Everything owed,
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A statement of account lists every invoice, credit and payment on a customer's account over a period, with the balance outstanding. It is not a demand for payment on a single invoice — it is the whole relationship, which is why it often surfaces invoices the customer never received.

General guidance for UK businesses, not legal or tax advice. Requirements change — check gov.uk, or ask your accountant, before relying on it.

LAST REVIEWED 27 AUGUST 2026 · BIZZLE

What has to be on it?

FieldRequiredWhy
The word 'Statement'YesClearly distinguished from an invoice, so it is not paid twice or ignored as a duplicate.
Your details and the customer'sYesThe account it relates to.
The statement date and periodYesA statement without a date is meaningless the moment anything changes.
Opening balanceYesWhat was outstanding at the start of the period.
Each invoice, credit and payment in date orderYesReference, date and amount. This is the part that finds the invoice they never got.
The closing balanceYesWhat is outstanding now, matching the sum of the lines above it.
An ageing summaryRecommendedCurrent, 30, 60, 90 days. It shows the customer what you can see, which is often the most persuasive part.
How to pay and who to queryRecommendedA named contact for queries resolves more disputes than a chasing letter does.

When a statement beats another chaser

When a customer has several invoices outstanding, or when payments have been made without remittance advice and nobody is sure what they settled. A statement reconciles the whole account rather than arguing about one line.

It is also the polite route into a difficult conversation with a customer you want to keep: you are not accusing them of anything, you are asking them to agree the position.

The invoice they never received

Sending statements monthly routinely turns up invoices that went to a stale email address, or to someone who has left. That is not a payment problem, it is a delivery problem, and no amount of chasing the original address will fix it.

It is also the cheapest thing on this page: a statement takes a moment to send and frequently recovers money nobody was actively pursuing.

TERMS USED ON THIS PAGE

invoiceAll terms →

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions people ask.

How often should I send statements?

Monthly for any customer with more than one open invoice. It is routine rather than confrontational, which is exactly why it works.

Should I include paid invoices?

For the period covered, yes — it lets the customer reconcile their side. What matters is that the closing balance is unambiguous.

Is a statement legally enforceable?

It is evidence of the account, not a contract. Enforcement rests on the underlying invoices, which is why those need to be right.

What if the customer says they have already paid?

Ask for the date, the amount and the reference they used, and check the bank. A payment made with no reference is usually sitting unallocated on your side, and the statement has just found it — which is a result, not an argument.

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