To put a disputed PayRequest collection case on hold, open the case and use Pause. This suspends that case's automated escalation and daily processing. Before resuming, review its balance, evidence and current overdue age: pausing does not reset the due date, and resuming can move the case to a later stage.
This checklist is for billing operators reviewing an already-open collection case. It describes product operations, not whether a debt is legally enforceable or which collection rules apply in a particular country.
Confirm the exact case before pausing
Record the case number, linked invoice or external debt, disputed amount and reason. “The customer questions one line item” is more useful than “customer unhappy”. Preserve the invoice and supporting agreement, assign a review owner, and set an internal review date. That date is your team's task deadline, not a promised automatic resume feature.
PayRequest's Managing Cases documentation explicitly supports pausing during negotiations or dispute review. In Debt Collection, open the case and click Pause in the Actions card. Confirm the Paused status and banner. The customer portal shows Case On Hold.
Know which actions the hold controls
A collection case is one workflow. Do not infer a blanket hold across all invoices, subscriptions, integrations or manually scheduled messages for that customer.
| Action | Documented case behavior | Operator check |
|---|---|---|
| Automated escalation | Suspended while Paused | Confirm the correct case is paused |
| Daily case processing | Skips the paused case | Record the review owner and date |
| Manual reminders and notes | Still available | Agree who may send a message |
| Payment link | Remains active | Check new receipts before deciding |
| Other invoice automation | Not established by a case pause | Review separately where configured |
This is an original control matrix, not an extra settings screen. A colleague can still send a manual reminder; a customer can still pay. Tell the team what the review hold means rather than relying on a status badge to communicate every exception.
Work through an elapsed-date example
Suppose an illustrative invoice was due on 20 September. You pause its case on 4 October, when it is 14 days overdue, and review it on 11 October, when it is 21 days overdue. The seven days of review do not make the invoice seven days younger.
The documentation says Resume returns the case to Active, recalculates days overdue using the current date, and resumes automated processing from the next daily run. If enough time has passed, the case may escalate to the next stage. Check the current case and its pipeline before clicking Resume; do not promise that it restarts from the original reminder or grants another week.
Resolve payments and decisions before restarting
Use this original four-checkpoint log: what was disputed, what evidence was reviewed, which payment or balance change is verified, and who approved the next communication. An expected bank transfer is not a received payment. Verify the actual receipt before recording a payment made outside PayRequest.
PayRequest documents manual payment registration on active or paused cases, including amount, date, method and an optional note. Review the remaining balance afterwards. A payment record, a document correction and a decision to waive a balance are different actions. The documented Waive Remaining action is permanent and closes the case as Paid; it is not a temporary dispute hold or proof that cash was received. Do not use it just to stop escalation.
Communicate the outcome and verify the next run
A useful message is: “Case [number] is on hold while [owner] reviews [issue] by [date]. The payment link remains available. We will confirm the reviewed balance and next step before restarting the case.” Avoid announcing that every automated message is disabled unless you verified that separately.
After a documented resolution, check the balance, current stage and customer-facing wording before resuming. Confirm Active status and review the activity timeline after processing. If the dispute remains unresolved, retain an owner and a new review date rather than silently restarting pressure.
Use PayRequest Debt Collection to manage the case hold and activity record. Review Invoicing separately when the underlying document needs attention.
Editorial note: AI assisted with this article and its illustrative cover. Published documentation was checked on 4 October 2026. Dates and checklists are original examples; no account test, legal deadline or recovery outcome is claimed.
