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Projects:Dunning/User Documentation

Contents

Introduction

Dunning is the process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of payments. Openbravo supports you in automatically handling late payments using customer specific dunning policies and business processes.

The configuration of the dunning module, setting a dunning policy by business partner, dunning statuses and work flows is discussed in more detail in the configuration manual.

The user manual will focus on the end user functionality provided by the dunning module.

Demo

The following demo gives an overview of the dunning process from an end user perspective:

(note that in the demo, dunning business processes are started manually, in practice dunning work flows will start automatically using a process)

Dunning policy, dunning status and dunning business process

The dunning process is defined through a dunning policy. A dunning policy consists of dunning statuses. Each status defines for a certain late-period what actions should be taken. For example, send an email after 10 days late, send a letter after 20 days late, etc. When a payment gets late and later it 'flows' through these statuses, each defining a different action to take.

A business partner has a field: dunning policy. This makes it possible to define different dunning policies for different customers.


Dunning policy.png


A dunning policy also defines which business process to use to handle the late payment. The business process can make use of the dunning statuses to control its behavior, but the system allows complete flexibility here. Any business process/work flow can be started for a late payment.

The dunning process can be started manually for a payment, but most often it is started automatically when a payment is late. This automatic process of checking payments and starting dunning processes is configured within Openbravo. This automatic process can be summarized as follows:

The dunning module is delivered with a standard work flow/business process which is executed when a payment is late. This standard business process uses the dunning statuses defined in the dunning policy to control its execution. This makes the system very configurable, in that the dunning statuses can be different for different business partners while the underlying work flow/business process can be re-used accross business partners. On the other hand if more flexibility is required a completely new work flow can be defined and used in the dunning policy.

This image illustrates the standard dunning work flow:


Dunning standard work flow.png


The standard business process executes these steps:

When the system sends a dunning email then the following applies:

Payment In Plan Window

The main entry point for handling late payments is the payment in plan window. It can be opened through quick launch or through the menu: Financial Management > Receivables and Payables > Transactions > Payment in Plan.

The Payment in Plan window lists all late payments ordered on due date which have an invoice. An important column is the dunning status column, which displays the current status computed by the dunning business process.


Dunning payment in plan.png


Dunning Log

All dunning actions are logged in the system and available in a child tab of the payment in plan. This tab gives a complete overview of all actions taken by the system:


Dunning payment in plan dunning log.png

Attached letters

When a letter is generated for a late payment then this letter is always attached to the payment:


Dunning payment in plan attachment.png


Generating a letter can be done manually, but it is also done when sending an email. In all cases the letter is attached to the late payment.

Manual Actions: send email, generate letter, change status

The normal/standard process is that the dunning process is started and handled automatically. But even then it is always possible to perform manual actions. When a payment has reached a certain dunning status you can execute specific manual actions, these actions are only available when selecting a late payment in the window and only if the status has the required information set (like an email definition):


Dunning payment in plan email.png



Dunning payment in plan letter.png



Dunning payment in plan change status.png

Task List

When the dunning business process defines a manual action then a task is generated for the role defined in the dunning status. The generated tasks are listed in the task list of all users which have the assigned role. The waiting tasks are visualized in the navigation bar in the top. When clicking the tasks link it opens the task list.

The dunning process will have created tasks on group/role level which can be claimed by a user to be handled. To do this select the task in the lower grid and click 'claim selected task'. The task will move to the user list in the top. The tasks has the following information:


Dunning task list.png


The completion of the manual/user task has to be explicitly done by the user. To do so, select the task and click 'complete selected task'. This will allow the dunning business process to continue and move to the next status.

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