Overview
The Settings step is where you turn on AR Collections and define its core behavior in SmartCustomer. In this step, you:
Enable AR Collections and (optionally) AR Helpdesk.
Decide how new customers are handled.
Choose dunning preferences at the customer and invoice level.
Define how parent and child customers are treated for dunning.
You must select at least one option to continue from this step.
Important:
The Dunning Preference (Customer Level vs Invoice Level, and the related consolidation and hierarchy options) is chosen when you configure and run the SmartFlow for the first time. After the SmartFlow has been created and run, these dunning options are not editable from the Edit flow.
Figure 1: Settings Step in SmartCustomer Configuration (AR Collections)
Configuration
At the top of the Settings screen, you see the Configuration section.
Select at least one to continue
You must turn on at least one of the following:
Turn on AR Collections
Turn on AR Helpdesk
You can enable just AR Collections, just AR Helpdesk, or both in the same SmartCustomer instance.
Turn on AR Collections
Select Turn on AR Collections to enable collections automation.
Auditoria can notify your customers about new invoices and due payments. Your customers will be automatically classified as per their paying patterns. You can modify their classification (such as Fast Payers, Slow Payers, Key Accounts, Escalation, etc.), and create personalized notifications (such as Early Payment Notice, Request for Bank Reference, Trade Reference, 1st/2nd/3rd Past Due reminders etc.).
When AR Collections is turned on:
SmartCustomer can send dunning emails (for example, payment reminders and statements) to your customers.
Customers can be automatically classified based on observed payment behavior.
You can adjust customer classifications (for example, Fast Payers, Slow Payers, Key Accounts, Escalation) and use different dunning cadences and templates for each group.
You can configure personalized notifications such as:
Early payment notices.
Bank or trade reference requests.
First, second, and third past-due reminders.
If AR Collections is not turned on, no automated collections emails are sent from this SmartCustomer instance.
Auto-Enroll New Customer Records
Auto-Enroll New Customer Records
When Auto-Enroll New Customer Records is selected:
When the connected system of record (SOR) syncs new Customer records:
Those customers are automatically enrolled in AR Collections.
They become eligible for AI Agent processing of their customer contact emails and for inclusion in dunning runs according to your configuration.
Use this option when you want all new customers to be included in AR Collections by default.
If this option is not selected, new customers must be enrolled manually on the Customers screen before they are considered for AR Collections.
Tasks for New Customer Records
Tasks for New Customer Records
When Tasks for New Customer Records is selected:
Whenever new customers are synced from the connected system of record, SmartCustomer:
Automatically creates tasks related to these new customer records.
These tasks can be used by AR users to:
Review new customers.
Confirm classifications.
Verify contact details or dunning eligibility.
If this option is not selected, SmartCustomer does not create tasks automatically when new customers are added.
Dunning Preference
The Dunning Preference section controls how AR Collections evaluates invoices and customers for dunning. You can configure:
Customer Level preferences.
Invoice Level preferences.
You can choose either customer-level or invoice-level dunning, depending on how you manage your collections.
One‑time configuration:
The Dunning Preference settings are configured when you first create and run the SmartFlow. After the SmartFlow has been run once, these options (Customer Level vs Invoice Level, consolidation preference, and customer hierarchy preference) are fixed for that SmartFlow and cannot be changed from the Edit flow.
Customer Level
Select Customer Level when you want to manage dunning at the customer level.
In this mode:
Dunning is driven by the set of open invoices for each customer.
Dunning emails are sent to the Dunning contact email defined on the customer record (as configured in your ERP integration).
Customer-level dunning includes two additional preferences:
Consolidation Preference for Dunning Based on Invoice Due Date
Customer Hierarchy Preference
Consolidation Preference for Dunning Based on Invoice Due Date
This setting controls how SmartCustomer handles multiple open invoices for the same customer when determining whether to send a reminder.
You can choose one of the following options:
Match all open invoices to the dunning cadence preferences and if there is more than one match, dunning will only be sent for the oldest invoice in this sublist
SmartCustomer:
Evaluates all open invoices for the customer against the configured dunning cadences.
If more than one invoice matches a cadence on the same day:
Sends one dunning email.
Uses the oldest matching invoice in this sublist as the trigger.
Effect:
Customers receive at most one reminder per day for that customer.
All open invoices are considered when deciding whether a cadence is hit.
Select oldest enrolled invoice from all open invoices and then match to dunning cadence preferences
SmartCustomer:
First selects the oldest enrolled open invoice from all open invoices for the customer.
Then checks only this invoice against the dunning cadence preferences.
Effect:
The single oldest enrolled invoice drives dunning for that customer.
Newer invoices will not trigger Dunning if the oldest invoice does not meet any cadence on that day.
Choose the option that best matches your desired behavior for customers with multiple open invoices.
Customer Hierarchy Preference
If your customers are organized in parent–child hierarchies (for example, a management company and its facilities), the Customer Hierarchy Preference determines how AR Collections treats those relationships during dunning.
You can choose one of the following options:
Parent and child customers and their invoices are considered separate for dunning
Parent and child customers are treated as independent.
Each customer (parent and each child):
Can be enrolled or unenrolled separately.
Receives its own dunning emails (if enrolled).
Includes only its own invoices in those emails.
All child customer invoices are considered parent customer invoices for dunning
Parent and enrolled child customers are treated as one dunning group.
SmartCustomer:
Treats all child customer invoices as if they belong to the parent for dunning purposes.
Sends dunning emails to the parent customer’s Dunning contact.
Can include open invoices from all enrolled child customers in the dunning tables and statements.
Use separate dunning when each location or entity manages its own AR. Use consolidated dunning when a management company or parent contact is responsible for the entire group.
Invoice Level
Select Invoice Level when you want to manage dunning at the individual invoice level.
In this mode:
Each invoice is evaluated independently against the configured dunning cadences.
Dunning emails are sent to the Dunning contact email defined on the invoice record (for example, an invoice-specific bill-to contact).
Invoice-level dunning is useful when:
Different invoices for the same customer must go to different recipients.
Collections responsibilities are split by business unit, department, or location.
Key Points
You must select at least one option in Configuration to continue from the Settings step.
Turning on AR Collections enables automated collections for this SmartCustomer instance.
Auto-Enroll New Customer Records and Tasks for New Customer Records control how new customers from your system of record are handled.
Dunning Preference:
Customer Level:
Choose consolidation behavior for multiple invoices.
Choose how parent and child customers are handled.
Invoice Level:
Evaluate and notify at the individual invoice level.
After completing the Settings step, you can continue to configure Classification, Notification, and finally Save and Run to complete your AR Collections setup.