It is possible to generate reminder letters or dunning letters for outstanding (unpaid) invoices in Legalsense based on Word templates.
Managing templates
Under 'Settings - Billing - Dunning', one or more Word templates can be added (in any available invoice language) that are used to generate reminders. The name of the template can be chosen. Examples of names you could give are for example '1st reminder' or '2nd reminder'. For more information on the content of the Word templates, see below.
Creating letters
Letters can be created under 'Invoices - Debtor overview - Debtor management'. At the top of the list of open invoices you can search for specific invoices. By ticking the invoices and choosing 'New reminders' you can create letters. By default, one letter is created per debtor. So for example, if you have selected five invoices all created for the same debtor, only one letter will be created. Legalsense assumes that the letter will report all open items to the recipient (the debtor). You can optionally choose to include the invoices for:
- All open invoices for the selected debtors (default)
Invoices that are not selected in the list but are outstanding for the debtors related to the selected invoices are also included even if they are not yet overdue. The idea behind this setup is that a debtor should get a complete overview of which invoices are outstanding (even if they are not overdue). - Only selected invoices
Only the selected invoices are listed in the letters. Other outstanding invoices from the same debtor are not included. - Only overdue invoices
All invoices of the debtors related to the selected invoices are listed in the letters, as long as they are overdue. Thus, the non overdue invoices are not included.
Downloading letters
Letters can be downloaded by clicking on the MS Word icon in the table (right side) or by selecting invoices and choosing 'Download reminders'. In the latter case, you download a ZIP file containing the letters. When you open an invoice in Legalsense, the reminder letters are also available for download there via 'Dunning letters'.
Templates
To create the templates, it is best to start from the sample letter that you can download on this page. It is best to copy the table that lists the invoices into your own letter template. Legalsense uses standard Microsoft Word MergeFields which you can use to automatically fill in data. The following fields are available for use in the letter:
| debtor.default_billing_address.get_display | The address of the debtor. |
| today | The date of creation of the letter written in full (e.g. June 21, 2022). |
| debtor.format_number | The number of the debtor. |
| supervising_users | The responsible supervisor (or supervisors) or other responsible persons. |
| debtor.get_debtor_contact.salutation | The salutation of the debtor's contact person (if set). |
| debtor.get_payment_deadline | The debtor's payment deadline. |
| total_outstanding_balance | The total outstanding amount of all invoices listed on the letter. |
The following fields are applicable in the invoice table (where the data is repeated for each invoice).
| invoice.date | The date of the invoice. |
| invoice.due_date | The due date of the invoice. |
| invoice.overdue | Returns an * (asterisk) if the invoice is overdue. |
| invoice.number | The invoice number. |
| invoice.matters | The matters to which the invoice relates. |
| invoice.days_since | The number of days the invoice has been outstanding. |
| invoice.amount | The total amount of the invoice. |
| invoice.outstanding_balance | The outstanding amount of the invoice. |
We recommend to use the example that you can download on this page as much as possible.
Please note that if you want to use the option to merge multiple letters (download in one file) the header and footer for the first page should not differ from the template. There is a separate option in Microsoft Word to make the header and footer for the first page different from the subsequent pages ('Different first page'). This option should be disabled in the template.
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