Identifying Key Fields for Dunning

Sometimes customers don't pay their invoices on time. This is why dunning runs are utilized – to send payment reminders of outstanding debts.

In the dunning run, business partner master data and transaction data are used to control the dunning run. For this reason, we start with an overview of essential fields in the business partner master record and the journal entry. Let's look at two key fields for dunning:

• Dunning Procedure
• Dunning Block

A dunning procedure specifies how business partners are dunned. Add a procedure to each business partner account on the company code level – otherwise, the dunning run might not execute!

These include, for example:

• Dunning levels: 1–9
• Dunning intervals: Interval in days the allocated accounts are to be dunned.
• Grace periods: Additional days to extend the payment deadline for dunning.
• Minimum amounts: The minimum amount to be dunned.
• Charges and interests: Additional dunning charges and interest.

A dunning block allows you to prevent dunning an open item or the business partner. Dunning blocks can be maintained in the customer master record and at a line-item level.

To apply dunning blocks on a line-item level:

• 1. Use the Manage Customer Line Items app.
• 2. Display the customer's open items by selecting their account number(s).
• 3. Select the open items to be dunned.
• 4. Choose the button Block for Dunning.
• 5. Enter a suitable dunning block reason (or delete the dunning block) and save the changes.

The next dunning run is scheduled for next week. Carla's co-worker, Kin, tells her to check whether her customers assigned a dunning procedure in the business partner master record.

In this video, Carla learns how to:

• Check key fields for dunning.
• Assign a dunning procedure.

To assign a dunning procedure to a customer account in the SAP system, you can do the following:

• Access the Display Customer List app to check if the dunning procedure field is empty.
• If so, assign a dunning procedure to the customer master record.
• The dunning procedure controls the dunning process for a business partner.
• Check relevant fields to ensure the dunning procedure executes as expected in the master record.

Note

Without a dunning procedure, no dunning notices will be created.