Create payment plan procedures
A payment plan procedure is a specialized collection procedure that runs specifically for accounts with an active payment plan. Unlike standard collection procedures - which track invoice due dates and overall aging - payment plan procedures track the agreed instalment schedule and trigger communication steps when an instalment becomes overdue.
| Standard Procedure | Payment Plan Procedure | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | General accounts with overdue invoices | Accounts with an active agreed payment plan |
| Triggered by | Invoice due dates and Days in Procedure (DIP) | Instalment due dates - for example, 2 days after an instalment is missed |
| Templates | Standard dunning templates with invoice lists and total balances | Specialised templates with instalment-specific tags such as payment-plan-instalments-due-amount and payment-plan-overview |
| If plan is broken | Standard aging escalation continues | Documents revert to the standard collection procedure (status: Procedure) |
When a payment plan is established, the affected documents move to Payment plan status and the standard dunning flow pauses for those documents. The payment plan procedure runs independently to enforce instalment compliance. If the account adheres to the schedule, invoices are archived on full payment. If the plan is broken, documents return to the standard collection workflow.
Steps
- Select Settings from the Collections navigation header.
- Select Payment plan procedures from the left menu.
- Select Add procedure.
- Select the company to which the procedure applies and then select Add.
- Select Add new step.
- Give the step an informative name.
- Specify the number of days after a missed instalment that must elapse before the step is executed.
- Select a step action: send a reminder, make a phone call, issue a warning, or send to outsourcing.
- If sending a reminder, complete the following:
- Select a template for the reminder message. Use a payment plan template with instalment-specific tags for accurate communication.
- Select the communication channel: postal mail, email, or SMS.
- Select a fallback communication channel.
- Select Only send to selected contacts to specify reminder recipients.
- Select Escalate to parent to notify the parent account about child-account reminders. This option is only available when account hierarchies are detected in your portfolio. See Configure Account Hierarchy.
- Select Save.
- Repeat steps 5–10 until all procedure steps are configured.
Edit, Copy, or Delete Payment Plan Procedures
After you have built a procedure, select Copy to use it as a template for future procedures. You can also edit or delete procedures from the Payment plan procedures page.
Related Articles
- Create Payment Plans
- Edit or Delete Payment Plans
- Create Procedures
- Add Steps to a Procedure
- Configure Account Hierarchy
- About Document Statuses
Need Help?
If payment plan procedure steps are not triggering as expected, confirm that the instalment due dates are correctly configured and that the account is in active Payment plan status. Contact the Billtrust Support team for further assistance.