Credit Control: how-to

Step-by-step instructions for every Credit Control task. For what each option means, see Credit Control; for problems, see Credit Control: troubleshooting.

Find your task

If you’re here because…	Go to
You’re starting to use Credit Control	Set up an escalation policy
You want your own chasing email or task	Create a template
It’s your regular arrears check	Review who’s in arrears
One tenancy needs chasing	Chase one tenancy
You need a phone call, letter or visit logged	Carry out a manual step
Lots of tenancies need the same email	Chase several tenancies at once
A joint tenancy needs a rent reminder	Send a reminder to a joint tenancy
A tenant is on a payment plan, or in a dispute	Exclude a tenancy from chasing
You want to note a conversation with the tenant	Add a credit control note
A solicitor or court needs copies of what you sent	Get a record of what was sent
A template is out of date	Edit, archive or delete a template
Every chaser should copy in your accounts team	Set default CC, BCC and reply-to

Set up an escalation policy

Do this when you first use Credit Control, so COHO can suggest the next step for each tenancy.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Credit Control. Have your arrears process to hand: when you email, when you phone, when you send a formal letter, and when you start legal steps.

1. From your dashboard, click Menu > Credit Control.
2. Click the settings cog on the panel. Credit Control Settings opens.
3. If you don’t have a process yet, click the i next to New credit control template, then Create Proposed Escalation Policy, and confirm.
4. Otherwise, click New credit control template and build each step (see Create a template).
5. Click Show on each template to check its wording, and Edit anything that doesn’t match your process.

What happens next: the templates appear in the list, ordered by trigger. Tenancies in arrears now show a Next Step.

Caution

The proposed policy is a starting point. Check every email and every legal step against your own process before you send anything. Create Proposed Escalation Policy only works while your organisation has never had any templates.

Create a template

Do this to add a step to your policy, or a reusable email such as a rent reminder.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Credit Control.

1. Open Credit Control Settings (the settings cog on the Credit Control panel), then click New credit control template.
2. Choose the trigger:
   • Absolute Arrears: enter Days overdue/late and Arrears greater than.
   • Relative Arrears: choose the Rent payment frequency, then enter how many periods of rent.
   • Manual only: no trigger; you’ll always choose it yourself.
3. Choose the Notification Medium: Send email or Manual.
4. For an email, check Reply To, CC Address(es) and BCC Address(es) (separate several addresses with commas), tick Automatically CC the guarantor, if one exists if you want, and enter the Subject of email.
5. Write the body (or, for Manual, the Instructions to manager). Use merge fields such as [CC:AMOUNT_OVERDUE] and [CC:DAYS_OVERDUE] for the tenancy’s figures.
6. Add any Email Attachments or Files.
7. Tick Blocking step if COHO shouldn’t propose later steps until this one has run.
8. Enter a Name of Template/Trigger, or click Create to build one.
9. For an email, click Preview to check it. Then click Create.

What happens next: the template is added to your policy. Tenancies that meet its trigger can be offered it straight away.

Tip

For a general rent reminder you can send to anyone, including joint tenancies, use Manual only with Send email. It won’t be proposed, but it’s always available on the card and in Send in bulk.

Review who’s in arrears

Do this as your regular arrears check, for example each morning.

1. Click Menu > Credit Control. The list opens on Arrears for active tenancies.
2. Narrow it if you need to: Days Overdue, Arrears (minimum amount), Money types, properties, tags, or Exclude actioned today. Click Filter.
3. Sort by Overdue, Due, Last Paid or Last Action by clicking the column heading.
4. Work down the list using the Next Step column.

What happens next: nothing changes until you run a step. To see rent due soon rather than overdue, choose Find by > Due Today or Due in next 1-5 days.

Note

If the panel says “You have [number] unassociated rent payments”, link those payments in Rent Collection first, so the arrears are right before you chase.

Chase one tenancy

Do this to send the next chasing email to a tenancy.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Credit Control. Check the arrears are right: if the tenant says they’ve paid, find the payment in Rent Collection first.

1. On the Credit Control list, click View on the tenancy.
2. Check the summary, the Tenants and the Last Run.
3. The proposed step is open. To use a different one, click its name.
4. Open Email Preview to check who it goes to and what it says.
5. Click Send standard email, or Customise email to change the reply-to, CC, BCC, subject or body for this tenancy only, then Send customised email.
6. Confirm: “Are you sure you want to send this email to all tenants of this tenancy?”

What happens next: COHO emails every tenant on the tenancy, plus any CC and BCC. The card says the step “has successfully run”, the step is added to Credit control notes, and Last Action updates. Click Reload/Refresh to see the new next step.

Carry out a manual step

Do this for a Manual step, such as a phone call, a formal letter or a visit.

1. Click View on the tenancy, then open the Manual step.
2. Read the Instructions and any files, and do what they say.
3. Click Mark as carried out and confirm.
4. Add a note about the outcome (see Add a credit control note).

What happens next: the step is recorded in Credit control notes, and COHO moves on to the next step. Nothing is sent to the tenant.

Chase several tenancies at once

Do this to send the same kind of chaser to many tenancies.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Credit Control. Filter the list first, as only the tenancies on the current page can be ticked.

1. On the Credit Control list, click Multi-select.
2. Tick the tenancies, or click the tick button in the heading to tick the whole page.
3. Then either:
   • Execute proposed step for N tenancies: sends each tenancy its own proposed Email step; or
   • Choose bulk send template: pick one email template in Choose template, then click Send in bulk to N tenancies.
4. Confirm.
5. Stay on the page while it sends. Each row shows “Queued to be executed”, then “Successfully executed” or “Failed to execute” with the reason. Click Stop sending to stop the rest.

What happens next: “Your bulk sending has been completed”. Check each row for failures, then click the link to reload the table.

Caution

Don’t refresh the page while bulk sending is running. Tenancies whose proposed step is Manual are skipped by Execute proposed step: do those from each card.

Send a reminder to a joint tenancy

Do this when Rent Collection’s Send a Reminder isn’t available because the tenancy has more than one tenant.

1. Make sure you have an email template for reminders (see Create a template). A Manual only email template works well.
2. On the Credit Control list, choose Find by > Arrears (or Due Today, Due in next 1-5 days) and click Filter.
3. Click View on the tenancy, open your reminder template, and click Send standard email.

What happens next: every tenant on the tenancy gets the email. Unlike Rent Collection’s reminder, this doesn’t change the charge’s status to Overdue; use Mark overdue in Rent Collection if you need that.

Exclude a tenancy from chasing

Do this when you’ve agreed a payment plan, the debt is in dispute or with a solicitor, or the tenancy shouldn’t be chased.

Before you start: you need edit permission for Credit Control.

1. Click View on the tenancy.
2. Next to Arrears Tracking, click Change.
3. Choose Excluded and enter a Reason for excluding.
4. Click Save.

What happens next: the tenancy leaves the Arrears list and gets no proposed step. It still shows under Find by > All Tenancies, marked Excluded. To start chasing again, choose Included.

Note

Staging date/Track From records when you started tracking this tenancy’s arrears and shows as Tracking From. It doesn’t change the amount or days overdue. To stop old arrears counting, deal with them in Rent Collection, for example by writing them off as bad debt.

Add a credit control note

Do this to record a call, a promise to pay or a payment plan.

1. Click View on the tenancy, and scroll to Credit control notes. (You’ll also find them under Credit Control Notes on the room’s Rent Collection panel.)
2. Add your note, with any files, and save it.

What happens next: the note sits alongside the steps you’ve run. Notes are for your team only; tenants don’t see them.

Get a record of what was sent

Do this when a solicitor, a court or the tenant asks for copies of your chasers.

1. Open the tenancy’s room page.
2. On the Compliance panel, click Compliance report.

What happens next: a PDF downloads. Its CREDIT CONTROL section lists each email sent: the template, subject, when and to whom it was sent (including CC and BCC), the body and any attachments. The tenancy’s Credit control notes also list every step with its date.

Edit, archive or delete a template

1. Open Credit Control Settings.
2. Click Edit, change the template, and click Update. Or click Archive to stop using it.
3. To delete a template, tick Show archived, then click Delete on it and confirm. You can also Unarchive it.

What happens next: archived templates are no longer proposed or offered. Steps already sent stay in each tenancy’s notes.

Set default CC, BCC and reply-to

Do this so every new email template copies in the same people.

Before you start: you need permission to change your organisation’s settings.

1. On your dashboard, open Your Account and click its settings cog. Company Settings opens.
2. Edit Credit control template default cc, Credit control template default bcc and Credit control template default reply-to, and save.

What happens next: new email templates start with these addresses. Existing templates keep their own; edit them if you want them changed.