Help · Guide
Reading your A/R aging
Aging shows how long each invoice has been open. The useful part is knowing why each old one is still unpaid.
What it is
An A/R aging lists open invoices by how long they have been outstanding, usually in 30-day buckets. In a survey by Levelset and QuickBooks Time of 503 US construction professionals (August 2019), 49% of construction payments were reported as not made on time, and 39% of respondents said that even after invoices are approved, it still takes 30 days or more to receive payment.
How Main checks it
Main ties each invoice to its pay application and to the payments received, and flags invoices past due, partial payments with no explanation, and pay apps that were approved but never invoiced.
A worked example Sample
SAMPLE: a synthetic project with made-up figures, to show the arithmetic. Not a real company.
Project “Harbor Street Clinic (SAMPLE)”, as of June 30:
| Invoice | Pay app | Due | Amount | Paid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4420 | 5 | Apr 30 | $46,210.00 | $24,337.85 | $21,872.15 |
| 4429 | 6 | May 31 | $38,900.00 | $0.00 | $38,900.00 |
| 4433 | 7 | Jun 30 | $41,250.00 | $0.00 | $41,250.00 |
Invoice 4420 was short-paid by $21,872.15 with no note, and 4429 is a month past due. Those two need a call; 4433 is not yet late.
What to do
- Ask why 4420 was short-paid: a backcharge, retainage taken twice, or an error.
- Follow up on 4429 with the pay app and approval attached.
- Keep the reason for each old invoice next to it, so the next review starts there.
Sources
Check your own numbers. Upload a change-order log and pay-app lines for one project to the free check: an automated preview, not reviewed by a person.