In general, two different users will be working in AR Credit & Collections: Collector and Collection Manager.

 

A collector will be responsible for the day-to-day interactions with the customers.  They will use tasks and activities to manage their workflow and correspondence.  Only a collector can be assigned to activities, tasks, and customers as dictated by their Labor Type assignment (see AR Credit & Collections User Setup for more information).

 

Upon initial access to AR Credit & Collections, a collector will only see alerts and tasks assigned to them specifically.  They can change this view by altering the list of users in the Alerts/Tasks >Collector field.

 

Figure 2: Collector assignment

 

Users can elect to view a particular customer by use of the Filter by Customer option.  When using the Filter by Customer feature, alerts, tasks, and customer information specific to that customer will appear.  Note: Users that are not collectors will have all collectors selected and displayed by default.

 

Note:  Customers not assigned to a collector will be grouped and displayed under “No Collector.”

 

Another filtering option is available in the Branch selector.  This option allows a users to only display alerts with customers having open AR for the selected branch(es).

 

Alerts are messages derived from preset criteria defined within the Alerts Setup section.  They will appear in bold font within the Alerts/Tasks tab and feature a count of customers that triggered the alert.  The alert messages that appear are based on the selected Collector, Branch, and whether the Filter by Customer is in effect.

 

Figure 3: Customer alerts

 

Customers that are linked to an alert will appear when the alert message is expanded ().  A new alert indicator () will appear next to customers that no activity or complete tasks linked to the alert (see Fig. 3).  Once an activity is logged or a completed task references a customer for a specific alert, the new alert indicator will no longer appear. 

 

The new alert count appears along with the alert message.  It displays the number of customers with new alerts out of a total number of customers listed for the particular alert (in (N of N) format).

 

When activity is logged for customer or a task is marked as completed for the customer regarding a specific alert, the Last Activity Date will display within the alerts grid (“Van Lines” customer in Fig. 3 has the Last Activity Date set).  Note: Customers displayed in the alert groupings will be sorted by Last Activity Date with those records with a Last Activity Date appearing last.

 

Tasks are created for collectors as an aid in workflow efficiency.  Any user with access to AR Credit & Collections can create a task in the module, however, tasks can only be assigned to users defined as a collector.  The Alerts/Tasks > Collector selector controls which tasks will appear.   Overdue tasks will display in red font.

 

Figure 4: Tasks listing in AR Credit & Collections

 

Tasks are associated to one customer and assigned to a single collector.  They can also be linked to multiple orders, invoices, and alerts.

 

 

Figure 5: Add Task dialog

 

Completed tasks become activity logged for the customer.  They will update the Last Activity data and be listed under the Activity tab in Customer Information.  Further, they can be viewed in the tasks data grid through use of right-mouse click options.

 

Selecting a customer under an alert message will cause that customer’s data to appear in the Customer Information section.   This section includes pertinent, up-to-date data on all customers on file in Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Customer balance, credit limit, contact, last payment data, and aging graph are all in view.

 

Figure 6: Customer Information section

 

A collection manager is a user that has the Manager flag set for the AR Credit & Collections modules.  This person can also be a collector, but will have access to Customer Settings whereby they can assign collectors to a customer, assign alert groups to a customer, update credit limit data and contact information for the customer.

 

The AR Detail tab provides a user with data for all invoices associated to the selected customer.  This tab allows a user to see all invoices linked to each order associated to the customer.  Right-mouse click options include the ability to view and email invoices and export grid data, as well.

 

Figure 7: AR Detail tab

 

Activity can be logged for each customer that tracks correspondence and creates an accurate history of collections and other interactions between the company and the customer.  As with notes, activities will be based on a particular data and can be linked to multiple orders, invoices, and alerts.  Additionally, a follow-up task can be generated directly from the Log Activity dialog.

 

Figure 8: Log Activity dialog

 

Once an activity has been logged, the last activity data will be updated and the activity will appear within the Activity tab.

 

Figure 9: Activity tab

 

Notes can be created within AR Credit & Collections through the Add Note button at the top of the screen or through right-mouse click options available within the Notes tab.  Notes created in the AR Credit & Collections module can be linked to a particular customer or to one or more orders and invoices.

 

The Notes tab will display all notes linked directly to the customer and all notes from all orders linked to the customer.  The count of notes for a particular customer or order also display for each record.

 

Figure 10: Notes tab in AR Credit & Collections