An accounts receivable report, most often an AR aging report, lists every unpaid customer invoice grouped by how overdue it is, so you can see who owes you, how much, and for how long.
You read it by bucket: a healthy book keeps about 80% or more current and very little in the 90+ column. The biggest balances sitting furthest right are the ones to chase first, because collection probability falls sharply after 90 days. The example below has a report date of 31 May 2026.
If your invoices are in Xero or QuickBooks Online, Paidnice sends automated reminders on the overdue columns of a report like this one.
Key facts
- A standard aging report has five buckets: Current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 90+ days past due.
- In the sample, $13,160 of the $27,760 owed (47.4%) is overdue, and $6,500 (23.4%) is 90+ days past due.
- The IRS allows a bad debt deduction only once a debt is worthless and you can show reasonable collection steps.
Sample accounts receivable aging report
Acme Supplies Ltd, accounts receivable aging, report date 31 May 2026. Buckets are stated explicitly: Current means not yet due; the rest are days past the due date.
| Customer | Current | 1 to 30 | 31 to 60 | 61 to 90 | 90+ | Total due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwind Trading | 4,200 | 1,500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,700 |
| Blue Mountain Cafe | 0 | 980 | 980 | 0 | 0 | 1,960 |
| Harbor Logistics | 8,000 | 0 | 0 | 3,200 | 0 | 11,200 |
| Vertex Builders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6,500 | 6,500 |
| Sunrise Retail | 2,400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,400 |
| Total | 14,600 | 2,480 | 980 | 3,200 | 6,500 | 27,760 |
| % of AR | 52.6% | 8.9% | 3.5% | 11.5% | 23.4% | 100% |
Only 52.6% of Acme's AR is current, well below the healthy 80%+ benchmark. Worse, 23.4% is sitting in the 90+ bucket, almost all of it Vertex Builders at $6,500. That single account is the first call to make, because collection odds fall to 50 to 60% by 91 to 120 days. Harbor Logistics at 61 to 90 days is the next priority before it ages further.
Collection probability by bucket
| Aging bucket | Typical collection probability |
|---|---|
| Current | 95%+ |
| 31 to 60 days | 85 to 90% |
| 61 to 90 days | 73 to 80% |
| 91 to 120 days | 50 to 60% |
| 120+ days | under 30% |
Apply each bucket's risk to estimate what you may not collect. On Acme's book, weighting the older buckets (for example 25% of the 61 to 90 balance and 60% of the 90+ balance) suggests an allowance of roughly $800 + $3,900 = $4,700. That estimate flows to the balance sheet as net AR and to the income statement as bad debt expense.
You can build this exact report from a free, ready-made spreadsheet in our accounts receivable aging report template.
How to do an accounts receivable report?
Five steps: (1) pull every open, unpaid invoice; (2) calculate each invoice's days past due from its due date; (3) group the invoices into aging buckets under each customer; (4) total each bucket and the grand total; and (5) read it by bucket percentage to decide who to chase first.
How to create an AR report?
The fastest way is your accounting software's built-in report. In QuickBooks, go to Reports, then "Who owes you," then Accounts receivable aging detail. In Xero, go to Business, Invoices, Aged Receivables. To build one manually, list each customer, their open invoice balances, and aging columns, then use a formula to drop each balance into the correct bucket based on days overdue.
Source: QuickBooks, accounts receivable aging reportWhat are the 5 C's of accounts receivable management?
Borrowed from credit assessment, the five C's are Character, Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and Conditions. They are the factors you weigh before extending credit to a customer.
Source: Corporate Finance Institute, the 5 C's of creditWhat is the 80/20 rule in accounts receivable?
The Pareto principle applied to AR: roughly 80% of your overdue balance is typically tied up in about 20% of your customers. On the sample report, Vertex Builders and Harbor Logistics alone account for $9,700 of the $13,160 overdue total (73.7%), so chasing those two recovers most of the at-risk cash for the least effort.
Source: Controller Academy, the 80/20 ruleWhat are the golden rules of accounts receivable?
The practical golden rules of running AR are: invoice promptly and accurately, set clear payment terms up front, follow up on a fixed schedule rather than ad hoc, and chase the oldest and largest overdue balances first. The underlying bookkeeping rule is simpler: debit accounts receivable when you invoice, credit it when you collect.
What are the three types of accounts receivable?
Trade receivables arise from selling goods or services on credit and make up most AR. Notes receivable are backed by a formal written promissory note, often with interest and a longer term. Other (non-trade) receivables cover everything else owed to the business, such as tax refunds, insurance claims, interest receivable, or employee advances.
What are the 5 basic accounting principles?
Commonly listed as the revenue recognition principle, the matching (expense) principle, the cost principle, the full disclosure principle, and the objectivity principle, underpinned by the going-concern and conservatism assumptions. Revenue recognition is the one that governs AR: you record revenue and the matching receivable when the sale is earned, not when cash arrives.
What is a good AR ratio?
For the AR turnover ratio, higher is better, with most businesses targeting roughly 7 to 10 times per year, equal to collecting every 36 to 52 days. Read against an aging report, a good book also keeps the 90+ bucket under about 10% of total AR. Acme's sample, with 23.4% in 90+, would fail that test. See our accounts receivable turnover ratio guide to score your own.
Source: Crestmont Capital, AR aging and DSO guidanceWhat mistakes should you avoid with this template?
- Reading only the total. A $27,760 total looks routine, but $13,160 (47.4%) is overdue and $6,500 (23.4%) is 90+ days past due. Read each bucket.
- Chasing the biggest balance first. Harbor Logistics owes $11,200 but only $3,200 is overdue. Vertex Builders owes $6,500, all 90+, and at 50 to 60% collection odds $2,600 to $3,250 is likely lost. Rank by overdue bucket.
- Writing off without chasing. The IRS allows the deduction only after reasonable collection steps. Writing off Vertex's $6,500 early risks the deduction. Log every reminder.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I run an AR aging report?
Run it at least monthly, before you close the books, and weekly if you chase overdue invoices on a schedule. A monthly run also gives you the figures for the allowance estimate.
What is the difference between an aging summary and an aging detail report?
A summary has one row per customer with bucket totals, like the sample above. A detail report lists each invoice with its number, due date and days past due, so you can see which invoice is late.
How do I calculate days past due?
Subtract the invoice due date from the report date. An invoice due on 1 May, on a report dated 31 May, is 30 days past due and sits in the 1 to 30 bucket.
Bottom line
Bottom line: This example suits a business with a few dozen customers that can run the report from a spreadsheet or its accounting software. Move to dedicated software when you run it weekly and still find 90+ balances like Vertex's, because chasing, not reporting, takes the time.
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Template
AR aging report template
A free, ready-to-use spreadsheet that builds this report for you.
Resource
Accounts receivable turnover ratio
Turn your aging totals into a turnover ratio and DSO.
Buyer's guide
Best accounts receivable software in 2026
Software that generates aging reports and chases overdue invoices.
Sources
5 sources, checked by Julie Turnbridge on October 26, 2026
- reasonable collection steps irs.gov/taxtopics/tc453
- Crestmont Capital, collection probability by aging bucket crestmontcapital.com/blog/accounts-receivable-aging-data
- QuickBooks, accounts receivable aging report quickbooks.intuit.com/r/payments/accounts-receivable-agin...
- Corporate Finance Institute, the 5 C's of credit corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/commercial-lendin...
- Controller Academy, the 80/20 rule controller-academy.com/blog/mastering-the-80-20-rule-in-a...
Last updated September 28, 2026. This guide is general information, not accounting, tax, or financial advice.
