Why the buckets matter more than the total
Money behaves differently at different ages. An invoice a week past terms usually needs a reminder. One at ninety days usually needs a phone call and a decision about whether to keep working for that client. Collection rates fall sharply as debt ages, which is why every accounts department in the world reads the columns rather than the total.
Aging from the due date rather than the invoice date is the detail people get wrong. An invoice raised forty days ago on net 30 terms is ten days past due, not forty. This page subtracts your terms before it buckets anything.
What to do with each column
Current needs nothing. One to thirty gets a statement, because a statement changes the subject from one invoice they might dispute to a balance they have to account for. Thirty-one to sixty gets a call, not an email. Past sixty you should be deciding whether to keep supplying, and past ninety you are deciding what the debt is worth rather than whether it will arrive.
Five invoices, on purpose
This takes five, which is enough to see the shape of an account and to settle an argument about one customer. If you need the whole ledger aged, the statement generator does it from the documents themselves and prints the aging on the statement you send.
Related calculators
- Days past due calculatorHow late it is, and what that age usually calls for
- DSO calculatorDays sales outstanding, and what shortening it releases
- Chasing an overdue invoiceWhen to remind, when to send a statement, when to call
Questions people ask
What is an AR aging report?
A breakdown of everything you are owed, grouped by how overdue it is: current, 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and over 90. It shows where the risk sits rather than just how much there is.
Should aging run from the invoice date or the due date?
From the due date. An invoice raised forty days ago on net 30 terms is ten days past due, not forty. This page subtracts your terms before bucketing.
What are the standard aging buckets?
Current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days is the common set, and it is what most accounting software and most finance teams expect to see.
Why does the over 90 column matter so much?
Because collection rates fall as debt ages. Past ninety days the question usually changes from when you will be paid to how much of it you will get, and that changes what you should do about it.
What is weighted average days past due?
The average days overdue across the balance, weighted by invoice size. It stops one small very old invoice from making the whole account look worse than it is.
Can I send this to my customer?
Send a statement rather than an aging report. The statement generator lists every invoice, credit and payment with a running balance and prints the aging on it, which is the version a customer's accounts team can act on.