Contents:
Step 1: Sign up for an account with Paidnice
> Sign up for an account with your Xero login, or email address.
If you are signing up with Xero:
> Select which Xero organisation you would like to sign in with, and then select Allow access.
Note: If you would like demo Paidnice with demo data, use the Xero Demo Store.
> You'll now be logged into Paidnice and will and on the dashboard.
Dashboard overview
You will now be on the dashboard. Your account is automatically on Safe Mode, you can play around with your account, and preview the actions Paidnice will take, before they happen.
Dashboard: Overview of your policies.
Invoices: View each invoice's status, and perform actions.
Activity: See a calendar feed of upcoming invoices, when they are due and perform actions.
Policies:
Reminders: Setup email & SMS notifications for late fees, prompt payment discounts and invoice reminders.
Late Fees: Setup your late fees, and their conditions.
Prompt Payment Discounts: Setup automatic prompt payment discounts.
Groups: Assign which contacts get late fees (and who doesn't)
Settings: Find your account settings here.
General: Turn Safe Mode on/off and setup webhooks.
Email Templates: Setup email templates for late fees, reminders and prompt payment discounts.
Usage: See your usage stats.
Connection: See and edit your Xero or QuickBooks connections and connected users.
Yon the Dashboard you can also;
Chat to our support team, in the bottom left corner.
Logout, and access our help center, up in the top right corner.
Step 2: Set up a late fees
> Select Late Fees from the menu options on the left.
> Select New Late Fee in the right corner, and select from the late fee options in the box. When you are finished. Push Save.
Late Fees overview:
In Paidnice, Policies are what we call late fees and other interest payments.
You can setup as many custom policies (late fees) as you like, and assign them to as many groups (contacts) as you like (up to your plan limit)
Note: It's important that you attach at least one policy to a group, or else Paidnice will not issue any late fees for you.
Late fee settings overview:
Issue type
Depending on your preferred accounting setup, Paidnice will either issue a new invoice for the penalty/late fee or update the existing invoice.
Note: when selecting Existing, all late fees will automatically be approved. Only for New Invoice issue type, are you able to select Draft / Approved (as above).
Select late fee type, pick from:
Fixed late fee (eg $10)
Percentage amount (eg 2% of $100)
Daily pro-rata per day rate (eg 8% per annum (divided by) # of days in the year (times) the number of days the invoice is overdue)
Is there another you would like to see? Let us know.
Fee income account - chart of account (Important)
Which chart of account would you like to code your late fees into.
Important: You need to select an account code before Paidnice can work.
Grace period
The number of days from when the invoice goes overdue, to when the late fee is issued. We recommend giving yourself some time to factor in reconciling your accounts.
Fee amount
The fee you'd like to attach to your policy (fixed number, or the interest rate)
Repeat late fees late fees (when left unpaid)
Select to enable compounding of late fees by any set number of days you pick. For example, repeat the 2.9% interest charge after 30 days (to compound interest charge monthly)
Note: Compounding of the original late fee issued does not happen. Would you like it too? Let us know.
Description
Customise the text that will appear on the invoice line item. Use #PenaltyDate to include the date the penalty is issued on the invoice line item (recommended)
Advanced Policy Settings Overview:
Apply to invoices due before (historical)
Sets a date the policy applies to in the past.
Apply to invoices due after (future)
Sets a date the policy applies to in the future
Note: you can use this feature to create unique policy blocks, for periods of time, and to process different policies, for different time periods.
Due amount threshold
Set a minimum invoice amount that must be met in order for the policy to activate.
Use contacts tax rate (only activate for custom tax setups)
Override the Xero account above to the contacts one if you have one setup for accounts receivable.
> Now, Save your Policy.
Step 3: Assigning your Policy to your Default Group
> Select the Groups tab
> In Defaults, Select your Policy from the dropdown.
> Select Save.
Note: The Default Group will send your policy to all of your customers, future and existing. If you want to create a Whitelist (of customers that don't get late fees) create a Contact Group, and don't assign any policies to it.
Step 4: Create a group, or a Whitelist (Optional)
Contact groups let you assign policies to different contacts. You can also create Whitelists, of contacts that will not get any late fees issued to them.
> To create a group, in Contact Groups, select New Group.
> Give your group a name.
> Assign a policy (or for a whitelist, leave this blank), and Save.
> Add Contact (note this is case sensitive, and pulls from your accounting systems contacts).
> Select Save.
Great, now you've setup a Policy, and assigned it to your default group. You're now ready to start issuing late fees to your customers!
Step 4: Setup Invoice Reminders
> Go to Email Templates, and select Create New, select either a Reminder, or a Late Fee.
Note: Reminders are for before or after late fees are issued, and Late Fees are for when late fees are issued.
>
> Customize your email template to your desired settings, and hit Save.
> Head over to the Reminders tab, and select New Reminder.
> Setup your reminder settings, and assign the email template to your reminder, then hit Save.
Step 5: Explore invoice actions, and import your existing invoices
Now that you have setup the rest of the nuts and bolts of Paidnice. It is time to explore the Invoices tab, and to import your existing invoices.
> Select Invoices.
> Select Check for updates.
IMPORTANT: Double check your account is on Safe Mode (General > Safe Mode ON) to make sure no imported invoices get penalties applied to them.
After you sync your invoices across, Paidnice will now work out in the background, which ones are overdue and match your penalty criteria, or not.
Invoices and filters overview:
Number
Invoice numbers, and their penalties.
Invoice Status
Draft, Approved or Paid.
Contact
Contact who has been issued the invoice.
Amount Due
Original invoice amount that is due.
Latest Job Status
Invoice status within Paidnice, the different status codes are:
Imported - Synced to Paidnice, but has not met late fee criteria, yet.
Frozen - Manually or conditionally (via penalty settings) frozen and will not issue any penalties, unless conditionally this changes, or is manually processed.
Penalty Issued - Late fee has been issued.
Discounted - Discount has been added
Job Failed - Processing job has failed (if this happens contact support)
Date due
Invoice due date.
> Select an invoice, to view the invoice portal, where you can perform various manual actions, view the invoice details, and check reminders.
> You can view its history of actions.
> You can also test your policies against the invoice to see if they will trigger.
Step 6: Turn Safe Mode OFF
Now that you have setup your penalties, and know how to investigate your invoices for late fees. You are now ready to turn Safe Mode off.
> Select General.
> Turn Safe Mode OFF.
Congratulations, Paidnice is now automatically issuing late fees for all of your overdue invoices!
If you need any help getting your account setup, or have any questions - send us a note on [email protected]
Step 7: Setup Prompt Payment Discounts (optional)
Learn more in our dedicated article here How to setup Prompt Payment Discounts