Statement of Account

A statement of account is a financial document that summarizes all transactions between a business and a customer over a defined period - typically one calendar month. It lists invoices raised, payments received, credit notes applied, and any outstanding balance. Businesses that extend trade credit use statements regularly as part of their credit control process: the document shows each credit customer exactly where their account stands and prompts payment on any overdue invoices before the balance becomes aged debt.

What a Statement of Account Contains

A standard statement of account includes the following:

• Business name and contact details, and the customer's name and address
• Statement period - for example, 1 August to 31 August 2026
• Each transaction listed by date: invoice number, amount, payments received, and credit notes applied
• A running balance after each transaction
• The closing balance owed at the end of the period
• Payment terms and bank payment details

Statements come in two forms. An activity statement covers all transactions in the period, including invoices already paid - useful for reconciliation when a customer queries their account history. An outstanding statement shows only unpaid invoices, making it the more practical version for credit control. Most businesses on trade accounts send outstanding statements at the end of each calendar month, giving credit customers a single consolidated view of what they owe.

Statement of Account vs. Invoice

An invoice and a statement of account handle different jobs, even though both reference the same transactions.

An invoice is raised for a single transaction. It formally requests payment for specific goods or services, and the recipient is required to record it in their accounts payable. A statement of account covers multiple transactions over a period. It is informational - it tells the customer what the seller's records show - and creates no new accounting obligation for the recipient.

The practical consequence: customers should always pay against a specific invoice number, not against the statement itself. Paying a lump sum against a statement without allocating it to individual invoices creates reconciliation problems on both sides and can lead to double payments or unrecognized credits. When a payment is made, the customer should send a remittance advice identifying exactly which invoices the payment covers.

Zigaflow's invoicing feature gives businesses a complete view of each customer's account - open invoices, payments received, and outstanding balances - making it straightforward to produce and send statements as part of a regular credit control routine. A related workflow, preparing and sending a customer account statement, covers the full process step by step.