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Getting paid

Statement of Account

The short answer

A statement of account is a summary you send a client listing several jobs or invoices at once, with what is paid, what is still owed, and the running total. It covers a client relationship, not one job.

What it means

Most invoices cover one job. A statement of account zooms out — it lists every invoice you have sent a client over a stretch of time, marks which ones are paid, and totals what is still outstanding. It is the right document when a repeat client has several jobs open at once and one invoice number no longer tells the whole story.

It runs the opposite direction from remittance advice. Remittance advice is a note the client sends you, confirming a payment and which invoice it covers. A statement of account is a note you send the client, summarizing everything you are still owed across every invoice on file — one confirms money that already moved, the other asks for money that has not.

A statement does not replace the original invoices — each one still carries its own line items, due date, and terms. It is a cover sheet on top of them, useful the moment a client has more than one or two jobs open and would otherwise have to cross-reference several emails to see the total.

For example

A regular client has three invoices open: one paid, one part-paid, one not yet due. Instead of three separate chase emails, you send one statement of account listing all three, the amount still owed on each, and a total of $740 outstanding.

The mistake to avoid

Sending a full statement of account to a client with only one open invoice — a plain invoice or a normal reminder does that job; a statement is for when there is genuinely more than one line to summarize.

See also

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