Late fees and interest
A late fee you approve, on its own invoice.
OnDue can add a late fee or interest to overdue QuickBooks Online invoices under rules you set. Each fee is a separate invoice to the same customer, the original invoice is never changed, and by default every fee waits for you.
QuickBooks Online, on every plan. Xero, Odoo and Stripe Billing: Coming soon
The rules you set
In Settings, Late fees. Owners and admins change the rules; everyone on the team can see them.
- What is charged
- A fixed fee (for example $25.00), a percent of the open balance, or interest: an annual rate you set, charged monthly at one twelfth of that rate on the open balance.
- Grace period
- How many days after the due date before the first fee, from 0 to 90.
- How often
- Once, or monthly: another fee every 30 days while the invoice is unpaid, up to 12 on one invoice.
- Minimum balance
- Invoices owing less than this are skipped.
- Cap
- An optional most for any one fee.
- Customers left out
- Pick customers who never get a fee.
- Which invoices
- Only invoices due on or after the day you turn late fees on. Invoices that were already late don’t get a fee by surprise.
Ask me first, or Automatic
Once a day OnDue checks your open invoices. When one is past the grace period, it proposes a fee.
Ask me first is the default. Each proposed fee waits for an owner, admin or approver, who approves or waives it, and one notice after each check lists what’s waiting. Approving a fee writes it to QuickBooks straight away.
Automatic is there if you want it: fees are approved as soon as they’re due, under the same rules.
What lands in QuickBooks
Each approved fee is a new invoice in QuickBooks Online, to the same customer, with one line: “Late Fee” or “Interest”. Its number is the original’s with -LF1, -LF2 and so on after it, when that fits QuickBooks’ 21 characters; otherwise QuickBooks numbers it.
The original invoice is never changed: no new lines, no new total, no new number. Its balance in OnDue still matches QuickBooks.
On the next sync the fee invoice comes into OnDue like any other open invoice. It gets its own pay page, it’s chased on your cadence, and it is labeled as the late fee for the invoice it belongs to. If QuickBooks refuses a fee, OnDue shows QuickBooks’ reason, and you retry it or waive it.
Before you turn it on
- Your terms. The owner confirms that your terms with customers allow late fees or interest. Rules on late fees differ by state and country, and the screen says so. Check yours.
- A preview. Before you save, OnDue shows what today’s check would propose under the rules on screen: “If this were on today, OnDue would propose 3 fees totaling $75.00”, with each invoice listed. Nothing is written.
- A clean start. Only invoices due on or after the day you turn it on can get a fee, and repeat fees are at least 30 days apart.
When no fee is added
On top of the grace period, the minimum balance and the customers you left out.
- Stopped
- An invoice or customer you stopped chasing.
- Disputed
- An invoice with an open dispute.
- On a payment plan
- An invoice on an active payment plan. A fee still waiting on it is canceled.
- Fee invoices
- A late fee or interest invoice never gets a fee of its own.
Other ledgers
Late fees and interest for Xero, Odoo and Stripe Billing are Coming soon. Until then, companies on those ledgers can still use payment plans and credit stops.
Questions
Does OnDue change the original invoice?
No. Each fee is written to QuickBooks Online as its own invoice to the same customer, numbered after the original (1047-LF1 for the first fee on invoice 1047) when the number fits, with one Late Fee or Interest line. The original invoice keeps its lines, total and number.
Do I approve every fee?
By default, yes. “Ask me first” is the default: each fee OnDue proposes waits for an owner, admin or approver, who approves or waives it. Approving it writes it to QuickBooks at once. If you choose “Automatic”, fees are approved as soon as they are due.
Does it work with Xero, Odoo or Stripe Billing?
Not yet. Late fees and interest work with QuickBooks Online today. For Xero, Odoo and Stripe Billing they are Coming soon, and those companies see that in Settings.
Am I allowed to charge late fees?
That depends on your terms with each customer and on where you and they are. Rules on late fees and interest differ by state and country, and the screen says so. OnDue doesn’t give legal advice: before you turn late fees on, you confirm that your terms with customers allow late fees or interest.
How does the customer pay the fee?
The fee invoice comes into OnDue on the next sync like any other open invoice, so it gets its own pay page and is chased on your cadence.
What if the invoice is paid before I approve the fee?
A fee still waiting is canceled when the invoice is paid, stopped or disputed, or when you leave the customer out. Turning late fees off cancels every fee still waiting.
Which plans include late fees?
Every plan, Solo and up. See pricing; these are early-access prices and nobody is charged yet.
Next time an invoice goes late, let OnDue draft the first email.