Send a customer statement
A statement tells a customer where their account stands. There are two kinds, and you can view either on screen, download it as a PDF, or email it:
- An outstanding statement lists every invoice still unpaid, whenever it was raised, as at today. It is the one for chasing payment, and the one attached to automatic payment reminders.
- An activity statement shows a period: the opening balance, the invoices and payments during it, and the closing balance.
Before you begin
- Sign in with the correct Organization selected.
- Open the customer's Account page — see The customer account page.
What an outstanding statement shows
- Every unpaid invoice, each with its own date, number, due date, how many days it is overdue, what it was originally raised for (where that differs), and what is outstanding.
- A credit note not yet applied, as a negative item.
- The total outstanding, and how it splits by age: Current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and Over 90 days. These are the same figures as the customer's row on the Aged Receivables report.
- Received, not yet matched to an invoice: payments the customer has made that are not yet allocated. They are listed apart and not deducted from the total, because they have not been matched to anything yet.
An invoice brought across in your opening position appears here like any other, with its own number, date and original amount, however long ago it was raised.
What an activity statement shows
- Opening Balance — what the customer owed at the start of the period.
- Total Invoiced and Total Paid during the period.
- Closing Balance — what they owed at the end.
- A dated Transactions list — each invoice and payment with its reference, description, amount and the running balance after it.
Invoices increase the balance; payments reduce it.
A statement that starts before your records on Sales Scribe begin
If your business moved to Sales Scribe and the statement's period starts on or before the date your records begin, the opening balance is what the customer owed on that date. It is labelled Balance brought forward at 31 Mar 2026, with your date. Under it, the statement lists every invoice and credit note brought across in your opening position that make up that balance:
- each one on its own date, with the customer's own invoice number, so they can find it on their copy and see how overdue it is;
- what it was originally raised for, where that differs from what was still outstanding;
- a credit note as a negative line.
The lines add up to the balance brought forward. They are a breakdown of the opening, not transactions of the period, so the running balance starts from their total. The PDF shows the same breakdown.
An activity statement for a later period starts from its own opening balance, as usual, without breaking it down. To show a customer every invoice still unpaid, including ones brought across, send the outstanding statement instead.
Produce a statement
On the customer's Account page, open the Statements menu (top right).
What is outstanding → Outstanding Statement (as at today) opens the outstanding statement on screen.
Activity: Quick Statements download an activity statement as a PDF for a ready-made period:
- Current Month
- Last Month
- Quarter to Date
- Year to Date
Custom Statement → Custom Date Range… — choose your own dates for an activity statement:
- Set From Date and To Date.
- Select Download PDF.
Send Statement → Email Statement… — email either kind to the customer (see below).
View and download
A statement opened on screen has Print and Download PDF buttons. Use Download PDF to save a copy. Back to Account returns you to the customer's page.
Email a statement
- On the Account page, open Statements and select Email Statement….
- Check or change the fields:
- To — pre-filled with the contact holding the Statement recipient role (falling back to the primary contact, then the customer's account email); you can send to any address.
- Subject — prefilled, editable.
- Message — prefilled, editable.
- Statement — Activity (the default) or Outstanding.
- From Date and To Date — the period an activity statement covers. They are hidden for an outstanding statement, which is always as at today.
- Select Send Email.
Sales Scribe generates the statement as a PDF and attaches it to the email. The email quotes the attached statement's own figures: the closing balance of an activity statement, or the total outstanding of an outstanding one.
What happens next
A statement is a read-only summary — producing, downloading or emailing it does not change anything in your accounts. You can run it as often as you like.
Note: If the customer has no email address on file, add one first (or type a recipient in the To box) before emailing — see Customer contacts.
Troubleshooting
- The activity statement is empty or missing transactions. Widen the date range. An invoice raised before the period is in its opening balance, not its transactions; the outstanding statement lists it on its own.
- The email didn't send. Check the To address. If you see "We couldn't prepare this email", try again shortly; if it keeps happening, contact support.
- The figures differ from the customer's Account page. The statement is limited to the chosen period; the Account page shows live lifetime and outstanding totals.