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. A typical report has a row per customer and columns for Current, 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60 days, 61 to 90 days, and 90+ days past due, with totals across the bottom.
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. Below is a complete, populated example as at 31 May 2026, annotated so you can see exactly how to interpret one, followed by how to build your own and the other AR reports worth running.
"Accounts receivable report" almost always means the AR aging report, the single most useful view of who owes you money. Searchers want to see one, not just read a description, so here is a full example with real numbers, then the method behind it.
Sample accounts receivable aging report
Acme Supplies Ltd, accounts receivable aging as at 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 probability on 90+ balances drops below 30%. 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. The whole thing can be produced in seconds from accounting software or built in a spreadsheet.
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. Vetting customers well on these five is what keeps your aging report clean in the first place.
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 the great majority of the overdue total, 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 guidanceLast updated June 9, 2026. This guide is general information, not accounting, tax, or financial advice.