For most companies invoice disputes are inevitable and while there are many ways you can reduce the frequency of invoice disputes in your organization, you should be prepared to handle them when they do crop up. One of the best ways to make sure invoice disputes are handled professionally and effectively is to develop a call script and email/letter templates for those responsible for invoice dispute management. Below are a few examples of what your invoice dispute call scripts might look like when managing common customer invoice disputes.You should begin all calls with a customer about invoices by stating your name and which company you are from, to help them remember who exactly they are dealing with. You are probably not the only company this client is buying from. Then, be sure to mention the invoice number and the date it was sent. This will help them to find the invoice in their email or ERP system. If they respond with an invoice
See responses below for common disputes below:
FORGOT, TOO BUSY, ON VACATION, ETC.
You:
I don’t see a payment in our system for this invoice. Can you help me understand why it has not been paid?
Customer:
Customer explains they forgot to pay it, were busy, were on vacation, the person who pays the bills was unavailable or died, or whatever the excuse is but they have the invoice, everything is correct, and there is no reason for continued non-payment.
You:
I understand. That certainly happens to the best of us.
ALREADY PAID INVOICE
You:
I don’t see a payment in our system. Did you pay via check, online bill pay, or ACH and when did you process the payment?
Customer:
Customer explains how they paid and when they paid.
You:
Thank you for this information. It appears that the payment hasn’t been recorded in our system so I’m going to set a follow-up date in a couple days to see if it’s been received and processed. I will contact you if for some reason we still have not received the payment as it would appear that there may be a problem with the payment.
DIDN’T RECEIVE INVOICE
You:
I apologize for that. Can you verify your email address so I can resend the invoice to you?
Customer:
Customer verifies their email. If it is not the same as what you have in your system– correct it. If it’s the same then resend the invoice and keep the customer on the call until they confirm that they have received it. Note that it could be blocked or held in their Spam filter. Ask that they check their spam filter and add your email address to their safe senders list.
Customer:
Yes, I just received it
You:
That’s great news.
If they did not receive your email Proceed below.
You:
Is there an alternative email address than I can send the invoices to or can I fax them to you?
Customer:
Customer verifies an alternative email address and/or fax number. Send the invoices while you have them on the phone and verify that they received them. If they did receive them then thank them and Proceed to Closing A below. If they still did not receive them then proceed below.
You:
I’m going to mail the invoices to your attention today and will follow-up with you in a few days to ensure that you received them. In the meantime, can you check with your IT department and let me know if there is some reason why you may not be receiving our email communications? Also, can you please verify your mailing address?
Customer:
Customer agrees to contact their IT department. Make sure that you follow-up on this on your next call to ensure that your email domain is not on their black list for some reason and that future email communications are received. Verify that you have the correct mailing address for the customer. If so then mail the invoices and set a follow-up date. If the address is incorrect then send a note to accounting to change the address and mail the invoice to the correct address. Proceed to Closing A below.
CLOSING A (ISSUE RESOLVED)
You:
Thank you so much for all the help today. It was great speaking with you again and we truly value your business. Can you please help me with one last question? I need to know when we can expect a payment for our internal cash flow projections.
Customer:
Customer provides you with a payment date and amount. You may want to ask if they are confident that the payment will be received by that date. If so then mark the expected payment as a Promise to Pay. If that date comes and goes and you don’t have a payment for that amount, you will need to follow-up on the payment again.
You:
Again, thank you for helping me today. I certainly appreciate your attention to this matter. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you. Have a great day. Goodbye.
CLOSING B (ISSUE UNRESOLVED
You:
Thank you so much for all the help today. It was great speaking with you again and we truly value your business. As we discussed, I will follow-up with you soon to continue our discussions about this important matter. Please contact me at or if you have any more information or questions about this issue. We will be in touch soon. Take care and have a great day.
Enter your call notes into your accounts receivable management software, make sure that you set a follow-up date for the next call, leave the issue as unresolved, and save the communication.
