What Is the Outstanding Customer Payments Report?
Outstanding Customer Payments gathers every order where money is still owed and lines it up against the customer who owes it. For each row you get the customer name and email, the order it belongs to, its financial status, the net order value, the amount still outstanding, and anything already refunded.
The value here is the pairing of two things Shopify keeps in separate places: the unpaid balance and the person to contact about it. A pending or partially paid order is only useful for collections if you can act on it, and this report puts the contact detail next to the amount.
One distinction worth holding onto: outstanding is not the same as unpaid in full. An order can carry a balance because payment was never captured, or because part of it was refunded after the fact. The Financial Status and Total Refunded columns are what tell those two situations apart before you send a reminder.
Which Fields Are Included in the Outstanding Customer Payments Report?
These fields help you decide which balances are worth chasing and who to reach about them.
You can customize the pre-made report by adding, removing, or rearranging fields so it matches the way your finance team reviews open balances.
Important Insights You Can Find in This Report
Is the same customer showing up with a balance on more than one order?
Sort by Customer Name and scan for people who appear on several rows, each with its own Total Outstanding. A single late order is normal. The same customer carrying balances across multiple Order Names is a pattern, and it changes how you treat them: it may be worth requiring payment upfront on their next order, or pausing manual and draft-order checkout for that account until the balance clears.
Is the outstanding amount real money owed, or the leftover of a refund?
Read Total Outstanding next to Total Refunded and Financial Status together. A balance on an order with nothing refunded is a straightforward collections task. A balance on an order that also shows a refunded amount usually means part of the total was reversed, so the "outstanding" figure is not fully collectible. Separating these two keeps you from chasing money that was never going to come in.
Which financial statuses actually need action this week?
Group by Financial Status and weigh each group against Net Order Amount and Total Outstanding. A partially paid order on a high net amount is often your largest genuinely collectible balance and belongs at the top of the list. A small pending balance may simply be a gateway still settling and will clear on its own. The status column tells you which rows are worth a person's time and which will resolve without one.
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The number people react to first is Total Outstanding, and on its own it can point you at the wrong orders. A refund quietly changes what that figure means. When an order carries both an outstanding amount and a refunded amount, part of what looks unpaid was reversed on purpose, not withheld by the customer. Before a balance goes on a collections list, it is worth checking Total Refunded and Financial Status on the same row. If the outstanding amount lines up with a refund, the order needs reconciling in your books, not a payment reminder. If it does not, then it is a real receivable and belongs in your follow-up.
How Can You Automate the Outstanding Customer Payments Report?
Open Report Pundit, load the pre-made Outstanding Customer Payments report, and save it. The columns are already set. From there you can schedule it to arrive by email on a daily, weekly, or monthly cycle, so open balances land in your inbox without a manual rebuild, and you can route the same schedule to a teammate, VA, or accountant. Exports are available as Excel, CSV, or PDF, and the report can be sent to Google Sheets or Google Drive for anyone reconciling outside the app.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Outstanding Customer Payments report show?
It lists orders where money is still owed, paired with the customer who owes it. Each row includes the customer name and email, order name, financial status, net order amount, total outstanding, and total refunded.
What is the difference between Total Outstanding and Total Refunded?
Total Outstanding is the amount still unpaid on the order. Total Refunded is money already returned to the customer. An order can show both, which usually means part of the balance was reversed rather than left unpaid.
How is this different from the Payment Outstanding report?
Payment Outstanding is organized around payment terms and due dates (issued date, due date, days until due) for invoice-style credit. Outstanding Customer Payments is organized around the customer and their contact details, so its focus is who to follow up with rather than when an invoice falls due.
Why does a paid order sometimes appear with an outstanding amount?
This typically traces back to a partial capture, an adjustment, or a refund recorded against the order. Check Financial Status and Total Refunded on that row to see which applies before treating it as unpaid.
Can I filter this report to only partially paid orders?
Yes. You can filter by Financial Status to isolate a single state, such as partially paid or pending, so the report shows only the balances you want to work through.