How to Automate Payment Reminders in Odoo 19 Follow-Up Levels

The Follow-up Levels feature in Odoo 19 Accounting lets you define a structured, automated payment reminder process driven by invoice due dates. Instead of manually chasing every overdue invoice, the system triggers emails, SMS messages, and printable letters according to delays you configure — a process commonly known as a dunning workflow. This complete tutorial is a beginner guide and step by step guide on how to set up automated payment reminders from scratch: installing the right module, building reminder levels with the correct delay timing, choosing communication channels, chaining multiple levels into an escalation sequence, and monitoring everything through the Follow-up Reports. By the end of this complete tutorial you will have a reliable, hands-off receivables process that protects your cash flow and keeps your collections consistent and professional.

Why Automate Payment Reminders in Odoo 19?

Manually tracking accounts receivable is slow, error-prone, and inconsistent. When team members are busy, overdue invoices slip through the cracks, follow-ups go out late (or never), and the tone of each reminder varies depending on who sends it. Every day an invoice sits unpaid is a day your working capital is tied up in someone else's bank account, directly hurting your cash flow and inflating your days sales outstanding (DSO).

Odoo 19 follow-up levels solve this by turning collections into a predictable, rules-based workflow. You define once — in days — when each reminder should fire relative to an invoice's due date, what channel it uses, and how strongly it is worded. From then on, Odoo ensures that every overdue invoice receives a timely, consistent reminder without any manual intervention. The result is faster payments, healthier cash flow, fewer truly delinquent accounts, and a complete audit trail of every communication sent.

Core Capabilities of Odoo 19 Follow-Up Levels

Before diving into configuration, it helps to understand the four pillars of the Odoo 19 dunning system. Each level you create combines these capabilities to control exactly when, how, and how firmly your customers are reminded.

Prerequisites Before You Start

To use the full follow-up workflow you need the complete Accounting application installed, not just the lighter Invoicing app. Invoicing offers only a subset of features; the full follow-up levels, follow-up reports, and automatic dunning live in Accounting. Install it from the Apps menu, then refresh.

It is also helpful to activate Developer Mode (Settings > General Settings > Developer Tools > Activate the developer mode) so that every configuration field — including the scheduled action that drives automatic sending — is visible. Developer mode is optional for basic setup but recommended when you want to verify the cron is active.

Step by Step Guide: Automate Payment Reminders in Odoo 19

Follow these six steps in order. The first two get you into the configuration, the middle three build the actual dunning rules, and the final step shows you how to monitor reminders day to day from the Follow-up Reports.

Follow-up Level Fields Explained

When you open a follow-up level, you will see a handful of fields that together define exactly when and how the reminder is sent. The table below explains the purpose of each one.

Example Escalation Sequence

A well-designed dunning ladder starts gently and grows firmer as the invoice ages. The sequence below is a proven starting point you can adapt to your own policy and customer relationships.

Creating Customer Invoices to Test the Workflow

To see your follow-up levels in action you need overdue invoices to trigger them. Create a test invoice from Accounting > Customers > Invoices > New. Add the customer, product lines, and either set an explicit Due Date or apply a Payment Term (which derives the due date for you). Click Confirm to post the invoice.

For a quick test, set a due date in the past so the invoice is already overdue. The next time the follow-up scheduled action runs — or when you open the Follow-up Reports — the customer will appear with the status "In need of action" and the appropriate level will be queued or sent based on how many days the invoice is past due.

Automatic vs Manual Follow-up Mode

Each customer can be handled in either automatic or manual mode. Automatic mode is hands-off and ideal for the bulk of routine accounts; manual mode gives a person final say before a reminder goes out, which is useful for sensitive or high-value relationships. The table below contrasts the two.

How the Follow-up Schedule (Cron) Works

Automatic dunning is powered by a scheduled action — a background cron job that Odoo runs on a recurring basis (typically once per day). Each run, the action scans all posted customer invoices, identifies those that are overdue, matches each overdue balance to the correct follow-up level based on how many days it is past due, and dispatches any reminders whose delay has elapsed for levels marked Automatic.

Because the timeline is recalculated every run, a customer naturally moves up the escalation ladder as their invoice ages — from a gentle email to a firm SMS to a formal letter — without anyone touching the system. If you have Developer Mode enabled, you can confirm this job is running under Settings > Technical > Scheduled Actions; make sure it is Active, since automatic reminders will not be sent if the cron is paused.

Key Benefits of Automated Follow-up Levels

Putting all of this together, an automated dunning workflow in Odoo 19 delivers measurable advantages over manual collections:

• Less manual tracking — Odoo watches every due date so your team does not have to.
• Improved cash flow — timely, consistent reminders get invoices paid sooner and lower DSO.
• Fewer overdue receivables — escalating pressure resolves slow payers before they become delinquent.
• Consistent, professional collections — every customer receives the same polished sequence and tone.
• Full audit trail — a complete record of every reminder sent, when, and through which channel.
• Multi-channel reach — email, SMS, and letters maximize the chance a reminder is actually seen.