How do I chase late invoices on WhatsApp automatically?
| Intagya ERP
Switch on a rule that starts a number of days after the due date of an unpaid invoice, sends the customer a WhatsApp message with the invoice number, the amount still due and its link, waits two days or until payment, then gives the person in charge a call task. In Intagya ERP this is a ready recipe called Collect late invoices in the Automations app: adjust the days and the text, then switch it on.
An accountant at a distribution company opens the overdue invoices list every Thursday. Forty names. She messages five, then the manager needs something urgent. The other thirty-five wait for next Thursday.
Most of them are not bad customers. They just forgot, and nobody reminded them.
Why are payments late when the customer means to pay?
Because a reminder is manual work and a little awkward, so it gets put off. Your customer has bills from many vendors, and the one who reminds first gets paid first. The delay is not in the money, it is in the message.
A short message on time, with the number, the amount and the invoice link, solves a good part of it. The rest needs a phone call from a person.
What does the Collect late invoices recipe do, step by step?
Open it from Ready recipes in the Automations app and it appears on the canvas like this:
- Every day at 9 in the morning it picks each posted, unpaid customer invoice that is 3 days past its due date.
- It asks: is the amount still due more than 5,000?
- If yes: a WhatsApp message to the customer with the invoice number, the amount and the payment link, then a wait of two days or until the invoice is paid, then a call task for the person in charge of the invoice.
- If no: a reminder e-mail with the invoice PDF attached, then a wait of a week or until payment, then a notification to you in the system with the days late.
Every number is an example you change: 3 days may be 7 for you, 5,000 may be 1,000. The two paths are on purpose: a small invoice rarely needs WhatsApp and a call.
What exactly does the customer receive?
The text you write, filled with values from the invoice itself: customer name, invoice number, amount still due, due date, days late and the payment link. The link opens the invoice in the customer's portal, where they see it and pay it if you have online payment set up.
While you type, you see how it will read with the values of the latest invoice in your system, so you do not find the mistake after it is sent.
Write the reminder the way you would to a customer you respect: a greeting, the number and amount, the link. No threats in the first message; the call is step two.
Will the customer get the same reminder every day?
No. The rule runs once per invoice, even if it stays late for days. The wait has a stop condition: if the invoice is paid within the two days, no call task is created, and the history says it stopped because the condition was met.
That matters more than it looks. A customer who paid yesterday and then gets a collection call remembers the call and forgets that you reminded them politely.
What do I need before switching it on?
- A WhatsApp Business number linked to the system under Marketing, WhatsApp accounts. Without it the WhatsApp step shows locked.
- A mobile number on the customer's card, because the rule takes the number from there.
- A try-out on a real invoice with Try it on a record: you see what would go out and to whom, with nothing sent.
What if a message does not reach a customer?
The reason is in Run history. Each invoice has a line, and under it every step and what happened: no mobile number, the company WhatsApp number not linked, or WhatsApp refused the message with the reason it gave. A failed step never disappears quietly.
Check the history every morning in the first week. You will usually find customers with no mobile number, which is a good moment to fix their details.
Can I fit it to the way my company works?
Yes, everything on the canvas can be changed. Change the hour, the days, the amount limit or the text. Send the task to a named person instead of the invoice owner. Add a second reminder a week later. Or drop the e-mail path and put everyone on WhatsApp.
Tomorrow morning open the recipe, rewrite the text in your company's voice, and try it on your oldest late invoice. If you like what it would have sent, switch it on.
In Intagya ERP the invoice, the customer, the message and the task are in one system, so the reminder knows the invoice was paid without anyone telling it.
Read: how do I collect customer debts on time?
FAQ
Can I send the reminder by e-mail instead of WhatsApp?
Yes. The recipe has an e-mail path with the invoice PDF attached; you can send every invoice down it and remove the WhatsApp step.
Does the rule stop when the customer pays?
Yes. The wait has the stop condition invoice paid, so neither the call task nor the notification comes after payment.
Who gets the call task?
The person in charge of the invoice in the system. You can choose one or more named team members instead.
Where do I see what the rule sent?
In Run history: one line per invoice, and under it every step, what happened and when.
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