QuickBooks aging report: export it and chase what's late

To get a QuickBooks aging report, run the A/R Aging Detail report and export it to Excel or CSV. The detail version lists every open invoice with its customer, number, due date and open balance, which is exactly what you need to chase payment.

This guide covers which version to run, the columns that matter, and how to go from the file to emails in your customers' inboxes. Drop your export into the free check above and it shows each invoice bucketed by days past due, plus the email each customer would get.

Which QuickBooks aging report should you run?

Run A/R Aging Detail, not A/R Aging Summary. The summary gives one total per customer in each bucket, with no invoice numbers, so you cannot tell a customer which invoices are late. The detail report has one row per open invoice.

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop write slightly different headers. Online has Date, Transaction Type, Num, Customer, Due Date, Past Due, Amount and Open Balance. Desktop has Type, Date, Num, P. O. #, Name, Terms, Due Date, Aging and Open Balance. Past-Due Invoice Chaser reads both.

How do you export it from QuickBooks?

1. Open Reports and find A/R Aging Detail.
2. Set the report date to today so the ages are current.
3. Make sure the customer, invoice number, due date and open balance columns are showing.
4. Use the export button and choose Excel or CSV.

QuickBooks puts the company name, the report title and an "As of" line above the column headers. That is normal; the importer skips those rows and finds the header itself. Files must be under 4 MB, and PDF or old .xls files are rejected with a note on what to do instead.

Which columns does the chase need?

Four columns are required and two are optional.

Headers are matched by name and you confirm the mapping once; it is remembered for the next upload.

Why can't the aging report email your customers?

The report has no email addresses. QuickBooks keeps those on the customer record, and they do not come out in the aging export. So you paste a customer and email list once. Customers without an email are never sent anything and are listed so you can call them. You can also mark a customer "do not chase" or "call instead".

Does QuickBooks send the reminders for you?

QuickBooks has its own invoice reminders, which go a set number of days from each invoice's due date. They do not read the aging report, do not combine a customer's late invoices into one email, and do not keep a log of outcomes such as promised dates and disputes. The comparison is in automatic invoice reminders in QuickBooks.

Past-Due Invoice Chaser does not connect to QuickBooks at all. You upload a fresh export whenever you like, and invoices are matched by customer plus invoice number. A lower balance is logged as a partial payment, and an invoice that has gone from the file is logged "paid (per aging)" and its reminders stop.

What does a customer actually receive?

One plain-text email per customer per round, listing each invoice that is 30, 60 or 90 days past due with its due date and balance. Read the three versions in the past due invoice email sample, or see how the buckets work in reading an accounts receivable aging report.

What does the first run look like?

The free check bucketed in your browser shows the same thing the paid product shows first: every open invoice in Current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 or over 90 days, the total past due, and the exact email each customer would receive. Your own file is bucketed in the request and not stored. If some columns cannot be matched from their headers, you are asked which column holds what, then you choose the file again.

Use it as a dry run before you do anything with real customers. If the buckets look wrong, the usual cause is that the report was run as of an old date, so run it again as of today and re-export.

FAQ

Can I export the QuickBooks aging report to Excel?

Yes, QuickBooks exports the report to Excel and CSV. Both work; Past-Due Invoice Chaser accepts either.

How often should I upload a new export?

Whenever you like. Weekly keeps the log accurate, because paid invoices and partial payments are picked up from each new file.

What if my report has more than 1,500 invoices?

One report can hold up to 150 customers and 1,500 open invoices. Beyond that, filter the report before exporting.