Both Outstanding and Overdue appear on your dashboard and customer profiles to describe unpaid invoices, but they measure two different financial views.
Outstanding
Outstanding is the total dollar amount owed to you across all active, unpaid invoices—regardless of whether they are past due.
- Included: Invoices with a status of Sent, Viewed, or Overdue.
- Excluded: Draft, Paid, Uncollectible, and Void invoices.
Overdue
Overdue is the subset of your Outstanding total where an invoice's due date has passed and its status has transitioned to Overdue. Your Overdue total will always be less than or equal to your Outstanding total.
- Included: Invoices with a status of Overdue.
Practical example
Imagine you have three active invoices:
- INV-101: $1,000 | Due next week | Sent
- INV-102: $2,500 | Due last month | Overdue
- INV-103: $500 | Due 3 days ago | Overdue
Totals:
- Outstanding Total: $1,000 + 2,500 + 500 = $4,000 (Total money expected across all active invoices)
- Overdue Total: $2,500 + 500 = $3,000 (Money that is late and needs immediate follow-up)
Which number should you focus on?
- Focus on Overdue first: This represents late payments that require immediate client follow-up. The Needs attention block on your dashboard surfaces these invoices directly.
- Use Outstanding for cash flow: This gives you a complete picture of total incoming revenue to help you forecast cash flow.
