Open Invoices Report

The Open Invoices Report is a critical accounting tool that gives businesses a real-time view of all unpaid customer invoices. Within GlassJar, this report lists every outstanding invoice, including customer names, due dates, original invoice amounts, partial payments (if any), and current balances.

Designed for clarity and fast decision-making, this report is essential for managing accounts receivable and ensuring steady cash flow. It can be customized by date range, customer, or status, allowing users to pinpoint specific payment delays or patterns in customer behavior.

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Available Data

• Invoice Number
• Customer Name
• Customer Email
• Customer Address
• Aging

Available Filters & Sorting

• Invoices Date
• Invoice Number
• Customer Name
• Customer Address
• Invoice Amount
• Aging

Available Totals

• Customer Count
• Transaction Count
• Invoice Count
• Income

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What Is the Open Invoices Report?

The Open Invoices Report is a critical accounting tool that gives businesses a real-time view of all unpaid customer invoices. Within GlassJar, this report lists every outstanding invoice, including customer names, due dates, original invoice amounts, partial payments (if any), and current balances.

Designed for clarity and fast decision-making, this report is essential for managing accounts receivable and ensuring steady cash flow. It can be customized by date range, customer, or status, allowing users to pinpoint specific payment delays or patterns in customer behavior.

Why the Open Invoices Report Matters for Small Businesses

Small businesses rely on prompt customer payments to cover operational costs, reinvest in growth, and maintain financial health. Delays in collecting payments can create bottlenecks that ripple throughout the business—hindering payroll, vendor payments, and other essential expenditures.

The Open Invoices Report helps mitigate these risks by keeping the business owner or accountant fully informed about outstanding obligations. With GlassJar’s clean, intuitive layout, the report becomes a daily tool for evaluating financial exposure and planning next steps in customer communication or collections.

Key Fields in the Open Invoices Report

Each entry in the Open Invoices Report contains specific columns designed to provide actionable information at a glance. Typical fields include:

• Customer Name: The client or organization responsible for payment
• Invoice Number: A unique identifier for each transaction
• Invoice Date: When the invoice was issued
• Due Date: The deadline for payment, based on payment terms
• Invoice Total: The full amount billed
• Amount Paid: Any partial payment already received
• Outstanding Balance: What remains unpaid

Users can sort by any of these fields to prioritize follow-ups or identify aging receivables.

How to Access and Filter the Open Invoices Report in GlassJar

In GlassJar, accessing the Open Invoices Report is straightforward. From the dashboard, users navigate to Reports > Sales > Open Invoices, where the default view will show all unpaid invoices across customers.

Filters can be applied to narrow the results. For example, a business can:

• Filter by customer name to review one client’s open balance history
• Set a date range to examine invoices issued last quarter or month-to-date
• Group by aging categories (Current, 1–30 days overdue, 31–60 days, 61–90, 91+) to highlight risk zones

Export options are available for CSV or PDF formats, making it easy to share data with staff, collections agents, or external accountants.

Best Practices for Using the Open Invoices Report

To get the most value out of this report, it should be reviewed regularly—ideally weekly or biweekly depending on your invoice volume. During review, look for overdue balances, patterns of late payments from specific customers, or high-dollar invoices that may require escalation.

Businesses should also consider cross-referencing this report with their Customer Contact Log in GlassJar. If a customer has received multiple reminders with no response, this could indicate a need for alternative collection strategies.

Pairing the Open Invoices Report with workflow tools such as automated reminders and dunning emails can increase the likelihood of timely payments. GlassJar includes built-in workflows for sending payment reminders based on invoice age, reducing the need for manual follow-up.

Scenarios Where the Open Invoices Report Is Especially Useful

Preparing for Cash Flow Planning

When forecasting cash flow for the upcoming month, it’s essential to know which receivables are likely to convert to cash and which may be delayed. The Open Invoices Report lets users project expected inflows by adding due dates and aging categories into forecasting spreadsheets or dashboards.

Evaluating Customer Creditworthiness

Before extending new credit terms or increasing a credit limit for a client, reviewing their outstanding invoices provides a factual basis for the decision. Customers who frequently delay payment or maintain high unpaid balances may require revised terms or prepayment requirements.

Reconciling End-of-Month Reporting

During the monthly close process, the Open Invoices Report assists in confirming that all billed revenue is properly accounted for and that receivables match the general ledger. It’s especially valuable for businesses operating on an accrual basis.

Managing Collections

When working with internal or external collection teams, the Open Invoices Report serves as the central data source. Teams can use it to prioritize outreach based on the size or age of the debt. With the option to include customer contact notes and tags within GlassJar, the report becomes a task manager for collection efforts.

Differences Between Open Invoices and Other AR Reports

While the Open Invoices Report focuses exclusively on unpaid invoices, there are several related reports that serve different functions within the accounts receivable process.

Accounts Receivable Aging Summary

This report organizes unpaid invoices into aging categories (e.g., current, 30 days overdue, etc.) and aggregates totals within each category. Unlike the Open Invoices Report, it does not display each invoice line by line, but instead summarizes totals by customer or date range. It’s useful for evaluating the health of your overall receivables portfolio and quickly spotting high-risk exposure.

Customer Balance Summary

The Customer Balance Summary report gives an overview of each customer’s total outstanding balance, including both invoices and any unapplied credits. This is helpful for understanding which customers are over their typical balance thresholds and identifying clients who might benefit from a review of their credit terms.

Invoice Detail Report

The Invoice Detail Report includes all invoices—paid or unpaid—and allows users to track sales history, revenue recognition, and invoice patterns over time. It’s broader than the Open Invoices Report but less focused on actionable collections data.

Key Differences in Real-Time vs. Static Reporting

GlassJar’s Open Invoices Report offers real-time data. As soon as a payment is recorded or an invoice is marked paid, the report updates automatically. This contrasts with legacy systems or exported reports that may require manual reconciliation and could quickly become outdated.

For business owners who depend on live visibility into receivables, especially during seasonal cycles or major cash flow crunches, this real-time capability is a significant advantage.

Integrating Open Invoice Data with Other GlassJar Features

The data from the Open Invoices Report can be integrated with other modules within GlassJar to enhance decision-making:

• Budgeting Dashboard: Forecasted receivables can be brought into the budget module to show how expected payments align with expense planning
• Tags and Notes: Users can tag problematic invoices with labels like “Disputed” or “High Priority” and view them instantly from the report
• Role-Based Access: Team members in charge of collections can be granted access to only the Open Invoices Report, without viewing sensitive revenue totals or unrelated reports

Who Should Monitor the Open Invoices Report?

The Open Invoices Report is not just for accountants. Several team roles should access and interpret this data regularly:

• Business Owners: For understanding cash flow status and identifying trends in customer behavior
• Accounts Receivable Clerks: For day-to-day collections activity and prioritizing customer outreach
• Sales Managers: For tracking customer payment patterns and deciding whether to extend future terms
• Accountants: For preparing journal entries, reconciling AR accounts, and supporting financial statements

Troubleshooting with the Open Invoices Report

If the report shows a discrepancy between your expected receivables and actual balances, it may indicate issues such as:

• Duplicate invoices
• Incorrect payment entries
• Unapplied credits or overpayments
• Customer disputes not yet resolved

In GlassJar, users can drill into each invoice to view detailed activity history, including applied payments, communications, and any credit memos. This audit trail simplifies the process of resolving discrepancies and maintaining clean records.

Summary of How the Report Supports Better Financial Control

At its core, the Open Invoices Report empowers businesses to maintain visibility, discipline, and control over customer payments. With its real-time updates, customizable filters, and export options, it’s one of the most valuable tools in the GlassJar accounting platform.

Whether you’re managing collections, preparing for month-end, or forecasting next quarter’s cash flow, the Open Invoices Report delivers the actionable insights needed to run a business with confidence.