What is dunning?

A dunning sequence is a schedule of reminders tied to an invoice's due date: a friendly note a few days before, a reminder on the day, another a week late, a firmer one at thirty days, and a final demand before the debt goes to collection or a lawyer. On net 30 terms the first reminder usually lands around day 27.

The craft is in when to stop. A client who replies, disputes the amount, pays part, or promises a date should not get the next automatic email: that turns a late payer into an annoyed one. The best sequences stop on any answer and hand the conversation to a person.

Software subscriptions use the word for something narrower: retrying a failed card payment and emailing the customer about it. The idea is the same, a schedule that chases what is owed.

How this shows up in Orla

In Orla every invoice reminds its client on a schedule, in the channel the client reads, with the pay link inside. One row per late client keeps the next step worked out: write, wait or call. Reminders stop by themselves when the client disputes, replies, pays or promises; when a client names a day, one press writes it down and their reminders wait until that day has passed.