Late Fees
Late Fees automatically calculate and display a fee on invoices that go overdue, so you don't have to work out interest or penalties by hand. Late fees are computed on the fly and are never added to the invoice total — they show up as a separate line on the invoice and in your reports, keeping the original invoice amount untouched.
Turning On Late Fees
- Go to Settings > Late Fee.
- Switch Enable Late Fees to ON.
- Choose whether fees should be applied for you automatically:
- Automatically Post Late Fees — ON posts a late fee every day for invoices that are overdue. OFF means fees are only calculated for display; you apply them manually from an invoice, or in bulk from the invoice list.
Only Admin users can change late fee settings — everyone else sees the settings as read-only.
Choosing How the Fee Is Calculated
Set the Fee Type:
- Percentage of outstanding balance per period — charges a percentage of the unpaid balance for each period the invoice stays overdue. Enter the Rate (% per period).
- Fixed amount per period — charges the same flat amount for each period overdue. Enter the Fixed Amount per Period.
- Annual interest rate (simple interest) — accrues simple interest daily on the outstanding balance, based on the Annual Interest Rate you enter.
For Percentage and Fixed Amount, also set the Fee Period — how often the fee is charged:
- One-time (applied once)
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
(The Fee Period option doesn't apply to the annual interest rate type, since interest accrues daily on its own.)
Grace Period and Caps
- Grace Period (days) — the number of days after the due date before a late fee starts accruing. Leave at 0 to start charging immediately after the due date.
- Maximum Fee Cap (optional) — an absolute ceiling on the total late fee amount for an invoice.
- Maximum Fee Cap (% of invoice) (optional) — a ceiling expressed as a percentage of the invoice total instead of a fixed number.
You can set either cap, both, or leave them blank for no limit.
Effective Date
Set an Effective Date (optional) if you only want late fees to apply to invoices due on or after a certain date. Leave it blank to apply late fees to all overdue invoices, including ones that were already overdue before you turned the feature on.
Where the Fee Goes
Late fee income is credited to the income account shown on the Late Fee settings page once you've saved your setup. This account is configured on your books and shown to you as read-only information on this settings page.
Saving Your Settings
Once you're happy with your setup, click Save Changes. If you change your mind before saving, click Cancel to discard your edits.