Accounts receivable aging organizes open invoices by the time elapsed since their due dates. A common view separates current balances, 1 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and more than 90. It shows where cash is getting stuck, but it does not create an intelligent call list by itself. Age is one signal; context determines the action.
Two customers with ₡500,000 overdue for 45 days may need different responses. One promised payment on Friday and has five years of good history. The other has disputed a line for a month without receiving an answer. The report places them in the same column. The collections team needs promises, disputes, contacts and next steps to tell them apart.
How the buckets are formed
Each invoice contributes its outstanding balance rather than necessarily its original total. If a ₡800,000 invoice received a ₡300,000 installment, aging should place ₡500,000 in the relevant bucket. The due date is normally the starting point. Payment terms must therefore be configured correctly, and collections must be applied before the report is interpreted.
- Current: still inside the agreed payment term.
- 1 to 30 days: a recent delay worth confirming promptly.
- 31 to 60 days: needs follow-up and a recorded cause.
- 61 to 90 days: carries more risk and needs an owner decision.
- More than 90 days: requires explicit treatment rather than another copy of the same reminder.
Buckets are reporting choices rather than universal rules. A business that collects weekly may want shorter intervals. A firm using 60-day contracts will have another expectation. The important point is that the team understands its rule and does not unknowingly compare periods built with different criteria.
Prioritize by exposure and available action
Always starting with the oldest invoice is too simple. Combine age, amount, customer concentration and the possibility of resolution. A large balance with an available contact may release cash quickly. Twenty small balances for the same customer may reveal a payment application problem. A disputed invoice needs the underlying issue resolved before another automated reminder is sent.
- Total customer balance and its share of the complete portfolio.
- Oldest invoice and number of open documents.
- History of on-time payments, delays and installments.
- Payment promise with a date and the person who obtained it.
- Commercial dispute, missing document or correction required.
- Last contact and agreed next action.
Example: three customers, three decisions
Customer A owes ₡1,500,000 overdue for 20 days and does not respond. Customer B owes ₡300,000 overdue for 75 days but is waiting for a valid credit note. Customer C owes ₡900,000 overdue for 40 days and promised to pay tomorrow. A sensible order may be to confirm C's promise, escalate contact with A and resolve B's correction. Calling B first merely because it is oldest does not remove the blockage.
This example shows why aging and follow-up notes belong close together. The report quantifies while collection management explains. When they live in different systems, one person exports aging, another keeps comments in a sheet, and management receives a version already out of date.
Indicators that reveal the trend
Compare overdue balances with credit sales, watch how much moves into older buckets and review concentration. Also check payments received after the report date so the team does not chase settled balances. A huge dashboard is unnecessary. Three or four consistent measures reviewed every week usually show whether the portfolio is improving or deteriorating.
- Percentage of the receivable portfolio already overdue.
- Balance concentrated among the five largest customers.
- Amount that moved from one bucket to another during the month.
- Payment promises whose dates passed without collection.
- Collections recorded but still not applied.
Aging connected to invoices in Tario
Tario builds aging from invoices, due dates and applied payments. Teams can review customer balances together with payment history. Because the data comes from the same documents, a confirmed installment updates the amount outstanding without waiting for someone to correct a manual export.
The report has done its job when it ends in a concrete decision: call, resend support, apply a payment, correct a document or escalate a dispute. If aging is only downloaded and filed, the company knows it has a problem but does not change next week's cash position.