RESOLUTION
Credit Classes are a way of managing your collection process through auto-generated activities by defining a list or sequence of events and the criteria to base each of these events.
These activities or sequence of events within a credit class are called Action Alerts, also known as Credit Class Rules. These Action Alerts trigger activities that are automatically created and can be managed by the software, i.e. automated monthly statements or managed by credit users of the software, i.e. auto-generated follow-up calls.
Action Alert Options:
-
Seq No - Numerical value used within credit class processing to indicate what order to evaluate each Action Alert. Lower Seq No are evaluated first. Recommend using incremental steps of 10 or similar.
-
Action Code - Defines the action or activity that the system will automatically create based on the criteria and options of the Action Alert
-
Issue Desc - Default description from the Action Code used for the Issue description in the system generated activity, can be manually changed within the Action Alert
-
Communicate Note - Default communication note from the Action Alert used as the internal note in the system generated activity, can be manually changed within the Action Alert, provide as much information as needed to describe the activity for the user
-
View Type - Action Alerts can create activities based on either criteria applied to a Customer View or Invoice View
-
Customer View - customer level info, aging info, oldest open invoice, credit hold, date estabilished, etc.
-
Invoice View - invoice level info, # days invoice past due, invoice $ amount, percentage paid, etc.
-
Edit Filter - used to apply a filter or criteria to view in order to create specific auto-generated activity for the Action Alert
-
Email Template - if an email template is associated with the Action Code, the email template name will appear, if no email template then 'None' will appear
-
Report Name - if a report is associated with the Action Code, the Report name will appear, if no report then 'None' will appear
-
Active - this must be selected for this Action Alert to be processed, if the action alert is set to inactive, the rule or action alert no long applies and any open activities that were previously generated for this action alert will automatically closed during next credit class processing
-
Standalone - this action alert or seq no is evaluated and created independent of any other action alert or seq no, for example, a monthly statement or a copy of new invoice sent to every customer regardless of any other criteria or any other system generated activity within the credit class
NOTE: The sequence number of a Standalone action will affect the Credit Class Rules with lower sequence number causing them to not send and only send the Standalone (this will only affect actions that are not Standalone).
-
Standalone Frequency - the number of days until the next activity is generated for this specific action alert, for example, a standalone action alert set with 30 for the frequency can be used to send the monthly statements every 30 days; to email new invoice copies, one time only, use a standalone action alert with the frequency set to 99999
-
Create Followup - the action alert can be used to create a follow-up that will appear as Customer Actions, the action alert can create a followup by itself or in conjunction with another activity, i.e. email send activity with a followup - an email can be sent to the customer along with a follow-up call for the credit user within one action alert
-
Create Followup, Followup Days - number of days from the date of the system generated activity to create the follow-up for the credit user, i.e. email is generated today and the follow-up call should be made 3 days later, the followup days would be set to 3;
-
Create Followup, Days to Respond - defines how many number of days the credit user has to complete the activity, used as another way to prioritize followup type activities
NOTE: These followup activities will appear as Customer Actions and will only appear on the Action list when the followup is showing Due Today. This Follow-up Date and the Follow-up Respond by Date is dependent on the system Calendar (found in Admin > Setting & Utilities > Site Options - Calendar)
-
Auto Close - when set will automatically close any open issue related to the Action Alert when the criteria is no longer applicable, i.e. the customer pays an invoice, any action alert activity created and based on this invoice balance will close during the next generation
-
Create if Exists - the activity for this action alert will always create the action even if the same action was previously created and is still open, for example, if you want to create a repeating reminder or followup for a severely delinquent account or invoice, can be used as the last action code or seq no within the credit class
-
Activity ID - the unique identifier for this activity, these activity codes are used to count activities within the system, this is also the default Activity ID on the Customer Actions for the credit users; if the action alert has 2 activity types (email send and followup), set this Activity ID according to the activity associated with the credit user, i.e. if the credit user will be making a phone call after the system sent an email, set this to Phone
-
Override User - each customer in the software is assigned to a credit user, the Action Alert activities are created for this credit user by default and can be overridden using the Override User option to assign the activity to another user. This option can also be used for escalating more serious issues to a credit manager or assigning certain activities to other specific users of the software.
Note: if either an Email Template or Report Name appears within the Action Alert, (regardless of the Activity ID) this activity will create an auto-generated email to either the email address on the email template or the customer contact marked as 'include in email' (Click the links for info on email templates and on how to verify your customer email addresses)
NOTE: Invoice level alerts using the invoice view must have a filter on the action alert in order for an invoice to be selected and tagged to the activity (and/or email attached)