Charging dunning fees

Overview

Dunning fees compensate for the effort of receivables management. In Kyvento you set a fixed fee amount per dunning level – the system handles the posting while complying with GoBD. This article explains the configuration and mechanics.

Setting the fee per level

In each dunning level (Settings → "Dunning" → expand the level) there is the "Dunning fee" field. By default, every level is set to 0.00 € – so Kyvento does not charge any dunning fees on its own. Whether and how much you charge is a deliberate choice you make yourself by entering an amount per level. These are always fixed amounts – Kyvento does not charge a percentage fee or automatic default interest.

How the fee is posted

For the fee, Kyvento never changes the original invoice – it is immutable after finalization (GoBD). Instead, with the escalation a separate fee receivable is created that belongs to the invoice:

• The fee is VAT-exempt (it has the character of compensation for damages, not consideration for a service).
• In the dunning dashboard, the "Dunning fees" column shows the accumulated total per case; in the dunning letter, the {dunning_fee} placeholder states the current fee.
• For incoming payments, Kyvento allocates according to the statutory order of appropriation (Section 367 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) – oldest fee first, then the principal claim.

Interaction with the payment retry

If a level has the "Retry payment" option enabled, Kyvento first attempts the automatic collection of the open amount. The dunning fee then only arises if the collection fails – a successful retry spares the customer the dunning notice and fee entirely.

Legal framework (in brief)

• Dunning fees must reflect the actual effort – excessive flat fees are unenforceable vis-à-vis consumers. That is exactly why they are disabled by default in Kyvento (0 €): whether you charge fees, and at what – reasonable – level, is your deliberate decision, not a preset automatism.
• Default interest (Section 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB)) and the B2B late-payment flat fee of 40.00 € can be claimed additionally – Kyvento does not do this automatically; record such items as a separate manual invoice if needed and coordinate the approach with your legal advisor.

Good to know

• If a payment or customer credit only settles the principal claim, any dunning fee that is still open remains as a separate open item – the case is only considered closed once the fee has also been paid. The dunning run does not escalate any further, however, because dunning only continues as long as the principal claim is open.
• Fees never appear on the original invoice, only in the dunning letter and in the dunning dashboard – your invoice document chain remains untouched.

Next steps

• Align the deadlines of the levels – see "Setting dunning deadlines"
• What happens when payment is received – see "Matching incoming payments automatically"