Build an invoice-aging report you can verify

Download nine fictional invoices. All amounts are USD, and payments are cumulative amounts received by 30 September 2026. Use that fixed date throughout, not today’s date. The file contains no real clients or account details.

↓ Download synthetic invoices (CSV)

Open it in a spreadsheet you already have. An approved AI chat tool can draft the analysis; file support depends on your account. You can paste these nine synthetic rows or complete the entire exercise with a spreadsheet or calculator. No paid tool is required. Never substitute real invoices, customer details or bank information.

Outstanding = invoice amount minus paid amount. For every known due date, days overdue = 30 September 2026 minus due date, in calendar days. For positive balances, due today or later is Current; overdue buckets are 1–30, 31–60 and 61+ days. These are this exercise’s rules, not a universal company policy.

Keep zero balances as Paid with a zero contribution. Keep a missing due date on a positive balance as Unknown. Do not guess terms or replace a missing date with zero. Flag duplicate IDs, invalid dates, negative amounts or payments greater than the invoice before reporting. None needs correction in this fixture; one due date deliberately needs review.

Keep the original CSV unchanged. In a working copy, put outstanding in column E: =C2-D2, then fill down to E10. Confirm that imported amounts are numbers and dates are real spreadsheet dates. In column F (days overdue), for a known date in B2, =DATE(2026,9,30)-B2 gives days overdue; leave that calculation blank for the missing date. Paid rows may retain their date calculation, but always contribute zero to the Paid bucket. Do not use TODAY(), which would change this snapshot.

Assign a bucket in column G using the rules above, checking the outstanding balance first. Independently sum each bucket by filtering rows, or use =SUMIFS(E2:E10,G2:G10,"1-30 days") if you use that exact bucket label. Microsoft’s SUMIFS reference explains the range and criteria order. Formula separators can differ by spreadsheet locale.

Your control totals: invoices $7,500 minus payments $1,200 = $6,300 outstanding. Current $2,100 + 1–30 days $1,800 + 31–60 days $1,500 + 61+ days $500 + Unknown $400 = $6,300. Confirm all nine IDs appear once. INV-003 is exactly 30 days overdue; INV-004 is 31, INV-005 is 60 and INV-006 is 61. INV-001 is due on the snapshot date, so it is Current. INV-009 is Paid, not an unpaid overdue balance.

Draft three sentences: “At 30 September 2026, the fictional ledger has $6,300 outstanding. Of this, $3,800 is confirmed overdue, $2,100 is Current and $400 cannot be aged because INV-008 has no due date. Confirm INV-008’s agreed due date before updating its bucket.”

The $3,800 is $1,800 + $1,500 + $500. It excludes Unknown, which could later prove overdue. Reject claims that $6,300 is all overdue, that a customer will default, or that payment will arrive next month. This snapshot supplies no evidence for those conclusions. Do not send reminders, change a real ledger or make credit decisions for this exercise.

Keep the source CSV, your formulas or handwritten arithmetic, the AI draft if used, the checked table and your exceptions note. Record the tool, fixed date, rules and one correction you made; if none was needed, record that instead. Explain what you personally checked, especially partial payments and boundary dates.

If you used only a spreadsheet, describe it as spreadsheet practice and omit AI from your evidence line. You have practised a review process; you have not collected real cash, managed a client ledger or earned a qualification. Rehearse a truthful interview answer →