Sage aged debtors report: run it, read it, chase faster

The aged debtors report shows who owes you money and for how long, grouped into age bands such as current, 30, 60, 90 and 120+ days. It's the starting point for credit control: who to chase first, who to put on stop and how much cash is tied up in late payers.

This guide covers how to run it in Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 200, how to read it, why it often doesn't match your debtors control account, and how to speed up chasing. Menu names can differ slightly between versions; the paths below follow Sage's own help, checked in October 2026.

How to run the aged debtors report in Sage 50

1. Go to Customers > Reports > Aged debtors.
2. Choose a report. Aged Debtors Analysis (Summary) gives one line per customer. Detailed, drillable and contact versions show the transactions behind each balance.
3. Set the criteria:
   • Leave Cust Ref blank to include every customer.
   • Set the report date, usually your month end.
   • Inc Future Tran includes invoices, credits and payments on account dated after the report date. Leave it unticked to see the position at the report date.
   • Exc Later Payments ignores payments received after the report date. Tick it to see what was outstanding at a past date.
4. Preview it, then print, or use Export to send it to Excel: Report to Excel keeps the report layout, and Data to Excel puts the data in columns.

Ageing settings live in Settings > Customer Defaults, on the Ageing tab. Choose period ageing in days (30, 60, 90 and 120 by default, and you can change them) or calendar monthly ageing, where a transaction moves into the next band on the first of the following month. Sage 50 ages from the transaction date, not the due date.

How to run the aged debtors report in Sage 200

Sage 200 Professional: go to Sales Ledger > Reports > Credit Control. The aged debtors reports come in summary and detailed versions, plus a summary version with a column for unallocated cash. To see the position at a past date, tick Retrospective and set the base date for ageing; invoices paid after that date then show as unpaid. Ageing periods are set in Sales Ledger > Utilities > Ledger Set Up > Ledger Settings, on the Ageing tab, with three to eight periods measured from the transaction date. A separate due date report ages by days overdue instead.

Sage 200 Standard: go to Customers > Customer Reports > Credit Control > Aged Debtors (Summary), which has the same Retrospective and base date options. Ageing is set in Settings > Customers and Suppliers > Customer Defaults and Settings, and can run by transaction date, due date or ledger period, with calendar monthly ageing available.

How to read it

Work from the oldest band backwards:

• The oldest band first. Debt over 90 days is the hardest to collect and the most likely to need a write-off.
• Movement since last month. Customers sliding from 30 into 60 days are the ones to call now, before they become a 90-day problem.
• Credit limits. Check customers who are over their limit, especially if they're still ordering.
• Unallocated cash. Payments on account and credit notes that haven't been allocated make balances look wrong. Allocate them before you chase, or you'll chase money that's already been paid.

Why it doesn't match the debtors control account

The total on the aged debtors report should match the debtors control account on your balance sheet. When it doesn't, these are the usual causes.

In Sage 50:

• Report settings. Set the report date to the month end, untick Inc Future Tran and tick Exc Later Payments. Include every customer, including inactive ones; references with unusual characters can drop out of a range.
• Journals posted straight to Debtors Control. These change the nominal balance without touching a customer account.
• Allocation dates. Payments allocated with the wrong date throw the aged position out.
• "Include future totals in balance" in Customer Defaults changes the aged balances too.
• Data problems, such as transactions whose links have been removed.

Compare the report total with the debtors control code on the Period Trial Balance (Nominal codes > Reports > Trial balance).

In Sage 200: look for deferred or future-period postings, manual journals posted to the control account, opening balances that weren't posted to the nominal ledger, postings that went to suspense, allocation dates on retrospective runs, foreign currency adjustments, transactions entered in closed periods and mismatched report dates.

How to speed up credit control in Sage

Make the report a routine. Sage 50 can't schedule reports to run automatically, and Sage 200 has no built-in scheduler, so put a fixed weekly slot in the diary rather than waiting for month end.

Use Sage's own chasing tools:

• Sage 50: Customers > Chase debt brings together communications, aged debt, disputes, credit charges and write-offs. Statements can be previewed, printed or emailed in bulk. Settings > Configuration > Credit Control sets your statement, reminder, warning and legal letters, and can change a customer's account status after each one. Credit limits are set on the customer record, and an account status marked as on hold can either warn or stop new invoices and orders.
• Automatic chasing in Sage 50: from version 32.1, Sage Copilot debt management (Customers > Sage Copilot) lists overdue and upcoming payments, and Sage 50 Professional adds Automated Payment Reminders, emailing customers on rules and schedules you set.
• Sage 200: debtor letters run in up to eight levels, based on the due date of each customer's oldest overdue item. Credit limits warn when they're exceeded, and an account can be put on hold to block new transactions while still accepting payments.

Ask instead of running reports. With Insights AI, your team can ask Sage 50 or Sage 200 in plain English, in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini, and get an answer in seconds:

• "Which customers are more than 60 days overdue, and how much do they owe?"
• "Who has moved into the 90-day band since last month?"
• "Which overdue customers are still placing orders?"
• "What cash is due in over the next 30 days?"

Insights AI is read-only, so it tells you who to chase rather than chasing for you. The chasing still happens in Sage or through your own process. It works within your existing Sage permissions, and every answer shows the records behind it. See Sage reporting with Insights, or how to connect Sage to ChatGPT and Claude.