"Who still owes us money?" is the question every business asks weekly — and QuickBooks Online answers it in three different places, each with its own strengths. Here are all three, plus the honest shortcomings, plus the one-sentence shortcut.

Way 1: The Open Invoices report (the quick list)

Reports → search "Open Invoices".This shows every invoice that hasn't been fully paid: customer, date, due date, and open balance. Two tips:

  • Set the report period to All Dates — otherwise old unpaid invoices silently fall off the list, which is exactly where forgotten money hides.
  • Click any column header to sort — sorting by Open Balanceinstantly answers "who owes us the most?"

Way 2: A/R Aging reports (how late is the money?)

Reports → "Accounts receivable aging summary"buckets what you're owed by how overdue it is: current, 1–30 days, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+. This is the report to bring to a difficult client conversation — an invoice in the 90+ column is a very different problem from one in 1–30. Use the Detail version to see the individual invoices behind each bucket.

What "overdue" actually means

An invoice is unpaid from the moment you send it; it's overdue only once its due date passes. Mixing the two up makes cash-flow forecasts look worse (or better) than reality — a distinction that matters when you filter any of these reports.

Way 3: The Invoices page filter (for taking action)

Sales → Invoices, then filter by status: Overdue, Open, or Partially paid. This view is less report, more to-do list — from here you can send reminders and record payments directly. Best for working the list one invoice at a time; worst for totals and trends.

The limits of all three

  • Each view answers one fixed question. "Unpaid invoices over $500 from this quarter, biggest first" means customizing, filtering, and often exporting to Excel.
  • Totals by customer need the grouped variants or a pivot table — more clicks every single time.
  • The moment you export, the numbers stop updating. Next week: repeat everything.

The shortcut: ask the question directly

With AskLedger connected to your QuickBooks (read-only, official Intuit connection), the three reports above collapse into sentences: "which invoices are unpaid right now?", "who owes us the most money?", "show overdue invoices over $500". Every answer shows a "Showing:" line explaining exactly how the question was interpreted — so you can trust the numbers — and any question can be saved and emailed to you monthly, automatically.

FAQ

How do I see unpaid invoices for just one customer?

In Open Invoices, use Customize → Filter → Customer. Or ask AskLedger: "unpaid invoices for Riverside Cafe".

Why doesn't my unpaid total match my A/R balance?

Usually unapplied credits or payments sitting on the customer's account, or a report period that excludes older invoices. Set dates to All Dates and check for unapplied payments.

Can QuickBooks email me an unpaid invoice report weekly?

Yes, via a saved customization with an email schedule. AskLedger offers the same for any plain-English question, monthly, as a clean summary in your inbox.