IN BRIEF
The Overdue Balance workflow automatically sends reminders to families with unpaid charges that have passed their due date. This helps staff reduce overdue balances and improve on-time payments without manual follow-up. 

• Overview
• Accessing the Feature
• Step-by-Step Instructions
  • Additional Options
• Best Practice Recommendations
  • Other Configuration Tips
  • Operational Tips
• Troubleshooting & FAQs
• Related Articles

Interactive Demos for configuring Autopilot workflows can be found in the Education Corner, accessible from the Office Portal's "Welcome" screen.

Overview

The Overdue Balance workflow runs on a recurring schedule to identify families who owe money for charges that are past due.  It then sends a notification prompting them to pay their outstanding balance.

This workflow applies to all families in the database, regardless of enrollment status.

• Workflow type: Schedule-driven
• Trigger: Runs on a specified day and time each month
• Purpose: Notify families with unpaid charges that are overdue.

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Accessing the Feature

1. From the Office Portal, navigate to AUTOPILOT>WORKFLOWS>"Add a Workflow."
2. Locate the Overdue Balance workflow.
3. The workflow will automatically be copied to your account and will open in the Workflow Editor.
4. After configuring the workflow, Save your changes.
5. When you are ready, Enable the workflow to begin using it.

NOTE: Only account administrators or staff members who have been granted “Admin Access” permissions can copy or edit Autopilot workflows.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open the Overdue Balance workflow.
2. Review the following workflow details:
   1. Trigger Type: Schedule-driven – runs on a defined day each month.
   2. Communication Template Used: Overdue Balance Notification.
3. Configure the following options:
   • Scheduled Event:
     • For instructions on configuring the workflow schedule, see “Configuring a Scheduled Event” in How Do I Copy and Configure Autopilot Workflows? 
   • Send Bulk Communication by Family – Sends one communication per family.
   • Reply To Email – Defaults to the Primary Contact email if not specified, since this workflow is not limited to active families.
   • Send Email / Send to All Emails
   • Send SMS / Send to All SMS
   • Send Push Notification
   • Search by Days Overdue – Restrict results to families whose overdue charges fall within specific ranges:
     • 1–15 days (default)
     • 16–30 days
     • 31–60 days
     • 61–90 days
     • Over 90 days
4. After configuring the workflow, Save your changes.
5. When you are ready, Enable the workflow to begin using it.

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Additional Options

• Communication Templates: While staff cannot select a different communication template, the email, SMS, and Push notification versions of the "Overdue Balance Notification" template can be edited under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>"Autopilot" tab.
• Opt-In Compliance: Autopilot always respects family-level email and SMS opt-in preferences when sending messages.

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Best Practice Recommendations

This workflow has the highest chance of getting reported as Spam, since overduplication could lead the workflow to trigger communications every day. This is a great task for all three communication methods. (Depending on whether the business is actively using the class drops task, you would want to trigger this before running the class drops task.)

Recommendation: Schedule these to run a defined number days AFTER you usually run the payments task. (For example, if you generally run payments on the 5th of the month and run drops on the 15th, you might want to schedule these workflows to run on the 10th day of the month.)

• 01-15 days past due: Push notification
• 16-30 days past due: SMS
  • NOTE: this may take the place of 0-15 if using the class drops task
• 30-90 days past due: Email

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Other Configuration Tips

• Use friendly, professional wording in the communication template—reminders should prompt action, not cause frustration.
• If you send SMS reminders, keep the message short and include a link to the Customer Portal for convenient payment.

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Operational Tips

• Review the Aged Accounts Report (FIN-1) to identify trends and determine whether workflow timing should be adjusted.
• Use Search by Days Overdue filters to focus on the most critical overdue ranges (for example, 31–60 days).
• Consider using email communications only for long-term overdue accounts with a different message tone and additional details for payment options.

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Troubleshooting & FAQs

• Why didn’t the workflow send messages to all families with unpaid balances?
  • Confirm that those families have active or overdue charges within the selected “Days Overdue” range and that the workflow is enabled.
• Does this workflow apply to inactive families?
  • Yes. This workflow applies to all families in the database, regardless of enrollment status.
• Can I run the workflow more than once per month?
  • Yes. You can copy the workflow and assign different schedules (for example, one for mid-month and one for month-end reminders).
    • See "Best Practice Recommendations" for additional information.

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Related Articles

• What is Autopilot?
• How Do I Copy and Configure Autopilot Workflows?
• How Do I Configure the Payment Method Expiring Workflow?
• How Do I Configure the Upcoming Charge Due Workflow?

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