What this screen is for
The company-wide rule for charging customers who pay late. You set whether late fees apply at all, whether the charge is a percentage of the outstanding balance or a fixed amount, how often it recurs — once, weekly or monthly — and how many days of grace to allow after the due date before it begins.
When to use it
Set this up once, when you decide to enforce your payment terms, and revisit it when those terms change. The two ceilings, a maximum fee amount and a maximum percentage, deserve a deliberate decision rather than being left blank: they are what stop a long-overdue invoice accumulating a charge out of all proportion to the debt behind it.
What you see on this screen
A single form. The switch at the top, Enable Late Fees, governs everything: with it off the rest of the form is hidden and no fee is ever raised. Turning it on reveals six fields, of which the first four are required:
- Fee Type — Percentage of balance, or Fixed amount. This decides how the next field is read.
- Rate (%) or Amount — the figure itself. The label changes to match the fee type you chose, so it always names what you are typing.
- Frequency — One-Time, Monthly or Weekly. One-Time charges once; the other two charge again each period the invoice stays unpaid.
- Grace Period (days) — how many days after the due date to wait before any fee applies. It defaults to 15.
- Max Fee Amount — a ceiling in money terms. Optional, and blank means no ceiling.
- Max Fee Percentage — a ceiling as a share of the invoice, up to 100. Optional, and blank means no ceiling.
With a monthly or weekly frequency and both ceilings left blank, a fee keeps accruing for as long as the invoice is unpaid.
Filters and actions
Save Settings writes the rule, and a confirmation appears beneath the button. View History, in the header, opens the record of late fees that have actually been charged, which is where to look when a customer queries one.
Related
- Sales Invoices
- Customer Outstanding