Collections Agent: Inbound Email Handling

Last updated: April 30, 2026

The Collections Agent processes customer replies to invoice-related emails. When an email arrives, the agent analyzes it, queries your Tabs data for relevant context (customer info, invoice status, contracts, payment history), and proposes a plan of actions. Depending on your policy settings, it either auto-executes or queues the plan for your review.

Accessing Inbound Emails

Navigate to Invoicing → Inbound Emails. This table shows all emails the agent has received and can act on.

Important: Emails only appear here if a customer replied to a system-generated email—invoices, dunning emails, or one-off reminders sent via Collections Camp. The agent cannot process emails that aren't linked to an invoice thread.

The Inbound Emails Table

Each row is an email. The Status column (far right) tells you where that email is in the agent workflow:

Status

Meaning

Needs Review

Agent has a pending plan that requires your approval

Executed

Agent completed the plan

Failed

Error occurred—flag to your CSM

The Email Detail View

Click any row to open the detail modal:

Left side:

  • Top: Customer and invoice info

  • Summary: Agent-generated context about this email. The agent queries your Tabs instance—customer data, invoice details, contracts, payment history—to surface relevant information and inform its proposed actions.

  • Email thread: All emails relevant to this invoice—system emails, customer replies, and any replies you sent from another email client on the same thread

Right side:

  • Agent plans: Queued actions awaiting review (if any)

Understanding Plans

A plan is the set of actions the agent wants to take in response to an email.

Key behaviors:

  • Plans are all-or-nothing. Clicking Execute runs the entire plan. Clicking Reject discards the entire plan. No partial execution.

  • Plans roll up across emails. If multiple emails arrive for the same customer/invoice, the plan updates to reflect all of them. You don't execute per-email—just one plan per invoice thread.

  • Plans update continuously as new emails arrive, reflecting all pending work.

Available Actions

Action

Description

Mark invoice as pending

Update invoice status with optional payment date, method, and notes

Update PO number

Update the PO number on the invoice

Update primary billing contact

Update customer's primary billing contact (name & email)

Update CC billing contact

Add or remove CC billing contacts for the customer

Send email

Compose and send email with optional attachments (invoice, contract, W9, other docs)

Reviewing and Editing Email Drafts

If the agent's plan includes sending an email:

  1. Click the proposed draft below the inbound email to view/edit the copy

  2. Review and modify attachments below the draft

  3. Click Edit (top right of the draft) to change recipients or CC

Important: Clicking Execute runs the entire plan, including sending the email. Make sure the draft is correct before you execute—any edits must be made first.

Attachments the agent can use:

  • The invoice PDF

  • Contracts (PDFs) associated with that invoice

  • Documents configured in Settings → Billing → Invoice Documents

Note on document selection: The agent determines which documents to attach based on file name only. If you want the agent to attach a specific document for certain customers, the file name must indicate its contents.

Policy Settings

Control how the agent handles each action type in Settings → Collections Agent Settings.

For each action, choose:

Policy

Behavior

Always allow

Agent executes without asking

Ask

Agent queues for your approval

Never allow

Agent never proposes this action

How policies affect plans: If any action in a plan is set to "Ask," the entire plan is flagged for review. Plans only auto-execute when every action in the plan is set to "Always allow."

Default: All actions require review ("Ask"). Adjust as you build confidence.

Coming Soon

  • Brand voice prompt: Customize how the agent writes email copy

  • Slack notifications: Daily digest of inbound email activity + immediate alerts for escalations

  • Escalation flagging: Agent identifies emails requiring urgent attention; escalated emails will appear with a distinct status and require review before clearing

  • Invoice details entry point: Access the agent view directly from an invoice

Questions?

Contact your Tabs account team or email support@tabsplatform.com.