Summary

Once invoices and/or payments have been processed, late fees can be assessed against accounts that are not paid on time. The first step in generating delinquency letters is creating a past dues batch and generating past dues.

Step by Step

1     Create a Past Dues batch.

• Select the Past Dues palette in BT> Past Dues. This will expand the Past Dues palette and display the steps in the Past Dues process.
• Select New from the Past Dues batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Past Dues process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• Enter a Batch Month and Batch Year. These fields default to the current calendar period and are used for reference only. The transaction date of the billing is set up in the Generate step and the fiscal period the transactions are posted to is determined by the Journal Entry Date entered when creating the GL Distribution Report (BT> Past Dues > GL Distribution).
• Click the Generate icon to populate the Batch Number field with the next available batch number. Batch numbers are limited to five digits and must be unique within the batch month of the batch year.
  • You can also manually create a new batch by entering a Batch Number and clicking the Save icon  .
• You can delete batches by selecting a batch and pressing DELETE.

2     Generate Past Dues.

• Open the Generate Past Dues window (BT> Past Dues> Generate).
• Select the Tax Types you would like to include in the batch.
  • Only tax types with an associated penalty fee code will be included in the Tax Type field. Penalty fee codes are created and maintained on the Fee Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Fee).
• The Aging Date tells the system to ignore all transactions after the date entered in this box.
• The Transaction Date is the transaction date that will be associated with the new penalty charge being generated.
• The Due Date is the date that the new penalty charge being generated is due.
  • The Transaction and Due dates can also be used for calculating penalties in future Past Due batches. If an account included in the current Past Due batch remains unpaid, the transaction or due date specified here can be used in a future Past Due batch to calculate a new past due penalty that includes the past due penalty generated from the current batch. This will require that the Include previous penalties in past due amount toggle is checked and the past due penalty fee code applied in the current batch includes an attached late fee (BT> Maintenance> Fee> Late Fee field).
• The Minimum Age will cause the process to ignore all transactions with an age less than the minimum age. Enter the minimum age in days.
• The Maximum Age will cause the process to ignore all transactions with an age greater than the maximum age. Enter the maximum age in days. If you want to include all transactions enter 999 in the Maximum Age field.
• Click the Age From drop-down menu to specify either the Transaction Date or the Due Date as the age from date.
  • Springbrook calculates interest amounts in a different manner than penalty amounts. The BT Past Dues system is designed to ensure that interest charges are calculated only once over any given time period. Because of this, the age calculated for interest purposes may not be the same as the age calculated for penalty purposes, even if the interest and penalty charges occur in the same batch. When calculating interest for a Return, which has no initial interest charge, the Due date is used to age the interest transaction even if Tran date is selected in the Age From field.
• There are three rounding choices in the Round drop-down menu.
  • Round Up will round all amounts up to the next increment you have specified in the Round To field. If you round to the nearest dollar and a penalty is calculated at $1.01, Round Up will make that a $2.00 penalty. A penalty calculated at $1.99 will also round to $2.00.
  • Round Down will round all amounts down to the previous increment you have specified in the Round to the nearest field. With this choice, if you have specified $1.00 in the Round to the nearest field, and the penalty is calculated at $1.99, it will round down to $1.00. Also, a penalty calculated at $1.01 will round to $1.00.
  • Select Off to round consumption up if the consumption decimal amount is 0.5 or greater and down if the decimal amount is less than 0.5.
• If your penalties use percentages to calculate you can control how the system rounds the penalty amounts. The Round To field allows you to determine if you want the system to round to the nearest penny, five cents and so on. If you round penalties to the nearest dollar, put 1.00 in the Round to the nearest field.
• Select a Calculate option from the drop-down menu to determine how the Past Dues will be calculated.
• Click the Status field label to filter the accounts included in the batch by Status.
  • A status is a user-defined code used to describe the current state of a business. For example, a business that is currently open and conducting business could be listed as Active while a business going through bankruptcy proceedings could be listed as Bankrupt. Statuses are created and maintained on the Status Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Status).
• Check the Include previous penalties in past due amount toggle and the past due amounts on which the penalties are calculated will include any previous penalties that are past due.
  • This toggle will only affect the new past due penalty calculations if the original penalty fee code applied to the account includes an attached late fee (BT> Maintenance> Fee> Late Fee field).
• Check the Include uncommitted payments toggle to include payments that have not yet been committed in the Past Dues batch.
• When finished, click the Confirm icon.

3     Edit the Past Dues.

• Open the Edit Past Dues window (BT> Past Dues> Edit).
• The Edit Past Dues window displays all of the currently generated past dues. You may edit these charges by simply modifying the amounts listed in the New Charges column.
• Select a charge line item and click the Delete icon to delete the selected charge. You can also use the Select All   and Select None   icons and drop-downs to select all the displayed interest and penalty charges.
• When finished, click the Save icon to save your changes.

4     Print the Aging Report.

• Open the Aging Report window (BT> Past Dues> Aging).
• The Aging report displays those accounts that have outstanding past due balances.
• Not all of the print options are enabled.
  • Specify an age range in the Minimum Age and Maximum Age fields.
  • Select the order you would like the report to print in the Sort By drop-down menu.
  • Specify a Minimum Balance to filter out transactions that fall below a particular dollar value.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).
• The report will display the Transaction Type, Invoice Number, Tax Type, Year, Period, Business Number, Customer Number, Status, Last Name, and the Past Due Balance for past dues Under 30 days, 30-60 days, 60-90 days, 90-120 days, and over 120 days.

5     Print the Proof List.

• Open the Past Dues Proof List window (BT> Past Dues> Proof List).
• Select the report type you would like to print.
  • The Summary report displays the Transaction Date, Customer Name, Account Number, Description, Amount and Report Total.
  • The Detail report includes the information displayed in the Summary report and also displays Fee Code, Debit Account, Credit Account and Fee Amount.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

6     Print the GL Distribution report.

• Open the GL Distribution Report window (BT> Past Dues> GL Distribution).
• Enter the transaction date you want to appear in the General Ledger for this batch in the Journal Entry date field. This date will determine the fiscal period in which the invoices are recorded.
  • The Fiscal Period and Fiscal Year fields will populate based on the Journal Entry date selected.
• Select the Report Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The Summary report displays the Batch Number, Fund, Account Number, Debit Amount and Credit Amount. By default the report will subtotal by Fund and give you a grand total of debits and credits.
  • The Detail report display everything included in the Summary report as well as the Description for each account number.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

7     Print the Past Due Statements.

• The Past Due Statements provide the complete financial detail for the account that is past due.
• Open the Past Due Statements window (BT> Past Due> Statements).
• Select the Report Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The Summary statement displays the Customer Name, Customer Address, Customer Number, Statement Date, Due Date, Tax Type, Transaction Type, Period, Year, Invoice Number, Return Date, Original Amount, Past Due, Penalty Charged, and Total Balance Overdue.
  • The Detail statement displays everything included in the Summary statement as well as the Line Item Description, Line Item Past Due, and Line Item Penalty Charged.
• Use the Printer Adjustment field to adjust where the first line of the statement will print. If you adjust the alignment you may want to print a test statement before printing a large batch.
  • Zero is the system default. Adjusting the value up will move the first line of the statement up on the printed page and adjusting the value down will move the first line down.
• Select how you want the logo to display in the Logo Options field.
  • Select All Pages to display the logo on all pages of the statements.
  • Select First Page Only if you would like to display the logo on the first page of the statement only. If the statement is more than one page, the logo will not display on the second page and the space where the logo normally prints will be blank, shifting all fields on the second page up.
  • Select Don’t Print and Leave Room if you would like to leave the space that the logo normally prints in on the top of every page, but leave the logo off the statements. If the statement is more than one page, the spacing on the second page will be the same as the first. Choose this option if you are using pre-printed statement stock with a logo at the top of every page.
  • Select Don't Print and Don't Leave Room if you would like to print the statements without logos or blank spaces.
• If more than one statement is being printed, select how the statements are sorted in the Sort By field. The statements can be sorted by Business Number, Customer Number, or Zip Code.
• In the Message box, type a global message you want to print on all of the past due statements. This message will appear at the top of the statement.
• Check the Print Perforation Line toggle to include a perforation line at the top of the returnable section of the invoice.
• The Remit Address section will populate with the remit address specified on the Remit Address Maintenance window (AR> Maintenance> Remit Address).

8     Print the Past Due Letters. This is an optional step.

• The Past Due Letters are meant to be run in conjunction with the Past Due Statements. Rather than providing the financial detail found in the statements, letters provide general information such as the total past due.
• Select a Form from the drop-down menu.
  • The printed letters will use the selected Form as a template.
  • Forms are created and maintained on the Forms Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Forms).
• The Tran Date field will populate with the transaction date specified on the GL Distribution step.
• The Compatibility mode toggle is used to activate compatibility mode for legacy forms that don't use standard Springbrook forms functionality.
  • Springbrook does not recommend using Compatibility mode as it will disable a number of useful form features.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

9     Commit the Past Dues batch.

• Open the Commit a Past Dues batch window (BT> Past Dues> Commit).
• The Journal Entry Date field determines which fiscal period the journal entries will be posted to. This field will populate with the journal entry date entered when creating the GL Distribution report. If you want to change this date, you will have to return to that step and change the JE date.