Dunning Report

The Dunning Report provides a complete view of your recurring charge retry process. Starting from the initial billing attempt, it follows each declined charge through every stage of dunning—tracking how many are reattempted, how long recovery takes, and ultimately how much revenue is recaptured. This report is essential for understanding and optimizing your involuntary churn recovery strategy.

What This Report Includes

This report focuses exclusively on first-attempt recurring charges, organized by the date each charge was completed. It captures the full dunning lifecycle: from the initial billing attempt, through retry scheduling and execution, to final recovery or loss.

Charges Included:

• First-attempt charges only (attempt number 1)
• Sale and capture transaction types
• Looks at the transaction's line items
• Test orders are excluded
• Date range is based on Original Attempt Date (the date of the first attempt of a billing cycle charge)

Why This Matters: Dunning is one of the most impactful levers for reducing involuntary churn. Even small improvements in recovery rate can translate to significant retained revenue over time. This report helps you measure exactly how well your retry strategy is performing and where there's room to improve.

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Revenue calculations depend on your Company Profile settings for shipping and tax inclusion.

Prerequisites

This report requires customers enrolled in recurring subscription offers with one of the following dunning configurations:

• Dunning Profile — A dunning profile configured on the offer to manage reattempt schedules
• Third-Party Dunning Connection — An external dunning service (e.g., FlexPay) configured on the merchant account

Retention Settings should also be configured to accurately track recovered vs. churned subscriptions.

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Report Metrics

First Attempt Charges

The total number of first-attempt recurring charges processed during the selected period. This is the starting point for all dunning analysis—every charge in this count either succeeded on the first try or entered the dunning process.

First Attempt Revenue

The total dollar value of all first-attempt recurring charges before any outcome is determined. This represents the full revenue potential that your billing system attempted to collect.

First Attempt Successful Charges

The number of first-attempt charges that were approved on the initial billing attempt. These charges never entered the dunning process because they succeeded immediately.

First Attempt Successful Revenue

The total revenue from charges that were approved on the first attempt. This is your baseline—the revenue that flows in without any retry intervention needed.

First Attempt Declines

The number of first-attempt charges that were declined by the payment processor. Each of these declined charges becomes a candidate for the dunning retry process.

First Attempt Declined Revenue

The total dollar value of charges that were declined on the first attempt. This represents the revenue at risk—the pool of potential revenue that your dunning process will attempt to recover.

Decline Rate

The percentage of first-attempt charges that were declined. A rising decline rate may indicate issues with card-on-file freshness, processor routing, or customer payment method health. This is calculated as first attempt declines divided by total first attempt charges.

Reattempts

The total number of declined charges that were scheduled for at least one retry attempt. Not all declines may be retried depending on your dunning rules and decline reason codes.

Reattempt Rate

The percentage of declined first-attempt charges that entered the dunning retry process. If this is below 100%, some declines may be excluded from retries based on your dunning configuration or the type of decline received.

Average Days In Dunning

The average number of calendar days that charges spend in the dunning cycle before being resolved (either recovered or abandoned). Longer dunning windows give more opportunities to recover but may also delay recognizing lost revenue.

Total Dunning Attempts

The cumulative number of retry attempts made across all charges in dunning. This includes every individual retry, not just the number of unique charges retried.

Average Dunning Attempts

The average number of retry attempts made per charge that entered dunning. This helps you understand whether your retry cadence aligns with your recovery goals—too few attempts may leave revenue on the table, while too many can increase processing costs.

Recovered Sales

The number of previously declined charges that were successfully collected through the dunning retry process. Each recovered sale represents a customer who would have been lost to involuntary churn without dunning.

Discounted Recovered Sales

The number of recovered sales where a dunning discount was applied to incentivize the customer to update their payment information or accept a reduced charge amount.

Dunning Discount

The total dollar amount of discounts applied to recovered sales. This represents the revenue concession made to successfully recover otherwise-lost charges.

Recovered Rate

The percentage of declined charges that were successfully recovered through dunning. This is the single most important metric for evaluating your dunning strategy's effectiveness. It is calculated as recovered sales divided by first attempt declines.

Average Successful Recovery Cycle

The average number of retry attempts it took to successfully recover a declined charge. Lower numbers suggest your retry timing is well-optimized, while higher numbers may indicate opportunities to adjust your schedule.

Average Days To Recover

The average number of calendar days between the initial decline and successful recovery. This helps you understand your dunning timeline and set appropriate expectations for cash flow from recovered charges.

Initial Revenue Attempt

The original dollar value of charges before any dunning discounts were applied. Comparing this to actual recovered revenue shows the true cost of dunning discounts on your bottom line.

Recovered Revenue

The total dollar value of revenue collected through dunning recovery, after any discounts. This is the revenue that would have been lost without your dunning process.

Average Dunning Discount

The average dollar discount applied per discounted recovered sale. This helps you evaluate whether your discount strategy is appropriately sized to drive recovery without giving away too much margin.

Avg Dunning Discount Rate

The average percentage discount applied to recovered sales relative to their original charge amount. This provides a normalized view of your discount generosity across different price points.

Adjustments

The total dollar value of all post-recovery adjustments including refunds, voids, chargebacks, and alerts. This represents the revenue that was recovered but subsequently lost through customer disputes or reversals.

Refunds

The number of recovered sales that were subsequently refunded. A high refund rate on recovered charges may indicate that customers are disputing charges they didn't expect after a dunning recovery.

Refund Rate

The percentage of recovered sales that resulted in a refund. Monitor this to ensure dunning recovery isn't simply shifting losses from declines to refunds.

Voids

The number of recovered sales that were voided before settlement. Voids may occur when a recovery is made but then reversed before the charge fully processes.

Void Rate

The percentage of recovered sales that were voided. Like refunds, a high void rate on recovered charges warrants investigation into your dunning process.

Chargebacks

The number of recovered sales that resulted in a chargeback dispute. Chargebacks on recovered charges are particularly costly because they include both the lost revenue and chargeback fees.

Chargeback Rate

The percentage of recovered sales that resulted in a chargeback. This is a critical health metric—if dunning recovery is driving chargebacks, your retry strategy may be too aggressive.

Alerts

The number of recovered sales that triggered a chargeback alert (such as Ethoca or Verifi). Alerts give you an opportunity to resolve disputes before they escalate to formal chargebacks.

Alert Rate

The percentage of recovered sales that triggered an alert. A high alert rate on recovered charges is an early warning sign of customer dissatisfaction with the recovery process.

Net Recovered Revenue

The recovered revenue minus all post-recovery adjustments. This is the true bottom-line impact of your dunning program—the revenue that was recovered and actually retained.

Net Recovered Revenue Rate

The net recovered revenue as a percentage of total declined revenue. This gives you the most accurate picture of your dunning program's real-world effectiveness after accounting for all adjustments.

Active Dunning Count

The number of charges currently in an active dunning cycle that have not yet been resolved. These charges are still being retried and may yet be recovered.

Active Dunning Rate

The percentage of declined charges that are still in active dunning. A high active dunning rate for recent periods is normal, but older periods with high active rates may indicate stalled dunning cycles.

Total Successful Revenue

The combined revenue from first-attempt successful charges plus recovered revenue from dunning. This represents your complete billing success—the total revenue actually collected from all first-attempt recurring charges after the dunning process runs its course.

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Available Dimensions

Use these dimensions to slice and filter your dunning data for deeper analysis.

Key Business Insights

1. Decline Rate is your early warning system. A sudden increase in first-attempt decline rates often signals upstream issues—expired cards, processor problems, or changes in customer payment method health. Catch these trends early before they compound.

2. Recovery Rate directly impacts your bottom line. Every percentage point improvement in recovery rate translates to retained subscribers and recurring revenue. Benchmark your rate over time and treat declines as recoverable, not lost.

3. Watch the gap between Recovered Revenue and Net Recovered Revenue. If post-recovery adjustments (refunds, chargebacks) are eating into your recovered revenue, your dunning process may be recovering charges from customers who don't actually want to continue—leading to disputes rather than retention.

4. Average Days To Recover reveals your retry timing effectiveness. If most recoveries happen within the first few days, you may be able to shorten your dunning window. If recoveries are spread across the full cycle, your later retries are still adding value.

5. Active Dunning trends show your pipeline. A growing active dunning count without proportional recovery suggests your dunning rules may need adjustment, or you may be retrying charges that have little chance of recovering.

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Optimization Strategies

1. Tune your retry schedule based on recovery cycle data. Use Average Successful Recovery Cycle and Average Days To Recover to identify which retry attempts are most productive. Concentrate your retries during the windows that historically produce the best results.

2. Segment your decline reasons. Not all declines are equal—hard declines (closed accounts) rarely recover, while soft declines (insufficient funds) have much higher recovery potential. Tailor your retry strategy to the decline type for better results.

3. Evaluate your dunning discount strategy. Compare the Dunning Discount against the Net Recovered Revenue to ensure your discounts are generating positive ROI. Small, well-timed discounts can dramatically improve recovery rates without significantly impacting margin.

4. Monitor post-recovery adjustments as a quality check. If your Chargeback Rate or Refund Rate on recovered charges is climbing, consider adding customer communication touchpoints during the dunning cycle to set expectations and reduce disputes.

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Pro Tips

1. Compare Total Successful Revenue against First Attempt Revenue to quantify your dunning program's total impact. The difference between what you attempted to bill and what you actually collected tells the full story of your billing effectiveness.

2. Use the hidden columns for deep-dive analysis. Enable columns like Average Dunning Attempts and Average Days In Dunning when you're actively optimizing your retry schedule—they provide the granular timing data you need.

3. Track Decline Rate trends weekly. Sudden spikes often correlate with card network changes, processor issues, or account updater problems that can be resolved quickly if caught early.

4. Benchmark your Recovered Rate against industry standards. Recurring billing businesses typically recover 15–40% of declined charges through dunning. If you're below this range, there's likely significant revenue to recapture with strategy adjustments.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why does my Total Successful Revenue not equal my total billing for the period? A: This report only includes first-attempt recurring charges. One-time charges, manual charges, and other transaction types are not included. Additionally, charges still in active dunning have not yet resolved and are not counted in the total.

Q: What's the difference between Recovered Rate and Net Recovered Revenue Rate? A: Recovered Rate measures how many declined charges were successfully retried. Net Recovered Revenue Rate goes further by subtracting any post-recovery losses (refunds, voids, chargebacks, alerts) to show the true retained revenue. The Net rate gives a more accurate picture of real dunning value.

Q: Why might my Reattempt Rate be less than 100%? A: Not all declines are eligible for retry. Certain hard decline codes (like closed accounts or invalid card numbers) may be excluded from dunning because retrying them is unlikely to succeed and can negatively impact your processor relationship. Your dunning rules configuration also controls which declines enter the retry queue.