The quick answer
With the Dunning Letters SuiteApp, dunning is three records that you build in order under Setup > Dunning. A dunning template picks the email template for each letter and decides what gets attached. A dunning level rule decides when a stage applies: days past the invoice due date, plus minimum amounts per currency. A dunning procedure pairs each level rule with a template on its Levels subtab and sets who sends the letters and whether they go out manually or automatically. Customers you already have don't get a new procedure on their own. Assign it from Setup > Dunning > Dunning Bulk Assignment, then check the customer's Dunning > Procedure Setup. Dunning Level stays blank until the dunning evaluation runs.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
You need the Dunning Letters SuiteApp installed. It adds the Setup > Dunning menu. Setting up templates, level rules and procedures normally takes a role with Dunning Director permissions, or a custom role with the same access, plus access to the subsidiaries involved. Whoever sends letters from the queues later needs Dunning Manager permissions.
This example reviews a setup that already exists instead of creating it from scratch. The three templates, three level rules and the procedure were built beforehand, and every record has a New option on its list if you're starting from nothing. The order to build them is the same order the menu lists them: templates, level rules, then the procedure.
The example is customer-level dunning. A procedure that applies to Customer evaluates the customer's overdue balance as a whole. Procedures that apply to Invoice or Invoice Group work per transaction and aren't covered here.
In the example, a wholesale distributor wants reminders in three stages: 12, 35 and 65 days past the invoice due date. The procedure is Wholesale Customer Reminders, for customers in the US Operations subsidiary, and Theo Lindqvist is the default dunning manager.
01. Check the customer before assignment
Open the customer, here Brookside Hardware Co., and click the Dunning subtab. Allow Letters to be Emailed is checked. Click Procedure Setup. Dunning Procedure, Dunning Manager and Dunning Level are all blank. Without a customer-level procedure, this customer isn't eligible for customer-level dunning, so no evaluation will send it anything.
02. Review the dunning templates
The SuiteApp's records all live under Setup > Dunning. In this account, the first three entries are Dunning Templates, Dunning Level Rules and Dunning Procedures.
Go to Setup > Dunning > Dunning Templates. The Dunning Template List shows the attachment settings as columns, so you can compare levels without opening each one. Level 1 Courtesy Reminder and Level 2 Past Due Notice have Attach Copies of Invoices and Only Overdue Invoices set to Yes. Level 3 Final Notice attaches a statement instead: Attach Statement and Only Open Transactions are Yes.
Click View on Level 1 Courtesy Reminder. Attach Copies of Invoices and Only Overdue Invoices are checked. On the Email subtab, the Dunning Email Template sublist has one line: Language English (US), Email Template Courtesy Reminder Email, Default Yes. That email template supplies the subject and body of the letter. PDF letters come from the Dunning PDF Printing Queue separately.
03. Review the dunning level rules
Go to Setup > Dunning > Dunning Level Rules. The Dunning Level Rule List has three rules: 12 Days, 35 Days and 65 Days. Click View on 12 Days.
Days Overdue is 12, counted from the invoice due date. The Dunning Level Rule Amount subtab has one row per currency. Here the US Dollar row has Minimum Transaction Amount 25.00, the threshold for an individual invoice, and Total Overdue Balance 150.00, the threshold for the customer's overdue balance in that currency. A customer whose invoices are in a currency with no row doesn't qualify for the level.
A negative Days Overdue is meant for a reminder before the due date. The amount thresholds still apply, so a rule that needs an overdue balance can't fire before there is one. Check the amounts on any pre-due rule before you rely on it.
04. Review the procedure and its levels
Go to Setup > Dunning > Dunning Procedures. The list shows Wholesale Customer Reminders, which applies to Customer in US Operations, and a second procedure, Key Account Reminders. That second one matters in step 5.
Click View on Wholesale Customer Reminders. Under Primary Information:
- Applies To is Customer. You can't change it after the procedure is saved.
- Minimum Dunning Interval is 7, the fewest days allowed between letters to the same customer. The evaluation checks it. It doesn't send anything by itself.
- Sending Schedule is Manual. Each letter the evaluation creates waits in the Dunning Email Sending Queue until someone sends it. Automatic emails it during the evaluation instead.
- Default Dunning Manager is Theo Lindqvist, the employee letters are sent from.
Allow Override is checked. On a customer procedure it decides whether invoice-level dunning can take over for individual invoices, so it only matters if you also run invoice procedures.
Under Selection Criteria, Subsidiary is US Operations. You can also limit a procedure by department, location, class or a saved search.
Scroll down. Assign Automatically to New Records is not checked. Even if it were, it only affects customers created later. Existing customers need to be assigned, which is step 5.
On the Levels subtab, Determine Dunning Level By is Minimum Transaction Amount Or Total Overdue Balance, so either amount can qualify a customer. With the And option, both must. The days condition applies either way. Three lines pair each rule with a template, from the lowest Days Overdue to the highest: 12 Days with Level 1 Courtesy Reminder, 35 Days with Level 2 Past Due Notice, and 65 Days with Level 3 Final Notice. Each line shows the days and US Dollar amounts it picks up from its level rule, which is a quick way to catch a threshold that's wrong. Every level needs a dunning template record.
05. Assign the procedure in bulk
Go to Setup > Dunning > Dunning Bulk Assignment. Select Customer in Applies To, then Wholesale Customer Reminders in Dunning Procedure. The page fills in Dunning Manager Theo Lindqvist and Subsidiaries US Operations from the procedure.
The list shows every customer that doesn't have this procedure: Alpine Trail Outfitters, Brookside Hardware Co., Cedar Point Rentals and Delta Bay Marine. That includes customers with a different procedure. Cedar Point Rentals already has Key Account Reminders, and assigning Wholesale Customer Reminders would replace it.
Check Assign on Brookside Hardware Co. and Delta Bay Marine only. Mark All would select every row on the page, including Cedar Point Rentals. Click Assign to Customers.
Assigning sets Dunning Procedure on each marked customer and fills Dunning Manager from the procedure's default. It doesn't touch Pause Dunning, dunning recipients or the letter delivery checkboxes, so leave paused customers out of a bulk assignment and check those settings separately. For a small selection like this one, the page reloads with the same procedure selected, and only Alpine Trail Outfitters and Cedar Point Rentals are left. A large selection runs in the background, and NetSuite emails you when it's done.
06. Confirm the assignment on the customer
Open Brookside Hardware Co. again, for example from Recent Records, and click Dunning > Procedure Setup. Dunning Procedure is now Wholesale Customer Reminders and Dunning Manager is Theo Lindqvist, the procedure's default.
Check the result (example values)
- Before assignment, the customer's Procedure Setup had no procedure, manager or level.
- The procedure's Levels subtab pairs 12, 35 and 65 Days with the Level 1, 2 and 3 templates.
- Bulk assignment listed four customers, and after assigning two, only Alpine Trail Outfitters and Cedar Point Rentals remain.
- The customer now shows Dunning Procedure Wholesale Customer Reminders and Dunning Manager Theo Lindqvist.
- Dunning Level is still blank.
Dunning Level being blank is expected. Assigning a procedure doesn't create a letter or set a level. The level is set when the dunning evaluation runs and finds the customer past a level rule. For customer-level dunning, that evaluation is the SuiteApp's customer dunning workflow, which an administrator schedules and releases against a saved search of customers. A letter also needs Allow Letters to be Emailed or Allow Letters to be Printed on the customer, a recipient with an email address (by default the customer's own), dunning not paused, posting invoices past the rule, and the minimum interval met. With a Manual sending schedule, the letter then waits in Setup > Dunning > Dunning Email Sending Queue.
A few other Setup > Dunning records refine this setup. Dunning Procedure Priority decides which procedure wins when more than one could apply to the same customer. Dunning Pause Reasons list why dunning was paused. Dunning Configurations hold per-subsidiary settings, including whether procedures are assigned automatically to new customers and invoices.
Common questions
What's the difference between a dunning template, a level rule and a procedure?
The template decides what the letter contains: which email template it uses and whether it attaches invoice copies or a statement. The level rule decides when a stage applies, using days overdue and the two amount thresholds. The procedure pairs each rule with a template, sets the sending schedule and dunning manager, and is the record you assign to customers.
What do Minimum Transaction Amount and Total Overdue Balance mean?
Minimum Transaction Amount is the threshold for a single overdue invoice. Total Overdue Balance is the threshold for the customer's combined overdue balance in that currency. In the example, the 12 Days rule uses 25.00 and 150.00 in US dollars.
What does Determine Dunning Level By change?
It sets how the two amount thresholds combine. With Minimum Transaction Amount Or Total Overdue Balance, meeting either one is enough. With And, the customer has to meet both. The days overdue condition applies in both cases.
Should the sending schedule be Manual or Automatic?
Manual puts each evaluated letter in the Dunning Email Sending Queue so someone reviews it before it goes out. Automatic emails qualifying letters during the evaluation. Either way, the evaluation has to run first, and the Minimum Dunning Interval still limits how often one customer gets a letter.
Why don't my existing customers have the procedure I just created?
Creating a procedure doesn't assign it to anyone. Assign Automatically to New Records only covers customers created after you turn it on, and it was off here anyway. Existing customers need Dunning Bulk Assignment or a manual edit on each customer.
Why is Dunning Level blank after I assign the procedure?
Assigning sets the procedure and the dunning manager, nothing else. The level is filled in when the dunning evaluation runs and finds the customer past one of the procedure's level rules. Until then, a blank level is expected.
Does bulk assignment overwrite a customer's existing procedure?
Yes. The list includes customers with a different procedure, and assigning replaces that procedure and resets the Dunning Manager to the new procedure's default. In the example, Cedar Point Rentals had Key Account Reminders and stayed unmarked.