Accounts Payable
What Is an Accounts Payable Aging Report? How to Read One (With a Sample)
By María Fernanda Aldape Gómez, Staff Accountant II
Originally published March 31, 2023 · Updated October 2026
At a Glance
An accounts payable (AP) aging report shows when and how much you owe vendors, grouped by how long each bill has been outstanding. It’s a snapshot in time, but it helps business owners manage cash flow by showing what they owe and need to pay. Most reports use 30-day columns, from current (not yet due) to 91 or more days past due. Paired with your accounts receivable aging report, it gives you a clear view of your most near-term cash coming in and going out.
Why is an accounts payable aging report valuable?
The AP aging report summarizes and totals vendors’ bills by age, so you can see how much you owe each vendor and how much total cash you would need to catch up on all invoices. Seeing exactly how many bills you must pay is where forecasting and managing cash flow start.
The aging method typically used is broken into 30-day windows:
Current: bills that aren’t due yet
1–30 days past due
31–60 days past due
61–90 days past due
91 or more days past due
Most accounting software lets you change the number of days in each column and how many columns you see. In QuickBooks Online, for example, those settings are “Days per aging period” and “Number of periods.” The sample below adds a 91–120 day column and an over-120 column to separate the oldest bills.
The AP aging report can also indicate a company’s financial health over time. If your business doesn’t have a good handle on cash in and cash out, catching up on past-due bills can be challenging. You can use the AP aging report to plan the use of cash by paying the highest-priority bills first and delaying others if you have cash flow problems. Coupled with the accounts receivable aging report, you have a clear line of sight on the most near-term cash inflows and outflows.
→ Related: Financial Ratios to Manage Accounts Payable
What does an accounts payable aging report look like?
An AP aging report lists each vendor in a row and each age bucket in a column, with totals along the bottom and down the right side. Here’s a sample for a hypothetical product company at month end, using 30-day columns out to 120 days.
Sample accounts payable aging report for a hypothetical product company, as of month end.
Vendor | Current | 1–30 | 31–60 | 61–90 | 91–120 | Over 120 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raw materials supplier | $18,500 | $12,400 | $6,200 | – | – | – | $37,100 |
Office lease | $6,000 | $6,000 | – | – | – | – | $12,000 |
Packaging supplier | $4,200 | $3,100 | – | – | – | – | $7,300 |
IT services provider | $3,500 | – | – | – | – | – | $3,500 |
Freight carrier | $2,750 | $1,900 | – | – | – | – | $4,650 |
Software subscriptions | $1,150 | – | – | – | – | – | $1,150 |
Marketing agency | – | – | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | – | $15,000 |
Equipment repair | – | – | – | – | – | $2,380 | $2,380 |
Total | $36,100 | $23,400 | $11,200 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $2,380 | $83,080 |
How do you read an AP aging report?
Read an AP aging report from the total down and from the oldest bills back. Start by confirming the total matches accounts payable on your balance sheet, then look at how much is past due, which bills are oldest, and which of those vendors your business can’t operate without.
Check the total against your balance sheet. The report’s grand total should match the accounts payable balance on your balance sheet for the same date. If it doesn’t, something needs to be reconciled before you rely on the report.
See how much is past due. In the sample, $36,100 is current and $46,980, about 57% of the $83,080 total, is past due. A large past-due share usually means cash isn’t keeping up with bills.
Start with the oldest columns. The $2,380 equipment repair bill is more than 120 days past due. A bill that old may be disputed, a duplicate, or already paid but not recorded, so confirm it before you pay it.
Weigh how critical each vendor is. The raw materials supplier has $18,600 past due. If that supplier puts you on credit hold, production stops. The marketing agency is owed $15,000 across three past-due columns, and a conversation about a payment plan may make more sense there.
Compare it to your cash and receivables. Line up what you owe against the cash you have and what customers owe you (your accounts receivable aging) to decide what to pay now and what to schedule.
How do I prioritize vendors with an AP aging report?
Paying the right vendors at the right time is a critical component of supply chain management. An AP aging report doesn’t explicitly give vendor priority, although it does provide a helpful overview of which vendors you’re most late to pay.
When managing cash flow problems, your accounting team or accounts payable service will know which vendors might stop services or put you on credit hold. You should pay those vendors faster than vendors that are more lenient on late payments.
What is the difference between AP aging and the balance sheet?
Accounts payable on the balance sheet shows how much your company owes vendors at a specific time. It’s a balance sheet account in your general ledger (GL), and it should equal the grand total of the AP aging report, not the report itself. The AP aging report displays the detail behind that number, by vendor and bill age, so you can track specific vendors.
How do you use an AP aging report?
A routine accounts payable process consists of the following steps:
Open the AP aging report from your accounting software.
Look at which vendors have bills aging past 30, 60, and 90 days.
Consider which critical vendors must be paid to avoid disrupting operations, compared with your available cash.
Pay the appropriate bills.
Refresh the report and review the balance after paying the bills to get an up-to-date status.
→ Related: What Is a 13 Week Cash Flow Forecast?
→ Related: How to Solve Cash Flow Problems in Business
Key Takeaways
An AP aging report shows what you owe each vendor and how long each bill has been outstanding.
Most reports use 30-day columns, from current to 91 or more days past due, and most software lets you adjust them.
The report’s grand total should equal accounts payable on your balance sheet for the same date.
Use it to pay critical vendors first when cash is tight, and to start conversations with vendors you’ll pay later.
Pair it with your accounts receivable aging report to see your near-term cash in and cash out.
Want an AP aging report you can trust?
An AP aging report is only as good as the books behind it. CFO Share’s bookkeeping team records bills, reconciles accounts, and delivers monthly financial reports with an interpretation of what the numbers mean, so the report you pull reflects what you actually owe. Schedule a call to talk through your accounts payable process.
About the author
María Fernanda Aldape Gómez is a Staff Accountant II at CFO Share, where she keeps the books accurate and on schedule for professional services firms, behavioral health organizations, and other growing businesses.
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