Automated Collections

You can use the Automated Collections page to send email reminders for sales invoices, and customer statements for multiple companies.

The Send Reminders tab displays the reminder rules that you have created, the companies associated with each rule, and the number of reminders to be sent.

The Send Customer Statements tab displays the customer statement rules that you have created, the companies associated with each rule and the number of statements to be sent.

Tip:

You can send reminders and customer statements to the finance contact on either the related account or the related multiple companies account config. If you are using a multiple companies account config, ensure that:

• The Use Multiple Companies Configuration field in the Accounting Settings custom setting is selected
• The correct email address is specified on the contact selected as the finance contact on the multiple companies account config

If you use this feature, you can also send reminders to a collections communication contact on the related contact. For more information, see Multiple Companies Configuration Overview.

Reminders

If you have created automated rules and the rules have already run, the number of reminders sent display.

Tip:

You can use the search and filter functions on the toolbar to refine the information displayed on this page. You can also click to view details of the invoices to be sent, any invoices that have been excluded and reminders that have errors.

To send multiple rules for all companies you must have all companies selected and be in multi-company mode.

Notes:
Reminder rules select invoices based on the due date. If you have invoices that meet more than one rule, reminders will only be sent for the rule that is either before the due date or closest to the due date. Invoices will not be selected for the next rule until the number of days specified in the Offset Days for Collections Reminders field in the Accounting Settings custom setting is reached.
For example, if you set up reminder rules for 10 and 30 days after the invoice due date, when you first run the reminder process, invoices that are 30 days overdue are initially sent a reminder for being 10 days overdue. If the Offset Days for Collections Reminders field is set to 5 (the default), you must wait 5 days before you can send further reminders for the invoices that are 30 days overdue.
When you send reminders for a rule, the process creates a cached workspace for each company associated with that rule. Only invoices available when you run the rule are included and the workspace is effectively locked. If you make changes to invoices that affect their availability for that reminder rule after reminders have been sent, those changes will not appear in Collections Plus until the following day.

To send or exclude reminders you must have the Accounting and Billing - Collections - Send Email Reminders permissions assigned.

Sending Reminders

If you have reminder rules that use Classic templates and other reminder rules that use Conga, you cannot send reminders for both rule types in the same reminder process. You must select each rule type separately.

You must have the company that you send reminders for set as your current company. If you send reminders for multiple companies, all those companies must be set as your current company.

To send reminders:

1. Click the Automated Collections page, then click the Reminders tab.
2. [Optional] To filter the rules and companies, click . On the filter panel enter the companies and rules that you want to filter on. You can select multiple companies and rules. Click Apply.
3. [Optional] Select the rules and companies that you want to send reminders for. All rules and all companies are selected by default.
4. [Optional] To create Conga attachments for the reminders, click Manage Attachments. Create the attachments that you require. For information on the process, see Managing Conga Attachments for Reminders
5. [Optional] To review the invoices selected for a company and rule, hover over the To Send count and then click (Edit). The Reminders to Send window displays. To exclude invoices from the reminders process, clear the Selected checkbox and enter a reason in the Reason for Exclusion field. Click Save.
6. Click Send. The reminders and any attachments are created. Reminder logs are created and the reminders are processed and sent. You can refresh the page to view updated counts of reminders sent and any errors. You will receive an email notification when the reminders process is complete.

Managing Conga Attachments for Reminders

If you have reminders rules that send reminders using Conga to generate attachments, you can manage the attachments for those rules from the Automated Collections page.

The Attachments column on the Reminders to Send window displays the number of attachments for each company included in a reminder rule. If this number is less than the number of reminders to send, you must add attachments.

Warning:

When you click the Add Attachments tab on the Manage Attachments window, any existing Conga attachments on invoices are deleted unless the Use Existing Conga Attachments checkbox has been selected on the reminder rule that you are managing attachments for.

To add Conga attachments:

1. Select the reminder rule that you want to create attachments for.
2. Click Manage Attachments The Manage Attachments window displays.
3. Click the Add Attachments tab. A separate Conga Batch record is created for each company on the reminder rule.
4. Select a Conga batch record. You can only select a single record.
5. To add attachments click Launch Conga Batch. the launch Conga batch window displays.
6. Click Start. The batch process starts.
7. When the batch process completes click OK and then click Close.
8. [Optional] Repeat steps 4-7 to generate attachments for other companies on the reminder rule.
9. Click Close.

Viewing Sent Reminders

To view sent reminders:

1. On the Automated Collections page, click (Edit) in the Sent column. The Reminders Sent window displays.
2. To view the invoice that the reminder was sent for, click the document number.
3. To view details of the reminder log, click the reminder log reference.

For more information on the reminder logs, see Reminder Logs.

Viewing Excluded Reminders

If you have excluded reminders from the send reminders process, you can view details of those reminders. You can make excluded reminders available for sending again.

Notes:
Invoices that you exclude from the reminder process, will continue to be available to have reminders sent today and on subsequent days, until the reminder has been sent. If you want to remove an invoice from the collections process entirely, you should select Collections On Hold on the Invoice or on the Account.
If you are sending reminders for billing documents, you can remove them from the collections process entirely by placing them "On Hold". For more information, see Placing Billing Documents On Hold.

To view excluded reminders:

1. On the Automated Collections page, click (Edit) in the Excluded column. The Reminders Excluded window displays.
2. To make an excluded reminder available for sending, clear the Selected checkbox. You can clear the Selected checkbox at the top of the grid to make all invoices available to be sent.
3. Click Save. The To Send count on the Automated Collections page is updated.
4. Click Send to send reminders for any invoices that are no longer excluded.

Viewing Reminder Errors

If you have errors when sending reminders, you can view these errors and try to resolve them. For more information on common reminder errors and solutions, see Reminder Errors.

To view reminder errors:

1. On the Automated Collections page, click (Edit) in the Errors column. The Reminders with Errors window displays.
2. Click the reminder log reference to view details of the reminder error.

Once you have resolved the errors for your reminders, you can click Send to re-send the reminders.

Customer Statements

Customer statements contain a list of unpaid or part-paid documents for a customer account during the month prior to the statement date.

You can set up a rule to select accounts to send statements to customers on a specific day of the month. You can only use Classic email templates for customer statements.

You can use the Send Customer Statements tab to view the customer statements that are going to be sent.

Tip:

You can use the search and filter functions on the toolbar to refine the information displayed on this page. You can also use to view details of the invoices to be sent, any invoices that have been excluded and reminders that have errors.

If you have created automated rules and they have already run, the number of customer statements sent displays.

If the number of statements to be sent by an automated rule exceeds the daily limit, defined in the Customer Statement Limit field in the Collections Plus custom setting, a scheduled job is automatically created to send the remaining statements the following day. If the number of customer statements to be sent by this additional job also exceeds the daily limit, a further scheduled job is created to send statements the day after this additional job. Any additional jobs created by the automated rule are deleted when the number of statements to send reaches 0.

To send customer statements using multiple rules for multiple companies you must have all companies selected and be in multi-company mode. You must also have the Accounting and Billing - Collections - Send Customer Statements permissions assigned.

Sending Customer Statements

To send customer statements:

1. Click the Automated Collections page and then click the Send Customer Statements tab.
2. [Optional] To filter the rules and companies, click . On the filter panel enter the companies and rules that you want to filter on. You can select multiple companies and rules. Click Apply.
3. [Optional] Select the rules and companies that you want to send customer statements for. All rules and all companies are selected by default.
4. [Optional] To create Conga attachments for the customer statements, click Manage Attachments. Create the attachments that you require. For information on the process, see Managing Conga Attachments for Customer Statements
5. [Optional] To review the customer statements selected for a company and rule, hover over the To Send count and then click . The Customer Statements to Send window displays. To exclude accounts from the statements process, clear the Selected checkbox and, optionally, enter a reason in the Reason for Exclusion field. Click Save.
6. Click Send. Customer statements are created. The customer statement logs are then created and the statements are processed and sent. You can refresh the page to view updated counts of statements sent and any errors. Customer statement logs are updated during the sending process. You will receive an email notification when the statements process is complete.

Managing Conga Attachments for Customer Statements

If you have customer statement rules that send reminders using Conga to generate attachments, you can manage the attachments for those rules from the Automated Collections page.

The Attachments column on the Customer Statements to Send window displays whether the selected company has an attachment on the account record. If a company does not have an attachment you must add one using the manage attachments process.

When you send customer statements the attachments are deleted from the accounts and are retained on the customer statement logs.

When you create Conga attachments, the attachment name is created by concatenating the company name and the account name. You can specify a prefix for the attachment names in the Conga Statements Attachment Prefix field in the Collections Plus custom setting. If you have specified a value in this field, it is applied when you create attachments using the Manage Attachments process or directly on the account.

Note:

If your account names contain "&" or other special characters, Conga deletes anything after the special characters when creating the attachment names.

Warning:

When you click the Add Attachments tab on the Manage Attachments window, any existing Conga attachments on accounts are deleted.

To add Conga attachments:

1. Select the customer statement rule that you want to create attachments for.
2. Click Manage Attachments The Manage Attachments window displays.
3. Click the Add Attachments tab. A separate Conga Batch record is created for each company on the customer statement rule.
4. Select a Conga batch record. You can only select a single record.
5. To add attachments click Launch Conga Batch. the launch Conga batch window displays.
6. Click Start. The batch process starts.
7. When the batch process completes click OK and then click Close.
8. [Optional] Repeat steps 4-7 to generate attachments for other companies on the customer statement rule.
9. Click Close.

Viewing Sent Statements

To view sent customer statements:

1. On the Automated Collections page, click the Send Customer Statements tab.
2. Click in the Sent column. The Customer Statements Sent window displays.
3. Click the account name to view details of the account that the customer statement was sent to.
4. Click the customer statement log reference to view details of the customer statement log.

For more information on the customer statement logs, see Customer Statement Logs.

Viewing Excluded Statements

If you have excluded customer accounts from the statements process, you can view details of the customer statements. You can make excluded statements available for sending again.

To view excluded customer statements:

1. On the Automated Collections page then click the Send Customer Statements tab.
2. Click in the Excluded column. The Customer Statements Excluded window displays.
3. To make an excluded customer statement available for sending, clear the Selected checkbox. You can clear the Selected checkbox at the top of the grid to make all statements available to be sent.
4. Click Save. The To Send count on the Send Customer Statements tab is updated. Customer statement logs are deleted. New logs are crested when you send statements again.
5. Click Send to send the customer statements that are no longer excluded.

Viewing Statement Errors

If you have errors when sending customer statements, you can view these errors and try to resolve them.

To view customer statement errors:

1. On the Automated Collections page click the Customer Statements tab.
2. Click in the Errors column. The Customer Statements with Errors window displays.
3. Click the account name to view details of the account that the customer statement was generated for.
4. Click the customer statement log reference to view details of the statement error.

For detailed information on errors and troubleshooting them, see Customer Statement Errors.

Once you have resolved the errors for your customer statements, you can click Send to re-send the statements.