Automation · Collections and receivables
Collect overdue invoices over WhatsApp without chasing anyone by hand
How a Met reviews overdue invoices in Alegra every morning, writes over WhatsApp with a Meta-approved template and leaves the payment ready to record.
How do I collect overdue invoices over WhatsApp without reviewing the ledger by hand?
A scheduled task runs at the hour you choose, lists the overdue invoices in Alegra by status and date, matches each one with the WhatsApp contact it belongs to and schedules the collection message using a Meta-approved template. That is the first requirement when more than 24 hours have passed since the last conversation. When the customer replies, the Met takes over the conversation: it clarifies the balance, sends the invoice detail and leaves the case assembled with the receipt so the payment gets recorded from the desktop. What gets automated is the discipline of collecting every single day. What gets decided is still yours.
What starts it
At a set time
A task on a recurring (cron) trigger. It runs on its own at whatever hour you set, and early morning is the usual choice. It does not depend on somebody opening the platform, or on the customer writing first.
A task on a recurring (cron) or date and time trigger. It runs on its own, with nobody logged in.
Who runs it
Legra, Head of accounting
Finance and operations team
Receivables are her ground. Legra carries the invoice tools from the Alegra connector, plus the tone to ask for money without damaging the relationship. The payment and bank account tools stay on the desktop side, which is where the money gets applied.
Channels: WhatsApp
What you need connected
- Alegra Collect and manage
- Meteor CRM Sell and serve
5 steps · 8 tools
The procedure, step by step
Each step shows the tool that runs. They belong to the real connector: if one of them stopped existing, this page would not build.
- 1
Build the list of what is overdue
Alegra's invoice listing filters by status, customer and date range. The task pulls what is unpaid and splits it by age, which is what changes the message: you do not write the same way to somebody three days late as to somebody three months late. For the cases that need a closer look, the invoice query returns the full document.
- 2
Match each invoice with its WhatsApp contact
The invoice lives in Alegra and the conversation lives in the CRM, so they have to be joined before anything goes out. Alegra's customer search returns phone and email, and that locates the contact in the CRM. A customer with no phone on file cannot be collected over WhatsApp: they get flagged and routed elsewhere instead of failing silently.
- 3
Schedule the message with an approved template
If the last conversation with that customer is more than 24 hours old, Meta only allows an approved template. That is the path Meta permits and the one the CRM reminder uses. The task schedules it with the invoice number, the balance and the due date inside the text, and leaves the internal note of what was chased and when.
- 4
Leave the payment ready to record
When the customer replies that they paid and sends the receipt, the Met opens the invoice to confirm the real balance and leaves the case assembled: which document is being paid, for how much, and with what receipt. A person records the payment from the desktop, because applying money against an invoice is out of reach for a Met on a channel. This is not a limit of the automation: the connector refuses those tools when the request arrives over WhatsApp, even if the skill has them enabled.
- 5
Flag and escalate whoever does not answer
After two attempts with no reply, pushing over chat stops working and starts annoying. The Met tags the contact, leaves the history of what was tried and transfers the conversation to the person who owns that account, which is the only correct way for a Met to step out of a conversation.
Before you start
What you need ready
The Met solves none of these for you. If one is missing, the automation stops there.
-
An Alegra API token
In Alegra, under Settings, then Integrations, then API. With it the Met reads invoices and balances over the channel, and the team records payments from the desktop on that same connection.
-
A collection template approved by Meta
You register it in the WhatsApp Business manager and Meta reviews it. Without an approved template Meta does not permit you to write first to somebody who has been silent for more than 24 hours, and no tool replaces it.
-
Your customers' phone numbers in Alegra
The match between the invoice and the conversation runs on the phone number. A customer with no number in Alegra stays out of the WhatsApp collection list until somebody fills the field in.
The limits
What this automation does NOT solve
Better said here than discovered halfway through the rollout.
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It does not decide who to stop selling to, or when an account goes to legal. That is business judgment and a person makes the call.
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It does not record the payment from the chat. Applying money against an invoice and reading the bank accounts are tools the Alegra connector refuses when the request arrives over a channel, no matter how the skill is configured. That part happens on the desktop.
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It does not reconcile bank statements. The detailed match with the bank is still accounting work, and it happens after somebody has applied the payment.
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It does not collect the money itself. It creates the conversation and leaves the case assembled, but the cash arrives through whatever means you already use; a payment link needs a gateway connected separately.
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It cannot write first in free text. Outside the 24 hour window only approved templates go out, so the first message always has the shape Meta approved.
FAQ
Questions about this automation
The 24 hour window opens and from there the conversation is normal: the Met can send the invoice detail, clear up balances and negotiate a date with no format restrictions. The one thing still out of reach is applying the payment, which happens on the web.
The list is built at the moment the task runs, with the status Alegra holds right then. The possible gap is hours, not days. Even so, the Met's first rule is to verify the invoice before pushing when a customer says they already paid.
Yes. The invoice listing filters by customer and by date range, so the task can be limited to a group, an age bracket or a minimum amount. That is the sensible way to start: a pilot on the oldest receivables before opening it to everyone.
You can do that. Instead of scheduling the send, the task leaves the list assembled with the proposed text per contact and somebody reviews it. You lose automation and gain control; to get started it is usually the right trade.
Keep going
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