Switch on Collections and choose its settings

Collections works on your Books invoices. Once it is on, every customer with an open invoice gets a case. Nothing is sent to customers until you switch automatic reminders on, so you can look around first.

Before you start

• Books must be switched on and set up. Without it, Collections shows a banner that sends you to Books.
• Switch on Collections in Settings → Apps (see pick your apps). You need to be the owner or a manager.
• To change the settings you need the right Collections: settings and reminder sequences. Managers hold every Collections right; give staff the ones they need in Team (see roles and rights).

Steps

1. Open Collections → Collections settings.
2. Under Reminders, leave Send reminders automatically off for now. Set Quiet from and Quiet until (for example 21:00 to 09:00) and Send from, the earliest time of day messages go.
3. Set At least days between two messages, At most messages per pass and, if you like, No reminder under (amount) so small balances are left alone.
4. Tick the channels: E-mail, WhatsApp, and Tell the owner what is waiting for a daily nudge.
5. Under Ageing, type the Bucket edges in days late, for example 30,60,90.
6. Under Payments, set Smallest part payment by link, the two matching tolerances, A payment is a problem after (days unmatched), Grace days after a promised day and Grace days for an instalment.
7. In How to pay (shown on statements and reminders), write your bank details or other ways to pay, as customers should read them.
8. Under Collectors, choose how A new case gets a collector: By hand, In turn among the collectors below or Large amounts to one collector, the rest in turn. Tick the collectors, and set Large amount from, Collector of large amounts and Who handles payment problems.
9. Select Save.
10. Set up your reminder sequences. When they read well, come back and tick Send reminders automatically.

Good to know

• Paced, never in bulk. Reminders go one customer at a time, a few in each pass, never in quiet hours and never twice in a day. Quiet hours use your organisation's time zone.
• Collections Essentials (in Service Business) has no collectors, no disputes and no payment matching: the Collectors card is greyed out, and every user who may see Collections sees every case.
• Write-offs need no approval until you set a limit. The line at the top of the page links to Studio → Approval limits; see write off a disputed amount.
• Rules on debt messages differ by country. The defaults are gentle. How often you may contact a customer, at what hours and with what words is your decision; ask an adviser if you are unsure.
• Run now. On Collections → Overview, a manager can select Run now to refresh the cases at once and, when automatic reminders are on, send what is due (still outside quiet hours).
• Next: work the case queue.