filled-in accounts receivable report example next to it.
How do you act on an accounts receivable aging report?
Acting on an accounts receivable aging report means attaching a follow-up action to each bucket, so a reminder, statement or late fee goes out as soon as an invoice moves right, without anyone re-reading the report.
Paidnice does this for Xero and QuickBooks organisations. Its Aged Receivables by Contact report uses the same 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 90+ day buckets, across multiple entities and currencies, and each bucket can trigger its own reminder, statement or fee. Customers see half as many late invoices in the first 30 days after switching on automated reminders, and 8 in 10 invoices are paid within the first 60 days of using Paidnice. Paidnice provides accounts receivable automation for Xero and accounts receivable automation for QuickBooks.
For the broader picture, including accounts payable aging and the AU/NZ "aged debtor report" wording, see the guide to aging reports.
Which aging report view fits your business?
The buckets stay the same. What you read first changes with how you bill.
| Your business | Start with | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Agencies | One line per client, with retainers, milestones and recharges on one statement. | Invoices waiting on a purchase order. Hold them out of the chase list until it arrives (our recommendation). |
| Recruitment agencies | The summary view by client, with one statement per client account. | Weekly invoices stack up in 1 to 30 days. Chase the client total (our recommendation). |
| Law firms | The detail view, so each matter's interim and final bills show separately. | Client trust money is usually not a receivable, and the rules differ by state and country. Check with your bar association, and confirm the report lists fee invoices only (our recommendation). |
| Wholesale and distribution | Key accounts and small trade accounts as separate groups. | One short-shipped pallet. Pull that invoice out and keep chasing the rest (our recommendation). |
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About the editorial team
Denym started Paidnice in 2022 after customers paying late left his own business short on payroll. He has led it to $1 billion collected on time across more than 1 million invoices, and writes about credit control, late fees and getting paid on Xero and QuickBooks.
Ashley is a co-founder and lead developer of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the ledger connections that put reminders, late fees and payments into Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central. Before Paidnice he co-founded A2X, ecommerce accounting software for Xero and QuickBooks.
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