Search
Intermediate Certificate on pass

Sales Exception Handling

Handle unpaid invoices, canceled invoices, failed emails, and stock promises.

3 lessons 38 min 5-question assessment 70% to pass

What you’ll learn

  • Control customer records, quotations, invoices, payments, credits, and attachments
  • Use approval, credit, and evidence routines to protect revenue and collections
  • Read sales exceptions through source records, reports, and customer history
  • Close customer work with clear ownership, follow-up, and manager visibility

Course content

3 lessons · 38 min of reading
01
Lesson 1 of 3 Reading 11 min

Identify sales exceptions

Sales Exception Handling focuses on unpaid invoices, cancellations, failed emails, stock promises, and exception ownership. In AWRA, sales control depends on keeping customer, quote, invoice, payment, stock, attachment, and report context connected.

The practical goal is revenue confidence. Teams should know who the customer is, what was promised, what was approved, what was invoiced, what was paid, and what remains at risk.

In practice, a supervisor sees a failed invoice email, confirms the customer contact, checks stock promise risk, and assigns collections follow-up.

Sales exception path

1

Detect

Unpaid, cancelled, failed email, or stock risk appears.

2

Review

Source record and customer context are checked.

3

Assign

Owner and action are set.

4

Correct

Email, payment, invoice, or stock issue is resolved.

5

Close

Evidence and outcome are recorded.

Sales model

  • Sales records should preserve customer identity, promise, approval, and collection context.
  • Attachments and status changes should support the transaction instead of living outside it.
  • Credit and payment controls protect revenue quality as much as sales speed.
  • Managers need exception patterns, not only individual transaction totals.
02
Lesson 2 of 3 Workshop 14 min

Assign corrective action

The operating routine is to identify the exception, review source records, assign an owner, correct the blocker, and close with evidence. This keeps customer-facing work moving without losing control over approvals, stock promises, or cash collection.

Before acting, check invoice status, email status, payment due date, cancellation reason, stock promise, customer contact, and owner. Weak checks create duplicate customers, unsupported quotations, incorrect invoices, missed collections, or poor manager reporting.

A good sales workflow should be clear enough that another user can pick up the customer record and understand the next action immediately.

Sales exception guide

Signal Review Action
Unpaid invoice Due date and statement Assign collection
Failed email Customer contact Correct and resend
Canceled invoice Reason and approver Review pattern
Stock promise risk Availability and hold Coordinate inventory

Customer decisions

  • Customer action should follow the source record and current status.
  • Approvals, credit holds, and cancellations need notes that explain the decision.
  • Payment and statement records should preserve collection context.
  • Exports should be shared carefully because they carry customer and financial data.
03
Lesson 3 of 3 Practice 13 min

Close with proof

Sales closure should leave proof. Useful evidence includes exception list, source invoice or quote, customer contact correction, collection notes, stock check, and closure note, tied to the exact customer, quotation, invoice, payment, credit note, or report.

Managers should review repeated issues such as unpaid invoices, quote delays, failed emails, stock promises, credit overrides, and cancelled transactions.

In practice, closure means the sales exception has a resolved outcome or an assigned next action with evidence.

Sales exception checklist

Exception type is clear
Source record is linked
Customer context is reviewed
Owner is assigned
Closure proof is recorded

Revenue proof

  • Sales work is complete only when the customer outcome and evidence are clear.
  • Customer balances and payment proof should be easy to reconcile.
  • Exceptions should be assigned before they become aged balances.
  • Reliable sales governance improves trust in reports, statements, and cash collection.

Finished the material?

Take the 5-question assessment and earn your certificate — 70% to pass.

Take the assessment

Help Center

Need a quick answer while you read?

Run inventory, procurement, assets, sales, and field work with approved AWRA guidance for setup, migration, integrations, security, pricing, and support.

Search all approved AWRA public help articles.

Open Help Center