What is a receivables ageing report (AR ageing)?

Each unpaid invoice lands in one band, counted either from the invoice date or from its due date; the report should say which, because the two give different pictures. Bands can be set to match the payment terms. Read by client, the report shows who pays late; read by band, it shows how much is old.

The ageing report is where collections work starts, so a balance that is not in it is not chased. For a contractor that matters, because some of the cash it is owed is not an invoice yet.

A receivables ageing report starts at the invoice, so it leaves out work executed but not yet certified and bills waiting for certification. Retention has no ordinary due date, so aged from the invoice it sits in the oldest band and looks permanently overdue. Read the report next to certification lag and next to retention aged from its release trigger.

Mixing invoice-date and due-date ageing

A report that ages some balances from the invoice and others from the due date cannot be compared month to month. Pick one basis and state it.

Leaving retention in the ordinary bands

Retention aged from the invoice fills the oldest band and hides whether ordinary collections are improving. Show it on its own line.

Crestline ages retention from the completion certificate rather than the invoice, and reports DSO per client from work completion as well as from the invoice date, so the waits before the invoice appear next to the ageing bands.