Configuring Delayed Payment Schedules for Customers

CloudBlue Commerce allows provider to configure delayed payment schedules for customers, which brings several important advantages for both service providers and customers:

• Providers can create privileged customer groups to offer them more flexible payment terms.
• Providers will reduce manual work associated with payment processing.
• Providers will benefit from increased percentage of bills paid and higher overall turnover as a result.
• Customers will benefit from Net30, Net60, or similar credit terms.
• Customers can review the outstanding invoices before making payments and, therefore, manage their bills and services more efficiently.

When delayed payment schedules are configured, CloudBlue Commerce will not charge the respective customers automatically on the invoice issue dates. On the contrary, the automatic charges will be delayed by the necessary period and, for each invoice that satisfies the rules below, will apply automatically on the corresponding date between the invoice issue date and the invoice due date (or as late as the invoice due date).

Delayed payment scheduling rules

1. Payment delays apply to:
   • All non-consolidated invoices that are attached to orders placed manually either without a payment method specified or using a payment method of one of these types:
     • Credit Cards Processed and Stored Locally
     • Custom created by choosing the Create separate Payment Method for every customer setting in the Add Payment System wizard
   • All non-consolidated invoices attached to orders placed automatically by the system
   • All consolidated invoices
2. For orders placed manually by the customer or vendor:
   1. If the customer account has a credit limit that exceeds the amount of the order being placed (which means that CloudBlue Commerce will allow the vendor to provision such an order even without payment) and one of these payment method types is used:
      • Saved payment method (Credit Cards Processed and Stored Locally, Custom created by choosing the Create separate Payment Method for every customer setting in the Add Payment System wizard): The chosen payment method will be used to pay the order. After the invoice is generated, the payment will be charged according to the delay schedule configured.
      • External Payment Site: The payment is charged without delay (in UX1 for Customers) or can be made manually (in PCP or RCP) using a link to the external payment site.
      • Without choosing any payment method (using the Pay Later option in PCP or RCP): After the invoice is generated, the payment will be charged using the customer's or vendor's default payment method according to the delay schedule configured.
   2. If the amount of the order being placed exceeds the customer's current credit limit (which means that CloudBlue Commerce will require payment before the order can be provisioned) and the customer or vendor places a sales, change, or renewal order using one of these payment method types:
      • Saved payment method (Credit Cards Processed and Stored Locally, Custom created by choosing the Create separate Payment Method for every customer setting in the Add Payment System wizard): Payment will be charged without delay as soon as the invoice is issued.
      • External Payment Site (in PCP or RCP): The payment is charged without delay (in UX1 for Customers) or the order is suspended (in PCP or RCP) until payment is made manually.

      • Without choosing any payment method (using the Pay Later option in PCP or RCP): The order will be suspended until payment is made.

   Note:
   - If a customer has a default payment method selected, the Pay Later option in the PCP or RCP will not be available.
   - For additional information on credit limits, refer to Notes on Credit Limit.

3. Delayed payments are processed by a separate system task, not by the daily billing process task. This ensures that the delayed payments for customers on hold are also processed.
4. You can configure only one payment delay schedule for a customer class. Setting different payment delay schedules per payment method is not supported.
5. If the payment delay schedule is changed for a Credit Terms option, the automatic payment date for the already created invoices will not be recalculated. Thus, there will be no changes for open invoices waiting for a delayed payment.
6. The payment delay schedule setting is not applicable to Debit Memos.

Configuring delayed payment schedules

Important: Payment schedules are configured through the credit terms configuration. A customer is granted a particular credit terms option with the selection of a particular customer class during the customer account creation in CloudBlue Commerce. For more information see Creating Customer Class and Creating Customer Account.

Configuration Scenario A. Setting a delayed payment schedule for an existing customer account

You can set a delayed payment schedule for an existing customer account in two ways:

• By changing the Credit Terms for the customer class to which this customer belongs. This will result in the same credit terms changes for all customers belonging to this class.
• By changing the Credit Terms for this particular customer. This will require:
  1. Creating a new customer class with the necessary credit terms;
  2. Assigning the newly created customer class to the customer account.

Option A1. Changing Credit Terms for a customer class

To set the necessary delayed payment schedule for an existing customer account and, at the same time, all customers of the same customer class:

1. Create the necessary credit terms as described in Configuring Credit Terms.
2. Go to Operations > Customers. Click the necessary customer in the list. Click the link to the customer class in the Customer Class field in the Financial Information section. The customer class settings open.
3. Click Edit and set the value of the Credit Terms field as necessary. As a result, the customer is granted the new credit terms option and, consequently, the necessary delayed payment schedule. For more information see Creating Customer Class. The same credit terms and delayed payment schedule are granted to all customers belonging to this class.

Option A2. Changing Credit Terms for an individual customer without affect on other customers

To set the necessary delayed payment schedule for an existing customer account without affecting other customers:

1. Create the necessary credit terms as described in Configuring Credit Terms.
2. Create the necessary customer class using the newly created credit terms as described in Creating Customer Class.
3. Go to Operations > Customers. Click the necessary customer in the list. Press Edit. Set the value of the Customer Class field to the newly created customer class.

Configuration Scenario B. Setting a delayed payment schedule for a new customer account

To set the necessary delayed payment schedule for a new customer account:

1. Create the necessary credit terms as described in Configuring Credit Terms.
2. Select the newly created credit terms for the necessary customer class:
   • For an existing customer class: Change the current credit terms chosen for the customer class to the newly created ones. For more information see Creating Customer Class.
   • For a new customer class: Create a new customer class and select the newly created credit terms for this class. For more information see Creating Customer Class.
3. Create a new customer account and select the respective customer class for the account. As a result, the customer is granted the respective credit terms option and, consequently, the necessary delayed payment schedule.