In the UK the same report is usually called an aged debtors report, or ageing report in British spelling. Accounting software may also label it AR aging, aged receivables or aging schedule.
The report is run for a cutoff date, often the month end. Each customer gets a row, each open invoice falls into one aging column, and the grand total should agree with accounts receivable in your general ledger.
How aging buckets work
Most reports age each invoice from its due date. The standard buckets are current (not yet due), 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days past due, and companies with long terms often split the last one into 91 to 120 and over 120 days.
Some reports count from the invoice date instead. That works when every customer has the same terms, but with mixed terms it misleads, because an invoice on 60-day terms issued 45 days ago lands in the 31 to 60 column although it is not due for another 15 days. Age by due date for collections, and by invoice date when you want a view closer to days sales outstanding (DSO).
Accounts receivable aging report example
Example. A distributor runs its aging report on June 30, 2026. The figures below are illustrative and in US dollars.
| Customer | Current | 1 to 30 | 31 to 60 | 61 to 90 | Over 90 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbor Supply | 60,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Lakeside Clinics | 40,000 | 10,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 0 | 58,000 |
| Metro Print | 30,000 | 5,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 41,000 |
| Pine Street Builders | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 26,000 |
| Total | 130,000 | 30,000 | 14,000 | 10,000 | 16,000 | 200,000 |
| Share of total | 65% | 15% | 7% | 5% | 8% | 100% |
How to read an aging report
Start with the bottom row and compare it with last month. Here 35% of the ledger ($70,000) is past due and 13% ($26,000) is more than 60 days late. When money moves to the right from one month to the next, customers are paying more slowly, even if the total stays flat.
Then read the rows. Pine Street Builders has nothing current and almost half its balance over 90 days, so it needs a call and a hold on new orders. Metro Print pays new invoices but still owes $6,000 on old ones, which often means a dispute, a missing credit note or a short payment. Match recent payments before you chase anyone, because an unapplied payment makes a paid invoice look overdue.
What to do with each aging bucket
- Current. Check that invoices reached the right person with the right purchase order number, and remind customers of large invoices a few days before the due date.
- 1 to 30 days. Send a friendly reminder for each overdue invoice by email or SMS with a copy attached, and ask whether anything is holding up payment.
- 31 to 60 days. Call the customer, send a statement of account and follow up with a dunning letter. Agree a payment date and record it.
- 61 to 90 days. Send a final notice, hold new orders and involve the account manager. Add late payment interest where your contract or local law allows it.
- Over 90 days. Choose between a payment plan, a collection agency, legal action and a write-off.
How aging feeds the allowance for doubtful accounts
Older balances are less likely to be paid, so many companies apply a higher loss rate to each older bucket and add up the results. That total is the allowance for doubtful accounts, called the allowance for credit losses under current US GAAP and the loss allowance under IFRS.
Under IFRS 9, trade receivables without a significant financing component always carry a loss allowance equal to lifetime expected credit losses (the simplified approach in paragraph 5.5.15), and paragraph B5.5.35 names a provision matrix by days past due as a practical expedient (IFRS 9 as adopted in the EU). Under US GAAP, ASC 326 (the CECL model) accepts aging schedule methods and illustrates one for trade receivables (FASB ASU 2016-13). Both base the rates on loss history, adjusted where needed for current conditions and forecasts.
Example. With illustrative loss rates of 1%, 3%, 10%, 25% and 50% from current to over 90 days, the allowance for the report above is $130,000 × 1% + $30,000 × 3% + $14,000 × 10% + $10,000 × 25% + $16,000 × 50%. That is $1,300 + $900 + $1,400 + $2,500 + $8,000 = $14,100, or about 7% of receivables.
Sunbay connects to your ERP or accounting system, matches incoming payments to invoices using ERP data and shows aging, DSO and overdue balances per customer in one view. It flags invoices it predicts will be paid late and keeps every reminder, reply and payment agreement next to the invoice, so you can see why a balance is getting older. See Sunbay analytics and insights.
Frequently asked questions
Is an aged debtors report the same as an AR aging report?
Yes. Aged debtors report is the usual UK name, and British English spells aging as ageing. Both list unpaid invoices by how overdue they are and add up to your receivables balance.
How often should you run an accounts receivable aging report?
At every month end for the accounts and the bad debt allowance, and daily or weekly for collections work, since an older report lists invoices that have already been paid. A spreadsheet rebuilt by hand falls behind fast, as explained in why collections in Excel break as you grow.
What does a healthy aging report look like?
There is no universal benchmark, because it depends on your terms and customers. In a healthy report most of the balance is current, the share over 60 days is small and stable, and no customer sits entirely in the oldest buckets.
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