The Lifecycle of a Clarification
This page guides a single clarification through its entire lifecycle. Each step can be performed manually by a user or automatically by a workflow.
This page guides a single clarification through its entire lifecycle. Each step can be performed manually by a user or automatically by a workflow.
1. Create
A clarification group is opened either manually (a user selects a customer and the documents/deductions to be clarified) or automatically (the auto-start of a workflow triggers — see Auto-Start & Triggering). A clarification is created for each line item. The system derives reporters and processors from the workflow settings, sets the due date, optionally sets a payment hold on the document, assigns clarification numbers, and sets the deduction to under clarification if applicable. The clarification starts active with the next action response pending.
2. Answer
The processor (or any participant) submits a response: a selected reason, optionally a free-text message, and attachments. The next action becomes response review pending. If multiple people submit a response before one is reviewed, it becomes resolve conflicting responses.
Tip: A response can be applied to all other clarifications in the same group at once ("use this response for all line items").
3. Review (accept / reject / resolve conflicts)
The Reporter checks each submitted response and accepts or rejects it.
Accept — once a response is accepted, the next action becomes Trigger resolution. If the workflow has Close on accepted response, the resolution is resolved automatically.
Reject — the response is marked as rejected, and the next action goes back to the resolution recipient: It returns to Response pending, so the processor must provide a new response. Rejecting can optionally trigger a manual escalation in the same step.
Resolve conflicts — with multiple open responses, the reporter accepts one and rejects the others, rejects all, or rejects all and adds a new response.
4. Escalation (optional, at any time while active)
If a resolution remains pending, it can escalate — manually or automatically according to the escalation levels of the workflow. The escalation level moves up the chain: Team lead → Team → Area lead → Fixed person. Escalation recipients are notified and begin to monitor the resolution. An escalation can also be removed (de-escalated). See Auto-escalation & Escalation levels.
5. Resolution
The resolution is resolved — manually (individually or as a batch action) or automatically (auto-close). When resolving:
the status becomes resolved, the resolver and timestamp are recorded,
any existing escalation is removed,
a response still pending review becomes expired.
the status of the linked document/deduction is updated (a deduction without remaining active resolutions becomes clarified),
configured after-effects run (e.g., remove/keep reminder stop, forward to collections).
When resolving, the user can choose: just resolve, resolve with restart date, resolve with after-effects, add a new response and accept immediately, or (for deductions) reject the deduction resolution.
6. Restart (Optional Cycle)
A resolved clarification can open again — manually or automatically if the workflow has Auto-Restart enabled and the conditions continue to apply (e.g., the document is still open at a configured dunning level and the maximum restart count has not been reached). When restarting, the clarification becomes active again, the restart counter increases, and — depending on the settings — management levels or specific people are added and notified. Since responses are tied to a restart round, responses from the previous round no longer count as "current". See Auto-Restart.
7. Closing
Closing is a concept at the clarification group level. When all clarifications in a group are resolved/closed (or conditions such as paid items close / transferred to collections / threshold reached are met), the clarification group is closed. Closing executes the before/after closing after-effects of the workflow (e.g., lifting dunning stop).
Status Quick Reference
| Object | Status |
|---|---|
| Clarification Group | active · closed |
| Clarification | active · resolved |
| Response | submitted · accepted · rejected · expired |
Reasons for Closing
A resolved/closed clarification records why: manually, paid items closed, closed on accepted response, transferred to collections, or threshold reached. These reasons appear in exports and reports.