Reminders and interest

A reminder process that runs from a fixed template saves time and gives customers consistent communication. Business Central has standard functions for reminder terms, levels, fees and interest, and newer versions can automate the whole flow from creation to sending. Here is how the parts fit together and what you need to decide before you switch it on. Remember to confirm amounts and rates with your accountant.

Reminder terms and levels

Everything starts with the Reminder Terms page. Each set of terms has a number of levels that you define yourselves, and most companies use two or three. A level determines when the reminder is issued, which fees are added, and whether interest is calculated. A grace period prevents you from chasing a bill the customer has just paid.

The first reminder for a customer uses level 1. Next time the system checks the highest level on the open entries and uses the one after it. If you have more reminders than you have levels, the highest level is used, up to the limit in the Max. No of Reminders field.

The reminder terms are assigned to the customer on the customer card. If you have customers in different countries, it can make sense to create several sets of terms, each with its own language, so the text matches the customer.

Fees and interest

Additional fees can be calculated in three ways in the Add. Fee Calculation Type field: Fixed, Single Dynamic and Accumulated Dynamic. You can also set fees per currency.

Interest follows two settings. Calculate Interest on the level decides whether interest appears on the reminder. Post Interest and Post Additional Fee on the reminder terms decide whether the amounts are posted to the customer and the general ledger. The interest rate itself comes from the Finance Charge Terms page. If you only want to inform about interest without sending a reminder, use a finance charge memo.

Which fees and interest rates you may charge depends on your local legislation and your contract terms. Confirm this with your accountant or lawyer before you enter figures.

If the reminder needs to be customised, you can use placeholders in the beginning and ending text, for example for due date, interest amount and total amount. The texts are saved per level, so the first reminder can have a friendlier tone than the third.

Create, issue and send

Manually, you go to Reminders and choose Create Reminders for all customers with overdue amounts, or create a reminder for one customer and use Suggest Reminder Lines. Entries that are on hold do not trigger a reminder, but are included if the reminder is created on the basis of another entry. Interest is not calculated on them.

With the Issue action, the reminder is moved to issued reminders and reminder entries are posted. If Post Interest or Post Additional Fee is turned on, customer and general ledger entries are also created, possibly with VAT. If a reminder has been sent by mistake, you can cancel it before it reaches the customer.

If you change the lines after creation, you must use Update Reminder Text if amounts are inserted automatically in the text. Otherwise the old figures remain in the body text.

Automate the flow

The Reminders Automation page lets you combine steps: Create, Issue and Send. You choose the reminder terms, and with the Cadence field you decide whether the run is Manual, Weekly, Monthly or Custom with a date formula. The run happens through a job queue entry. You can set the automation to stop on errors, and there is a history with Log entries.

The Send step requires email to be set up in Business Central. Texts and languages come from the reminder terms, and you can attach overdue invoices as PDF.

Before you switch on the automation

Test with a single customer first. Check the reminder texts in every language you invoice in, so that the languages set up for attachment and email agree. Decide who handles customers in dispute, and remember to put their entries on hold. Otherwise you risk automatic reminders in the middle of a complaint.