Collections Management: #2 Late Payment Automation

Collections Management: #2 Late Payment Automation

"Sir, I'll process the payment by evening, please don't apply any late payment charges", the customer said while arranging papers on his desk.


Sanjay stood there with a tired smile. He had already visited twice that week. Payment collection was one thing. Explaining and justifying late fees was a whole different battle. After he left the office, he stopped at a small tea stall, opened his laptop, and stared at the spreadsheet he maintained every month, listing customer names, due dates, follow-up dates, and late fees applied.

The frustrating part was that the late fee column was always empty. Not because customers were paying on time, but Sanjay didn't want to go through another awkward conversation about why the late fee existed. He was tired of sounding like he was punishing customers for paying late, when in reality, late fees existed to protect cash flow, not to harm relationships.

He sipped his tea and thought, "If I can automate invoices and reminders... why can't the late fee be automated too?"


That moment changed everything.

Automating Late Fee 

At some point, for some businesses, applying a late fee may seem less empathetic. If you prioritise your relationship over revenue, it might feel unethical, but when you consider the lag that a payment delay creates for your business, it will feel genuine.


When late fees are automated, there is no debate and no room for negotiation. If a payment is delayed beyond the due date, the system automatically applies the late fee based on the rule you set. Late fees shift from being a personal enforcement to a standard business policy.

Instead of Sanjay saying, "I have added a late fee," the system silently states, "According to your billing terms, a late fee has been applied."

Ways to Automate Late Fee 

Zoho Billing supports late fee automation in two ways, based on the plan you are subscribed to.


Method 1: Using Custom Function Workflow 

You configure an automation in Zoho Billing that runs on a certain number of days after the invoice due date. When it triggers, it executes a custom function that posts a late fee charge to the customer's subscription. Everything happens behind the scenes, and no manual action is required.

​
Here is the deluge script used within the workflow.
Info

lateFeeAccountID = ""; // -- Paste your latefee Ledger Account ID in the below variable.

lateFeeAmount = 10; // -- Change the late fee amount and invoice description as per your needs.

invReason = "Late Payment Fee";

invDescription = "Charges for late payment for the invoice " + invoice.get("number");

organizationID = organization.get("organization_id");

subscriptionID = invoice.get("subscriptions").get(0).get("subscription_id");

domain = "https://www.zohoapis.com/billing/v1";

payloadMap = Map();

payloadMap.put("account_id", lateFeeAccountID);

payloadMap.put("amount",lateFeeAmount);

payloadMap.put("name",invReason);

payloadMap.put("description",invDescription);

url = domain + "/subscriptions/" + subscriptionID + "/charge?organization_id=" + organizationID;

request = "Charging Late Fee for " + invoice.get("number");

response = invokeurl

[


url :url


type :POST


parameters:payloadMap.toString()


connection:"YOUR_CONNECTION_NAME"

];

// -- If the custom function fails to execute, an email will be sent to admin's email address.

if(response.get("code") != 0)

{


errorMessage = response.get("message");


sendmail


[



from :zoho.adminuserid



to :zoho.adminuserid



subject :"Error occurred in Custom Function while " + request



message :"<b>Affected url :</b><br>" + url + "<br><b>Error Message</b><br>" + errorMessage


]

}


Once configured, businesses no longer need to check overdue invoices manually. Zoho Billing handles it by itself.


Method 2: In-app Late Fee Configuration 

Zoho Billing also includes a built-in Late Fee configuration for specific pricing plans. Instead of scripts or workflow, you can define your rules.


You can choose whether the late fee is a fixed amount or a percentage-based, decide how many days after the due date the late fee should be applied, and select whether late fee invoices should be automatically created as draft or sent to the customer. The system acts accordingly without any intervention.
AlertNote: The in-app Late Fee configuration is available only in plans over premium plan. Know the pricing of Zoho Billing. If you are in the plan that supports Late fee configuration, reach out to support@zohobilling.com to gain access to the feature.   

What Does a Late Fee Do to Business 

Late fee imposition brings more logic to the payment collection. It streamlines the payment collection. A Few months down the line, customers start to pay before the due date. You notice fewer overdue invoices, fewer follow-ups, and zero awkward conversations. The late fee no longer feels like a punishment. It becomes a predictable rule of business.


Whether through custom function automation or the built-in late fee settings, Zoho Billing transforms late fees into a standardised, system-driven action. This changes the payment collection pain point into a predictable revenue stream.

Notes
Up Next: Tackling Payment Failures

    • Sticky Posts

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020

      Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here's

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly you

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate most

    • Introducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! ​ Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • What is the difference between Zoho Campaigns and marketing hub?

        Zoho Campaigns is a permission-based email marketing tool for sending marketing emails and mass emails. Marketing Automation is a multichannel marketing automation tool that caters to organizations looking for tools to engage their users across multiple

      • Webhook not firing.

        I created a webhook using the Web UI, it looks very nice and the testing worked without an issue, but when i save/ update a ticket, the webhook is not firing. Here are the details of the web-hook i get from using the API "modifiedTime": "2019-10-22T09:23:37.380Z",

      • Duplicate customers being created in Desk

        Hi I've trying to work out why I've getting duplicated customers being created in my desk. I have an external booking system that generates an email when I get a customer booking a job. A booking email gets sent to Desk where I manage the booking and

      • Creating a custom CSV file using deluge script/

        I have an application I have developed and the client wants us to place an export file in csv onto an ftp server daily. Now I don't see au options in creator to change the separator to anything else. The client wants the separator to be the pipe symbol "|"  I think i would be able to create schedule with some code to create the appropriate data in a string using deluge script but I haven't seen any functionality that would allow me to deposit that data as a file anywhere or attach it to an email

      • Contact data removes Account data when creating a quote

        Hi, Our customer has address fields in their quote layout which should be the address of the Account. They prefill the information, adding the account name - the address data is populated as per what is in the account - great. However when they then add

      • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

        Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.

      • Can we add custom fields to portal community profiles?

        How do we add custom fields to our profile pages in our portal community? If we have the ability to add custom fields, will we be able to access those fields via API? We want to use our Desk community in our help portal as our primary community and would

      • Customer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams

        Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app within

      • The Social Wall: November 2025

        We’re nearing the end of the year, and the holiday season is officially kicking in! It’s that time when sales peak and your social media game needs to be stronger than ever. We’re back with exciting new updates across AI, analytics, and the mobile app

      • E-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Billing

        Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. Invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing works

      • HTML Tags added to Reports with Notes

        Recently Zoho added the ability to markup text within notes. That way, users can change font size, colors, etc. It's a great change. However, since the change, reports that include a column for "Note Content" are printing HTML tags within the report.

      • delayed: host mx2.zoho.com (136.143.183.44): Network error: Unexpectedly disconnected (STARTTLS)

        Hi Team, I'm not receiving any email. Seems to be an issue. Sender sent me the error message they received: "delayed: host mx2.zoho.com (136.143.183.44): Network error: Unexpectedly disconnected (STARTTLS)" Please advise.

      • Ask the Experts 26: Brighten every customer interaction with Zoho Desk all year long

        Hello everyone, Greetings and welcome to Ask the Experts 26. As we wrap up 2025, we are excited to invite you to the 26th episode of our Ask the Expert series. 🎄The Merry Metrics Edition = Best of Zoho Desk [Best Practices + Holiday Automation + Year-End

      • Interview booked through Invite but no Notifications

        We have a workflow that was developed through a developer/partner that was tested and worked. Today, we pushed a candidate through the process and invited them to an in-office interview. They were sent the booking link (as usual and as tested before successfully)

      • Additional Address - Company Name

        It would be very helpful to have a "Company Name" field in the Additional Address shipping section.  In a situation where you drop-ship orders to a different address or different company entirely, it may be necessary to list the company name of the receiver. I understand that the Attention field can be used for that purpose, but that's not really the intended purpose of that field.

      • Incorrect Email Notifications for Product Reviews

        Dear Zoho Commerce Support Team, I am writing to report a technical issue that occurs frequently on our platform. Problem Description: We regularly receive email notifications informing us of new product reviews awaiting approval. However, when we access

      • Auto-Invite Users to Portals in Zoho CRM based on Conditions

        Hello Everyone, You can now automate portal invitations in Zoho CRM with the new Auto-Invite users feature in Portal management. No more manually enabling portal access one by one. With this enhancement, you can automatically send invites for users to

      • In App Auto Refresh/Update Features

        Hi,    I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users.   The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps.    I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With the

      • How to Rank Tables by Row Count in Descending Order

        I am trying to understand the consume of lines that grow up so fast in the last week. Is there any way to create a pivot table or query to get TABLE NAME LINES in descending order?

      • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

        Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

      • Can we do Image swatches for color variants?

        We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please h

      • Export your notes from Notebook!

        Dear users, The long awaited feature is now live. Yes, you can now export your notes from Notebook app in bulk. But the feature has just started with web app alone for now. You can try the export feature as mentioned below: Go to our web app, https://notebook.zoho.com Go to 'Settings' > 'Export' Now, select the format: You can select either ZNote or HTML Once done, you can use the same to import or can have this a local backup of your notes. Note: Export for other platforms are in development and

      • Canva Integration

        Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,

      • Prepopulating Fields

        Hello, I have a form (Assets) with 2 lookup fields: Client (from Clients) Site (from Client Sites) I modified the code (highlighted in red below), so the Site dropdown shows the list of sites related to the Client. must have Client_Site ( type = picklist

      • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

        Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files

      • Sync Zoho Marketing Automation with Zoho Forms

        I can't find a section where the integration between Zoho Marketing Automation and Zoho form is explained. And how form subscription works with opt-in and consents.

      • REPORT THAT SHOWS SOH FOR ITEMS THAT HAVE ZERO SALES

        When we started Zoho we imported a lot of inventory lines directly off our suppliers price list and have never ordered / sold. I want to clean up our data base and remove all these lines. What reeport will show me what lines have zero sales as well as

      • Automation series : Close all tasks once the project is completed

        When a project is marked as Completed, it might still have open tasks such as recurring tasks that were not marked as complete, tasks that are no longer relevant, or tasks that no longer need attention after closure. To ensure the project reflects its

      • Converting Sales Order to Purchase Order

        Hi All, Firstly, this code works to convert a sales order(SO) to a purchase order (PO) via a button, however I am running into an issue when I convert the SO where the values from the line items are not pulled across from the SO to the PO. The ones in

      • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

        The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update

      • Horrible Connectivity!

        I have used Meetings several times, but most of the time the connection is horrible. The video freezes, the audio freezes, and we end up cancelling the meeting. I am on a high speed internet connection, and Zoom works fine, so I know it's not a problem

      • Is it really true that I can't set the default 'deposit to' account in 2025?

        I've been using Books for 7 years and the default account has never been a problem. I usually manually reconcile invoices and have never had a thought about which account. It has always been my account. However, I recently noticed that for the past 4

      • Zoho DataPrep switching Date Format

        When using a pipeline that is importing Zoho Analytics data into Zoho DataPrep, the month and day of date fields are switched for some columns. For example, a Zoho Analytics record of "Nov. 8, 2025" will appear in Zoho DataPrep as "2025/08/11" in "yyyy/MM/dd"

      • Using Another Field Value for Workflow Field Update

        I'm trying to setup a Workflow with a "Field Update" action on the Lead module, but I would like the new value to actually be taken from a DIFFERENT Field's on the Lead record (vs just defining some static value..) Is this possible? Could I simply use

      • Greek character in Deluxe script

        Hi, We have been using a script since 2022 which replaces characters in Greek contact names using replaceAll. Since this morning, all the Greek characters used in the script have turned to question marks. I tried retyping the characters, copy-pasting

      • Tax information

        Hello, I need help/guidance on how to add my organization's Tax/VAT information. Thank you Pavly

      • Build smarter Guided Conversations with Fork Blocks

        When your customers arrive on your support channel, they're not there to explore. They are usually confused and stuck while trying to fix something important. We understand how stressful that moment can feel and we want your bot to make things easier,

      • Custom item field won't allow decimal.

        Hello, I have a custom item field that needs to be able to have a value with a decimal place such as 6.7 or 6.18. I have tried custom formatting the input format but can not get the correct syntax to allow this. Is this possible in Zoho?

      • Free webinar: Zoho Sign unwrapped – 2025 in review

        Hey there! 2025 is coming to an end, and this year has been all about AI. Join our exclusive year-end webinar, where we'll walk you through the features that went live in 2025, provide answers to your questions, and give you a sneak peek on what to expect

      • HubSpot CRM to Zoho Creator Integration

        I'm trying to create an integration between HubSpot CRM and Zoho Creator with HubSpot being the push source (if a contact is created or updated in HubSpot, it pushes the information to Zoho Creator). I have two questions: 1- Is it best to use Zoho Flow

      • Next Page