Open items
Open items are a business’s booked but not yet paid invoices — on the customer side the receivables, on the supplier side the payables, each with amount and due date.
Definition
That list is the most practical information accounting delivers: it shows which money is on its way, how old it is and where it is stuck. Aged by due date — not yet due, up to 30 days, up to 60, older — it becomes an ageing structure from which dunning stages and default risks follow.
A business that knows its open items only as a balance sees the sum but not the structure. That is the difference between «we have CHF 80,000 outstanding» and «CHF 40,000 of that is over 60 days old and concerns three customers».
What the software must be able to do
Check whether the list is aged by due date, whether partial payments appear correctly in it, and whether it can be output per customer, per period and as a file. Output that exists only on screen does not help in the conversation with the bank.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Invoicing, payment and banking: Advance payment Allowance for doubtful debts Bad debt camt.053 Cancellation invoice Cash discount Certificate of shortfall Credit note Creditor Current account Debt enforcement Debtor Default interest Delivery note Dunning eBill Final invoice IBAN Invoice number ISO 20022 / camt pain.001 Part payment Payment term Pro forma invoice QR reference QR-bill QR-IBAN Quotation Receipt Tips TWINT as a payment method Visitor taxes