Dunning
A dunning process moves overdue invoices through several stages — reminder, first and second demand, threat of debt enforcement — with deadlines, fees and default interest, and in the customer’s language.
Definition
Legally, the demand puts the debtor in default unless a due date was agreed; only from default onwards does default interest of five per cent a year run. The demand is therefore not merely a reminder but the trigger of a legal consequence.
Dunning fees are only owed if they were agreed — in the terms and conditions or on the invoice. Default interest, by contrast, is owed by law, even without agreement.
The economic point: this is where small businesses lose the most money, not because customers do not want to pay but because nobody follows up systematically. A dunning run that starts by itself is therefore one of the biggest levers in the program.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
Check: several stages with their own deadlines and texts, fees and interest per stage, multilingual templates, a run covering all due invoices — and the ability to exclude individual customers without aborting the run.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Invoicing, payment and banking: Advance payment Allowance for doubtful debts Bad debt camt.053 Cancellation invoice Cash discount Certificate of shortfall Credit note Creditor Current account Debt enforcement Debtor Default interest Delivery note eBill Final invoice IBAN Invoice number ISO 20022 / camt Open items pain.001 Part payment Payment term Pro forma invoice QR reference QR-bill QR-IBAN Quotation Receipt Tips TWINT as a payment method Visitor taxes