An aged debtor report lists what each customer owes you, sorted into age bands: usually current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days. Read it from the right. The oldest column holds the money most at risk, the middle columns need a person, and much of the 1 to 30 column is likely to clear with little more than a reminder. Before any of that, check whether your report ages invoices from the due date or the invoice date.
In this article
The short version
- Columns usually run current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days.
- Check whether your report ages from the due date or the invoice date.
- Part payments, unmatched cash and the day you run it all change what you see.
- Direct debits in progress can make the first column look worse than it is.
- Automate the early columns and spend your time on 31 days and older.
What the columns mean
An aged debtor report, also called aged receivables, groups every unpaid invoice by customer and sorts the balances by how old they are. Most UK accounting systems give you five columns.
| Column | What it holds | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Current | Invoices not yet due | Your pipeline: check it for size and concentration |
| 1 to 30 days | Recently overdue | Mostly admin, plus any direct debits still being collected |
| 31 to 60 days | A missed payment run | Someone needs to ask what's holding it up |
| 61 to 90 days | An unresolved problem | Escalation, and a decision about further work |
| Over 90 days | Money at risk | Recovery, interest, or a write-off decision |
A summary report gives you one row per customer and a detail report one row per invoice. The summary can make a customer with four small old balances look better than they are, so open the detail when a name worries you.
How the ageing is worked out
Your report takes a date, usually today's, and measures each unpaid balance against a reference date. Four things change what you see.
- Due date or invoice date: ageing from the due date puts an invoice on 30-day terms into the 1 to 30 column a month later than ageing from the invoice date. Some systems let you choose on the report itself, so check yours first.
- Part payments keep the original date: if a customer pays £900 of a £1,000 invoice, the £100 left keeps ageing from the original due date, so a small remainder can look like an old debt.
- Unmatched payments and credit notes: money that's arrived but hasn't been matched to the invoice leaves it ageing while the cash is already in your bank, and an unapplied credit note can show a customer in credit in one column and owing in another.
- The day you run it: a report run on the 2nd and one run on the 28th catch your customers at different points in their payment runs, so compare on the same day each month.
What the totals don't show
A column tells you an invoice is overdue, not how far. Two invoices in the 1 to 30 column can be one day and 29 days late, and two in the over 90 column can be three months and three years old.
Adfin's payment data shows how uneven that is. Among invoices customers paid late themselves, the median delay was 8 days, while the average was 28.4 days, because 7.1% ran past 90 days. Half of late payments arrived within about a week, while a small number ran on for months. So your report's shape, meaning how much sits in each column, tells you more than its overdue total. If you track one figure for lateness, use the median.
Direct debit can make the first column look worse than it is. A direct debit is collected on or just after the due date and takes a few working days to reach your bank through the Bacs cycle, so for a short while the invoice can show as overdue when nothing has gone wrong. Read invoices on a mandate separately, or treat anything under about a week overdue on a mandate as still in progress.
What to do with each column
- Current: look at concentration. One customer holding a quarter of your pipeline is a risk the report shows early, and a large invoice due next week is worth confirming as approved now.
- 1 to 30 days: automated reminders are usually enough here. Phoning on day three spends your time on invoices that were likely to arrive anyway.
- 31 to 60 days: a person adds the most here. Either a payment run's been missed or the invoice hasn't been approved, and one call tends to find out which.
- 61 to 90 days: escalate on the schedule you've agreed and decide whether you'll keep supplying.
- Over 90 days: decide what you'll do instead of letting it drift: statutory interest and compensation for business customers, a letter before action, a collection agency, or a write-off.
In Xero, the Aged Receivables Summary and Aged Receivables Detail reports do the ageing for you. The harder part is acting on the first two columns every week without it eating your time. Adfin syncs with Xero and QuickBooks, chases overdue invoices over email, SMS or WhatsApp on the schedule you set, and its collection agents can add statutory late fees to overdue business invoices, so your attention can go to the columns that need a conversation.
Common questions
What is an aged debtor report? A list of everything your customers owe you, grouped by customer and sorted into age bands. It's the same thing as an aged receivables report.
What do the columns on an aged debtor report mean? Usually current (not yet due), then 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days overdue. The older the column, the more of the money is at risk.
Is an aged debtor report based on the invoice date or the due date? It can be either, and some systems let you choose. Ageing from the due date is more useful for credit control, because it only counts an invoice as overdue once it actually is.
Why do direct debit invoices show as overdue? A direct debit takes a few working days to reach your bank through the Bacs cycle, so it can show as overdue for a short time even when it's on track.
What is a good aged debtor profile? There's no universal benchmark, because terms and customer mix vary so much. Watch your own shape month by month and aim for a falling share of value in the 61-plus columns.
Should I track average days late? Be careful with it. A few very old invoices pull the average far above what's typical, so the median days late is a fairer single figure.
Sources
- GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: when a payment becomes late (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/when-a-payment-becomes-late
- GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: charging interest on commercial debt (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt
- Bacs - The little Bacs guide to Direct Debit (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.bacs.co.uk/media/ezwlg0dn/little_bacs_guide_to_direct_debit-v2.pdf
- Adfin - Credit control (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/credit-control
