Credit Control
This course covers Credit Control (automated collections/dunning) in Quickenerp: building an escalating reminder policy, running it periodically, reviewing and sending reminder communications, and tracking who's overdue and by how much.
| Responsible | System |
|---|---|
| Last Update | 07/21/2026 |
| Completion Time | 1 day 16 hours |
| Members | 1 |
Credit Control Overview
View allFrom Overdue Invoice to Sent Reminder
Running the Policy
- Go to Accounting > Management > Credit Control Run → set the run date (usually today) → Generate Credit Lines.
- Quickenerp scans every overdue invoice, determines which policy level (if any) applies right now, and creates a Credit Control Line for each.
Reviewing Before Sending
Lines start Draft and need triage:
- To Do – confirmed, ready to actually send.
- Ignored – mark a specific line to skip (e.g. you already know the customer disputes this invoice and a reminder would be premature/incorrect).
- Queued → Done – sent successfully.
- Error / Emailing Error – something failed (e.g. missing customer email) — review and correct before re-attempting.
Communications
Multiple overdue lines for the same customer at the same level are grouped into one Communication rather than sending a separate email per invoice — a customer with 4 overdue invoices at Level 1 gets one consolidated reminder listing all 4, not 4 separate emails.
Sending
Confirm the To Do lines and send communications — either individually reviewed each run, or, once you trust the process, mark lines "To Do" and send in bulk. Keep reviewing at least the first few runs manually before fully automating.
Keeping an Eye on Who Owes What
Which Reminder Level Is Each Customer At
The Credit Control Lines list shows every customer's current escalation level at a glance — useful for a collections team to prioritise calls to customers already at the final level, rather than working through the Aged Receivable report (Financial Reports course) blind to reminder history.
Combining With Aged Receivable
Credit Control tells you what's been sent; Aged Receivable (Financial Reports course) tells you how much is outstanding and how overdue. Use them together: a customer showing 90+ days overdue on Aged Receivable but still only at Level 1 in Credit Control usually means the policy needs a manual escalation or a phone call, not another automated email.
Best Practices
- Run Credit Control on a fixed schedule (e.g. daily or weekly), not sporadically — inconsistent timing undermines the whole point of an escalation policy.
- Actually review Ignored/Error lines each run rather than letting them silently pile up.
- Keep policy tone genuinely escalating — a Level 3 "final notice" that reads the same as Level 1 loses credibility with repeat late payers.
- Coordinate with Sales/Account Managers before a strategic customer receives an automated firm/final-notice reminder — sometimes a phone call should happen first.
Automating "Please Pay Your Invoice"
Rather than an accountant manually deciding who to chase and when, Credit Control lets you define an escalating reminder schedule once, then run it regularly — it automatically finds every overdue invoice, figures out which reminder level each customer is due for, and prepares (or sends) the right communication.
Core Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Policy | Your overall dunning strategy — a named set of escalation levels, assignable per customer or used as the company default. |
| Policy Level | One step in the escalation (e.g. Level 1 = friendly reminder, Level 2 = firm notice, Level 3 = final demand), each with its own delay, tone, and email template. |
| Run | Executing the policy for a given date — scans all overdue invoices and generates the lines below. |
| Line | One overdue invoice's reminder record for that run, with its own status. |
| Communication | The actual reminder document/email sent to a customer, grouping all their overdue lines at the appropriate level together into one message. |