How do I Send Debt Chasing Letters?

Summary

The following article explains how Platinum can print debt letters of the relevant severity to help you chase outstanding debts.

Go to " Sales Ledger Aged Debtors Listing".

"Document Type" - Click the drop down box and select 'Warning Letter'.
"Stationery" - Click the drop down box and select 'Continuous'.
"From" and "To" - If you wish to send a letter to one account you can specify in these fields or leave them blank for all accounts with a debt.
"Group" - Should you wish to send letters to customers in one particular account group you can enter this in this field or leave this blank for all customers with a debt.
"Minimum Debt" - Using this field you can send letters only to customers owing over a certain amount.
"In Credit" - It is important to set this field to 'No'. This will mean only accounts that owe you money (debts) get letters rather than any you owe money to (Accounts in Credit).
"Site" - This field allows you to send letters only to customers with debts from one particular site.
"Debt Period" - This field allows you to set the debt period for which you wish to send letters. The debt periods are as follows:
- 'Current' = Debts in the current month.
- '1st Period' = Debts for last month old.
- '2nd Period' = Debts for the month prior to last month.
- '3rd Period' = Debts older than the previous period.
Once all these fields are set to your requirements click the [Print] button or press <F2> to print and the required letters will be printed.

Go to " Sales Ledger Aged Debtor Listing".

Set the range screen as above.
Instead of pressing <F2> to print, press <Shift+F2>.
This will show you a list of customers that fall into your range and allows you to press the [1,2,3,4] buttons at the top of the page against the accounts you require that particular letter for:
- 1 = A letter for Debts in the current month - This is a relatively gentle reminder letter prompting the customer to pay in the first instance.
- 2 = A letter for Debts up to one month old - A slightly stronger reminder letter prompting the customer to pay.
- 3 = A letter for Debts up to two months old - A fairly stiff reminder letter prompting the customer to pay as soon as possible.
- 4 = A letter for Debts up to Three months old - A Final Reminder letter prompting the customer that threatens court action if not dealt with within 7 days.
Once all required accounts are tagged, press the [Print] button or press <F2>. The system will then print the letter that you selected, rather than the one that it thinks you should send! For example, you might have a good customer who is just a bit slow paying this month, and you then send them the gentle reminder letter rather than the stiffer letter.