Aged payables
What you owe suppliers, sorted by how long each bill has been waiting.
Aged payables are the bills you owe suppliers, grouped by how long each has been outstanding — current, then 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and over 90 days past due. The aged payables report is the mirror of aged receivables: it shows, supplier by supplier, which bills are within terms and which are drifting late.
business.gov.au describes accounts payable as the record of short-term amounts you need to pay. Read beside aged receivables, the report shows the month’s real cash position: what is due out against what you can count on coming in. In Australia, if you claimed a GST credit on a bill you have not paid and it becomes 12 months overdue, or the supplier writes it off, you have an increasing adjustment.
Worked example
A café owes $9,400: $6,100 current, $2,300 at 1–30 days past due and $1,000 at 31–60. The $1,000 produce bill is the one to settle first, while the supplier still offers credit; the $2,300 can go on the next pay run.
Common mistake
Paying every bill the day it arrives. Bills paid long before they are due leave less cash for the weeks when customers pay late; paying within terms, on a set day each week, keeps suppliers happy and your balance steady.
Grounded in ATO — GSTR 2000/2: GST adjustments for bad debts guidance. Figures last checked . General information, not tax advice.
Related terms
Aged receivables
What customers owe you, sorted by how long each amount is past due.
Bank reconciliation
Checking that your records and your bank statement agree, line by line and balance by balance.
Balance sheet
What a business owns and owes on one date, and the equity left for its owner.
ABN (Australian Business Number)
The 11-digit number that identifies your business.
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Questions about this term
Aged payables: common questions
- What is the difference between accounts payable and aged payables?
- Accounts payable is the total you owe suppliers on short-term credit. Aged payables is the same list sorted into columns by how long each bill has been outstanding, so you can see which amounts are within terms and which are already late.
- Does an unpaid supplier bill change the GST credit I claimed in Australia?
- It can. If you claimed the GST credit and the bill then goes unpaid for 12 months or more, or the supplier writes the debt off, the ATO expects an increasing adjustment that gives the credit back; paying the bill later brings it back to you as a decreasing adjustment.
- How often should a small business check its aged payables?
- On each pay run is a good habit, because that is when you decide what to pay. A monthly look beside the aged receivables report then shows whether the money coming in will cover the bills going out over the weeks ahead.
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