Summary

Utility Billing customer accounts are created using the New Account Wizard. The New Account Wizard can be launched from the Account Master Search window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Add a New Account button), or from the Final Account Wizard when a customer is moving to a new lot. The New Account Wizard is used to select the connect date, the lot the customer is moving into, the services and service rates on the account, create any service requests to read or install devices on the account, and charge any fee codes such as deposits or connections charges. If the customer already has a UB customer account, a new UB customer account sequence number will be created. For example, if customer number 000001 already has UB customer account 000001-000, UB customer account 000001-001 will be created.

Depending on how the Utility Billing module is set up in the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup), information attached to the previous UB customer account on the lot will populate on the new UB customer account. For example, if the Copy All Services toggle is checked, the services and service rates attached to the previous account on the lot will copy to the new UB customer account on the lot.

The Copy Service Codes, Copy all Services, Copy Winter Averages, and Re-Use Reference Numbers toggles on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup) determine the information that will be copied from the previous customer account on a lot to the new customer account when it is created using the New Account Wizard. If you are using Account Templates (UB> Maintenance> Account Templates), the information on the template will be populate on the new account as well as the information copied from the previous account. For example, if you have the Copy Service Codes toggle checked, the services and service rates on the template will be copied to the new account as well as the service and service rates on the template. The Services step on the New Account Wizard allows you to add or remove any of the services or service rates that have been added to the customer account (both copied services/service rates and service/service rates on the template).

Account templates are used to add services, service rates, service requests, or fee codes to a new customer account. This reduces data entry and helps ensure that customer accounts are created accurately because all of the standardized information on the account template will populate in the New Account Wizard. Many Springbrook users create an account template for each standard grouping of services/service rates (residential, commercial, industrial, or housing developments) that they generally add to new customer accounts. Account Templates are created and maintained using the Account Template Selection window (UB> Maintenance> Account Template).

Step by Step

1     Open the New Account Wizard.

• The New Account Wizard can be opened from the Account Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> ADD A NEW ACCOUNT).
• The New Account Wizard can also be launched at the end of the Final Account Wizard if a new customer is moving to the lot being finaled or the customer being finaled is moving to a new lot.

2     Select an account template on the Initialization step.

• Enter a Connect Date or click the calendar button in the field to select a date using a calendar. The connect date is the date that service will begin on the account.
  • The connection date of the service rates on the customer account will default to the date entered in the Connect Date field. The connect date on the service rates will determine how the bills on the new customer account will prorate.
  • The connection date will also act as the default transaction date of any fees generated by the New Account Wizard and sent to an Adjustments and Fees batch (UB> Adjustments and Fees). For example, the transaction date of a deposit or connection charge transaction generated in the New Account Wizard will default to the value entered in the Connect Date field.
• Select an Account Template from the drop-down menu.
  • Account templates are groups of services, service rates, service requests, and fee codes (for example, deposits) that can be added to new customer accounts when they are created.  Account templates reduce data entry time and errors when creating new accounts because they eliminate the process of adding that information to each new account as they are created.
    • Account Templates are created and maintained on the Account Template Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account Templates).
  • If the Utility Billing module is set up to copy services and/or the service rates from the previous account on the lot, those services/service rates will be copied to the new account and the template will add services and service rates that have not already been copied onto the new account.
    • Services and service rates are set up to copy over onto the new account on a lot on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab). For example, if the Copy All Services toggle is checked, all of the services will be copied from the previous account to the new account. This will only copy the services, not the services and service rates.
• Check the This customer will take ownership of the lot toggle if the new customer account is also the owner of the lot.
  • If you do not check this toggle, the owner of the lot will be specified on the next step.
  • If the current owner should receive copies of billings or past due notices, you can add the current owner as a recipient of those documents during a later step of the New Account Wizard (Account step> Recipients section).
• Click the Next button at the bottom of the window when complete to move to the next step.
• If you would like to exit the New Account wizard, click the Cancel button on any step in the process.

3     Enter the lot information on the new account.

• The Lot step is used to set up the lot the new customer will occupy. This step is used to either select an existing lot in the database or create a new lot.
• Create a new lot if the customer is moving into a lot that is not in the database. For example, if a customer is moving into a new housing development that has not been entered into the database.
  • If you would like to create a new lot, enter the lot information into the window. The lot city and state of the lot will populate based on the city and state of the customer information entered on the next step.
  • The Street Number and Street Name fields are the only required fields when creating a new lot on the Lot step.
  • Click on the Miscellaneous tab to add miscellaneous information to the lot.
  • The new lot number will automatically populate the Lot Number field once it is created.
• Select an existing lot if the customer is moving onto an existing lot in the database. For example, if a customer is moving onto a lot that currently has service.
  • There can be only one UB customer account active on a lot at a time. This validation ensures that the service on a lot will not be billed on two separate UB customer accounts.
  • Click the Lot Number field search button to select a lot from the list. This will open the Lot window to select an existing lot.
  • After the lot has been selected, the fields on the Lot step of the New Account Wizard will populate with the information attached to the lot.
• The Lookup button is used to launch a URL type code set up in SS> Maintenance> URL Setup.
  • On the Lot step of the New Account Wizard, this URL type code could be set up to search for the lot data in Google Maps. Some agencies also use third-party lot mapping software that can be integrated into the new account workflow via URL type code.
• Click the Next button at the bottom of the window to enter the customer information on the new account.

4     Enter the customer information on the new account.

• The Customer step is used to select either an existing customer record or create a new customer record. This step is used to select a customer record, not a UB customer account, so if the customer has an account in a separate module you will be able to select that customer.
  • If you select an existing customer and that customer has a UB account, a new UB account will be created for the customer. For example, if customer 000001 has a UB account (000001-001), selecting an existing customer will create a new UB account (000001-002).
• Click the Customer Number field search button to create a new customer or select an existing customer account. This will open the Customer window.
  • Click ADD NEW to create a new customer record.
  • Enter information into the Search Criteria section to locate an existing customer record. Highlight a customer account and click the Select button   to add the customer to the New Account Wizard.
  • You can also manually enter a customer number to select an existing account.
• The Social Security Number field will display the social security number of the customer.
  • If the Validate SSN toggle is checked on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab), you will be required to enter a unique value in this field.
• The Driver’s License field will display the driver’s license number of the customer record selected in the Customer Number field.
  • If the Validate DLN toggle is checked on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab), you will be required to enter a unique value in this field.
• After the customer account has been created or selected the customer information will populate on the Customer step. The address from the lot selected on the Lot step will also populate on the Customer step. The lot address of the lot selected on the Lot step will overwrite the mailing address on the customer record.
• Changes to the customer record will update when the New Account Wizard is complete.
• Check the Use Co-Applicant toggle to add a co-applicant to the account.
• The Lookup button is used to launch a URL type code set up in SS> Maintenance> URL Setup.
  • On the Customer step of the New Account Wizard, this URL type code could be set up to execute a web search for the customer data. Some agencies also use third-party background check software that can be integrated into the new account workflow via URL type code.
• Click the Next button at the button of the window to move to the next step.

5     Add an optional co-applicant to the account.

• If the Use Co-Applicant toggle was checked in the previous step, you can enter co-applicant customer details on the Co-Applicant step.
• This step is identical to the Customer step, so please refer to the steps above for more information.

6     Create a service request to install, turn on, or record an initial meter read on a device on the account.

• The Service Requests step is an optional step used to create a service request on the new customer account.
• Any service requests attached to the account template selected during the Initialization step of the New Account Wizard will populate on the Service Requests step.
• Click ADD REQUEST button to open the Service Request Input Wizard.
• Highlight a service request in the Service Requests section and click DELETE REQUEST to delete a created service request.
• The Devices section will display the devices attached to the lot.
• Click CREATE WINTER AVERAGE to add a winter average to a device on the new account.
  • You can only create a winter average if the Devices section includes a device the winter average can be associated with.
• Click the Next button when complete.

7     Select the services and service rates that should be attached to the new account.

• The Services step is used to set up the services and service rates that should be attached to the new customer account. The Services step will display the services and service rates that a have been copied from the previous account on the lot.
  • If the Copy All Services toggle is checked on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab), the services attached to the previous account will display, including services that were not attached to service rates. The service rates attached to the previous account will not display.
  • If the Copy Service Codes toggle if checked on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab), the services and service rate codes attached to the previous account on the lot will display. Services that were not attached to a service rate will not display on the new account.
  • If the Copy Service Codes toggle and the Copy All Services toggle are checked on the Setup window (UB> Utilities> Setup> General tab),  all of the services and service rates attached to the previous account to copy to the new account on the lot.
  • The services and service rates attached to the Account Template selected during the Initialization step will also populate on the Services step.
• Click the Add Service button to add a service or service rate line item to the new customer account. This will open the Service Selection window to select a service.
  • Select a Service in the Service Selection window.
  • After the service has been selected, the Connect Date column will populate with the connect date selected during the first step of the New Account Wizard.
  • Select a service rate from the Rate drop-down menu. Only service rates attached to the service selected in the Service column will display in the drop-down menu.
  • The Description column will populate with the description of the service rate selected in the Rate column.
• Highlight a service and click the Delete Service button to remove a service and service request from the customer account.
• Click the Next button to move to the next step of the New Account Wizard.

8     Enter the billing cycle on the account and add recipients to the billing statements.

• Click the Billing Cycle field search button or enter a billing cycle number to attach a billing cycle to the account.
  • Billing cycles are created and maintained on the Cycle Code Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Cycle Code).
• Enter a Reference Number on the account.
  • The format of the reference number is set up on the UB Setup window (UB> Utilities> Utility Billing Setup> General tab> Reference Format field).
• The Status field will display the status of the customer account being created.
  • You can change the status of a customer account to Active either using a New Account service request or by manually changing the status of the account to Active from the Account Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Account> Account tab> Account sub-tab> Account Status field).
• Check the Copy ACH Account from Final Account toggle to copy ACH account information from a finaled account to this new account.
  • This toggle will only be enabled when the New Account Wizard is launched as a result of running the Final Account Wizard for a user that is moving to a new lot (Final Account Wizard> This customer is moving to another lot toggle).
• The Recipients section will populate with all of the statements available to new customer accounts (UB> Utilities> Statement Setup> Miscellaneous tab> Add to new accounts toggle).
  • Click the Add button to add a billing statement to the customer account.
  • Highlight a recipient and click the Delete button to remove the recipient from the customer account.
  • Highlight a recipient and use the Statement field in the Edit Recipients section to update the statement associated with the recipient. The Message field can be used to add a message to the recipient.
• Click the Next button to move to the next step in the New Account Wizard.

9     Enter connection charges on the new customer account.

• The Connections Charges step is used to enter connection fees and select a UB module Adjustments and Fee batch to process the fees. The transactions date of any charge generated from this step will be the connect date of the UB customer account being created (Connect Date field on the first step of the New Account Wizard).
• If you charge connection charges on new customer accounts, click the Add Charges button to select a fee code. This will open the Fee Code Selection window.
  • Select a fee code and click the Edit button to display the Edit Fee Code section to the right. This section will display the information attached to each fee code.
  • Modify the values in the amounts fields to change the amount of the fee.
  • Click the Select button to add the fee to the Connection Charges step.
• After a fee has been added to the Connection Charges step, the Batch Number field will become enabled.  Click the Batch Number field search button to select the UB module Adjustments and Fees batch that will be used to process the connection charges. This will open the Batch Selection window.
  • Only open batches will display in the window. If you would like to process the connection charges in a new Adjustments and Fees batch, close the Batch Selection window, create a new Adjustments and Fees batch (UB> Adjustments and Fees), and the open the Batch Selection window to select the new batch.
• Click the Finish button when the new customer account is complete.