Overdue Dues Action Plan: What Treasurers Should Do at 30, 60 and 90 Days

"Total dues: ৳4,80,000." That single number appears in many committee meetings, and it tells you almost nothing. Is it mostly last month's bills that will be paid next week, or years-old arrears that may never come in?

A dues aging report answers that question by sorting what members owe by how long it has been unpaid. Once you can read it, you know exactly where to spend your collection effort.

What a dues aging report shows

The report groups each flat's or member's unpaid amount into age buckets, counted from the date each bill fell due. A common set of buckets is:

• 0–30 days — current month, recently due
• 31–60 days — one month overdue
• 61–90 days — two months overdue
• 90+ days — more than three months overdue

Each row is a flat or member; each column is a bucket; the last column is the total. The bottom row shows totals for the whole association.

Your overdue dues action plan, bucket by bucket

Say an association of 150 flats has the following summary at the end of a month:

These numbers are only an example, but the pattern is typical. Notice that:

1. The 0–30 bucket has the most flats but is the least worrying; most of these will pay in the normal cycle.
2. The 90+ bucket has only seven flats but holds over half the money owed.
3. The 31–60 and 61–90 buckets are your early warning. If they are not cleared, they become next quarter's 90+ problem.

The lesson: count of flats and amount owed tell different stories. Look at both.

The right action for each bucket

0–30 days: routine reminders

No special action. Send the standard monthly reminder, keep collector rounds on schedule, and make paying easy.

31–60 days: a personal nudge

A second reminder plus a short phone call. Often the member simply forgot or thought they had paid. Check your records first in case a payment was received but not recorded.

61–90 days: committee attention

Contact the owner as well as the tenant, if the flat is rented. Offer to clear the amount over two or three instalments. Apply the late fee consistently, according to your written policy.

90+ days: a plan for each case

Each flat here needs its own plan: a face-to-face meeting with two committee members, a written statement of dues, and an instalment agreement if needed. If talks fail, check your by-laws on what action the association can take, and seek legal advice before doing anything formal.

Tip: Assign each 90+ case to a named committee member, and review progress at every meeting. Arrears with no owner on the committee rarely shrink.

Watching the trend, not just the snapshot

A single report is a photograph. Comparing reports month by month is far more useful. Each month, note down three figures:

• Total arrears.
• Amount in the 90+ bucket.
• Number of flats in the 61–90 and 90+ buckets combined.

If total arrears rise in a festival month but the 90+ bucket shrinks, collection is probably healthy. If the 90+ bucket grows steadily, your follow-up process needs attention, whatever the total says.

Presenting the report to the committee

Committee members are busy and not all are comfortable with numbers. Keep the presentation to one page:

1. The bucket summary table, with last month's figures beside this month's.
2. A short list of 90+ cases with the assigned committee member and current status.
3. One or two decisions you need from the committee — for example, approving an instalment plan or a waiver.

Avoid reading out names of defaulters in large meetings. Share individual details only with those who need them to follow up.

Common mistakes

• Counting from the wrong date. Age should run from the due date, not the bill date or the payment date.
• Netting off advance payments silently. If one flat has paid ahead, show it separately rather than hiding it inside the totals.
• Letting waivers disappear. If a late fee is waived, record it as a waiver so the aging figures stay explainable.
• Running the report before recording recent payments. Always update the day's collections first.

From the same team: Somity Keeper, cooperative accounting software for Bangladesh, and Somity Keeper Lite, a savings-group app for smaller organisations.

Getting the report without the spreadsheet work

Building an aging report by hand from a cash book takes hours and is easy to get wrong. Society Keeper produces the dues list and dues aging report (0–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+ days) directly from your billing and payment records, and you can export it to Excel for committee packs. Pair it with the monthly due-reminder SMS for the early buckets, and keep your personal effort for the 90+ list. Find more collection guides on our blog.