Processing Delinquency Notices and Fees

This chapter discusses how to:

• Generate delinquency notices.

• Work with delinquency notices.

• Generate delinquency fees.

• Work with delinquency fees.

See Also

Setting Up Credit and Collections Management

Generating Delinquency Notices

This section provides an overview of delinquency notice generation and discusses how to run the Print Delinquency Notices program.

Understanding Delinquency Notice Generation

You create delinquency notice records by running the Print Delinquency Notices version of the Credit Analysis Refresh program (R03B525). This version has predefined processing options set for printing delinquency notices. The system generates notices based on the delinquency policy that is assigned to the customer.

Aging Categories or Severity Level

The Determine Severity Level processing option for the Print Delinquency Notices program controls whether the system retrieves the policy information (notification instructions) based on aging categories or severity levels:

• If you select aging categories, you can additionally select whether to use the aging categories that are set up in the Accounts Receivable constants or the aging categories that are set up in the processing options (on the Aging tab).

  The system uses the aging date, type of date, and specified aging method to determine the appropriate aging category for the invoice, and then retrieves the notification instructions that are associated with that aging category.

  For example, if the past-due invoice is in the second aging category, the system retrieves the notification instructions for aging category 2.

• If you select severity level, the system uses the value of the Number of Reminders Sent field (RMDS) to determine the notification instructions to use.

  For example, if the invoice was included on two delinquency notices (RMDS is equal to 2), the system retrieves the notification instructions that are set up for severity level 3.

Tiered Notification Policy

You specify whether you want to use a tiered notification policy when you define the policy by selecting the Use Tiered Notification Policy option:

• When you use tiered notification policies, the system generates a notice only when a notification policy is set up for the aging category (or severity) to which the invoice is assigned.

  If the aging category or severity level is not defined, the system does not generate a notice.

  For example, if the invoice is in aging category 5, and you have notification instructions set up for aging category 4, but not 5, the system does not generate a delinquency notice.

• If you do not use tiered notification policies, the invoice does not have to be in the specified aging category for the system to generate a notice.

  If the invoice is in an aging category that is greater than the aging category that is specified by the policy, the system still generates a notice.

  For example, if the invoice is in aging category 5, and you have notification instructions set up for aging category 4, but not 5, the system generates the delinquency notice.

Threshold Percent, Grace Days, and Pay By Days

In addition to the aging category or severity that is used to locate the policy's notification instructions, the system uses this additional criteria to determine whether to generate a delinquency notice:

• Threshold Percent

  You use the threshold percent to limit the number of delinquency notices that you generate by amount. The sum of the invoices for the specified aging category (or severity) must be greater than or equal to the threshold percent of all open invoices for the customer.

  For example, if the open balance of the customer is 7500.00 and the threshold percent is 20, the sum of the invoices in the aging category must be at least 1500.00 or the system does not generate a delinquency notice.

• Grace Days

  The system extends the invoice due date by the number of grace days for the first delinquency notice only. Subsequent delinquency notices do not use the grace days; the system adds the number of days between delinquency notices to the value of the Date of Last Sent Reminder field (RDDJ), and if the invoice is still outstanding as of that date (and meets the other requirements of the policy), the system generates another notice.

• Pay By Days

  In some countries, it is a legal requirement to provide the customer with a notification payment date (new due date) on the delinquency notice. The customer must remit payment by the notification payment date. To accommodate this request, you use the Pay By Days field (PBDY) in the notification policy, which the system adds to the aging date to determine the Notification Payment Date (DTPB) that prints on the delinquency notice. Unlike grace days, the system uses the pay by days on every delinquency notice that it generates (not just the first).

  You can use both grace days and pay by days. For example, if the due date is June 15, 2008, the aging date is June 30, 2008, and you specify 3 grace days and 5 pay by days, the system extends the due date to June 18, 2008 to determine the aging category (and notification policy), and then updates the notification payment date to July 15, 2008. The system prints the notification payment date on the delinquency notice only when you select the Tiered Delinquency Notice Print program (R03B21).

  Note. If one invoice meets the requirements for one of the notification instructions that are set up for the policy, the system generates a delinquency notice that prints all past-due invoices, unless they are less than the minimum amount requirement that is set up for the aging category (severity level). The system does not print any invoice that is less than the minimum amount that is specified in the notification instructions.
  
  If invoices in more than one aging category or severity level trigger the program to generate a delinquency notice, the system uses the notification instructions from the oldest aging category or greatest severity level. For example, if invoices in aging category 2 and in aging category 4 meet the requirements of the policy, the system uses the notification instructions that are set up for aging category 4 only.

Approving and Rejecting Delinquency Notices

If you select the Collection Manager Approval Required option for the policy, the collection manager must approve each notice before the system generates it for the customer. The system sends workflow messages to the collection manager that is specified in the customer record. The collection manager can access the Work with Delinquency Approval form from these messages, or access the Approve Delinquency Notices program (P03B201) from the menu, to approve or reject the notices.

If a manager does not need to approve notices, the system creates a spooled file for printing them.

Printing Delinquency Notices

The system uses the policy to determine whether to send a notice to the customer.

Two programs are available for printing delinquency notices:

• R03B20 - A/R Delinquency Notices Print.

• R03B21 - Tiered Delinquency Notice Print.

This table lists the differences between the two programs:

Regardless of the program that you select, you can run Print Delinquency Notices in either proof or final mode:

• Proof Mode

  The system prints notices and designates them as PROOF. The system deletes the records that it temporarily generates to print the notices from the A/R Notification History (F03B20) and A/R Notification History Detail (F03B21) tables.

• Final Mode

  The system prints notices and creates records in the F03B20 and F03B21 tables. The system also updates these fields on the invoice records in the Customer Ledger table (F03B11):

  • Date of Last Sent Reminder (RDDJ).

  • Number of Reminders Sent (RMDS).

  • Notification Payment Date (DTPB).

When you print delinquency notices, the system:

• Includes only those invoices that are past due and that meet the minimum amount requirement.

• Prints the letter that is applicable to the last aging category if invoices fall in different aging categories that would produce different letters.

  For example, if one invoice is 30 days past due, which would print Letter1, and another invoice is 90 days past due, which would print Letter3, the system prints Letter3 and lists both past due invoices.

Data Selection and Data Sequencing

To use data selection to print notices for specific customers, use the Print Delinquency Notices program (R03B525), not the A/R Delinquency Notices Print program (R03B20) or the Tiered Delinquency Notice Print program (R03B21).

Important! If you modify the data selection to print specific notices, set the processing option to prevent updating the Credit and Cash Management table (F03B15). Otherwise, the system updates the table according to the specified data selection, which might compromise the collection manager's ability to perform daily collection activities.

The totals that print on the notices are dependent on the correct data sequence; therefore, do not change the data sequence on either of the print programs (R03B20 and R03B21) or the Print Delinquency Notices program (R03B525) when generating notices.

Prerequisites

Before you complete the tasks in this section:

• Set up the text that you want to print on the delinquency notices.

• Ensure that you have a policy defined and attached to the customer record and that you have set up credit and collections information.

• Ensure that you have selected the Delinquency Notice option on the Accounts Receivable Constants form and on the Customer Master Revision form (Collection tab).

Running the Print Delinquency Notices Program

From the Statement Reminder Processing menu (G03B22), select Print Delinquency Notices.

Working with Delinquency Notices

This section discusses how to:

• Set processing options for A/R Delinquency Notices Print (R03B20).

• Set processing options for Tiered Delinquency Notice Print (R03B21).

• Set processing options for Review Delinquency Notices (P03B202).

• Review delinquency notices.

• Review summarized invoice information by aging category.

• Review, approve, and reject delinquency notices.

• Reprint delinquency notices.

See Also

Purging Statements and Delinquency Notices

Forms Used to Work with Delinquency Notices

Setting Processing Options for A/R Delinquency Notices Print (R03B20)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Print

These processing options determine whether specific information prints on the delinquency notice.

Setting Processing Options for Tiered Delinquency Notice Print (R03B21)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Print

These processing options specify whether specific information prints on the delinquency notice and, in some cases, the format of that information.

Setting Processing Options for Review Delinquency Notices (P03B202)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Version

Reviewing Delinquency Notices

Access the Notification Review Detail form.

Invoice Summarize

Select to summarize invoice pay items into one record. The system displays * in the Pay Itm (pay item) field when invoice pay items are summarized.

Reviewing Summarized Invoice Information by Aging Category

Access the Notification Summary form.

Reviewing, Approving, and Rejecting Delinquency Notices

Access the Notification Review Detail form.

Note. If you do not need to review the delinquency notice, you can approve or reject it on the Work with Delinquency Approval form by selecting Approve from the Row menu.

To approve and reject delinquency notices:

1. Select the Invoice Summarize option and then click Find to summarize invoice pay items into one record.

2. Review the information on the delinquency notice, and then select either the Approved or Rejected option.

   Important! After you click OK to approve or reject a notice, you cannot select a different option.

3. Click OK.

   If you approved the notice, you must exit the Notification Review Detail and Work with Delinquency Approval forms for the system to generate the notice. The system runs the version of the notices print program that was specified in the processing options of the Print Delinquency Notices program (R03B525) at the time that the notice was generated. You can verify this version on the Work With Notifications form when you select the Review Delinquency Notices program (P03B202).

   The system updates the appropriate fields in the F03B11 table and updates the status of rejected notices accordingly.

   Approved	Select to approve delinquency fees or notices that require management approval.
   Rejected	Select to reject delinquency fees or notices that require management approval.

Reprinting Delinquency Notices

Access the Work With Notifications form.

Select the notice that you want to reprint and then select Reprint from the Row menu.

Alternatively, access the Notification Review Detail form.

Select Reprint from the Form menu and then click Cancel.

Generating Delinquency Fees

This section provides overviews of delinquency fee generation, lists prerequisites and discusses how to:

• Run the Generate Delinquency Fees program.

• Set processing options for Generate Delinquency Fees (R03B525).

• Set processing options for A/R Delinquency Fee Journal (R03B22).

• Set processing options for Late Payment Delinquency Fees (R03B221).

Country-specific functionality for delinquency fees exists for Argentina and Poland.

See Also

Reviewing Multicurrency Statements

Working With Delinquency Fees in Argentina

(CZE and POL) Working With Delinquency Fees

Understanding Delinquency Fee Generation

As part of the collection process, you can generate and approve delinquency fees. These fees are finance charges that you can assess on past-due open invoices or invoices that have been paid late.

You create delinquency fee records by running the Generate Delinquency Fees version of the Credit Analysis Refresh program (R03B525). This version has processing options set for generating delinquency fees. You can run this version in proof or final mode.

When you generate delinquency fees, the system:

• Compares the invoice due date with the effective date of the policy to determine which policy instruction to use when retrieving the rate for calculating the late fee.

  If the invoice is paid, the system uses the G/L date on the receipt to calculate the number of days paid late:

  Days Paid Late = The difference between the receipt G/L date and the age as of date

• Uses aging begin days and aging end days in the policy to determine the number of days past the invoice due date (plus grace days, if applicable) to start generating the fee, and the rate and flat fee to use for fee calculations.

  If the invoice is unpaid when subsequent fees are generated, the system uses the last fee date (LFCJ) from the invoice record, in conjunction with the aging begin days, to determine the start date for generating the fee. The system does not use grace days for subsequent fees.

• Uses the policy to determine whether to calculate the fee on open amounts, paid late amounts, or fees previously generated, such as a compound fee.

• Uses the policy to determine whether to calculate the fee based on the annual percentage rate, a flat amount, or both.

• Prorates fees that were calculated using the annual percentage rate by day using this formula:

  ((annual percentage rate ÷ YYY) × .01) × invoice amount × number of days late

  YYY = 365 days (or number of days in a year)

• Generates one fee per customer and currency for all eligible invoices.

• Prints the A/R Delinquency Fee Journal (R03B22).

If you run this program in proof mode, the system produces a Finance Charge Journal that details the invoices selected for a fee and the amount of the fee that will be generated when the program is run in final mode.

When you run the program in final mode, the system:

• Creates a delinquency fee document (document type RF) in the F03B11 table for the total amount of all fees generated for all eligible invoices for the customer.

• Creates a record in the A/R Fee Journal History (F03B22) and A/R Fee Journal History Detail (F03B23) tables.

• Updates the Last Fee Date (LFCJ) field in the F03B11 and Receipts Detail (F03B14) tables.

After you generate fee invoice records, you must post them. When you post fees, the system generates a record in the Account Ledger table (F0911) using the automatic accounting instruction (AAI) items RFC and RFD to determine the revenue account and receivables trade account to use.

If you select the Collection Manager Approval Required option in the policy, the collection manager must approve each fee before the system generates it for the customer. The system sends workflow messages to the collection manager that is defined in the customer record. The collection manager can access the Work With Delinquency Fee form from these messages to approve or reject the fees.

Credit Memos and Unapplied Receipts

The system considers credit memos and unapplied receipts when delinquency fees are processed. However, the system does not process a fee if the customer has an overall credit balance. The system processes a fee for the credit memo or unapplied receipt to offset the amount of a fee that is generated for an invoice. This process ensures that customers are not overcharged for invoices to which existing credit memos have been applied, and it negates the necessity of applying credit memos to invoices prior to generating fees.

Taxes

You can include tax information on delinquency fee invoice records by using the processing options for the A/R Delinquency Fee Journal program (R03B22).

Late Payment Fees

You can generate late payment fees, which assess finance charges on late payments either by specifying the corresponding processing option in the Generate Delinquency Fees program or by running the Late Payment Delinquency Fees program (R03B221) from batch versions; you cannot access the Late Payment Delinquency Fees program from a menu.

When you generate late payment fees, the system compares the invoice due date of the receipt record (F03B14) with the effective date of the policy (fee instructions) to determine which policy to use to retrieve the rate that it uses to calculate the fee.

Data Selection for Delinquency Fees

To generate fees for a specific customer or based on some other criteria, change the data selection in the Generate Delinquency Fees program (R03B525), not the A/R Delinquency Fee Journal program (R03B22).

Important! If you modify the data selection to generate fees for specific customers, set the processing option to suppress updating the Credit and Cash Management table (F03B15). Otherwise, the system updates the table according to the specified data selection, which might compromise the collection manager's ability to perform daily collection activities.

Prerequisites

Before you complete the tasks in this section:

• Set up AAIs RFC and RFD for delinquency fee processing.

• Ensure that you have selected the Delinquency Fees option on the Collection tab of the Customer Master Revision form.

Running the Generate Delinquency Fees Program

From the Statement Reminder Processing menu (G03B22), select Generate Delinquency Fees.

Setting Processing Options for Generate Delinquency Fees (R03B525)

Generate Delinquency Fees and Print Delinquency Notices are different versions of the same program. Therefore, they have the same processing options. You must set up the processing options for each version.

Setting Processing Options for A/R Delinquency Fee Journal (R03B22)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Taxes

These processing options specify how the system processes tax information on delinquency fees.

Setting Processing Options for Late Payment Delinquency Fees (R03B221)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Late Payment

These processing options specify whether to process late payment fees in proof or final mode, as well as the data to assign to the fee invoice records.

Working with Delinquency Fees

This section provides an overview of the purge of delinquency fees and discusses how to:

• Set processing options for Delinquency Fee Review (P03B22).

• Review, approve, and reject delinquency fees.

• Purge delinquency fees.

• Set processing options for Delinquency Fee Purge (R03B222).

Understanding the Purge of Delinquency Fees

You run the Delinquency Fee Purge program (R03B222) to remove selected records from the F03B22 and F03B23 tables. The system does not write purged information to another table for archiving. If you want to retain purged information, back up the tables before purging them.

The system purges fee records based on the date that you enter in the processing options. You also can purge all fee records that have been rejected, regardless of the date. You can also use data selection in conjunction with the processing options to purge selected records.

The system does not produce a report of the purged records.

Note. The purge program does not remove records with a future date. To remove all the records in the F03B22 and F03B23 tables, consider using a data file utility.

Form Used to Work with Delinquency Fees

Setting Processing Options for Delinquency Fee Review (P03B22)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Version

Reviewing, Approving, and Rejecting Delinquency Fees

Access the Delinquency Fee Detail form.

The system displays the information about the fee record from the F03B22 table in the header portion of the form.

Purging Delinquency Fees

From the Statement Reminder Processing menu (G03B22), select Delinquency Fee Purge.

Setting Processing Options for Delinquency Fee Purge (R03B222)

Processing options enable you to specify the default processing for programs and reports.

Date

These processing options specify which records the system selects to purge.