How to: Manage Overdue Invoices (AR Aging)
Modules involved: Sales → Invoices · Sales → Payments · Finance → Reports
Who uses it: Finance / AR, sales managers, controllers
Time required: 15–30 minutes for a weekly review
Overview
Accounts Receivable (AR) aging is the practice of categorising outstanding invoices by how long they have been overdue. A regular aging review — weekly or bi-weekly — surfaces the invoices most at risk of becoming bad debt and gives you a prioritised call list.
The platform tracks invoice status automatically (Draft → Sent → Paid / Overdue / Partially Paid). "Overdue" is set when the due date passes and full payment has not been received.
Step-by-step
1. Filter overdue invoices
Navigate to Sales → Invoices. Click the Overdue tab or apply the status filter Overdue.
The list shows all invoices past their due date, sorted by default by issue date. Switch the sort to Due Date (oldest first) to surface the longest-outstanding invoices at the top.
2. Review the aging buckets
Use column filters to segment by aging bucket:
| Bucket | Filter |
|---|---|
| 1–30 days | Due date between today−30 and today |
| 31–60 days | Due date between today−60 and today−31 |
| 61–90 days | Due date between today−90 and today−61 |
| 90+ days | Due date before today−90 |
Export each bucket to a separate Excel sheet for the monthly AR review meeting. Finance and sales can each work their portion without interfering.
3. Check client payment history
For invoices in the 61–90 day or 90+ day buckets, click through to the client record and check:
- Payment history tab — has this client been slow before, or is this unusual?
- Open tickets — is there a dispute or complaint causing the delay?
- Active contracts — are they still a current customer or have they gone quiet?
This context determines whether the next step is a gentle reminder, a phone call, or escalation to collections.
4. Take action per invoice
From the invoice list, select one or more invoices and use bulk actions:
- Send reminder email — triggers the configured reminder template (with payment link if enabled)
- Mark as disputed — flags the invoice for manual review without triggering automated reminders
- Apply a payment — if you received payment outside the system (e.g. cash), record it here to reconcile
For high-value or long-overdue invoices, open the invoice detail and add a note in the Activity / Notes tab — log the call made, commitment received, and expected payment date.
5. Update expected payment dates
In the invoice detail, update the Expected Payment Date field (if available) after a client confirms an intent to pay. This field is used in cash flow forecast reports to separate "overdue but will pay" from "overdue and unresponsive."
6. Export the AR aging report
Navigate to Finance → Reports and run the Accounts Receivable Aging report. Configure:
- Date range (as-of date)
- Aging buckets (30/60/90/90+ days)
- Grouping: by client or by salesperson
Export to PDF or Excel for the finance close meeting or board report.
Do not reconcile a payment against the wrong invoice just to clear the overdue status — it makes the AR report inaccurate and creates mismatches in the bank reconciliation. Apply payments to the correct invoice even if it takes an extra minute to look up.
Result
You have a complete picture of who owes what, for how long, and what action has been taken. High-risk accounts are identified early, and the AR aging report gives finance and management a reliable view of expected cash inflows.
Review AR aging weekly, not monthly — a 30-day receivable managed with a phone call resolves in hours; the same receivable discovered at 90 days typically requires formal escalation, legal letters, or debt recovery proceedings.
Filter the Invoice list by status (Overdue) and sort by age descending to work from the most critical receivables first. Automate the first reminders with Workflow Automation so the finance team focuses on accounts that have not responded to automated follow-up.