Two settings decide when a client receives a Smart Statement. Triggers decide whether a statement is triggered to send. The throttle decides whether it is too soon to send another statement. Understanding how they work together explains most “why did (or didn't) this client get a statement?” questions.
Triggers decide whether a statement is prepared
A trigger is a rule tied to an invoice's due date, such as “invoice due in less than 6 days” or “invoice due more than 29 days ago.” Every weekday, Aiwyn checks each client's unpaid invoices against your triggers. When an invoice meets one trigger, Aiwyn stages a statement (or sends it, if automatic sending is on) between 11am and 2pm, Monday through Friday.
Three things are worth knowing:
- One invoice triggers the statement, but every unpaid invoice is included. The statement lists all of the client's unpaid invoices, not just the one that met the trigger.
- Triggers use the real due date. Smart Statements follow each invoice's actual due date and your trigger settings, even if the invoice displays “Due Upon Receipt.”
- Triggers look forward, not back. Changing triggers affects only future statements. Statements already staged for review are not regenerated.
The monthly default statement bypasses triggers
If you turn on By default send statement on the [First–Last] [day of the week] of the month, every client with an unpaid balance gets a statement on that day. This setting ignores triggers, the invoice sent date and the due date. It guarantees regular contact but gives up the precision of aging-based reminders.
The throttle decides whether it's too soon
With several open invoices, a client could meet a different trigger every few days. Each would stage a statement, and each statement would repeat the same invoices. The throttle prevents this. It sets a minimum number of days between Smart Statements sent to the same client. If a trigger fires inside that window, the statement is skipped. A skipped statement resets the throttle window, and Aiwyn does not stage that statement when the window ends—it waits until an invoice meets the next trigger.
The throttle considers only Smart Statements, regardless of whether your firm uses Collections V1 or V2. It does not count invoice emails or other communications. The default is 14 days, and most firms use 7–14 days. Avoid setting the throttle to 30 days or more, because that will likely prevent statements from staging.
Example: two invoices, one week
A client has two unpaid invoices, and the firm's throttle is 7 days:
- Invoice 1110 is 45 days overdue.
- Invoice 1111 is due in 3 days.
| Day | What happens | Without throttle | With 7-day throttle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Invoice 1110 meets the 45-day trigger | Statement sent, listing 1110 and 1111 | Statement sent, listing 1110 and 1111 |
| Day 3 | Invoice 1111 meets the pre-due trigger | Second statement sent with the same two invoices | Skipped. Only 2 days since the last statement |
The client already saw invoice 1111 on Day 1, so the second email adds nothing but noise. The throttle keeps reminders useful rather than repetitive.
Choosing your settings
- More triggers, same throttle: More chances to remind, but the throttle still caps frequency. Close-together triggers may be absorbed by the throttle.
- Longer throttle: Fewer emails per client. Set it too high—especially to 30 days or more—and statements you expect to see will likely not appear.
- Space triggers wider than the throttle (for example, 30-day steps with a 7-day throttle) so each trigger produces its own statement.
When a statement doesn't appear
If a client's invoice met a trigger but no statement was staged, check in this order:
- Is the client excluded, or on an AutoPay plan (automatically excluded)?
- Was another Smart Statement sent—or skipped—within the throttle window?
- Were the triggers saved today? Staging starts the next weekday.
- Is it a weekend? Statements only stage Monday–Friday.
Related
- Set up collection triggers, throttle and statement emails
- How aging buckets drive statement templates and recipients
- Collections settings reference