Overview
This document outlines the potential billing communications an account might receive during the automated billing cycle. It is intended to provide a complete end-to-end picture of when communications are sent, and the billing settings that control them.
This article will not discuss customizing these communications. For instructions on editing the communication templates, read Managing Communication Templates.
For a broader explanation of the communication system, read Customer Communications - Overview. For a complete explanation of delinquency, read All About Delinquency.
This article assumes a basic understanding of billing concepts within gaiia.
Full billing communication cycle
This section details the communications an account may receive as it progresses through the stages of an automated billing cycle.
Accounts enrolled in Autopay that successfully settle their invoices typically only receive the invoice email. However, payment issues, overdue invoices, delinquency, and similar problems will trigger further communications to the account.
Any Available Funds on an account are automatically applied when a payment is added or when an invoice is generated, before any charge is taken. An account whose invoice is fully covered by available funds will not receive payment-related communications for that invoice.
The sequence of these communications may vary based on specific settings and requires certain functionalities to be activated. Generally, the communications are dispatched according to the stages outlined below:
High-level stages:
- A communication is sent containing the invoice
- If Autopay is enabled, a communication is sent regarding the payment
- A communication is sent when the payment is "Successful"
- A communication is sent when the payment is "Unsuccessful"
- A communication is sent when a "Successful" or "Pending" payment has been updated to "Failed"
- A payment reminder communication is sent if an invoice remains "Unpaid"
- A communication is sent if an invoice becomes "Overdue"
- A final notice communication is sent shortly before the account would enter delinquency
- If automatic suspension for delinquency is enabled, a communication is sent notifying the account that they have entered delinquency and their services were suspended as a result
Overdue checks and their communications always run before delinquency checks each morning. This guarantees an invoice is visibly marked "Overdue" and the overdue communication is sent before an account can become delinquent because of that invoice. If you want customers to have the full due date day to pay before an invoice becomes overdue, enable the Invoice becomes overdue the next day billing setting.
For ACH payments, when a payment fails more than once, gaiia applies additional logic to help prevent the account from entering delinquency during the retry window, reducing unnecessary service interruptions. This may delay or prevent the delinquency communications described below.
Detailed stages:
Scroll right to view the whole table on smaller screens.
| Order | Activity | Communication | Billing setting | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The recurring invoice is generated | Statement system communication |
Invoice day (set per account) |
This only occurs for the recurring invoices automatically generated by gaiia. A separate communication (Manual statement) is used for manually generated invoices. Any Available Funds are automatically applied to the invoice when it is generated. |
| 2* | Communication is sent when the auto payment for the invoice is "Successful" | Payment Successful system communication | If an account is set up on Autopay | The delivery date depends on when the auto payment is taken. This communication will not be sent for accounts that do not have Autopay enabled, or when no charge was required because the invoice was covered by Available Funds. |
| 2* | Communication is sent when the auto payment for the invoice is "Unsuccessful" | Retry payment failed system communication | If an account is set up on Autopay | This will only occur when the account is using Autopay. For ACH payments, repeated failures trigger additional retry logic designed to prevent the account from entering delinquency during the retry window. |
| 2* | Communication is sent when a successful or pending payment is updated to "Failed" | Payment failed system communication | N/A | Scenarios where this could occur are chargebacks for credit cards, and pending payments on bank account payments. |
| 3 | A reminder to pay the invoice is sent | Payment due system communication | Days before payment due reminder | The communication will be sent a number of days before the invoice due date (the Due date noted in the Current invoice period for each account under their Billing tab). The invoice due date is determined by the Days to become overdue after invoice day. |
| 4 | The invoice has become "Overdue" | Overdue system communication | Days to become overdue after invoice day | Accounts with an "Overdue" invoice will have received this communication. The setting determines how many days must elapse after issuing the invoice before it becomes overdue. For example, if an account had an invoice day on the 1st and the setting was 13, on the 14th the invoice would become overdue and this communication would be sent. |
| 5 | A final notice is sent before the account enters delinquency |
Final Notice before Delinquency system communication (subject: "Final Notice of Overdue Balance") |
Days before delinquency to send out final notice (under Delinquency settings) |
Sent the configured number of days before the account would become delinquent. This communication is delayed or prevented by "Pending" payments and active grace periods, giving customers a last chance to pay before delinquency actions begin. |
| 6 | An account has entered delinquency and is being suspended | Delinquent - Suspension of services notice system communication | Delinquency configuration (see comments) | Delinquency behavior — when an account becomes delinquent, which steps it goes through, and whether services are automatically suspended — is configured through your delinquency settings and can be automated through workflows. This communication is only sent when an account is both in the "Suspended" status and is delinquent. The full timeline of steps an account has gone through is visible in the delinquency step history on the account. For details, read All About Delinquency. |
Workflow-based delinquency
If your organization manages delinquency through workflows, the behavior after an account becomes delinquent — which delinquency steps it moves through, whether services are suspended, collection attempts, and reactivation — is defined by your delinquency workflows rather than the fixed billing settings. In that case, the communications sent during suspension, collection (such as collection emails with the latest invoice statement attached), and reactivation are determined by your workflow configuration and may differ from the final stage described in the table above. The invoice, payment, reminder, overdue, and final notice communications are unaffected.
The full timeline of delinquency steps an account has gone through is visible in the delinquency step history on the account. For more details, read All About Delinquency.
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