Accounting
Financial Management
Accounts Payable Aging Report: How to Read It and Use It, With a Template
Last updated: October 8, 2026 · Independent guide · We do not sell rankings or coverage.
An accounts payable aging report lists every unpaid supplier bill and sorts the open balance into time buckets, usually current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and over 90 days past due. AP managers and controllers use it for three jobs: deciding what goes into the next payment run, forecasting the cash those runs need, and proving at month end that the subledger agrees with the AP control account in the general ledger. The template below covers all three, plus a worksheet for pricing early-payment discounts.
How to use this template
Copy Parts A to G into a spreadsheet, or use them as the specification when you configure your accounting system. All dollar figures are an illustration for a company with $1.18 million of open payables, not benchmarks. For the customer side, use our accounts receivable aging report template.
The accounts payable aging report template
Part A: Report settings (fill in once, review each quarter)
| Setting | What to decide | Recommended entry | Your entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| As-of date | The date bills are aged to | Period-end date for the close; run date for payment planning | |
| Aging basis | Due date, bill date or posting date | Due date, kept the same every month | |
| Buckets | Days per bucket, number of buckets | Current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90, over 90 | |
| Unapplied payments and credits | Net against bills or show separately | Separate lines, cleared before sign-off | |
| Scope | Entities and currencies | One report per legal entity | |
| Control total | GL balance the report must equal | Trade payables control account(s), accrual basis |
Part B: Bucket summary (illustration, as of September 30, 2026)
| Bucket | Open balance (% of total) | Open bills | Default action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current (not yet due) | $742,000 (62.9%) | 412 | Pay on due date, or early if Part D says so |
| 1-30 days past due | $268,000 (22.7%) | 97 | Clear the approval or receipt hold; pay next run |
| 31-60 days past due | $104,000 (8.8%) | 31 | AP manager reviews each bill with the vendor |
| 61-90 days past due | $41,000 (3.5%) | 12 | Controller decides: pay, credit memo or dispute |
| Over 90 days past due | $25,000 (2.1%) | 9 | Test for duplicates and missing credits first |
| Total | $1,180,000 | 561 | Must equal the Part F control total |
Part C: Bill-level columns (one row per open item)
| Column | Example (illustration) | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor, vendor ID | Lakeshore Packaging / V-2210 | Grouping, statement checks |
| Document number and type | INV-88417 / Bill (or credit, debit memo, unapplied payment) | Drill-down, duplicate testing |
| PO number, receipt status | PO-5530 / Received in full | Explaining why a bill is unpaid |
| Bill date, due date, terms | Sep 24, 2026 / Oct 24, 2026 / 2/10 net 30 | Aging, discount deadline |
| Open amount, currency | $38,500.00 USD | Bucket totals, cash plan |
| Days past due, bucket | -24 / Current | Prioritizing the payment run |
| Hold reason, owner | None / M. Chen | Accountability for past-due bills |
| Scheduled pay date | Oct 2, 2026 (discount run) | Part E cash plan |
Part D: Early-payment discount worksheet (illustration)
| Vendor terms | Open bills inside the discount window | Discount available | Annualized cost of skipping it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/10 net 30 | $160,000 | $3,200 | 37.2% |
| 1/10 net 30 | $85,000 | $850 | 18.4% |
| 1/15 net 45 | $40,000 | $400 | 12.3% |
| Total | $285,000 | $4,450 | Compare with your cost of funds |
Part E: Weekly cash requirement (illustration)
| Payment run | Bills scheduled (gross) | Less discounts taken | Cash required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week of September 28 | $286,000 | $3,200 | $282,800 |
| Week of October 5 | $241,000 | $850 | $240,150 |
| Week of October 12 | $215,000 | $400 | $214,600 |
| Approved past-due catch-up | $95,000 | $0 | $95,000 |
| Total | $837,000 | $4,450 | $832,550 |
Part F: Reconciliation to the general ledger (illustration)
| Line | Amount | Action |
|---|---|---|
| AP control account(s), accrual trial balance, September 30 | $1,201,350 | Combine every AP account in scope |
| AP aging total, same as-of date (Part B) | $1,180,000 | Run after the period is locked |
| Difference to explain | $21,350 | |
| Journal entry posted straight to AP control (freight accrual) | $18,000 | Repost to accrued liabilities |
| September-dated bill entered after the aging was run | $4,600 | Rerun the aging; tighten cutoff |
| Foreign-currency revaluation in the GL, not in the aging | ($1,250) | Standing reconciling item |
| Unexplained difference | $0 | Preparer and reviewer sign and date |
Part G: Month-end checklist
- Lock the period, then run the aging as of period end on the Part A basis.
- Tie the total to the AP control account(s) and complete Part F.
- Clear or explain unapplied payments, unapplied credits and vendor debit balances.
- Review every bill over 60 days past due with its hold reason and decision.
- Book goods received but not billed to accrued liabilities, outside the aging.
- Record days payable outstanding, the share over 30 days past due, and discounts taken and missed.
How to fill in each part
Part A: Settings decide whether the report can be trusted
Microsoft documents that the Business Central Aged Accounts Payable report (report 322) ages balances as of a date you specify, in periods of equal length. Oracle’s NetSuite help says a user with access to the Accounting Preferences page chooses whether bills age by due date or transaction date. Pick one basis and keep it.
In QuickBooks Online, check the aging method. Intuit’s article on matching aging reports (updated September 22, 2026), written for receivables, says the report defaults to “Current” and tells you to switch to “Report date” and compare with an accrual-basis balance sheet. Fit Small Business (updated June 19, 2025) shows the same choice on the A/P aging report; confirm it before hunting for posting errors.
Part B: Read the buckets as a list of process problems
A past-due payable usually means something is stuck in your own process: a missing approval or receipt at 1-30 days, and more often a duplicate, a missed credit or a wrong vendor over 90 days.
Part C: Keep the detail and the hold reason
The PO, receipt and hold columns tell you why a bill is unpaid. Business Central’s report 322 can print a line per open document, and MYOB Acumatica’s AP Aging report has a Detailed format, so export detail.
Part D: Price each discount against your cost of funds
The cost of skipping a discount is the discount divided by one minus the discount, times 365 divided by the extra days you gain. Stephen L. Nelson gives this formula in a Dummies article (updated December 30, 2016) and puts the cost of passing up 2/10 net 30 at more than 37 percent a year. For 2/10 net 30: 2 ÷ 98 × 365 ÷ 20 = 37.2%.
The Federal Reserve’s H.15 release of October 8, 2026 shows the bank prime loan rate at 7.00% on October 7, 2026. In this illustration, all three discounts are worth taking for a borrower paying near prime, if Part E shows the cash. For sliding-scale offers, see our guide to dynamic discounting in AP software.
Part E: Turn the aging into a cash plan
A standard aging looks backward. For cash planning, sort open bills by scheduled pay date, subtract planned discounts and add approved past-due bills. MYOB Acumatica ships a separate AP Coming Due report for this view, and Microsoft’s Aged Accounts Payable Excel report (report 4403) groups balances by due date and currency. Feed the weekly totals into your cash flow forecast.
Part F: Reconcile the aging to the general ledger every month
The aging total must equal the AP control account on the same date. Thomson Reuters’ Accounting CS help names two causes of differences, non-AP transactions posted to the AP account and multiple AP accounts whose balances you must combine, and recommends posting each transaction to the period its date falls in. Microsoft notes that report 322 reconciles to the payables accounts only when direct posting is disabled. Add the signed Part F to your month-end close.
Part G: Measure the trend
Corporate Finance Institute defines days payable outstanding as average accounts payable divided by cost of goods sold, times the days in the period. If DPO and the past-due share rise together, bills are getting stuck rather than terms getting longer.
Common mistakes
- Aging by bill date and calling it past due. A Net 60 bill aged by bill date lands in 31-60 while still current.
- Leaving vendor debit balances in the total. An overpayment or unapplied credit hides a receivable and understates payables.
- Posting accruals to the AP control account. Received-not-billed goods belong in accrued liabilities, or the reconciliation breaks.
- Running the report before the period is locked. A back-dated bill changes the balance after sign-off.
- Treating the AP tool’s aging as the book of record. Ramp says its aging includes unapproved bills and does not convert non-USD amounts, so it can differ from your ERP.
When to move from a spreadsheet to software
Move off a spreadsheet once you rebuild Part B by hand each week, reconcile several entities or currencies, or miss discount deadlines.
QuickBooks Online offers an A/P aging summary report with a configurable aging method, days per period and number of periods. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central adds report 322, the Excel report 4403 and a Vendor – Trial Balance report (report 329) for reconciling the vendor subledger to the payables accounts. Oracle NetSuite runs its A/P Aging report from Reports > Vendors/Payables > A/P Aging with a company-wide aging basis. Ramp keeps its own aging that it says should align with QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero or Business Central after payments sync, but it ages from due date only.
How we researched this
On October 8, 2026 we read the top-ranking pages for “accounts payable aging report” from Corpay, BILL and Tipalti, all of which sell AP software. None offered a worked GL reconciliation, a priced discount worksheet or a cash plan built from the aging. We checked product behavior in documentation from Microsoft, Oracle NetSuite, Intuit, MYOB Acumatica, Thomson Reuters and Ramp.
Related guides
- Construction Accounts Payable: Pay Apps, Retainage, Holds
- Positive Pay: How It Stops Check Fraud (2026)
- 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: How to Build One (Template)
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn’t my AP aging report match the balance sheet?
Common causes are journal entries posted directly to the AP control account, bills entered after you ran the report, multiple AP accounts, and an aging option set to today instead of the report date. Run both reports for the same date on an accrual basis and list each difference as in Part F.
Should AP aging be based on invoice date or due date?
Use due date when deciding what to pay, because it shows what is actually late. Invoice-date aging can reveal slow approvals, but label it clearly and keep the same basis each month.
Is it worth taking a 2/10 net 30 discount?
Usually yes, if you have the cash. Skipping it costs about 37.2% a year, far above the 7.00% bank prime rate the Federal Reserve reported for October 7, 2026.
What is the difference between AP aging and AR aging?
AP aging shows what you owe suppliers; AR aging shows what customers owe you. Old AR raises a credit-loss question, while old AP usually points to holds, disputes or errors in your own books.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn, Aged Accounts Payable (report 322), December 16, 2024.
- Microsoft Learn, Aged Accounts Payable Excel (report 4403), January 9, 2025.
- Microsoft Learn, Payables reports, December 16, 2024.
- Oracle NetSuite, A/P Aging Summary Report, no date shown.
- Intuit, Match your aging reports, September 22, 2026.
- Fit Small Business, A/P aging report in QuickBooks Online, June 19, 2025.
- MYOB Acumatica, To Run AP Aging Reports, no date shown.
- Thomson Reuters, Reconciling the AP Aging Schedule to the AP GL account, no date shown.
- Ramp, AP Aging Report: what’s included, no date shown. Ramp sells AP software.
- Stephen L. Nelson, Dummies, December 30, 2016.
- Federal Reserve, H.15 Selected Interest Rates, October 8, 2026.
- Corporate Finance Institute, Days Payable Outstanding, September 21, 2019.
- Corpay, Accounts Payable Aging Report, September 15, 2026. Corpay sells AP automation.
- BILL, Accounts payable aging report, no date shown. BILL sells AP software.
- Tipalti, Accounts Payable Aging Report, February 14, 2026. Tipalti sells AP automation.
Sherman Hsieh
Independent analysis of enterprise software — ERP, CRM and more
