Highlight overdue invoices automatically in Excel and Google Sheets

invoice conditional-formatting freelancer

One conditional-formatting formula that colours every unpaid invoice past its due date.

The problem

You have a list of invoices and want late, unpaid ones to stand out without checking dates by hand.

Sample data

Dates are real dates (shown here as serial numbers). The checker's today was set to 2026-10-21.

Rule formula

Select A2:D100, then add a custom-formula rule:

=AND($B2<>"",$B2<TODAY(),$C2<>"Paid")

Result for rows 2-5: FALSE, TRUE, FALSE, FALSE. Only INV-0002 (past due, unpaid) is highlighted. Paid, future-dated and no-due-date rows are left alone.

Where to click

• Excel: Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule > Use a formula to determine which cells to format.
• Google Sheets: Format > Conditional formatting > Custom formula is.

Put the $ before B and C only, so the rule follows each row.

Excel vs Sheets

Same formula and same logic in both. We checked the TRUE/FALSE result of the rule, not the paint colour.

Want it done for you?

The Cellwise freelancer invoice and finance tracker template uses this rule, with days-overdue next to it. (Listing link will be added when the template is live.)

Tested on sample data by the Cellwise checker (log CW-PL-20261021-54). AI-made: the text, voice and visuals are generated by AI.

Checked before publishing: a check.