Summary
Collections, also referred to as Smart Statements, are emailed reminders that are sent to clients reflecting their entire open AR (unpaid Invoices). This powerful yet easy to use tool will provide a more elegant statement to clients who are enabled to receive emailed statements based on their client record settings in your Practice Management system. Smart Statements are Staged/Sent at 11:30am Eastern Monday - Friday.
This tool was specifically designed to reduce or eliminate the need for staff to create, compose, compile, or send directly any Statement. Therefore, there is no way to create a statement for a client. Instead, the statement is "staged for review" or "automatically sends" based on one of the client's invoice meeting one of your Triggers on that day (after 11:30am Eastern M-F).
In this Article:
- Basic workflow
- Collection settings
- Clients excluded from Statements
- Smart Statement email addresses
- Smart Statement message contents
- Smart Statement triggers
- Smart Statement throttle
- Client Collections statuses
- Video: Smart Statement walkthrough (11 minutes)
Basic workflow
- Based on your configured trigger settings, a Smart Statement will generate when an Invoice ages to a defined time period.
- If set on manual review, a statement reminder is Staged for Review.
- Review the contents of the staged reminder and if ready, click Send.
- The Smart Statement is emailed to the recipients who are configured in your Practice Management system to receive emailed statements.
- If set to automated, Smart Statements will generate and send to clients daily (M-F) as their AR meets the trigger settings put in place.
- Client receives the Smart Statement email and clicks "Review & Pay" button, where they're brought directly to their client portal and can pay all outstanding Invoices, without entering in any client numbers or invoice numbers.
Collection settings
To access Collection Settings:
- Log into the Firm Portal.
- Select the Settings tab from the left side menu.
- Under Collections on the far-left side, select Collection Statements.
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- Keep in mind that any changes you make will only affect statements not yet staged.
- Statements are Staged or Sent Monday through Friday at 11:30am est.
- Important: Do not create any triggers until the day before you are ready to go live with Smart Statements.
- Be sure to always save your changes before leaving the page in the top right corner. There is also an option to revert changes here if needed.
Clients excluded from Statements
During implementation, your Implementation Manager will help your firm determine which system will be the source of truth for client statement exclusion, Aiwyn or your practice management system.
If your practice management system has a way to mark a client level record as include or exclude from statements (or electronic statements), and your firm wants to continue using this method for client Statement inclusion/exclusion, then we will make your practice management system the source of truth and we will deactivate the Statement exclusion tool located in the Aiwyn Collections Settings page.
Example image of the Excluded client tool disabled in the Aiwyn firm portal Collections Settings page
However, if your practice management system lacks the ability to include/exclude clients from Statements, or it is your preference to use Aiwyn instead, then we will enable the Statement exclusion tool on the Aiwyn Collections Settings page. It is from this page you will choose clients to exclude from Statements and they will remain on this list until de-selected.
To exclude clients, follow these steps:
- Log into the Firm Portal
- Select the Settings tab from the menu along the left side menu
- Under Collections on the far-left side, select Collection Statements
- Navigate to the Excluded Clients section and click "Manage Excluded Clients" button
- A small box will open and will show all currently excluded clients
- To add an excluded client in the search bar enter their client number or their client name
- Select the checkmark next to their entry
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 to exclude multiple clients
- When ready, click "Update Excluded Clients" button to save your selections
- The box will close and you can navigate off the Collections Settings page
- Conduct these steps in reverse to remove a client from the Excluded Clients list
If you have enabled AutoPay for your firm, any clients who have created an AutoPay plan are automatically excluded from Smart Statements.
Smart Statement email addresses
The CC/BCC recipients can be adjusted to meet your needs based on the age of the oldest outstanding invoice on a statement. These settings can be configured for the client partner or specific email recipients depending on your preference.
The "From" name and email address can also be configured directly below.
We recommend including one or more of your email addresses in the CC or BCC recipients so that you can receive a copy of the Smart Statement emails sent to your clients.
Smart Statement message contents
The email subject, headline, and message body are customizable, with the option to create custom wording within each "Aging Bucket". Within the customizable message content, several variables can be inserted alongside static text to generate a client specific Smart Statement automatically.
Rich text editing of the Headline and Message Body allows users to create visually engaging and organized Statement content by enabling advanced formatting, tables, image inserts, and embedded URLs
An asterisk beside an aging bucket in this settings area indicates you have customized the values for the respective bucket. The 0-30 days bucket is considered the "default" message content and will populate the other bucket contents automatically unless you have customized them further.
Note: Adjustments made to the following Message Contents will only apply to future Smart Statements and will not change Smart Statements already staged for Review.
Subject: The subject line of the email.
- Example: Statement for [Client Name variable] from [Firm Name variable]
Headline: Large bold text seen at the top of the email body.
- Example: You have [Total Invoice Count variable] invoice(s) with a total balance of [Total Amount Due variable]
Message: Small text seen above the AR aging buckets.
- Example: Thank you for being a valued client. This reminder may include invoice(s) that were sent recently as well as those that are due or overdue and might also include invoices that have been recently paid through a check or wire transfer.
Example Message Contents
| Example wording | 0 - 30 Days |
| Email subject | Statement for ${client_name} from ${firm_name} |
|
Headline Large bold text at top of email body |
You have ${total_invoice_count} invoice(s) for a total balance due of ${total_amount_due} |
|
Message body Small text under the Aging Buckets in email body |
Thank you ${client_name} for being a valued ${firm_name} client. This reminder may include invoice(s) that were sent recently as well as those that are due or overdue, and might also include invoices that have been recently paid through a check or wire transfer. A service charge of 1.5% will be applied to any balance aged more than 30 days from the due date on the invoice. Thank you for keeping your account current. |
| Example wording | 31 - 60 Days |
| Email subject | Statement for ${client_name} from ${firm_name} |
|
Headline Large bold text at top of email body |
You have ${total_invoice_count} invoice(s) for a total balance due of ${total_amount_due} |
|
Message body Small text under the Aging Buckets in email body |
${client_name} there ${overdue_invoice_count} invoice(s) that are now over 30 days past due. The total outstanding balance on your account is ${total_amount_due}. We kindly request that you take action to resolve this matter as soon as possible. For inquiries, please contact EMAIL@EXAMPLE.COM. A service charge of 1.5% will be applied to any balance aged more than 30 days from the due date on the invoice. Thank you for keeping your account current. |
| Example wording | 61 - 90 Days |
| Email subject | Unpaid invoice(s) for ${client_name} from ${firm_name} |
|
Headline Large bold text at top of email body |
You have ${total_invoice_count} invoice(s) for a total balance due of ${total_amount_due} |
|
Message body Small text under the Aging Buckets in email body |
${client_name} there ${overdue_invoice_count} invoice(s) that are now over 60 days past due. The total outstanding balance on your account is ${total_amount_due}. We kindly request that you take action to resolve this matter as soon as possible. For inquiries, please contact EMAIL@EXAMPLE.COM. A service charge of 1.5% will be applied to any balance aged more than 30 days from the due date on the invoice. Thank you for keeping your account current. |
| Example wording | 91 - 120 Days |
| Email subject | Unpaid invoice(s) for ${client_name} from ${firm_name} |
|
Headline Large bold text at top of email body |
You have ${total_invoice_count} invoice(s) for a total balance due of ${total_amount_due} |
|
Message body Small text under the Aging Buckets in email body |
${client_name} there are ${overdue_invoice_count} invoice(s) that are now over 60 days past due. We have contacted you multiple times regarding the outstanding invoice(s) totaling ${total_amount_due}. Your account is now over 90 days past due, and we have yet to receive payment. Please let us know if there are any issues or if you need additional information to make the payment as soon as possible. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and look forward to receiving your payment soon. For inquiries, please contact EMAIL@EXAMPLE.COM. A service charge of 1.5% will be applied to any balance aged more than 30 days from the due date on the invoice. Thank you for keeping your account current. |
| Example wording | 121+ Days |
| Email subject | Unpaid invoice(s) for ${client_name} from ${firm_name} |
|
Headline Large bold text at top of email body |
You have ${total_invoice_count} invoice(s) for a total balance due of ${total_amount_due} |
|
Message body Small text under the Aging Buckets in email body |
${client_name} we value your business and are committed to providing you with exceptional service. However, we require payment for the services ${firm_name} has provided. There are ${overdue_invoice_count} invoice(s) that are now over 121 days past due. It is imperative that you remit payment for your outstanding invoice(s). We will be taking necessary steps to collect the overdue amount, including possibly referring your account to a collection agency. Please contact us immediately to make arrangements for payment. |
Variables: Dynamic fields that can be placed throughout the subject, headline, and message that pull in the actual client data for each Smart Statement.
- New Invoice Count will show the number of invoices that are not yet overdue, based on the date of the invoice and your Net Terms.
- Overdue Invoice Count will show the number of invoices that are overdue based on the date of the invoice and your Net Terms.
- Total Invoice Count will show the total number of invoices the client has.
- New Amount Due will show the total amount due from invoices that are not yet overdue, based on the date of the invoice and your Net Terms
- Overdue Amount Due will show the total amount due from overdue invoices based on the date of the invoice and your Net Terms.
- Total Amount Due will show the total amount from all invoices the client has.
Smart Statement triggers
When an invoice ages to a certain amount of days, it will meet one or more of your Collection Triggers and will Stage a Smart Statement for Review (or send automatically based on your settings).
Included in the Smart Statements are all invoices that are not fully paid for the client. A Smart Statement serves as both a Statement and an "invoice reminder". A statement will stage/send as an Invoice meets one of your Collection Triggers, but could also include invoices from long ago as well as those recently sent.
Note: Do not set triggers until the day before you are ready to begin using Collections
Note: Adjusting triggers will only affect Invoices not yet staged for Review
Based on your Invoice Date and Net Terms, build triggers to determine when you would like a Smart Statement to Stage/Send.
When an invoice meets one of the triggers, a Smart Statement will Stage/Send, and will include ALL unpaid invoices associated with the client.
Example Scenario
Your firm has net terms of 30 days and updates the Invoice Date based on the date the invoice was sent to the client via Aiwyn.
You would like clients to receive their first reminder 5 days before the invoice is due, another reminder 15 days after the invoice is due, and another reminder when the invoice is 30 days overdue.
From there, you would like to send a reminder every 30 days for the next year until the invoice(s) is fully paid.
This is how your triggers would appear:
- Trigger 1: When an invoice due date is less than 6 days from now (reminder sent 5 days before due date)
- Trigger 2: When an invoice due date was more than 14 days ago (reminder sent 15 days after the due date has passed)
- Trigger 3: When an invoice due date was more than 29 days ago (reminder sent 30 days after the due date has passed)
- Trigger 4+: When an invoice due date was more than 59 days ago (reminder sent 60 days after the due date has passed). For each trigger entry continue to add +30 days, e.g. 89, 119, 149, 179, and so on until you have covered as many year(s) as you prefer.
Monthly Default Statement: The setting "By Default Send statement on the (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Last) day (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc) of the Month" should only be used if you would like to send a Statement that includes all unpaid invoices regardless of their aging.
If you would like to use this setting, you can build less triggers and will want to ensure your Message Contents include wording to indicate to clients they may be receiving this reminder for invoices that could have been recently sent and not yet due.
With this setting enabled, it will ignore the date the invoice was sent and the due date of the invoice, and when the indicated day of the month is reached it will Stage/Send a reminder to all clients who have one or more unpaid invoices, even if none are overdue.
Some firms prefer to not enable the Monthly Default Statement and instead rely on building out triggers that will catch older invoices.
Smart Statement throttle
The throttle enables you to prevent your Clients from receiving the same smart statement too frequently.
Set a number of days for your throttle.
Then, when a smart statement is staged/auto sent, the number of throttle days indicated must pass before a new statement could possibly stage/auto send for the same client.
For Example:
Your client has two unpaid invoices, Invoice 1110 is overdue by 45 days, and Invoice 1111 is due in 3 days.
- Invoice 1110 meets one of your triggers to send a reminder when the invoice is 45 days overdue.
- A Smart Statement is staged/sent and includes Invoice 1110 and Invoice 1111.
- Two days later, Invoice 1111 meets one of your triggers to send a reminder when 1 day before due date.
- Without a throttle in place, the client would receive another reminder of what is essentially the exact same statement email. But with a throttle, you could prevent that second reminder from going out, essentially allowing it to be skipped.
Other Info
Most firms using Aiwyn choose a throttle of 7-14 days, which would ensure a Smart Statement reminder will not go to clients too frequently.
If an invoice meets a trigger during the throttle period, no statement will be staged/sent.
A statement not generated due to the throttle is not "held". Instead the system will ignore that statement altogether. Once the throttle period has passed, then the system will wait to stage/send a smart statement for when any of the client's invoice(s) meet any of the triggers.
Client Collections statuses
You may see a few different statuses within your Collections module to add insight into the activity associated with each client. These statuses are found in the far-left column of your Collections tab:
- Sent - This is a Smart Statement that was sent previously.
- No Status - There are no Smart Statements that have been sent for this client or that are currently staged for review (if manually reviewing).
If you are currently (or have previously) manually reviewing your Smart Statements, you may be seeing a few statuses unique to this workflow.
- Review - This is a queued Smart Statement that is waiting the approval to be sent out.
- Deactivated - This is a Smart Statement that was affected by a manual wipe of queued Smart Statements, usually requested by the firm. This status will be removed the next time this client's open AR meets the triggers set by your firm.
- Skipped - This is a Smart Statement that has been previously reviewed and manually skipped by the firm.
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