Billing and Payments AutomationPurpose
1. Automate identification of late invoice payments for property appraisals.
2. Calculate applicable late fees per terms set in billing policy.
3. Instantly notify clients of late fees via their preferred communication channel (email, SMS, app notification, etc).
4. Ensure consistent enforcement and transparency around payment penalties, strengthening compliance and cash flow.
5. Log each notification and fee calculation for auditability and reporting requirements.
Trigger Conditions
1. Invoice remains unpaid past the due date/time.
2. Payment status change detected in accounting, CRM, or payment processor.
3. Manual flag for overdue invoice by billing staff (exception).
4. Scheduled nightly or hourly check of all open invoices.
Platform Variants
1. QuickBooks Online
- Feature: "Invoice Reports" API and "Payment Status" webhooks. Configure automation to trigger on "overdue" status and invoke the "Create Late Fee Invoice" action.
2. Xero
- Feature: "Invoices" endpoint and "Payment Reminders." Set up logic to calculate and append late fee to invoice, then send automated reminder via Xero notifications.
3. FreshBooks
- Feature: "Get Invoices" API, webhook on status update. Custom script to calculate fees; send follow-up via "Send Invoice Reminders" API.
4. Wave
- Feature: "Invoice Due" trigger in Zapier integration, trigger calculation and email via connected Gmail or Wave “Send Email” API.
5. Zoho Books
- Feature: "Invoice Overdue" webhook, use "Send Notification" endpoint. Attach late fee via "Add Charge" action.
6. Stripe
- Feature: "Invoice.payment_failed" event in webhooks, update invoice with late fee and trigger "Send Invoice" API.
7. PayPal Business
- Feature: "Invoice Overdue" notification, auto-calculate late fees via REST API and trigger "Remind Invoice" endpoint to notify.
8. Square
- Feature: "ListInvoices" plus "UpdateInvoice" API. Set automation to detect overdue, recalculate, and send “Invoice Reminder.”
9. Chargebee
- Feature: Event-based automation for "Invoice Overdue," use "Create Invoice" with late fee and trigger "Send Email Notifications."
10. MYOB
- Feature: "Invoice Status" via AccountRight API, automation triggers late-fee calculation and re-issues an updated invoice.
11. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance
- Feature: "Invoice Reminder" automation, configure alert rules for overdue payments and append late fee details using Business Rules.
12. Sage Intacct
- Feature: "Invoice List" API, overdue condition triggers "Send Notification" with computed fee.
13. Twilio SMS
- Feature: "Programmable SMS" API, auto-send overdue reminder and late fee notice to client’s phone.
14. SendGrid
- Feature: "Transactional Email" API, customized email template to alert about late fee and next steps.
15. Slack
- Feature: "Incoming Webhook", channel alert to internal accounting or appraisers for special handling.
16. Gmail
- Feature: "Send Email" API with dynamic subject/body built from late fee calculation.
17. Outlook 365
- Feature: "Send Mail" Graph API, late fee calculated and attached as a memo.
18. Salesforce
- Feature: "Process Builder" triggered flow; update “Invoice” object, send notification on overdue and compute fee as custom field.
19. Google Sheets
- Feature: Script scheduled to review invoice status, calculate late fees, and email updates via Apps Script.
20. Monday.com
- Feature: "Automations" with 'Status Changed to Overdue' trigger, initiates email or in-app notification including specific late fee.
Benefits
1. Reduces manual tracking of payment status and calculation of late fees for appraisers.
2. Increases payment compliance and speeds up receivables.
3. Guarantees clients receive uniform, timely, and verified late fee information.
4. Empowers staff to focus on client relationships instead of collections.
5. Provides detailed logs for transparency and dispute resolution.
6. Scales to high invoice volume without loss of accuracy or timeliness.
7. Reduces revenue loss from uncollected fees.