Why the order matters
A reminder for an invoice the customer paid last week is the quickest way to annoy a good customer. It usually happens because the reminders are written from a list of open invoices that is a few days behind the bank. So the check comes first: look at what has come in, then decide who to remind.
What you need
- The bank statement for the period as a file. Most banks offer a CSV export.
- The list of open invoices, with number, customer, amount, currency and due date.
- A place to write down decisions. A shared spreadsheet is enough.
Mark paid only what is certain
A payment is certain when its reference names one invoice, by its number or, in Czechia, by its variable symbol, in the invoice's currency and for exactly the amount still open. Mark only those invoices as paid in your list. Every other payment is a question for a person, and it helps to say what kind of question it is:
- Less than the open amount, or more.
- One payment for several invoices.
- A payment in a different currency from the invoice.
- No reference, or a reference to an invoice that is not on the list.
- A payment for an invoice that is already paid or was cancelled.
- Money going out to a customer, such as a refund.
Hold the reminders that might be wrong
For each payment that is not certain, note the invoices it could belong to: the same amount, a similar customer name, a date that makes sense. Hold the reminders for those invoices until someone has looked. A customer with a disputed invoice gets no reminders at all until the dispute is settled, and cancelled invoices drop out of the list.
Then write the reminders, and read each one
Write one reminder per customer that lists all their late invoices, each with its own due date and days overdue. Let the tone follow the oldest invoice, without claiming that every invoice is that late. Write to each customer in their language, keep each currency's total separate, and have a person read every reminder before it is sent.
When it is worth building something
Once this check takes a real part of someone's week, or several people send reminders, a small script can do the certain matches, list the open questions with likely invoices next to them, and prepare the reminder drafts. A person still answers each question and approves each draft. The Cash Desk shows this on made-up data.