When an invoice remains unpaid past its due date, or an attempted payment fails, having a clear follow-up routine helps safeguard your cash flow. This guide outlines best practices for tracking down missing payments, handling failed transactions, and managing long-overdue records in ATB Invoicing.
Step 1: Verify manual payment channels
For offline or manual payment methods like EFT / Direct deposit, Cheque, or Cash, ATB Invoicing does not automatically update the invoice status.
- Check your bank accounts: Regularly monitor your business bank account transactions across all accounts. If a customer sent an EFT or deposited a cheque, cross-reference the deposit amount with your Outstanding or Overdue invoice list.
- Manually update status: Once you confirm funds have cleared into your account, open the invoice page, click the three dots (...) menu, and select Mark as paid.
Step 2: Handle failed or declined automated payments
Your customer may state that they did try to make a payment and it failed.
Common reasons for declined payments
- Insufficient funds: The customer's selected account didn't have enough funds to complete the transfer.
- Bank transfer limits: The invoice total exceeded the customer's daily Interac or account transfer limit (Canadian banks often cap e-Transfers at $3,000 per transfer).
- Bank security or fraud checks: A large or unusual transaction triggered temporary fraud protection blocks on the customer's account.
Note: Financial privacy rules mean ATB Invoicing will not receive the reason why a transaction may have failed.
Resolving failed transfers
- Contact your customer: Ask them to verify the message provided by their bank. Most issues (raising a daily limit or selecting a different source account) can be resolved quickly on their end.
- Resend or split the invoice: If the issue was temporary, use Resend invoice to trigger new payments. If the amount exceeds their bank's daily limit, void the invoice and issue two smaller invoices.
Step 3: Follow up on overdue invoices
If a customer simply hasn't opened or paid an invoice:
- Send a reminder: Reach out to your client and remind them of the invoice. Share with them the invoice permalink.
- Check communication notes: Review your Internal notes on the customer profile or invoice to check for previously noted payment arrangements or terms.
Step 4: Mark as uncollectible
If an invoice reaches 90+ days past due and you have exhausted all follow-up efforts without receiving payment, it should be removed from your active revenue expectations.
- Mark as uncollectible: Open the invoice, click the three dots (...) menu, and select Mark as uncollectible.
- Accounting effect: Marking an invoice as uncollectible stops it from counting toward your Outstanding or Overdue dashboard totals, helping keep your financial reporting accurate without deleting the historical audit trail. Talk to an accountant about any tax implications of uncollected funds.
