Automatic (Payment) Reminders
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BestInvoicing allows to create automatic reminders for outstanding invoices. Example: you can automatically send a first reminder to your customer 7 days after invoice due date, followed by a second reminder 14 days after due date and a final reminder after three weeks.
To set up these automatic reminders, go to your email address at the top right and click it to open the menu
Select 'Company Settings'.
Click the tab 'Automatic Reminders'.
Click the yellow button 'Edit' at the top right.
The example already indicated that you can set a sequence of consecutive reminders. The 'Name' is a free text field for internal use. By default 'Automatic reminder 1' is entered, then 2, then 3, ... Choose a name that instantly shows how many reminders you've created in your sequence.
This value indicates how many days after invoice due date the reminder may be sent. The reminder for an invoice with a payment term of 14 days and the indication '3 days after due date' will be sent on the 18th day after creation of the invoice.
If you entered a different payment term at customer level, it will overwrite your default payment term. If your default term is e.g. 14 days, the standard reminders will go out after e.g. 18 days (14+3). If you have assigned a 30 day payment term for customer A, then the reminder for customer A will only go out after 33 days (30+3).
The value in this field will be used to state in the text as the value for the tag '%term%: "We request that you remit the amount due as soon as possible, but no later than within the %term% days, to our bank account %iban%, quoting the invoice number."
Tags are used throughout various elements of the reminder. They are dynamically replaced in the text by the corresponding value. Read more about the use of tags in BestInvoicing.
A default message is used to urge your customer to pay. This is the text that will appear on the PDF document of the actual reminder. You can modify this text here (e.g. by typing in the text field) or you can modify it once for all future reminders of this type.
To do so, click the blue button 'Default Bottom Texts' at the top. If you have already created an alternative bottom text, it will appear in the drop-down menu; if you want to create a new bottom text or edit an existing one, click the yellow cogwheel icon 'Edit Default Bottom Texts'.
A default email text is used to urge your customer to pay. This is the text that will appear in the actual email with the payment reminder attached. You can change this text here (e.g. by typing in the text field) or change it once for all future reminders of this type.
You might want to keep the tone in the message for a first reminder slightly different from the tone in a third reminder.
To do that, click on the blue 'Default Email Messages' button at the top. If you have already created an alternative email text, it will appear in the drop-down menu; if you want to create a new email text or edit an existing one, click the yellow cogwheel button 'Edit Default Email Messages'.
Below the text field it is possible to include additional costs:
Dunning costs: costs that effectively cover the formatting and sending of the reminder.
Interest rate: on an annual basis, must fall within legally reasonable provisions.
Minimum interest: value to be determined freely (amount, no percentage).
Damage compensation percentage: to be interpreted on the entire invoice amount including VAT.
Minimum compensation: value to be determined (amount, no percentage).
An example:
Total invoice amount incl. VAT
$ 1000
Dunning costs
$ 10
Interest rate
12%
Minimum interest
$ 5
Damage compensation percentage
10%
Minimum compensation
$ 3
The result for a reminder of an unpaid invoice after 30 days:
Total invoice amount incl. VAT
$ 1000
Dunning costs
$ 10
Interest (at 30 days)
$ 9.86
Damage compensation
$ 100
Also describe the additional costs mentioned above in your General Terms and Conditions.
Click 'Add' to save the reminder. The reminder has been created and will now be sent based on the send date you entered.
Suppose a customer contacts you after receiving an initial reminder. There is a dispute over payment, but you are working out a settlement for payment. In that case, it's not a good idea for the customer to be sent several more automatic reminders in the following days.
To avoid this situation, it is possible to pause the automatic reminders per invoice. To do this, go to the 'Reminders' tab in the overview of your invoice. There you will see an overview of the scheduled reminders. By clicking the red button 'Pause automatic reminders', these will no longer be sent until you reactivate the sending schedule.
