Excel · ChatGPT

How to Prepare an Accounts Payable Aging Report in Excel with ChatGPT

Paste your open vendor invoices into ChatGPT and get back a full AP aging dashboard — vendor-level buckets, DPO, early-payment discount flags, and a payment priority score, all formula-driven.

Choose your situation — copy the prompt:
ROLE
You are an AP analyst building a vendor payment aging dashboard in Excel.

OBJECTIVE
Take my open vendor invoice register and produce an aging report with
invoice-level detail, vendor-level summaries, early-payment discount flags,
DPO calculation, and payment priority scoring.

DATA
Report date: [e.g. 11/07/2025]
Date format: DD/MM/YYYY
COGS for the period: $[amount] over [number] days

Open vendor invoices (columns: Vendor, Invoice #, Due Date, Amount
Outstanding, Terms):
[Paste your open invoices here — one row per invoice, no paid invoices]

AGING RULES
- Current: Due Date is on or after Report Date (not yet due)
- 1–30 days: 1 to 30 days past Due Date
- 31–60 days: 31 to 60 days past Due Date
- 61–90 days: 61 to 90 days past Due Date
- 90+ days: more than 90 days past Due Date

DISCOUNT LOGIC
- If terms include an early-payment discount (e.g. 2/10 Net 30) and the
  discount window is still open, mark "Disc Available" and calculate the
  dollar savings. If the window has passed, mark "Disc Expired."

PRIORITY SCORING
- High: 90+ days overdue OR amount > $30,000 and 30+ days overdue OR marked
  Critical Vendor
- Medium: 31–60 days overdue, 61–90 days overdue (unless already High or
  Critical Vendor), or 1–30 days and amount > $20,000
- Low: Current or 1–30 days with amount ≤ $20,000

CONSTRAINTS
- Calculate Days Overdue as Report Date minus Due Date. Negative = Current.
- Do NOT age from the invoice date — age from the due date.
- Do NOT invent invoices, vendors, or amounts.

OUTPUT FORMAT
1. INVOICE DETAIL: Vendor | Invoice # | Due Date | Amount | Days Overdue |
   Bucket | Discount Status | Priority. Sorted by priority, then age.
2. VENDOR SUMMARY: Vendor | Total AP | Current | 1–30 | 31–60 | 61–90 | 90+.
3. DPO: Total AP ÷ (COGS ÷ Days). Show the calculation.
4. AGING SUMMARY: Total AP by bucket. Total overdue vs current.
5. DISCOUNT OPPORTUNITY: Invoices with open discount windows and total savings.
Format as tab-separated tables ready to paste into Excel.

Replace all bracketed sections with your real data, then paste the prompt into ChatGPT.

I want to find every open early-payment discount opportunity in my AP
right now, so I can decide whether to pay early.

Invoice date: [today's date]
Open vendor invoices with discount terms (columns: Vendor, Invoice #,
Invoice Date, Amount, Terms e.g. "2/10 Net 30"):
[Paste your invoices with discount terms here]

Available cash for early payment this week: $[amount]

For each invoice, calculate whether the discount window is still open,
the dollar value of the discount if paid now, and rank the opportunities
by savings-to-cash-used ratio so I can decide which to take given my
available cash.

Missed discount windows are one of the most common — and most invisible — costs in AP management.

My AP priority scoring treats all overdue invoices the same regardless of
how critical the vendor is. I want to weight critical vendors higher.

Open vendor invoices (columns: Vendor, Invoice #, Due Date, Amount, Days
Overdue, Critical Vendor [Y/N]):
[Paste your invoices here, with a Y/N column for whether each vendor is
 sole-source, a key logistics partner, or otherwise operationally critical]

Rebuild the priority score so that any invoice marked Critical Vendor
receives High priority regardless of age or amount, unless it is already
Current. Explain the new priority for each invoice in one short phrase.

A 15-day-late invoice to a sole-source supplier can matter more than a 60-day-late invoice to a replaceable vendor.

Invoice export — flat list, no urgency visible
VendorInvoice #Due DateAmountTerms
Apex LogisticsAPX-104115/05/2026$67,500Net 30
Print CoPC-088210/06/2026$3,2002/10 Net 30
Cloud Infra LtdCIL-220101/07/2026$12,400Net 60
Office DepotOD-004420/07/2026$840Net 30
Apex LogisticsAPX-105528/07/2026$31,200Net 30
Report date: 15/08/2026 · 5 invoices, $115,140 total — which is 92 days overdue?
↑ APX-1041 due 15/05 is critical — impossible to see in a flat date-sorted list
After — aging buckets and priority visible at a glance
VendorInvoice #AmountDays OverBucketPriority
Apex LogisticsAPX-1041$67,50092 days90+🔴 High
Apex LogisticsAPX-1055$31,20018 days1–30🟡 Medium
Print CoPC-0882$3,20066 days61–90🟡 Medium
Cloud Infra LtdCIL-2201$12,40045 days31–60🟡 Medium
Office DepotOD-0044$84026 days1–30🟢 Low
ChatGPT's AP summary
Total AP:     $115,140
90+ days:      $67,500  ← pay immediately
61–90 days:     $3,200
31–60 days:    $12,400
1–30 days:     $32,040
DPO = $115,140 ÷ ($820,000 ÷ 180) = 25.3 days ✓
Before — discount terms logged, windows not tracked
VendorAmountTermsDisc WindowDisc ValueStatus
Print Co$3,2002/10 Net 30Expired 21/06−$64Gone ✗
Apex Supply$28,0001/10 Net 60Expired 11/08−$280Gone ✗
Packaging Ltd$14,5002/10 Net 30Expires 15/08$2900 days left ⚠
Nord Freight$9,2001.5/10 Net 30Expires 20/08$1385 days ✓
Today: 15/08/2026 · Cash available: $40,000
↑ $64 already lost on Print Co, $280 already lost on Apex Supply. Packaging Ltd's window expires today.
After — ChatGPT ranks open discount opportunities
VendorAmountDisc RateDisc £Days LeftCash UsedRank
Apex Supply$28,0001%$280ExpiredMissed ✗
Packaging Ltd$14,5002%$2900 days$14,2101st (2% rate)
Nord Freight$9,2001.5%$1385 days$9,0622nd
Print Co$3,2002%$64ExpiredMissed ✗
ChatGPT's discount summary
Available cash:    $40,000
Pay Packaging Ltd: $14,210  saves $290 (2.0% eff. rate)
Pay Nord Freight:   $9,062  saves $138 (1.5% eff. rate)
Apex Supply: window expired 11/08 — $280 missed ✗
Total valid savings: $428
Cash required:     $23,272 (within $40k limit)
Priority: Packaging first (best rate), then Nord. ✓
Before — age-only priority, critical vendors buried
VendorAmountDays OverCritical?Priority
Office Depot$84062 daysN🔴 High
Apex Logistics$31,20045 daysY ← sole source🟡 Medium ✗
Cloud Infra Ltd$12,40045 daysY ← SLA risk🟡 Medium ✗
Print Co$3,20022 daysN🟢 Low
Nord Freight$9,2005 daysY ← sole carrier🟢 Low ✗
⚠ Striped rows = critical vendors wrongly ranked below Office Depot ($840)
↑ Age alone ignores operational risk — Nord Freight 5 days late could stop your shipments
After — critical vendors always float to High
VendorAmountDays OverdueCritical?New PriorityReason
Apex Logistics$31,20045 daysY🔴 HighCritical + 31–60 days
Cloud Infra Ltd$12,40045 daysY🔴 HighCritical + SLA risk
Nord Freight$9,2005 daysY🔴 HighCritical vendor override
Office Depot$84062 daysN🟡 Medium61–90 days, not critical
Print Co$3,20022 daysN🟢 Low1–30 days, ≤$20k
ChatGPT's priority rule
IF Critical=Y AND NOT Current → High (regardless of age)
IF Critical=N → apply standard age/amount rules
3 High (all critical vendors) vs 1 High before.
Office Depot $840 correctly drops to Medium. ✓
Why AP payment prioritisation goes wrong — the 4 most common causes
Missed discount windows
A 2/10 Net 30 discount expires unused — worth 2% of invoice value
Most common
Small invoices paid first
Easy $200 invoices cleared while a critical-vendor invoice ages
Most common
No critical vendor flag
Sole-source supplier deprioritised the same as a replaceable one
Easy fix
Paid invoices left in AP
Total AP overstated → DPO and cash projections both wrong
Invisible

Build an accounts payable aging report step by step

Build an AP aging dashboard with ChatGPT — 5 steps
1

Include only open invoices

Paid invoices inflate your AP total and create phantom overdue items. Filter before pasting. If partial payments exist, include only the remaining balance.

2

Add discount terms where they exist

2/10 Net 30 means 2% discount if paid within 10 days of invoice, otherwise full amount due in 30. Not every vendor offers discounts — leave the field blank for those.

3

Specify the report date

ChatGPT calculates days overdue as Report Date − Due Date. Negative = not yet due = Current. State it clearly: Report date: 11/07/2025.

4

Provide COGS for the DPO calculation

DPO = Total AP ÷ (COGS ÷ Days in period). Without COGS, ChatGPT can't calculate DPO. Include the figure and the period length: COGS for Q2 2025: $640,000 over 91 days.

5

Flag critical vendors explicitly

Add a "Critical Vendor" column (Y/N) so ChatGPT can boost priority for sole-source suppliers, key logistics partners, or regulated service providers — regardless of the age of the invoice.

Common mistake: Treating all overdue invoices equally. A $67,500 invoice 92 days late to your sole raw material supplier is a crisis. A $800 office supply invoice 35 days late is an admin task. Priority should weight age, amount, and vendor criticality together.

Frequently asked questions

What is an accounts payable aging report?
An AP aging report groups outstanding vendor invoices by how close they are to the due date or how far past due they are. Standard buckets are Current (not yet due), 1-30 days overdue, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, and 90+ days. It helps finance teams decide which invoices to pay first and identify overdue obligations that may damage vendor relationships.
How is AP aging different from AR aging?
AR aging tracks what customers owe you. AP aging tracks what you owe vendors. The mechanics are similar — both use aging buckets based on due dates — but the priorities are opposite. AR aging asks who to chase for collection. AP aging asks who to pay first to protect relationships and avoid penalties.
Can ChatGPT calculate DPO from the AP data?
Yes. DPO (days payable outstanding) equals total accounts payable divided by average daily COGS for the period. You provide the COGS figure and the number of days. ChatGPT computes DPO and can track it period over period. DPO feeds directly into your financial KPI dashboard.
How do I handle early payment discounts in the AP aging tracker?
Include the discount terms in your invoice data — for example 2/10 Net 30 means a 2 percent discount if paid within 10 days. ChatGPT adds a Discount Available column that flags invoices where the discount window is still open, plus the dollar value of the discount so you can prioritise accordingly.
Should I pay the oldest invoices first?
Not necessarily. Payment priority depends on multiple factors: late payment penalties, early payment discounts available, vendor criticality, and cash position. The prompt in this course builds a priority score based on rules you define — not just age.

Related Excel workflows