Accounts Receivable — Process Late Charges
Generate finance‑charge invoices for overdue balances (ATAR650)

Overview

Use Process Late Charges to generate and post finance‑charge invoices for customers with overdue invoices. The program looks at each customer’s credit/collections settings—Days considered late, Monthly Percentage Charge, and Minimum Monthly Charge—and creates a new AR invoice for the late fee.

Prerequisites

Important: You may not run this routine for any period that has not been closed in AR. Close the prior period first, then run late charges for the next open period.
  • Customer master records should have credit settings filled in (Days Late, %/Month, Minimum Charge).
  • Ensure any excluded customers are flagged per company policy.

Prompts & Fields

  • 1. Company — Company/entity to post the charges to.
  • 2. Period for Late Charges — Accounting period to evaluate and post. The screen also shows the Last Period Processed for reference.
  • 3. Invoice Date — Posting date that will appear on generated late‑charge invoices.

Footer commands: Quit, Post.

How Charges Are Calculated

  • Eligibility — Invoices past due by at least the customer’s Days considered late are eligible.
  • Amount — For each eligible customer, the charge is typically the greater of:
    • Open Past‑Due Amount × Monthly Percentage Charge
    • Minimum Monthly Charge
    (per your site setup; finance charges are not compounded within a period.)
  • Result — A new AR invoice is created for the finance charge and included in the customer’s next statement.

Post Late Charges — Steps

  1. Select the Company.
  2. Enter the Period for Late Charges (must be closed for AR activity as of that period per policy).
  3. Enter the Invoice Date you want on the generated invoices.
  4. Review the Last Period Processed indicator.
  5. Press P to Post. The system creates late‑charge invoices for eligible customers based on their settings.

Notes & Best Practices

  • Verify percentage and minimum values in Customer Master before posting, especially for new accounts.
  • If a customer disputes a fee, use Invoice Adjustment to remove or reduce the charge with a clear reason.
  • Include late‑charge invoices when printing Statements so customers see the charges promptly.