Summary

The Collections batch process allows you to charge late fees, automatically update the status of selected parking tickets, and generate collections letters.

Step by Step

1     Create or open a collections batch in the Parking Tickets module.

• Select the Collections palette in PT> Collections. This will expand the Collections palette and display the steps of the batch process.
• Modify an existing batch or create a new Collections batch.
  • Select a batch number from the drop-down menu at the top of the Collections palette to select an existing batch.
  • Select New from the Collections batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Collections 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 for reference only. The fiscal period of the transactions in the batch is determined by the transaction date entered during the Generate step.
  • 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  .
• Highlight the batch in the batch number drop-down menu on the Collections palette and press DELETE to delete a batch. Any uncommitted transactions in the batch will be deleted.

2     Generate the notices.

• Open the Generate PT Collections window (PT> Collections> Generate).
• Check the Fee toggle for each fee you would like to send to collections.
  • Click the Select All or Deselect All icon drop-down menus to select or deselect all of the displayed Fees. All Fees are selected by default.
    • These icons can be used to select or deselect the Statuses as well.
  • Fees are created and maintained on the Fee Maintenance window (PT> Maintenance> Fees).
• Check the Status toggle for each status you would like to send to collections.
  • Statuses are created and maintained on the Status Maintenance window (PT> Maintenance> Status).
• Specify a Tran Date for the Collections batch. This date will be used by the Letter and Penalty transactions created when the batch is committed.
• Specify an Aging Date for the batch.
  • The Aging Date is the date the system will use in conjunction with the Minimum Age and Maximum Age fields to determine which tickets are to be put into Collection status.
    • For example, if 10/15/15 was entered as the Aging Date, and 30 and 60 are entered in the Minimum/Maximum fields, all citations with a date between September 15th (30 days old) and August 16th (60 days old) would be selected to for the collections batch.
• Enter a New Ticket Status or click the field label to select a status from a list.
  • This is the status that will be automatically assigned to any citations included in the collections batch. This will default to the collections status specified on the PT Setup window (PT> Utilities> Setup> Collections Status field).
• The Filter tab is used to filter the citations that will be included in the Collections batch.
  • The Minimum Age and Maximum Age fields are used to filter the included citations by their age in relation to the Aging Date specified above.
  • The Minimum Status Age field is used to specify the minimum number of days that a citation must have been in its current status, such as "Past Due", in order to be included in the current collections batch.
• The Ticket tab is used to add specific parking tickets to the collections batch.
  • Click the Create icon to select specific parking tickets to include in the batch. This will launch the Parking Ticket Selection window.
  • Filter the displayed tickets and click the Confirm icon   when you have made your selection. You can use the CTRL or SHIFT keys to select multiple tickets.
  • Manually selecting parking tickets to include in the batch will override any filtering details specified on the Filter tab.
• Click the Save icon when compete.

3     Edit the PT Collections.

• Open the Edit Collections window (PT> Collections> Edit).
• The Ticket tab of the Edit Collections window displays all of the tickets that will be included in the Collections batch.
  • Click a citation number to open and edit the included ticket.
  • Highlight a ticket and click the Delete icon to remove the ticket from the batch.
• The Errors tab will display any tickets that meet the filter requirements specified in the Generate step but cannot be included in the Collections batch. The Warning Message column will display the reason that the ticket cannot be included in the batch. Tickets that meet one of the following criteria cannot be included in a Collections batch:
  • Citation is in a pending Cash Receipts batch.
  • Citation is in another pending Collections batch.
  • Citation is in a pending Past Dues batch.
  • Citation was manually included in the Collections batch but has no outstanding balances that qualify for collections.
• Click the Save icon when compete.

4     Print the Proof List.

• Open the Proof List window (PT> Collections> Proof List).
• Select a Report Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The Summary report will display the Name, Vehicle Year, Make, Model, Tag Number, Tag Expiration Date and Amount. The report will also include a report total and the number of printable notices generated.
  • The Detail report will display everything included in the Summary report as well as the Citation Number, Citation Date and Location for each included ticket.
• 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).

5     Print the Collections Letters.

• Open the Letters window (PT> Collections> Letters).
• Select a Form from the drop-down menu. If a default form is specified on the PT Setup window (PT> Utilities> Setup> Collections Form field), that form will automatically populate and this field will not be enabled.
  • The format and information included in the Collections letters is determined by which form is selected.
  • Forms are created and maintained on the Forms Maintenance window (PT> Maintenance> Form).
• The Tran Date field will populate with the transaction date specified in the Generate step.
• 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     Generate the optional Collection Agency Report and Export file.

• Open the Collection Agency Report window (PT> Collections> Collection Agency Report).
  • The Collection Agency Report is very similar to the Collections Proof List in that it provides the general citation information for each parking ticket included in the batch.
• Select a Report Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The Summary report will display the Name, Vehicle Year, Make, Model, Tag Number, Tag Expiration Date and Amount for each ticket included in the batch. The report will also display a report total and the number of printable notices generated.
  • The Detail report will display everything included in the Summary report as well as the Citation Number and Citation Date.
• 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).
• Open the Collection Agency Export window (PT> Collections> Collection Agency Export).
  • The generated export file will include the information displayed on the Collection Agency Report as well as the address information for the cited drivers.
• The export file must be in comma-separated value (.csv) format. The exported file will include the Citation Number, Citation Date, Location, Violation Description, Last Name, First Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Plate Number, Make and Amount Due for each included parking ticket.
• Click the Confirm icon when complete to create the export file.
  • You can view the progress of the export on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
• Once the export has finished processing, the Export Settings window will open. This window is used to specify the export path for the collections file.
  • Check the Open toggle if you would like to open the exported file after it is saved locally.
  • Enter the export path location and click the Save icon to export the file to the local path.

7     Commit the Collections batch.

• Open the Commit window (PT> Collections> Commit).
• Click OK to commit the batch.
  • If a citation included in the Collections batch has been added to a Cash Receipts batch between the time when the Collections batch was generated and when you are attempting to commit the batch, a warning message will display and the batch will need to be regenerated.
• Once the batch is committed, the status of the tickets included in the batch will be updated to the Collections status specified on the Generate step. Each ticket will also be updated to include the Collections Alert specified on the PT Setup window (PT> Utilities> Setup> Collections Alert field).