CreditMngtDunning/User Documentation

Install Module

In order to install the module, as long as the module is in status Controlled Release, as Openbravo system administrator navigate to General Setup > Application > Module Management and click on the tab Setting. Change the drop-down list "When searching for new modules, accept versions of the following status or higher" to Controlled Release and then press Save. Click on the tab Add Modules and scroll down until you can find the Dunning Module. Press Install Now button and follow the wizard to complete the installation process as for any other Openbravo module.

As long as the feature which automatically selects the dunning key when a business partner is selected in a sales invoice, a change to core module is required. If there is an active industry template into your environment, navigate to Application Dictionary > Module. Search for your industry template module and open the record in edit mode. Tick the check-box "In Development". If you don't have an active industry template, you have to create a new one. Navigate to Application Dictionary > Module and create a new record as in the picture below.

Whatever is the scenario (existing industry template or new template), click on the Dependency tab and set a dependency to the dunning module as in the picture below.

Now there is one template module in development in your instance with the proper dependency. Go to Application Dictionary > Tables and Columns > Table and search the record Invoice (db table: C_Invoice). Select this record and click on the nested tab Column and search for C_BPartner_ID. Open this record in edit mode. Scroll down to the drop-down list "Call-Out" and change the selected option into "CustomerCallOutDK".

Connect to the underline server, for instance via ssh. On a Ubuntu instance run the command <sudo -su openbravo>. Change directory to /opt/OpenbravERP-2.50/openbravo-erp and run the command <ant smartbuild>. You have to wait some minutes until the build process completes successfully. Restart the environment, first change directory to /etc/init.d and then run the commands <./openbravo-erp-tomcat stop> and <./openbravo-erp-tomcat start>.

Load Reference Data

Before starting to use the dunning module, it is required that the admin user of the client loads reference data of the dunning module. Navigate to General Setup > Enterprise > Enterprise Module Management. Just for the "*" organization, select the Dunning module and press OK.

Configure Base Interest Rates

The calculation of fees, interests for dunning are in some cases dependant on the Central Bank Base Interest Rates. Deutsche Bundesbank base interest rates are published at the web page [Bundesbank|http://www.bundesbank.de/info/info_zinssaetze.en.php] and updated twice a year, on Jan 1st and Jul 1st. These rates have to be configured in Openbravo according to what is published by the Central Bank. It's responsibility of the financial user to enter a new record in Openbravo as soon as a new base interest rate is published by the Central Bank. In order to configure base interest rates, open the window Financial Management > Receivables & Payables > Setup > Base Interest Rates and enter the publication date and the percentage of the interest rate. Base Interest Rates can be configured just on the organization *. The picture below shows this window in grid mode.

Dunning Configuration

Before starting to execute any dunning run, it is compulsory to complete the parametrisation of dunning. This could be done from the window Financial Management > Receivables & Payables > Setup > Dunning Configuration. It is possible to create just one configuration for client and this configuration must be entered for the organization *. The picture below shows this window.

The window is split into several sections, each section is relevant for the calculation of each specific fee or interest. When a new configuration is created, some defaults values are proposed to the user however it is possible to change. At the end of the page the user must configure the specific products to be used to generate the dunning invoice. It is required to specify a different product for each type of fee or interest. Moreover, it must be selected the tax rate to be applied for the dunning invoices. It is suggested to create these five products before starting to create a dunning configuration. These products can be created very simply as depicted in the picture below. The product is classified as a service, UOM is Unit and Product Type is Service. Both purchase and sale checkboxes are not ticked. To group these products, they can all be assigned to a Dunning product category.

In order to change a dunning configuration, either open the existing record and change the settings, or delete the existing record and create a new one.

Dunning keys

Dunning runs are controlled by assigning to each late payment a specific dunning key. The dunning key determines the period of time after the due date before starting a dunning process for a late payment, and what will be the new key for sub-sequent duns.

To configure dunning keys open the window Financial Management > Receivables & Payables > Setup > Dunning Key.
A dunning key is identified by a two digits number. Keys 00 and 99 are reserved and pre-loaded in the application. Key 00 is meant to payments that the company does not want to dun in any case, key 99 is meant to be used as the last key which stops the dunning process. For each dunning key, it must be defined the "Grace Period" which is the number of days after the due date or the previous dun before starting a new dun to the customer. As an example, if the grace period field is set to 30, all payments which are 30 days late can be dunned.
Besides, for each dunning key, it can be defined a payment priority. Dunning fees are supposed to have a higher priority than other debts while distributing payments received coming from a customer. The system will take into account the payment priority setup. The dunning fee field allows to override the related parameter at dunning configuration. The reminder flag allows to define a specific dunning key for which no dunning invoices will be generated, this key is used just to manage reminder letters.

If the dunning invoice includes a dunning cost, the cost to be charged is retrieved from the settings in the dunning cost tab of the dunning key window. According to the example below in the picture, two levels are defined, if the outstanding amount exceeds € 20.00, € 2.00 will be charged as costs, if the outstanding amount exceeds € 100.00, then € 5.00 will be charged as costs. For outstanding amounts below € 20.00 no dunning costs are charged.

Customer Configuration

Dunning keys are assigned to payment plans as soon as an invoice is complete. As soon as the business partner is selected in a sales invoice, the application proposes a dunning key according to the customer settings. The user can freely change it into any other dunning key.

It is possible to check which key is actually assigned to each payment of the invoice by navigating the Payment Plan tab, then the nested Dunning tab of the Invoice Header window.

It is possible, for each business partner that is flagged as customer, to enter a dunning information, that's to say to configure the dunning key to be used for payment plans related to invoices issued to this business partner. You can enter the dunning information for the customer from the nested Dunning Configuration tab of the Customer tab of the Business Partner window. A customer can have different dunning configuration for each organization of the client. From this tab, the user not only selects the dunning key but also some other parameters which affect the related dunning procedures. Be aware that when flagging some check-boxes, other fields are displayed.

Granted Deferral

In case there is an agreement with the customer for a late payment (granted deferral), this can be configured from the nested Dunning tab of the Payment Plan tab of the Invoice Header window. The user can select the Granted Deferral check-box which enables the Deferral Expected Date. By setting a date, no dunning process will be activated for this payment plan until the granted deferral date is not passed.

Execute a dunning run

The user is responsible to execute a dunning run. This can be done from the process window Financial Management > Receivables & Payables > Transactions > Dunning Run. First the user must search all late payments which are subject to dunning according to dunning configuration. Search can be performed by level or by key or both. Be aware that each payment plan is assigned dunning level 0 which means it has never being dunned. After each dunning run, level is increased by 1 and the maximum level is 5.

After all late payments (for invoices) have been found, the user can decide which one must be included in this dunning run, by ticking the check-box on the left side of the row in the search table. Ticking the check-box on the header allows to select all late payments with a single action.

The user can now press the process button. After a while the application informs that the process is successfully completed and lists all dunning invoices generated for each late invoice. In fact, in case fees or interests will be charged to the customer because of the dunning, a new invoice is issued to the customer, and the description of this new invoice will report the number of the originating invoice.

It is possible to check the history of all dunning runs by opening the window Financial Management > Receivables & Payables > Analysis Tools > Dunning History.

After each dunning run the application generates two files, an XML file and a dunning report in PDF format. Both files are stored in the dunning subfolder of the "attach.path" entry in Openbravo.properties (i.e. /opt/OpenbravoERP-2.50/attachments). In order to access the files you have to navigate directly into the underline server which host the OpenbravoERP instance, or, if properly configured, you can get the files via FTP.