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> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.daylit.com/llms.txt
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# Collection cases: track and resolve customer cases with automated sequences
> Use collection cases in Daylit to track promises to pay, disputes, and other cases — with AI-suggested actions, case-specific sequences, and automatic dunning suppression.
## Purpose
Collection Cases give **Jobin (AR manager)** at **Acme Corporation** a standardized SOP for disputes, promises to pay, inquiries, routing problems, and more. Each case type maps to a [sequence](/collections/sequences) that runs the playbook while the case is open, so the team follows the same steps every time.
**When to use:** Collection cases are for workflows that need a defined playbook and tracked follow-up. While [collection programs](/collections/collection-programs) handle aging-based dunning across the portfolio, **collection cases** handle promises to pay, disputes, and the other case types below — for example, Mesa Valley Construction (broken promise to pay), Orion Electric Supply (disputed pricing), or Sterling Logistics (contract dispute).
**Example:** A customer emails that they'll pay invoice INV-100 by May 30. Daylit classifies the message and surfaces a row in **Cases → Suggestions** — badges for **Open case** and **Promise to pay**, the customer name (Mesa Valley Construction), a rationale summary, a confidence score, and when the suggestion was made and expires. **Jobin (AR manager)** clicks the checkmark to accept, confirms enrollment in the Promise to pay sequence, and the case suppresses dunning on that invoice until the case is closed.
## What cases are
A case represents **one issue between you and one customer about zero or more invoices** — not the message itself, and not the invoice alone.
Each case includes:
* **One customer** and **zero or more linked invoices**
* **A case type** — dispute, promise to pay, inquiry, wrong contact, or other actionable
* **A status** — open or closed
* **A wait state** (while open) — who you're waiting on: needs you, awaiting customer, awaiting internal (sales, finance, or another AR teammate), or snoozed
* **Attached threads, messages, and notes** — the conversation on the case
* **An optional linked sequence enrollment** — the playbook running for this case
* **A running summary** — a short AI-generated overview of what happened, what's blocking, and what's next
A customer can have **multiple open cases at the same time** as long as they're different case types or cover non-overlapping invoices — for example, a promise to pay case on INV-100 and a dispute on INV-200 run independently on the customer's **Cases** tab.
## Case types
| Case type | When it applies |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Dispute** | Customer pushes back on the charge — wrong PO, wrong amount, goods not delivered, services not rendered. Workstream is internal verification plus customer resolution. |
| **Promise to pay** | Customer committed to pay by a specific date, or says payment is already in process (check mailed, ACH submitted) but hasn't reconciled yet. |
| **Inquiry** | Customer asks for information — copy of invoice, statement, breakdown, or payment confirmation. |
| **Wrong contact** | You're emailing the wrong person — bounce, auto-reply, or explicit redirect. Workstream is updating the contact and re-routing outreach. |
| **Other actionable** | Needs attention but doesn't fit the types above. Used when the classifier is confident action is needed but no clean type fits. |
For **Promise to pay** cases, Daylit also tracks whether the commitment is a future **promise** (pay by a date) or **in process** (payment already initiated). Promise to pay cases store the promised date and, on close, whether the promise was kept, broken, or unknown.
## Collection cases vs. programs and sequences
| | Cases | Collection programs | Sequences |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Purpose** | Run standardized SOPs per case type | Automate aging-based dunning | Define multi-step outreach playbooks |
| **Scope** | One case, zero or more invoices | Portfolio-wide aging rules | Assigned per case type or manual enrollment |
| **Daily work** | **Cases → Suggestions** and **Cases → All cases** | **Inbox → Review** for program batches | Ready steps in **Inbox → Sequences** |
| **Dunning** | Suppresses conflicting touchpoints while open | Runs on schedule | Runs per enrollment |
Sequences are the playbooks cases use. You create sequences in **Settings → Sequences**, then assign a default sequence to each case type in **Settings → Cases**. See [Collection sequences](/collections/sequences) for the full sequence walkthrough.
## One-time setup
Before your team works cases day to day, configure a sequence for each case type.
Go to **Settings → Sequences**. If you don't yet have a sequence for a case type — for example, a Promise to pay follow-up cadence or a dispute escalation playbook with internal email steps — click **New sequence**, add your steps, and **Activate** it.
Go to **Settings → Cases**. For each case type (Dispute, Promise to pay, Inquiry, Wrong contact, Other actionable), select the default sequence that should run when that case opens. At most one default sequence applies per case type.
Review that every case type you use has a default sequence assigned. Cases without a linked sequence won't generate automated follow-up steps.
## Daily workflow
After setup, **Jobin (AR manager)** works collection cases from the **Cases** section in the left sidebar.
### Cases views
| View | What it shows |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Suggestions** | AI-recommended case actions waiting for your review. Each row shows the suggestion type (for example, **Open case**), case type (for example, **Promise to pay**), customer name, rationale summary, confidence score, created time, expiry, and accept or reject actions. Ordered by urgency so time-sensitive items surface first. |
| **All cases** | Every open and recently closed case — filter by type, status, or customer. Use this to monitor long-running disputes, check promised payment dates, and see which cases need you today. |
Cases with **open** status and no wait state are your **"needs me"** queue — the morning triage surface. Cases awaiting customer reply, internal follow-up, or snoozed filter out of that queue until they need attention again.
### Review suggested case actions
Navigate to **Cases → Suggestions**. This is your daily starting point for case work.
Each row shows the suggestion type, case type, customer, rationale, confidence score, and expiry. Click to expand for full details. Click ✓ to accept or ✕ to reject. Accepting an **Open case** suggestion can chain into the next step — confirming sequence enrollment — in one flow.
### Work a case from the detail page
From **Cases → All cases**, click the customer name to open the case detail page — for example, **Mesa Valley Construction**.
On the detail page, you can:
| Area | What you can do |
| ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Details** | View and update case type, wait state, promised payment date, age, and other metadata. |
| **Suggestions** | Review pending suggestions for this case — such as **Change case type** — and accept or reject them inline. |
| **Summary & communication history** | Read the case summary and full **Conversation & events** timeline. Filter by **All**, **Customer**, **Internal**, or **Notes**. Use **Note**, **Compose**, or **Reply** to add or send communication. |
| **Invoices** | See linked invoices and click **+ Link** to attach additional invoices to the case. |
| **Threads** | See linked email threads and click **+ Link** to attach more threads. |
| **Linked cases** | View relationships to other open or closed cases on the same customer. |
| **Sequences** | See the enrolled sequence (for example, **Promise to pay follow-up**), enroll in another sequence with **+ Enroll**, or click **Stop** to halt outbound steps. |
| **Close case** | Close the case as **Resolved**, **Superseded**, or **Abandoned** when work is complete. |
Go to **Cases → All cases** and click the customer name on the row you want to work.
Check the header badges (case type, status, wait state), read the summary, and work through any pending suggestions at the top of the page.
Link invoices or threads as needed. Confirm the right sequence is enrolled, or **Stop** outbound if you need to pause automated follow-up.
When the case is done, close it as **Resolved**, **Superseded**, or **Abandoned**.
## How cases interact with dunning and sequences
While a case is open on linked invoices, Daylit **suppresses conflicting collection program touchpoints** on those invoices — so you won't send another past-due reminder while a customer is mid-dispute or has an open promise to pay.
When a case opens, it can enroll in a **case-scoped sequence** tied to that case's invoice set. A customer can run multiple case sequences simultaneously when cases cover different invoices — for example, a promise to pay case on INV-100 and a dispute on INV-200 side by side.
If a higher-priority case (such as a dispute) overlaps invoices with a lower-priority case (such as a promise to pay), Daylit suggests pausing the lower-priority sequence until the dispute resolves, then suggests resuming with a shifted start date.
## Related pages
* [AI signals](/customers/signals-insights) — How Daylit flags accounts that may need a case.
* [Collection sequences](/collections/sequences) — Build the playbooks assigned to case types.
* [Inbox](/collections/action-center) — Review program and non-case collection actions.
* [Email drafting](/collections/email-drafting) — How AI drafts emails for case-related outreach.