Understand the different types of ageing you can set up in Sage 50 Accounts.
Description
To manage your credit control it's important to know how old your customer and supplier debts are. Different businesses age and categorise debts in different ways. Sage 50 Accounts has two different types of ageing:
- Period ageing
- Calendar monthly ageing
You can choose the one that works best for your business.
Resolution
Set your preferred ageing method
- Go to Settings, then Customer Defaults or Supplier Defaults.
- Select the Ageing/Due date tab.
For more information about the ageing options available, please select each option below:
▼ Period ageing Period ageing shows the age of transactions in days. The defaults periods are 30, 60, 90 and 120 days but if required you can enter your own number of days.
If you use the default periods, when you run an aged report the periods appear as follows:
| Aged Period | Age of transaction |
| Current | 0-29 days |
| Period 1 | 30-59 days |
| Period 2 | 60-89 days |
| Period 3 | 90-119 days |
| Older | 120 days and older |
Start Period Ageing on the first day of the month after Transaction date
To start ageing transactions from the first day of the month following the transaction date, select this check box. For example, if a transaction is dated 2 May it remains in the Current period throughout the whole of May. Then on 1 June it is 1 day old, on 2 June it is 2 days old and so on. It moves into Period 1 on 30 June when it is 30 days old.
Include future totals in balance
If you select this check box, when viewing aged reports the balance includes transactions dated after the report date. This also applies to the balances in Customers > Aged debt, and Suppliers > Aged balances.
▼ Calendar monthly ageing Calendar monthly ageing ages transactions by calendar month rather than by the number of days the transaction is outstanding. This means that transactions move into Period 1 on the first day of the following month.
For example for a sales invoice dated 15 January the following table shows the ageing period in which the transaction appears if the Aged option is run for a selection of dates.
| Date you run the aged option | Period in which the transaction appears |
| Prior to 14 January (inclusive) | Future |
| 15 January to 31 January | Current |
| 1 February to 28 February | Period 1 |
| 1 March to 31 March | Period 2 |
| 1 April to 30 April | Period 3 |
| 1 May onwards | Period 4 |
Include future totals in balance
If you select this check box, when viewing aged reports the balance includes transactions dated after the report date. This also applies to the balances in Customers > Aged debt, and Suppliers > Aged balances.
▼ Areas the ageing defaults affect When you set your ageing periods, you affect the following areas of the software:
| Aged reports | - Customers > Reports > Aged debtors.
- Supplier > Reports > Creditors reports.
|
| Aged options | - Customers > Aged debt.
- Suppliers > Aged balances.
|
| Activity windows | - Customers > Activity.
- Customer record > Activity tab.
- Suppliers > Activity.
- Suppliers record > Activity tab.
|
| Filters | The options you select in the Customer and Supplier defaults are shown when using the filter or search options. |
| Columns | The options you select in the Customer and Supplier defaults are shown when selecting columns in the following windows: - Customers > Chase debt.
- Suppliers > Manage payments.
To add or remove column, right-click the row of column headings > choose the column you want to add or remove. |
The Cash flow option in Bank accounts is NOT affected by the ageing defaults. Instead this uses the due date on a transaction, set by the Payment Due option in the Customer or Supplier record, when the transaction is posted.
Set your payment due preference - v28.1 and above
In your customer and supplier records, you can set payments to be due by a certain number of days after the invoice date. You can choose whether invoices are due immediately or after 30 days when customer or supplier records have a payment due value of zero.
- Go to Settings, then Customer Defaults or Supplier Defaults.
- Select the Ageing/Due Date tab then apply the setting you prefer as follows:
When due days is zero, payment is to be due immediately.
| To apply this setting, ensure the Payment due immediately when payment due days is set to zero checkbox is selected. With this option, where payment due days is set to zero, an invoice dated 01/05/2026 is also due on 01/05/2026. |
| When due days is zero, payment is to be due in 30 days. | To apply this setting, ensure the Payment due immediately when payment due days is set to zero checkbox is clear. With this option, where payment due days is set to zero, an invoice dated 01/05/2026 is due on 31/05/2026. |
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