Track outstanding invoices with Business Central

Everyone has to deal with bad payers. Unpaid invoices, empty promises, and calls to the administrative department pile up. Too many unpaid invoices make it difficult for you to calculate your profits. In the worst-case scenario, you, too, will run into trouble. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central helps you track your outstanding invoices.

Unpaid invoices present every business owner with a dilemma. Sending a polite reminder email is a logical first step, but when should you follow up? When should you stop accepting orders until the invoices are paid? When should you reassess your relationship with customers? And what about loyal customers who are going through a difficult period? Your ERP system, backed by data, can help you make that decision.

Reminder Regarding Unpaid Invoices

Going on the offensive right away certainly doesn’t help. Your customer might simply have overlooked your invoice. A polite reminder that there’s still an outstanding invoice is usually enough. That should always be your first step. For your customer’s convenience, always include the necessary details (amount, due date, order number, etc.). And, if necessary, a new payment deadline.

Depending on your personal relationship with the customer, you can write the email in a formal or informal style. A phone call is always an option, but it can easily make your customer feel put on the spot, especially if they don’t always have the necessary information at hand.

Pro tip: In your first email, always include the following: “If this message has been sent after your payment was processed, please ignore this email.” This makes it clear that you assume it’s simply an administrative error.

If an invoice remains unpaid after several reminders, the situation naturally becomes more delicate and, in the worst-case scenario, could even lead to a lawsuit. To avoid that, your ERP system ways to track delinquent payers and respond quickly. For example, you can automate reminders. However, that’s not a requirement. For example, there’s a difference between a new customer who immediately leaves invoices unpaid and a loyal customer who’s going through a difficult period. Your ERP processes also allow room for the human element.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a combination of financial data and customer insights provides you with various options for getting an overview of unpaid invoices.

Track Outstanding Invoices with Business Central

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly known as Dynamics NAV or Navision), you closely monitor customers who are slow to pay. You do this first and foremost by setting credit limits using the ‘credit limit check’ feature. By assigning a credit limit to a customer, you ensure that they do not accumulate too much debt with you. If they exceed this limit—which you set yourself—you’ll receive a notification. You can then decide for yourself whether or not to allow the overrun.

You can also set up the home screen of your Business Central or Navision environment to quickly see which invoices are about to expire. Your tile view shows the unpaid invoices that will expire soon. This way, you can stay on top of things there as well.

Finally, there are also the summary reports. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you have access to a wide range of reports, including some that you should definitely keep an eye on if you want to track your delinquent payers.

• Customer – Open Items

This report provides you with a standard overview of open invoices. You can choose the length of the time periods displayed. This way, you'll know right away which customers require immediate action.

• Customer – Balance as of [date]

This report provides detailed information for each customer. One handy feature is that the phone number from the loyalty card is also printed. This can make it easy to quickly put together a call list.

This makes it easy to keep track of your outstanding invoices in Business Central. You can take it a step further to automate your accounts receivable tracking even more.

If you want to take your accounts receivable reporting to the next level, be sure to check out Microsoft Power BI. This business intelligence tool makes it very easy to create stunning dashboards, charts, and reports that update in real time, so you always have the right insights. Watch our webinar here.

Track outstanding invoices using third-party software

Credit & Collection PowerApp

To submit your information via Business Central or Dynamics NAV/Navision To make it even easier to access, ESC built a Credit & Collection app via Microsoft PowerApps. This way, your data from Business Central is consolidated into an easy-to-use app.

On a single screen, you can see an overview of outstanding invoices, sorted by how long they’ve been past due. With just a few clicks, you can immediately access customer information, due dates, amounts, and notes.

Not only do you and your employees have immediate access to the necessary information, but you can also assist customers on the phone more efficiently when all the information is just a few clicks away. You can also email the necessary information to customers or employees directly from the app.

Power Apps works out of the box starting with NAV 2017, but older versions can also be integrated with just a little bit of work.

iController

With iController, Belgian plug-and-play software that’s fully compatible with Business Central, you can take it one step further. iController uses workflows and AI to automate your follow-up process.

Among other things, the platform allows users to efficiently manage accounts receivable and automate all necessary follow-up actions for invoices within a user-friendly application. As a result, iController offers a comprehensive, advanced solution for credit management, risk management, and support.

1. All critical information and communications are visible in real time in a single central location in the cloud.
2. For each customer, iController automatically determines the appropriate workflow and the resulting actions.
3. Using artificial intelligence, the iController platform analyzes customers' payment behavior and alerts you to any potential risks.
4. Use RPA to set and manage credit limits.

Company Website

With Companyweb, you have a link (via API) between your ERP system and the Companyweb database. This ensures you always have access to up-to-date financial information on Belgian companies.

The data updates automatically as new publications and financial statements are released. So, no more manually updating financial data. By analyzing data on creditors and outstanding amounts, each company receives a credit score.

This way, you'll always know how financially sound your new and existing customers are.