Overview
The disputes feature enables a service provider to record the details of a dispute against an invoice and to manage that dispute through to it's natural conclusion. A dispute can be raised against specific cardlines on the invoice, or a 'general' dispute can be raised where the disputed amount is not related to a specific charge but still tracked against the invoice.
All disputes are listed in Finance > Accounts Receivable > Disputes.
Disputed amounts are also seen in a number of strategic places in Cumulus, including the:
- Customer Dashboard.
- Create Payment Plan screen.
- Manual Payment Batch.
- Various other lists under the Finance > Accounts Receivable section.
An end user can also view the disputed amount on an invoice via the End User Portal. Should the end user prompt the creation of a dispute via a service desk ticket, this ticket can be linked to the dispute record after it is created. A ticket can also be raised on behalf of the end user within the dispute itself.
Separately, a customer note is generated when a dispute is created, and as it transitions through its life cycle.
Disputes are created from the invoice itself and can be accessed and managed from the Finance > Accounts Receivable > Disputes page in Cumulus.
Dispute Statuses
There are two objects with statuses involved in the disputes feature:
- The status of the dispute.
- The status of a cardline involved in a dispute.
These status can be used to help users track where the dispute is at in terms of a resolution. Service providers can transition between statuses freely at a cardline level, however the overall status of the dispute status is controlled by the system.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Open | The dispute is in progress. |
| Pending Approval | The disputed cardline has a credit amount entered, but it needs to be reviewed and approved by a user with a higher credit approval level. This status can be used to provide staff with the ability to create a dispute for any amount up to the cardline value, even if is above their nominated credit limit, and send it to a manager for approval. This is an Open status. |
| Approved | This status is only applicable to cardlines. When the credit amount for a given charge is agreed to, change the status of the cardline to Approved. |
| Withdrawn (Cardline) | The customer has withdrawn their dispute for a charge (cardline). This is an Open status provided that there are still other cardlines that are in open statuses. |
| Withdrawn (Dispute) | The customer has withdrawn their dispute and the total amount owing on the invoice is now payable (subject to the invoice due date or payment plan). This is a Closed status. |
| Finalised | The dispute has been settled with the customer and credits have been applied where they are approved. This is a Closed status. |
Business Rules
Disputes can only be raised against invoices that meet the following preconditions:
- Only approved invoices can be disputed.
- Only a single dispute can be open against an invoice at any point in time.
- Invoices where the only charge is a credit or a negative amount cannot be disputed.
- Zero dollar cardlines cannot be disputed.
- The disputed amount for a cardline cannot be greater than than outstanding amount of the cardline.
Active disputes follow these business rules:
- The amount credited cannot be greater than the disputed amount.
- Users can only approve disputes up to their nominated Credit Limit.
- The system will display "This invoice currently has a dispute in progress" on the Manage Invoice page when there is an open dispute for the invoice.
- All cardlines must be in a status of either Approved or Withdrawn before a dispute can be finalised and closed.
- A dispute can be withdrawn at any time until it is finalised.
Disputes that have been finalised:
- Invoices can be disputed multiple times.
- If a previous dispute has already been finalised for an invoice, any new dispute will take into account previously approved and generated credits. The amount remaining shows the actual amount on a cardline that can be disputed.
- Once a dispute is closed it cannot be edited.
Disputing Invoices with Credits
The validation built into the system will stop users from raising disputes that are greater than the sum of all the charges on the invoice. Additional validation exists for each individual cardline preventing users from entering disputed amounts and credit amounts that are greater than the value of the charge.
In accordance with our business rules, credits on invoices are completely ignored when raising disputes, and will not be shown.
Payment Plans
These additional rules apply to invoices with payment plans:
- Invoices that are currently being disputed can not be included in a payment plan.
- Invoices that are currently included in a payment plan can be disputed.
Invoice Delivery Method
If the customer's invoice delivery method is set to Post or Email and Post, the user can optionally cancel the paper invoice fee that can apply by default.
Dispute Actions
The following rules apply to the action buttons on the Manage Disputes page.
If the customer's invoice delivery method is updated while a dispute is open, the next time a user opens the dispute, system will:
- Show the Void Paper Invoice Fee flag if the invoice delivery method is changed to Post or Email and Post.
- Hide the Void Paper Invoice Fee flag if the invoice delivery method is changed to Email or Do Not Send.
Dispute Reasons
Click here to see the list of dispute reasons and how they can be used in a dispute resolution process.