Statement of Account
What a customer owes you, with every invoice and payment since the last statement.
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This sheet is a working document. If you are redoing it every month, ledger software does the reconciliation for you and keeps the audit trail — that is the part a template cannot do.
| To | [customer name] |
| Address | [customer address] |
| Period | [date] to [date] |
| Date | Reference | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening balance | $ 0.00 | ||
| [add one line per transaction] | |||
| Balance now due | $ 0.00 | ||
Please settle the balance shown above by the due date stated on each invoice. If any item on this statement is disputed, tell us within seven days so we can look into it.
What is a Statement of Account?
A statement of account is the running summary you send a customer showing every invoice, credit note and payment on their account since the last statement, and what is outstanding now. Most late payment is not refusal. It is an invoice that never reached the right inbox, a payment applied to the wrong reference, or a credit note nobody matched off. A statement surfaces all three on one page.
Anyone selling on credit terms sends these: wholesalers, agencies, tradespeople, printers, professional firms, and schools running fee accounts. The normal cycle is monthly, sent to every account with a balance a day or two after month end, when the customer's purchase ledger clerk is reconciling. They also go out on request during a dispute, before escalating a debt, and at year end when both sides confirm balances. Many larger buyers will not run a payment without one.
A statement is not a tax invoice in most systems, and the distinction has consequences. Under UK and EU VAT rules, Indian GST and Australian GST, the right to recover input tax generally attaches to the invoice, so a customer cannot substitute a statement for the underlying documents. Any interest or recovery costs you add also come from local law — the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation in the UK, implementations of the EU Late Payment Directive, state prompt payment statutes in the US.
A statement is a reconciliation tool, not a legal instrument. It is not a demand letter, not a formal notice and not a letter before action, and sending one begins no process. On its own it is not proof of the debt either, because it is a printout of your own ledger — the invoices, delivery notes and contract are what evidence the obligation. It does not restart or extend a limitation period simply by being sent, and the rules on what does differ by jurisdiction.
What to put in a Statement of Account
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Customer name | For example: Halliwell Interiors Inc. |
| Customer address | For example: 44 High Street, Columbus, OH 43215 |
| Period from | Free text |
| Period to | Free text |
| Opening balance | For example: 4820.00 |
| Transactions | One per line: Date | Reference | Amount (negative for payments) |
How to write a Statement of Account
Choose open-item or brought-forward and say so
Open-item statements list only unpaid invoices and are what most business customers want, because every line is actionable. Brought-forward statements start with the previous closing balance and list all activity since. Both are legitimate, but a customer reconciling an open-item statement against a brought-forward ledger will find differences that do not exist. State the type in the header.
Show every movement in date order
Start with the balance at the last statement date, then list invoices, credit notes, payments and adjustments chronologically with a running balance down the right-hand side. Do not group all invoices then all payments — the customer is tracing a sequence. Finish with the closing balance and the date it is stated as at, matching the date used for the ageing.
Give every line a reference they can match
Each row needs the document type, its number, its date and the amount. For payments, quote the remittance reference or the date it cleared your bank. Payment received, £2,400 is an invitation to a phone call. Payment received 14 August, ref HL-0916, £2,400 lets the customer tick it and move on, and identifies which of their payments you mean.
Age the closing balance
Add a strip at the foot splitting the outstanding total into current, 30, 60 and 90-plus days. This does more work than any wording you could add, because it shows the customer's own accounts team where the account has drifted without accusing anyone. Make sure the bands total exactly to the closing balance, since a mismatch there undermines the whole document.
Say what should happen next
Close with your bank details and the payment reference to quote, a named contact with a direct email and phone number, and a line asking for any disputed item to be raised by a stated date. Then print or save as PDF so the version they hold is fixed. A statement with no contact name goes to the bottom of the pile.
Common mistakes
- Sending a brought-forward statement to a customer running an open-item purchase ledger produces differences on both sides that take longer to reconcile than the debt is worth.
- Omitting unapplied payments and credit notes makes the balance look higher than it is, and the customer stops trusting every statement you send afterwards.
- Leaving off the as-at date makes the statement impossible to reconcile, because the reader cannot tell which of their payments should already be reflected.
- Adding interest or recovery charges without checking the entitlement under local law gives the customer a reason to dispute the whole balance rather than pay the undisputed part.
- Sending statements to a generic mailbox rather than the named accounts payable contact means they are never opened, and the account ages while you assume it is being chased.
Frequently asked questions
What is a statement of account?
A summary sent to a credit customer listing the invoices, credit notes and payments on their account over a period, with the balance now outstanding. Its purpose is reconciliation: it lets the customer compare your ledger against theirs and identify anything missing, misapplied or disputed. It is normally sent monthly to every account carrying a balance.
What is the difference between an invoice and a statement of account?
An invoice is the demand for one specific supply, with the detail and the tax breakdown, and it is the document that creates the debt. A statement is a summary of many such documents plus the payments against them, showing the net position. A customer pays against invoices and uses the statement to check they have all of them.
Is a statement of account a legal demand for payment?
No. It is a record of the account, and sending one starts no formal process. A letter before action, a formal demand or a claim are separate steps with their own requirements, which differ by jurisdiction, and some pre-action protocols set out what must be sent and how long the debtor has to respond. Take advice before escalating.
How often should I send statements of account?
Monthly is standard, timed for the first working days after month end so it lands while the customer's purchase ledger is being reconciled and before their payment run. Some suppliers send weekly to large accounts. Consistency matters more than frequency — a statement arriving on the same date each month becomes part of the customer's routine.
Should a statement show open items only or all transactions?
Open-item, listing only what is unpaid, is generally more useful because every line needs an action. Brought-forward, showing all activity since the last statement, helps when a customer disputes how a payment was allocated. Whichever you use, apply it consistently and label it, because switching mid-year guarantees a reconciliation argument.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.