Payments and collections

Collections Specialist records a received date, amount, payment method and customer. A payment may point to an invoice, so the team can see which receivable it addresses. The bank reference and notes identify the receipt for investigation. Payment status distinguishes a scheduled receipt from one received, applied, reconciled or failed.

• Receive. Collections Specialist records the customer, amount, date, method and bank reference on a payment.
• Apply. The payment can point to an invoice, whose amount paid and balance due show the current receivable.
• Investigate. Failed payments stay visible for follow-up; a scheduled payment is not a received one.

For a customer with a partially paid invoice, compare the payment amount and bank reference with the invoice’s amount paid and balance due. Confirm that the customer on the payment matches the invoice customer before the application is treated as settled work. A failed payment belongs in its own list with a clear next action; it should not be read as cash collected.

Agree who records bank references, who changes payment status, and how the team reconciles receipts with the bank or payment provider. Decide how disputed or duplicate receipts are investigated and which source reference remains visible. The app’s payment and invoice records support operational follow-up; external cash confirmation has its own owner.

For the pilot, include a partial payment and a failed payment for different invoices. Decide who checks bank confirmation, who updates the payment status and how the bank reference is retained. Reconcile the invoice amount paid and balance due after each recorded application.

Collections Specialist opens the Open Invoices list, checks an overdue invoice and then follows its related payment. Billing Operations Manager examines any invoice balance affected by that payment. For a failed receipt, inspect the method, bank reference and status before contacting the customer. The team can use payment notes to preserve the reason for its next action.

Have another Collections Specialist find the failed receipt through Failed Payments and follow its invoice reference. That person should distinguish the failed amount from the amount already paid and record the next customer follow-up in payment notes.

• Failed Payments — Investigate the method, bank reference and linked invoice for each failure.
• Open Invoices — Compare recorded payments with amount paid and balance due.
• Overdue Invoices — Find customers with past-due balances that still need follow-up.

Use invoice to payment follow-up to trace a balance through collection. Review the data model when mapping source identifiers and roles when assigning the people who may act.