Manage Debt
Various activities are carried out during the life of a Sales Invoice, depending on the nature of the debt, value, customer etc. The details here do not cover research invoices which are managed by Research Accounts.
1. Statements and debtors reporting 
At the start of each month Accounts Receivable generate and post customer statements detailing all unpaid Invoices. An Aged Debtors Report is run showing all outstanding debts. It is recommended that this is also run by each department for your own tracking of customer debts.
2. Liaise with the customer
Accounts Receivable will initially follow up debts with customers (via Dunning letters, statements, phone, email etc) to discuss a resolution to the debt. This may be done as the Invoice becomes due and/or at various stages of the debt management process.
Where it is identified that there is an issue with the original Invoice e.g. information was missing, the query will be referred to the department to investigate. The department is responsible for resolving the outstanding issue. If relevant, refer to Enquire on an Invoice and Review Current Actions 
(187kb) for guidance.
3. Send copy invoice to customer
In circumstances where the customer did not receive the original Invoice, a copy should be printed out and sent to the customer at this point. The Invoice will be clearly marked as copy. See Print an Invoice for a Customer (244kb).
4. Debt follow-up
Where a Sales Invoice continues to remain unpaid, a series of Dunning letters will be sent by Accounts Receivable to the customer reminding them that payment is overdue, as per this Schedule 
(19kb). If the debt continues to be outstanding, the customer details may be passed to a Debt agency to follow-up following consultation with your department.
5. Credit Notes
Where it is found that the Invoice is incorrect, a Credit Note may be required. The Credit Note should be raised for the appropriate part or full Invoice value as per Enter a Credit Note against an Invoice in Accounts Receivable (191kb). Where a Credit Note is raised to cancel an incorrect Invoice, a new Invoice may need to be raised. Refer to Raise Sales Invoice in Process Order.
6. Debt write off
Where Dunning and Debt Collection have not been successful, Accounts Receivable will discuss with the department whether to write off all or part of the debt. This activity is only to be carried out by the Accounts Receivable team; and where VAT is involved, cannot be done until the debt is six months old.