Invoicing settings
Overview
This page maintains the dunning levels — the basis of the dunning run. Without them, the run marks invoices as overdue but creates no reminders.
Core tasks
Create levels. Every level carries:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Level | the order — 1 before 2 before 3 |
| Label | what the level is called (payment reminder, first reminder, …) |
| Days after due date | when it takes effect |
| Dunning fee | a fixed amount |
| Default interest % | percent on the outstanding amount |
| Brand | empty = applies to every brand |
| Active | whether the level is considered in the run |
Choose the intervals sensibly. The days after due date are the real lever. Intervals that are too short annoy customers who would have paid anyway; too long forgo liquidity. A first level without a fee — a plain reminder — costs nothing and settles most cases.
Differentiate per brand — or not. Left empty, the level applies everywhere. That is the normal case; brand-specific levels only pay off where payment practice genuinely differs.
Take over payments from lexoffice. With the lexoffice connection set up, Octibiz matches the incoming payments of the open invoices handed over to lexoffice every hour (at quarter past, so at 05:15 before the dunning run) — in addition to the bank import. Only the part Octibiz does not know yet is booked: incoming money according to lexoffice minus payments already booked from any source. A second run therefore books nothing twice, and a payment that already came through the bank import is not counted again. The payment carries the source lexoffice and is matched automatically; if it arrived within the cash-discount period of the invoice, the discount is granted as with bank matching. A cash-discount or bad-debt item in lexoffice is not incoming money. Deviations (document unknown there, other currency, Octibiz knows more payment) are counted, never corrected. Match now at the top of the page starts the same run immediately and shows its figures; the switch Take over payments from lexoffice turns it off.
Fields in detail
The What it does column answers what changes in the system — not what the field is called. The grey name behind the label is the API field: the same thing runs under that name through automation, import and AI tools.
Dunning level
The levels form the escalation: level 1 reminds, level 3 threatens. A dunning run takes, per invoice, the highest level whose deadline has passed.
| Field | Required | Values / format | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Level level | yes | whole number from 1 | The position in the escalation. The order follows this number, not the order of creation. |
Label label | yes | text, max. 100 characters | What the level is called on the document and in the list ("Payment reminder", "First reminder"). |
Days after due daysAfterDue | yes | 0 or more | When this level applies, counted from the invoice's due date. The gap between levels is the rhythm of the escalation. |
Fee feeAmount | no | amount | Dunning fee for this level. Placed as its own line on the dunning document. |
Default interest % interestPercent | no | percentage | Annual interest on the outstanding amount from the due date. Calculated to the day. |
Brand brandId | no | one of your brands | Limits the level to one brand — for houses that dun differently per brand. Empty means for all. |
Active active | no | yes/no | Off means the dunning run skips this level. The way to suspend a level without tearing the ladder apart. |
Settings & permissions
- Module
module.invoicing. - Permission
invoicing.config.managefor the levels,invoicing.dunning.managefor the
run.
- The due date itself does not come from here but from the invoice's payment term, see
Payment terms. The levels count from that due date.
- Dunning costs as a separate document (switch, off by default): sending a reminder with a fee
or interest creates a finalised cost document for exactly these costs — without VAT (damages are not taxable), referring to the invoice and due in 14 days without cash discount. The invoice itself stays unchanged, so its open amount still matches the bank receipt. A cost document is not dunned itself. Switched off, the costs only appear in the reminder letter.
- Take over payments from lexoffice (switch
invoicing.lexoffice.payment_sync, on by default):
only works with an active lexoffice connection. Match now requires the permission finance.lexoffice.sync; API POST /api/v1/invoice-payments/lexoffice-sync (optional limit, default 200 invoices per run). Every run is logged on the lexoffice integration.
- Pass on the chargeback fee (switch, on by default) and handling fee (amount): the bank fee
entered with a direct-debit return — plus the handling fee — is charged to the customer as a cost document.
FAQ & troubleshooting
The dunning run marks invoices but creates no reminders. Then active dunning levels are missing — or the days after due date have not been reached yet.
One brand is never dunned. Check whether a brand-specific level exists and whether a cross-brand one does. One of the two has to apply.
An invoice paid in lexoffice stays open. Check whether the invoice was handed over to lexoffice (export status synced), whether the lexoffice connection is active and whether the switch is on. If lexoffice does not know the document or keeps it in another currency, the run counts a deviation and books nothing.
The default interest has no effect. It is a percentage of the outstanding amount. If part has already been paid, it comes out correspondingly smaller.
We want to start with a plain reminder. Create a first level without a fee and without interest. The tone of the reminder comes from the template, not from this table.