Software can be set up to answer routine payment questions, such as how much a customer owes, how they can pay and when a direct debit will be taken, provided it reads accurate invoice and payment data and answers within rules you've approved. Disputes, requests for more time and anything that would change what a customer owes still need you or someone on your team. It also helps to cut the number of questions customers need to ask in the first place.
In this article
The short version
- Software can answer questions whose answer is already in your records.
- Disputes and requests for more time need a person to decide.
- Stale payment data is a real risk when software answers balance questions.
- SEPA refunds can be claimed from the customer's bank within eight weeks.
- Clear invoices with a payment link cut the number of questions.
The questions customers ask about paying
The payment questions your customers ask tend to fall into a handful of groups. Some are about the amount: what they owe you, which invoices make it up, and whether a credit note has been applied. Some are about the method, such as whether they can pay by card, where your bank details are, or how to set up a direct debit. Some are about timing, like when the next collection comes out or whether they can pay at the end of the month.
And some aren't really questions about paying at all. A customer who says the work wasn't finished, or that the price isn't what was agreed, is raising a dispute, and a customer asking to pay in a few weeks is asking for a decision.
The first three groups have answers that already exist in your records. The last group needs someone to decide something, and that's the line to draw when you're working out what software should handle.
Which questions software can handle
| Question | Can software answer it? | What it needs | When a person takes over |
|---|---|---|---|
| How much do I owe? | Yes, from current data | Invoices, payments and credit notes synced from your accounting software | When the customer says the balance is wrong |
| How can I pay? | Yes | The payment methods you accept and a link to pay | Rarely |
| When will the direct debit be taken? | Yes | The collection date and the pre-notification already sent | When the customer wants a different date |
| I've already paid | Partly | Up-to-date payment records | When no matching payment can be found |
| Can I have more time? | Only within limits you set | Your rules on extensions | Anything outside those limits |
| The invoice is wrong | No | Nothing it can use | Always, and chasing on that invoice pauses |
Software is on safe ground with questions whose answer is a fact in your records. Anything that needs judgement, or would change what the customer owes, belongs with a person, and the handover should be quick, because a customer who raises a dispute and then gets another reminder is likely to be more annoyed than before.
Requests for extra time fall in between, so if you're comfortable that any customer can have, say, an extra week once a year, a rule can cover it. A longer arrangement is a commercial decision about that customer, and you'd want to make it yourself.
A practical risk is stale data, because if a payment hasn't synced yet, software may tell a customer they owe money they've already paid. That can quickly cost their trust in every automated message you send, so check how often the tool updates from your accounting software before you let it answer anything about balances.
Answers that have to be right in Ireland
Some questions have answers fixed by the SEPA direct debit rules or Irish law, and a wrong answer there is more than a customer service slip. If software is going to answer them, check its wording against these points before it goes live.
- When a direct debit will be taken: customers should have had a pre-notification at least 14 calendar days before the collection, unless you agreed a different period, and it can be printed on the invoice. The answer should quote that date.
- Whether they can get their money back: a customer can ask their own bank to refund any SEPA direct debit within eight weeks, with no questions asked, and within 13 months if they say it wasn't authorised. That request goes to their bank.
- Why a direct debit has stopped working: a mandate that hasn't been used for 36 months lapses, and the customer needs to sign a new one.
- Why interest has been added: statutory interest under S.I. 580 of 2012 applies only to invoices between businesses or to public bodies, at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, from the day after the payment date. Software shouldn't mention it to individual customers at all.
The interest rate is reset every 1 January and 1 July, so any wording that quotes it needs updating twice a year.
Fewer questions to answer
A lot of the questions you get come from a message that left something out. If your invoices and reminders show the amount, the invoices covered, the due date and a link to pay, you'll have answered several of them before they're asked.
Adfin's payment links go out by email, SMS or WhatsApp and let a customer pay by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer, so the question of how to pay is answered in the message itself. Statements, part of Adfin's free Essential credit control, show a customer every open invoice in one place. The aged debtors view lets you give each debtor an owner and next steps, so there's a named person to pick up a question that needs one.
With Enhanced credit control, at 0.3% per paid invoice and only when it's used, Adfin's collection agents handle the chasing, deciding when and how firmly to follow up within rules the business approves. Payments taken through Adfin are marked paid in Xero or QuickBooks automatically, so your books show those payments without you matching them by hand.
Common questions
Can AI tell a customer how much they owe? It can, if it reads current invoices, payments and credit notes from your accounting software. If that data is out of date the answer will be wrong, so check how often it syncs.
Should AI handle invoice disputes? You're better off handing disputes to a person straight away, with chasing paused on that invoice. Software can't judge whether the work was done or the amount is right.
Can AI agree more time to pay? Only within limits you've set in advance, such as a short extension you'd give any customer. Anything longer is a decision about that customer and is better made by you.
What should I tell a customer who wants a direct debit refunded? They can ask their own bank for a refund within eight weeks of any SEPA direct debit, no questions asked, or within 13 months if they say the collection wasn't authorised.
Can AI tell customers about late payment interest? On invoices to businesses and public bodies, yes, since statutory interest applies at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026. It mustn't be quoted or added on invoices to individual consumers.
How can I cut down on customers' payment questions? Put the amount, the invoices covered, the due date and a link to pay in every invoice and reminder, and send statements to customers with several open invoices. Fewer questions then need asking.
Sources
- European Payments Council - 2025 SEPA Direct Debit Core Rulebook (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/node/26581
- Citizens Information - Payment Services Directive (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/eu-payments/psd2/
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580 of 2012, European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Late payment interest rate (accurate as of November 2026) https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/late-payments/late-payment-interest-rate-
