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Payments

Owned by Jeremiah Sokolowski
Last updated: Jan 08, 2024 by Bianca Rosa (Unlicensed)Version comment
6 min read

PCR-360 allows for reporting and tracking Payment activity against GLA balances. Once entered 'Payments' cannot be deleted only Voided or Reversed.

Grid

Billing Payments Grid

The 'Payments' grid can be found at Admin > Billing > Payments. This grid allows Users to search, sort, and report on any Payments entered automatically or manually into the application.

Process Selected

Click theProcess Selected button to trigger Payment Processing. This button allows only one Payment to be selected.

Reverse Selected

Click theReverse Selectedbutton to trigger Payment Reversal. This button allows multiple Payments to be selected.

Void Selected

Click theVoid Selectedbutton voids all selected Pending payments.

View Receipt

Click theView Receiptbutton generates a Payment Receipt. All the Invoices that the Payment is applied to will be listed on the 'Payment Receipt' in a comma separated list.

Payment Receipt

Form

Management Payment Form

The 'Manage Payment' form allows the User to create and edit any existing Payments and attach these Payments to 'Payment Batches'.

Account

Payments are applied to the selected GLA. The 'Account' picker is limited to Accounts Receivable GLAs only.

Batch

The 'Batch' picker provides the ability to associate Payments to a Payment Batch. Payment Batches are collections of Payments that can be processed together.

Description

The 'Description' is a 200-character field used for informational purposes.

Status

The current Status of the Payment. There are four statuses.

Pending: The Pending status is applied to newly created Payments. Pending Payments can either be processed, which will set the Status to Complete, or Voided.

Complete: Payment Processing sets the status to Complete. Once a Payment is processed it cannot be Voided or set back to Pending. To undo a Complete payment, it MUST be Reversed. Once Complete payments cannot be edited.

Reversed: Once Complete, a payment cannot be Voided, it can only be Reversed. Reversing a Payment negates the account Charges resulting from the Payment. Reversed payments cannot be edited.

Voided: Only Pending payments can be Voided. Voided payments cannot be edited.

Method of Payment

The 'Method of Payment' is a customizable list using the List Values . The default options are: Money Order, Check, Cash, ACH/Transfer, Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and Amex. This is used for reporting purposes.

Amount

The 'Amount' is the dollar amount of the Payment.

Payment Date

The 'Payment Date' field is used for reporting purposes.

Invoices

A single Payment can be applied to multiple Invoices. The 'Invoice' tab on the Payment form has a grid of the Invoices that allows the User to manually specify which Invoices are to be paid with a Payment. TheAdd Existingbutton on this grid can be used to select Invoices and will open the 'Existing Invoices' form. An Invoice can only be associated with a Payment once. The 'Existing Invoices' form only displays Billed or Partial Payment Invoices that are not already associated with the Payment and only Invoices from the GLA specified on the Payment.

If no Invoices are specified manually, the oldest Invoices are automatically selected first when the Payment is processed. An entry is automatically added to the Invoice tab.

Remarks

Payments allow for entering and storing a series of 'Remarks'. These are informational only.

Attachments

Payments allow for uploading and storing file 'Attachments'. These are informational only.

User Defined Fields

Any other information required on a Payment can be entered using a 'User Defined Fields' such as Check Number or Reference Number.

Set a Primary Contact

The Primary Contact is the person responsible for a given GLA and is required on GLAs. If the GLA is created without a Primary Contact, then when a Payment is created, the resulting Charge will not have an owner and cannot be billed. Primary Contacts are required for Service Fees. The Primary Contact is also used as the "Bill to" person on Invoices (although the address is actually the Billing address on the GLA). Setting this will route Billing to that Contact as well as aid in quick identification of the primary point of contact. Simply select the Contact that should be Primary and click theSet as Primarybutton. The Contact will now be set as 'Primary'.

Note: There can only be one Primary Contact on any given record.

Payment Processing

Once manually triggered, the process verifies that the Payment is not part of a Payment Batch. If the Payment belongs to a Batch, the User is prompted to remove the Payment from the batch and process it individually.

'Payment Processing' loops over all the Invoices manually associated to the Payment from oldest for newest. If no Payments were manually assigned, it looks up the Invoices associated with the GLA on that Payment from oldest to newest. For each Invoice, the Payment Amount is increased, and the Current Balance is reduced accordingly. The Payment that is applied will reduce the total outstanding on the Invoice resulting in a Invoice with a status of "Paid in Full" or "Partially Paid". When the Payment amount is used up, any additional Invoice associations are removed.

If all Invoices on the GLA are Paid in Full and a portion of the Payment amount remains, then the Process generates an Account Credit. This credit is applied to the account using a special System Use Charge Catalog called 'Over-Payment Credit'. The credit is added automatically as a GLA Charge to the GLA on that Payment.

The last step of Payment Processing is to trigger the 'Update Accounts' Event to recalculate the account balances for the GLAs involved.

Payment Reversal

Once triggered, the reversal filters only Complete payments. Only Complete payments can be reversed. If any selected payments are not Complete, a message is displayed: “Some of the Payments specified are not Complete and cannot be Reversed.” 

The process proceeds and attempts to reverse the remaining Payments.

The 'Payment Reversal' process examines all the selected Payments and checks the Status of each.  If the Payment was associated with an 'Over-Payment Credit' and that credit has been Billed, Reversal fails. Otherwise, the Credit is deleted. Payments applied to all Invoices associated with this Payment are reversed.  For each of those Invoices, the Payment Amount will be reduced and then Current Balance is increased accordingly. Then, the Invoice status is changed back to Billed or Partially Paid. The Payment status is changed to Reversed.

The last step of Payment Reversal is to trigger the 'Update Accounts' event to recalculate the account balances for the GLAs involved.

How to issue a credit Charge

In PCR-360 issuing a credit is as simple as adding a new Charge. The new Charge simply needs to be set up with a negative amount and the Charge will automatically be created as a credit rather than a debit for the relevant GLA.

Here are two example approaches to issuing credits that can be done in PCR-360.

Same Charge Catalog

In order to set a credit for the same Charge, simply add a new Charge of the same Charge Catalog and make the Amount field negative. This will ONLY work if the Charge in question is a Non-Recurring Charge. Otherwise, the effect would be to set up a recurring credit which would not be desirable. For this example, there is a $421 Charge that was applied to a Service incorrectly.
Charges Tab example

  1. On the Service, Equipment, GLA , or Service Desk item select the Charges tab. For this example, a Charge will be added to a Service.
  2. Click the Add button to add a new Charge.
  3. This will open the 'Add New Charges' form.
    Add new Charge Form example
  4. Select the Charge Catalog that the credit needs to be applied to the Service. For this example, "Data Credit (Nonrecurring)" is being used.
  5. Set a Charge Override Amount on the Charge as a negative value. 
    Negative Charge Amount Example
    • If the original Charge Catalog doesn't allow for a Charge Override Amount, then that flag will either need to be set on the Charge Catalog, or Users will need to use the How to issue a credit Charge option to create a Charge for a given Charge.
  6. Add a Description to the Charge to indicate the reason for the credit. This Description will appear on the Bill for the Customer to review.
  7. Click the Save New button to add the Charge.

The credit for the Charge will now have been added and will be included in the next Bill cycle. The NRC Total will reflect both the credit and the debit.
Charges Tab example

Custom Credit Charge Catalog

In order to add a credit with a different Charge Catalog that is specific for "credits", there first needs to be a specific Charge Catalog for credits.

Setup Credit Charge Catalog
  1. First navigate to Main > Catalogs > Charges.
  2. Click the Add button to start a new Charge Catalog.
  3. Set the Name of the new Charge something like "Credit Charge". 
    Name field example
  4. Set the Type to "Nonrecurring" for this credit Charge Catalog.
  5. Leave the Default Amount blank and the Allow Override Amount checkbox selected.
  6. Click the Save New button to create the Charge Catalog.

Now this Charge Catalog can be used to create any credits that might be needed.

Add credit for the Charge

This process is nearly identical to manually adding any other Charge. From any of the Charge tabs on Service Desk, Services, Equipment, or GLA Catalogs:

  1. Click the Add button.
  2. Select the "Credit Charge" Charge Catalog that was previously set up.
  3. Set a Charge Override Amount on the Charge as a negative value.
    Negative Charge Amount Example
  4. Enter any other needed information like the Owner or Description.
  5. Click the Save New button to create the Charge.

This Charge will now be applied to the relevant item and ready to be picked up in the next Bill cycle.

.How to issue a credit Charge v2020.3
.How to issue a credit Charge v2.1.4.7

Payment Events

Payment Events allow hooks for Escalations and Notifications. There are three hooks.

Payment Created: This Event is triggered whenever a Payment is created.

  • Available Data:
    • RECID
    • PAYMENT_BATCH
    • GLA
    • PAYMENT_STATUS
    • PAYMENT_METHOD
    • DESCRIPTION
    • PAYMENT_DATE
    • AMOUNT
    • IMPORT_FILES_FILENAME

Payment Updated: This Event is triggered whenever a Payment is updated. This includes status updates.

  • Available Data:
    • RECID
    • PAYMENT_BATCH
    • GLA
    • PAYMENT_STATUS
    • PAYMENT_METHOD
    • DESCRIPTION
    • PAYMENT_DATE
    • AMOUNT
    • IMPORT_FILES_FILENAME

Payment Status Changed: This Event is triggered whenever a Payment status is changed.

  • Available Data:
    • RECID
    • PAYMENT_BATCH
    • GLA
    • PAYMENT_STATUS
    • OLD_PAYMENT_STATUS
    • PAYMENT_METHOD
    • DESCRIPTION
    • PAYMENT_DATE
    • AMOUNT
    • IMPORT_FILES_FILENAME

Payment Import

'Payment Imports' provide the capability to Import Payments in bulk. Only Pending payments can be Imported. Payment statuses CANNOT be updated via the Import. Payment Imports CANNOT be deleted or reprocessed.

The following columns can be written with the Payment Import:

  • Account Number (GLA) - Required
  • Method of Payment (custom list) - Required
  • Description - Optional
  • Payment Date - Required
  • Amount (decimal) - Required
  • Batch Number – Optional
    • Must be a preexisting Payment Batch
    • Remarks (CLOB) – Optional
      • Added to Payment Remarks
      • UDFs

Payment API

Payments cannot currently be accessed via the API. This will be added in a future version.

Help Desk Portal - Email: help@pcr.com - Phone: 616.259.9242