For a Credit Controller, it is very important to be able to check that Customers are making regular, prompt payments and so maintain a steady cash flow into the business.
The Chase Debtors feature in Records provides a single working list from which it is possible to chase debtors for payment.
Running a search for records or transactions that match specific criteria, such as those marked for chasing on a particular date, gives the chance to build a chase list to work from. This lists and provides access to all the information needed when contacting Customers.
Security Profile restrictions - If the View Own Customers option is enabled then only Customers assigned as a Credit Controller will be included in the list. This option is found in Global Options of the Security Profile.
Tasks that can be achieved
The following tasks can be achieved using the Chase Debtors feature:
View Customer account details enabling the user to contact the Customer whilst viewing their account balance.
View Sales transactions and outstanding orders.
Reprint an invoice or credit note.
Enter a receipt, allocate payments or correct existing allocations.
Print a statement or send a letter.
Put an account On Stop or set the query flag against a transaction.
Update the Next Contact Date for the Customer and update the diary.
Enter a date and value for any promised payments that result from the call.
Building a chase list
When selecting the Chase Debtors option, prompts to run a search to build a chase list to work from will be displayed.
First, select the type of list to open.
The chase list can be built as a Summary View or an Aged Analysis View.
The Summary view shows the outstanding balances at a Customer level.
The Aged Analysis view will include the transactions that make up the balances.
Both views contain contact information so that it’s possible to get in touch with the Customer with the list open.
When viewing the Summary view, the user can switch to the Aged Analysis view using right-click menu.
They can select the ageing method to be used for the Aged Analysis view.
The list selection is made from the drop-down list at the foot of the window.
Remember, when viewing the Summary view, its possible to switch to the Aged Analysis view using right-click menu, so although the ageing method is for the Aged Analysis view, select the preferred ageing method even if the Summary view is on screen.
The ageing methods are:
Age by Due Date
Age by Transaction Date.
Having selected the type of list, enter search criteria that will return the accounts desired.
Customers who are to be contacted today or this week may want to be listed or to search for very overdue transactions that have been assigned to the Credit Controller.
When a selection is made and entered into the search criteria that is to be matched, click the Display icon to activate the search and populate the Chase Debtors window.
Searches can be saved using the Save Search feature and retrieved for use by clicking the Select Search icon.
Click the Clear icon to clear the fields in the search window.
The Search window can be re-opened from the Chase Debtors window by clicking the Search icon.
The Chase Debtors window
The Chase Debtors window can be opened in two different views: the Summary View and the Aged Analysis View.
These windows are described in separate topics:
Chase Debtors Summary View.
Chase Debtors Aged Analysis View.
Both views contain contact information so that the user can get in touch with the Customer with the list open.
Switch to the Aged Analysis view from the Summary view using right-click menu.
Chase Debtors Toolbar
The Chase Debtors feature in Records provides a single working list from which chasing debtors for payment can be done. The list can be displayed as a Summary View, showing Customer information, or and Aged Analysis View, showing transaction information.
Use the Ctrl key or the Shift key to select multiple records. The toolbar in each window contains the following options:
Edit | To use the entry fields on the Chase Debtors views to update the record or transaction, click the Edit button. On the Summary view its possible to update the Next Contact Date and enter Payment Promised Date and Value for a Customer. The dates can be entered in the diary by ticking the Update Diary option alongside each date. On the Aged Analysis view, changing the Debt Status and Credit Controller assigned to a transaction can be done. |
OK | Press OK to save any changes and update the record. Cancel takes the window out of edit mode without saving any changes. |
Remove Line | When work on the record in the list is complete, the user can remove the line by selecting it and pressing the Remove Line button. |
Insert Note | Found on the toolbar, the Insert Note icon opens a text entry window to enables the insert Credit Control notes for the selected Customer or transaction. The system date and the Users Id will be added to the note automatically. |
Credit Control Notes | Can view and edit existing Credit Control notes by clicking this button on the toolbar. |
The notes window will display a history of all the Credit Control notes entered for the Customer.
Can edit the notes by clicking the Edit button, making the changes and then clicking the OK button.
Each time the notes are edited, the system will automatically add the system date to the note.
In addition to notes entered, system generated notes will be added when other changes are made to the Credit Control module.
These changes include the addition of promised payment dates and values and changes to the assigned Credit Controller.
When using Dimensions with aCloud and having synced comments and queries with aCloud, any comments downloaded from aCloud are displayed in the Credit Control Notes screen for the relevant Customer. Unread notes are displayed in bold text. Selecting the comment will show the details in the detail pane in the same way as for notes inserted via Dimensions.
aCloud functionality for Credit Control Notes is only available where Credit Control Notes has been opened from the Chase Debtors screen.
Mark as Unread - This option only applies to comments downloaded from aCloud that have previously been read.
Insert Response - This option only applies to comments downloaded from aCloud. Are able to enter a new note for the relevant transaction. Any new note is added to the top of the list.
Upload Notes to aCloud - option opened from the “Insert Response” option. If ticked then this note will be updated to the aCloud when comments are next uploaded to the aCloud, either by responding Yes to the prompt on closing the Chase Debtors screen or by using the “Sync comments and queries with aCloud” option on the search screen.
Flag to Upload - This option only applies to notes inserted via Dimensions and not to comments downloaded from aCloud. If ticked then this note is updated to the aCloud when the user next selects to upload comments to the aCloud, either by responding Yes to the prompt on closing the Chase Debtors screen or by using the “Sync comments and queries with aCloud” option on the search screen.
Enter Receipt
If a receipt for the selected Customer is required, do this using this option. This will open the Bulk Receipts window.
Diary
View and update the diary directly from the Chase Debtors window. The details of the selected Customer record will be transferred to the diary and the entries for the day will be displayed.
Documents
View existing documents and attach new documents directly from the Chase Debtors window, for each Customer
Search
The search window can be re-opened by clicking the Search icon to refine the search or run a different search.
Open Customer Record
This option opens the Customer Record. Update the record and view the enquiry windows available from the record in this section.
View Terms
This option opens the Terms window from the Customer record. Only able to view the terms in this window, open the Customer Record and use the Edit button if the terms require an update.
Aged Debtor
This displays the Aged Debtor analysis window for the selected Customer. This is the same window as opened from the Customer record to open the aged analysis and display the Aged Debtor enquiry.
View the outstanding sales orders
O/S Orders enquiry for the selected Customer by clicking on the O/S Orders button.
Allocate Now
Make allocations directly from the Chase Debtors list. This button will open the Allocations window with the search pre-populated with the account code of the selected Customer.
Correct Allocation
Can also correct allocations directly from the list.
Smart Tag Summary
This button opens a Smart Tag Summary for the selected Customer.
Print
Clicking on the Print button will print the Chase Debtors Lists seen on the screen.
From the Summary view list, the option to add the Customer Name & Notes to the report is available.
From the Aged Analysis view, the option to print just the displayed transactions (where the header has been expanded) or to print all transactions (as though all the headers had been expanded).
Able to select to include the Notes in the report.
There are the usual print output destinations of Screen, Printer or File.
Print Statement
A statement will be printed for all the Customers that have been selected (highlighted) on the list.
The same report options are available for the statements as when they are printed from the Sales Ledger
Letter Setup
Using the Letter Setup window, save links to Word template documents so that they are available for mail merge within Dimensions.
Letters
The letters list window will display all the active letters registered using the Letter Setup window.
These letters will have been prepared using Access Office Integration and MS Word to create a Word Mail Merge document that contains links to the Dimensions database.
Output to Excel
Exports the list to MS Excel.
Chase Debtors - Right-Click Options
Once the list of customers in the Chase Debtors window has been built, the toolbar options help to perform various related tasks.
There are additional options when right-clicking the selected Customer record or transaction line.
View Aged Analysis - This option opens the selected transaction in the Aged Analysis view.
Set/Clear On Stop Status - Put the selected Customer record On Stop or clear the On Stop status if already set.
Open Sales Transactions - Opens the related transaction for the selected Customer in the Sales Transaction Enquiry window.
Reprint Invoice/Credit Note - Print the selected record to the printer, screen, file, fax or e-mail.
Attach Document - This opens the Attach Document pop up window to select a file to be attached to the selected record.
For the Header line
Set/Clear On Stop Status - Set or clear the On Stop status for the Customer on the selected transaction.
View Sales Transactions - Opens the selected transaction in the Sales Transactions Enquiry window.
Attach Document - Opens the Attach Document pop up window. Click the Browse button to select a document to attach and click the OK button.
For the Detail line
View Sales Transactions - Opens the selected transaction in the Sales Transactions Enquiry window.
View Transaction - View and edit the details of the selected transaction.
View Double Entry - Displays the Nominal Ledger Double Entry for the selected transaction.
Reprint Invoice/Credit Note - Print the selected transaction to printer, file, fax or e-mail.
View Order/Credit Note - Opens the selected transaction in Sales Orders Enquiry window.
Set Query Flag Status - Set or clear the Query Flag for the transaction.
Attach Document - Opens the Attach Document pop up window to attach a document to the selected transaction.