Customer Statements: How AR Teams Use Them to Get Paid

An invoice asks a customer to pay one amount. A customer statement shows the customer everything: every open invoice, every payment you received and every credit still sitting on the account. For an AR team chasing hundreds of open invoices, that one page often settles questions that a dozen invoice reminders never would.

Overdue balances are common. Atradius reports that 43% of credit-based B2B sales in the US are overdue (Atradius Payment Practices Barometer, US 2025). A good share of that overdue money is not a refusal to pay. It is an invoice the customer's AP team never logged, a payment applied to the wrong invoice, or a credit memo that was never matched. Statements surface those problems early.

This guide is for the controller or AR manager running a collections team. It covers which statement type to send, what to put on it, how often to send it, and how to turn statement replies into collections progress.

What Is a Customer Statement of Account?

A customer statement of account is a summary of one customer's activity and balance with you as of a statement date. It lists open invoices, payments and credits, and shows what the customer owes in total and how much of it is past due.

A statement is not a new bill. It does not create a new amount owed. It restates what is already on the ledger so the customer's AP team can compare it to their own records.

How a statement differs from an invoice and a reminder

That third job, reconciliation, is why statements still matter on a team that already sends reminders. A reminder says "invoice 1042 is late." A statement says "here is everything we think is open, tell us what does not match."

Which Statement Type Should You Send?

Most accounting systems offer three statement types, and the open item statement is usually the best default for collections. QuickBooks Online names them clearly (QuickBooks Online help: create and send customer statements):

Why open item works best for collections

A collector wants the customer to pay specific invoices. An open item statement lists exactly those invoices, so the customer's AP clerk can match each line to their own payables list and schedule it.

Microsoft Business Central added an Open Items style to its Customer Statement report for the same reason, alongside the older Balance style (Microsoft Learn: print customer statements).

When balance forward still makes sense

Some customers pay a round amount every month against the running balance rather than invoice by invoice. For those accounts, a balance forward statement matches how they actually pay. Pick the type per customer segment, not one type for the whole book.

Why Do Statements Help a Collections Team Get Paid?

Statements find the hidden reasons an invoice is not getting paid. Reminders assume the customer knows about the invoice and agrees with it. Statements test that assumption across the whole account at once.

They catch invoices the customer never logged

"We never received the invoice" is one of the most common reasons customers give for paying late. A statement that lists every open invoice turns that into a fixable list: the customer replies with the invoice numbers they do not have, and you resend them that day.

They expose unapplied payments and credits

If a customer paid but the cash was applied to the wrong invoice, or not applied at all, the statement shows an invoice they believe is paid. Their reply points straight at the problem. Our guide to unapplied cash covers how to clear those balances so collectors stop chasing invoices that are already paid.

They surface disputes before they age

When a customer sees a line they disagree with, they usually say so. That is a dispute you can log and route now, instead of discovering it at 90 days. See our invoice dispute workflow for the steps after that reply arrives.

They give AP a reason to reconcile

Many AP teams reconcile vendor statements as part of their own month-end routine. Sending yours on a predictable date puts your account into that routine.

What Should a Customer Statement Include?

A statement that gets paid answers every question an AP clerk would otherwise email you about. Use this checklist before you send:

• Statement date and the period covered. NetSuite notes that the statement date is also the date used to calculate aging (NetSuite help: generating statements).

• Customer name and account number, matching how the customer's AP system knows you.

• Every open invoice with invoice number, invoice date, due date, PO number and remaining balance.

• Payments and credits received in the period, with references the customer can match.

• An aging summary: current, 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days.

• Total due and total past due, stated separately.

• How to pay: accepted methods and remittance details.

• A named contact for questions, with a direct email or phone number.

Keep the statement readable

One account per statement. If a customer has sub-accounts or multiple locations, decide whether the parent's AP team wants one consolidated statement or one per location. Ask once, record the answer, and send it the same way every month.

How Often Should You Send Customer Statements?

Send statements monthly to every account with an open balance, plus on demand when a customer asks. NetSuite's own help puts it plainly: most companies send statements once a month.

Pick a fixed date

The first business day after month-end close works for most teams. The ledger is settled, cash from the last days of the month is applied, and customers' AP teams are starting their own reconciliation.

Add statements to key moments in the cadence

Beyond the monthly run, statements are useful:

• Before a collections call on an account with several open invoices, so both sides are looking at the same list.

• When an account first goes past 60 days, to reset the conversation around the whole balance.

• When a new AP contact takes over an account.

Statements support your follow-up cadence; they do not replace it. Our guide to what happens after the due date maps where each touch fits.

How Do You Send Statements From Your Accounting System?

Every major accounting system can generate statements in a batch, but each one needs clean contact data to email them. Here is how the systems most mid-market AR teams use handle it.

QuickBooks Online

From the customer list, select the customers, choose Batch action > Statement, pick the statement type, set the statement date and date range, confirm the email addresses, then save and send. QuickBooks skips customers with no activity in the selected range, and sub-customers billed with a parent are included on the parent's statement.

NetSuite

NetSuite generates statements in bulk from a customer list. Set a Start Date to control how far back the statement goes, and use Show Only Open Transactions for an open item style. NetSuite advises using that option with the current date, because a different date can cause balance discrepancies. Emailing statements requires an email address on each customer record.

Business Central

Run the Statement report from the customer list. Choose dates and a Statement Style of Balance or Open Items, set the aging band, and choose an output such as Email or PDF. The report can run for many customers at once using the customer filter.

The common failure point: the email address

In every system, a statement emailed to an old contact or a general inbox is a statement that never gets read. Keep a named AP contact on every account; our guide to billing contact data in collections shows how. If the customer requires invoices through a supplier portal, check whether statements are expected there too; see our guide to supplier portal invoicing.

How Do You Turn Statement Replies Into Collections Progress?

Treat every statement reply as a task with an owner and a due date. The value of a statement is the conversation it starts.

Sort replies into four outcomes

• "These look right, payment is scheduled." Record the promised date and amount, then confirm it was paid.

• "We do not have these invoices." Resend the copies the same day and ask for a payment date.

• "We already paid this." Ask for the remittance details and route them to cash application.

• "We do not agree with this line." Log a dispute with the reason code and route it to the right owner.

Follow up on silence

No reply is the most common outcome. A statement that goes unanswered should trigger a direct follow-up within a week on any account with past-due invoices, not wait for next month's run. Pair the statement with your past-due invoice email sequence and a phone call on larger balances.

Watch the pattern across months

If the same customer replies "we do not have these invoices" every month, the problem is upstream: the wrong billing contact, a portal requirement, or invoices going to spam. Fix the cause once instead of resending every month.

What Are Common Customer Statement Mistakes?

Most statement problems come from sending them without cleaning the ledger first.

• Unapplied cash still on the account. The customer sees invoices they already paid and loses trust in the whole statement.

• Old credit memos left open. They lower the total due and confuse the customer about what is actually owed.

• No PO numbers. Many AP teams cannot match an invoice without one.

• The wrong recipient. A statement sent to a contact who left the company does nothing.

• Sending and forgetting. A statement with no follow-up is just another email in the customer's inbox.

How Does Abivo Help AR Teams Use Statements?

A statement shows the customer the full picture. Getting each open invoice paid still takes follow-up on every account, every week, and that is where Abivo's AI collections agent, Kate, helps:

• Every overdue account gets followed up by phone, text and email, so statement replies and silences both get a next step.

• One message can cover all open invoices on an account, with the invoice details the customer's AP team needs to schedule payment.

• Promises to pay are recorded with date and amount, so the team sees what each customer committed to after the statement.

• Disputes are logged and handed to your team, so a disputed line does not hold up the rest of the balance.

OFS Group went from four collectors to one with Abivo, recovered $842,518 in four months and cut DSO by more than 30 days; the full story is in the OFS Group case study.

Practical Takeaways for Controllers and AR Managers

• Default to open item statements for collections, and use balance forward only for customers who pay against a running balance.

• Clean the ledger first: apply cash and match credits before the monthly run.

• Send on a fixed date each month to every account with an open balance.

• Include PO numbers, an aging summary and a named contact on every statement.

• Keep a named AP contact on every account so statements reach a person.

• Turn every reply into a task and follow up on silence within a week.

For the most common reasons customers give for paying late, and what to say to each, see our hub on late payment excuses and how to handle each one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a customer statement in accounts receivable?

A customer statement is a summary of one customer's account as of a statement date. It lists open invoices, payments and credits, and shows the total balance and how much of it is past due. It does not create a new amount owed.

What is the difference between an open item and a balance forward statement?

An open item statement lists every unpaid invoice, so the customer can match and pay specific invoices. A balance forward statement shows activity for a period plus a carried-forward opening balance, which suits customers who pay against a running balance.

How often should a business send customer statements?

Monthly is the common standard, on a fixed date after month-end close, to every account with an open balance. Send extra statements on request, before collections calls on multi-invoice accounts, and when a new AP contact takes over.

Do customer statements replace payment reminders?

No. Statements help the customer reconcile the whole account, while reminders and calls prompt payment on specific overdue invoices. The two work best together, with follow-up on any statement that gets no reply.

Why do customers say an invoice on the statement is already paid?

Usually because their payment was applied to a different invoice or not applied at all. Ask for the remittance details, apply the cash correctly and send an updated statement.

Want to see how an AI collections agent follows up on every open invoice after the statement goes out? Get started with Abivo.

Curious what this sounds like in practice? Here's a 98-second sample call: https://abivo.ai/#live-demo