How To Send Collection Emails & Reminders
Streamline your payment reminders with LoadStop
Table Of Contents:
Introduction
The Collection module is designed to help users send reminder emails for pending payments on sent invoices. You can also use the module to set reminders for future notifications.
Navigation
To access the Collection page, from the main menu click Financial → Collection. Here, you will find a list of payments that are past due. Please note that the invoices in this list will only appear if they are under the ‘Pending Payment’ tab in the Invoice module.
Filters
Once you’ve reached the Collection page, the top of the page has various filters to search through the invoice list.
The general search bar can be used to search the database with invoice numbers or customer reference numbers of any particular customer.
Filters the database based on the pickup date and state.
Filters the list based on the delivery date and the state.
Allows users to filter the list by sales agent.
Allows users to filter the list by the booking authority.
Allows users to filter the list by the designated dispatcher.
Allows users to filter the list by van type.
Allows users to filter the list by the load type i.e LTL or TL.
Allows users to filter the list by the invoicing method.
Allows users to filter the list by the past due days.
Allows users to filter the list by invoice creator.
Allows users to filter the list by the invoice date.
When this toggle is on, it shows the collections list with a reminder only.
Finally, we can filter the list by the user who created the reminder.
Buttons & Functions
There are various buttons at the top of the page tied to important functions in the collection process.
This field shows the total number of invoices in the list.
This field shows the total amount of the invoices in the list.
This field shows the total balance amount of the invoices in the list.
Mandatory field to select the customer.
Mandatory field to select the booking authority.
Note: The customer and booking authority boxes are required to proceed and LoadStop will not complete the email process until the information is entered.
Button to send the collection email.
Button to create an activity (reminder) to send a collection email.
Hide/unhide columns from this button.
Button to export the invoices from the first page into an excel file.
Additionally, at the top right of the Collection page is an ‘Export to Excel’ function that will export all invoices in the collections page.Action button to see invoice details.
Under the ‘Action’ button, you will find the following options:
View Invoice: View the pending invoice.
Invoice History: View the history related to the invoice.
Credit History: View the customer’s credit history.
Emails & Reminders
Now you are ready to send your first collection email. A collection email can be sent once an invoice has been moved under the “Pending Payment” tab and is close to or is already late. Follow the steps below to select and send your collection email.
Sending a Collection Email
Find the invoices you wish to send to your customer via email. LoadStop will combine the invoice details into a table in the email body for you. You can send multiple invoices of one customer in one collection email at a time. You can also refine your search using the filters described earlier.
Enter the customer name and booking authority on the top right of the invoice list. This is required information.
Checkmark the necessary invoice(s) and click ‘Create Email’. A popup will appear.
Enter the mandatory collection code and internal note (the note will not be attached to the email and is for your own records). This is required information.
You can create your collection codes by going to the Main Menu→Setup→Collection Codes (click here for detailed instructions).
Verify the ‘To’ email address and make sure the email body has the correct information. You can also use the ‘CC’ option to send the collection to yourself for record purposes.
Ensure the toggle for ‘Send Attached File’ is on to send an excel file with details of invoice(s) as attachments.
If you want to make any changes to the subject or body, you can do that here before sending the email.
Hit ‘Save’ to send the email.
Setting Up A Collection Reminder
Find and select the invoices you wish to set a reminder on in the same way as when setting up an email (i.e., using the filters and entering the customer and booking information). Like with collection emails, you can set up reminders for as many invoices as you want under one customer at a time.
Hit ‘Create Activity’.
Select the collection code, reminder date, and the internal note. This is required.
Make sure the ‘Create reminder’ toggle is turned on. Hit ‘Save’.
The selected invoice(s) will now be pinned to the top of the invoice list with a bell icon.
Creating a Default Email for Pending Payments
When setting up your LoadStop global settings, you were shown how to edit and create your default collection email. From the main menu, scroll down to Settings → Collection. Here, you can edit and create a default collection email subject and body. When sending a collection email, you will have the opportunity to edit each email individually without affecting the default format.
Creating a Collection Code
You can use collection codes in the Collection module to mark activities on any pending invoice(s). In order to set up different collection codes, go to Menu→ Setup → Collection Codes. Here, you can create collection codes along with their descriptions.
Collection codes are important, as it is a mandatory field for sending collection emails to customers and also for creating reminders for collection emails.
Steps:
Click on ‘Create new collection code’ to create a new code.
A pop-up window will appear where you can enter the Name, Short Code, and Description.
Once finished, click Save.