Carrier/dealers (i.e., accounts) handle the last stage of distribution—getting the paper into the hands of the readers. Home delivery carriers, motor route drivers, and dealers are all considered “accounts”. They are independent contractors who buy the paper wholesale and sell it retail. In the case where one person delivers the paper and another handles finances, both are considered accounts.
In character Circulation, select Distribution | Account Setup | Account to display the Account Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
ACCOUNT
open (8)
Enter an ID for this account.
START DATE
date
Enter the start date for this account.
END DATE
date
Enter the end date of this account. Leave this field blank until the account becomes inactive.
SOCIAL SECURITY #
integer (11)
Enter the Social Security Number of the account (optional). Enter this number with dashes (for example, “123-45-6789”). Business Rules determine whether the Social Security Number must be unique.
CAN CREDIT TMC
yes/no
Indicate if this account may be credited for the delivery of Targeted Marketing products.
BIRTH DATE *
date
Enter the account’s birth date (optional).
GRADUATION DATE *
date
Enter the account’s graduation date (optional).
BILL WHEN
predefined
Indicate whether this account is billed in advance of product delivery or in arrears (after product delivery).
BILL FORMAT
predefined
Specify the bill format to use with this account, either single or memo. The single bill format prepares one bill for each account and may include more than one route and product combination. The memo bill format prepares separate bills for each route and provides a summary bill with totals for the “bill to” account.
AGE GROUP
predefined
Indicate if this account belongs in the youth or adult age group. You can use the age group, account rate class, and contract date as criteria when determining the rate charged or credited for draw. Note: Charges for the youth age group will appear in Box 3 of the 1099-MISC form.
WORK PERMIT # *
open (15)
Optionally, enter the account’s work permit number.
ACCOUNT CLASS
setup
COLLECTOR
setup
Enter the ID of the collector assigned to this account, if applicable.
VENDOR
open (8)
Enter this account’s vendor ID used in interfacing credit balances to an Accounts Payable system for check generation. If you interface account information to an AP system, the account’s vendor ID and vendor company must be entered here (otherwise the balance will not be interfaced). See the User Manual for more information. This may (based on Business Rules) be a system-assigned number; if so the vendor ID will be displayed here but cannot be changed. The vendor ID, company, and payment method can also be imported into Circulation (see the User Manual).
VENDOR COMPANY
open (4)
Enter this account’s vendor company ID used in interfacing credit balances to an Accounts Payable system for check generation.
VENDOR PMT METHOD
open (8)
Indicate the method by which checks are sent to the account in the AP system. Examples might be “office” and “mail”. This is interfaced to the AP system along with the vendor ID and company.
TAX ID*
open (15)
Optionally, enter the account’s tax ID number.
ACCOUNT RATE CLASS
setup
CONTRACT DATE
date
Indicate the first day of this account’s contract. This can be used in account rating.
Note: If you enter vendor information (i.e., interface credits to an AP system), the Bank Number and secondary bank fields will be skipped unless the AP interface uses the Dunn and Bradstreet or Peoplesoft 3 format.
BANK NUMBER
open (9)
Enter a bank number that defines this account’s bank. This and the following fields are used in direct deposit (see the User Manual). Enter information here only if the account will be involved in your direct deposit program.
BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER
open (20)
Enter the bank account number. This field, along with Bank Number and Branch Number, are used in account direct deposit and should not be entered unless the account has credits directly deposited into a bank account.
BANK ACCOUNT TYPE
predefined
Indicate whether this bank account is a checking or savings account.
BRANCH NUMBER
open (8)
Enter a branch number, if needed, for this bank.
NAME
open (30)
Enter the name to whom the bank account is registered, if different from the account’s name.
PRENOTE SENT
yes/no
A prenote is a zero amount transaction sent to make sure all of the account information is correct. Indicate if a prenote has been sent to the bank for this carrier.
CREDIT CARD NUMBER
open
This field, and the next two fields, allow a site to generate credit card payments through Account Lockbox processing without having to include credit card information in the lockbox file itself. Enter the account’s credit card number for lockbox payments.
EXPIRE DATE
date
Enter the credit card’s expiration date.
USAGE
predefined
Indicate the usage of the credit card: On File (lockbox processing) or Recurring Charges.
NAME
open (30)
Enter the name to whom the credit card is registered, if different from the account’s name.
LANGUAGE
setup
Enter the account’s preferred language.
RCTI
yes/no
This field is used to identify agents who have the ability to generate recipient-created tax invoices (Australia only).
CAN DROP CREDIT
yes/no
This field is used to identify accounts that should be paid on a per-address (i.e., drop) basis rather than account rating basis.
DROP INSTRUCTIONS
open (60
Enter drop instructions that print on the bundle top and truck manifest when the drop location is the account’s address (optional).
*
These fields are for reference only and are not used by Circulation.
Select Specifics to further define the account. The following options can be selected.
Account Billing
To assign billing terms and other billing information for this account.
Account Levy
To assign court-imposed levies that must be deducted from the carrier’s 1099 income.
Account Bill Source
To assign the account to a bill source.
Account Bill Route
To set up and maintain the primary billing route and product for this account.
Account DistribPoint
To set up and maintain information about the products and routes delivered by this carrier. This specific can also be accessed from DISTRIBUTION POINT.
Billing Distrib Point
To assign account types and other information for non-delivery carriers (such as agents).
Recurring Charges
To set up and maintain all applicable recurring charges for each product/route combination for this account.
Account Tax Authority
To set up and maintain tax exemption information for this account, if applicable.
Notify Preference
To identify the account’s notification preferences, which are used along with the Carrier Mail Export option to distribute notifications to accounts.
Address
To set up and maintain an address record for this account.
Occupant
To set up and maintain an occupant record for this account.
Bill Occupant
To set up and maintain a bill-to occupant record for this account.
Bill Address
To set up and maintain a bill-to address record for this account.
Select Accept to enter all account information into the Circulation database. You cannot Accept this record until you set up associated “specifics” information, including associating billing records (account bill source and account bill route), an occupant record, and an address record.
Set up another account, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.
Select this specific to assign payment terms and enter other billing information for this carrier and bill source. You must set up an account billing record for every account that can be billed. For example, you do not need to define an account billing record for an account whose bill goes to another account.
Select Specifics | Account Billing from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Billing Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
BILLING ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
COMPANY
setup
Enter a company for which this account will be billed.
BILL SOURCE
setup
TERMS
setup
MIN DAILY DRAW CHG
decimal (8)
Enter the minimum amount charged to this account each delivery day, if desired. Business Rules govern whether minimum daily draw charges are used and, if so, their charge code.
WRITTEN OFF
yes/no
Indicate whether this account’s amount due has been written off. Payments and/or returns are not accepted after a carrier’s amount due has been written off. Changing the value in WRITTEN OFF to “y” will not actually write off the account’s balance, but payments and/or returns will no longer be allowed for this account. You must write off the balance due by selecting ACCOUNTING | MISCELLANEOUS CHARGE/CREDIT and making the appropriate entries.
CAN WRITE OFF
yes/no
Indicate whether this account’s amount due can be written off in the future.
CAN FINANCE CHARGE
yes/no
Indicate whether finance charges can be applied to this account balance.
PROTECTED AMOUNT, PROTECTED PERCENT
decimal (7) decimal (6)
If this carrier has a levy imposed upon his or her net income, enter any protected income here. For example, a levy of $100 may be imposed on a carrier to pay an auto loan, but the court may stipulate that $500 of a carrier’s income is protected. See the next section for more information on account levies. The protected income can be entered either as a flat amount or a percentage. If the carrier has no levies or the levies have no protected amount, leave these fields set to zero.
ACCOUNT GROUP
setup
Select Accept to accept the bill source information.
Press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Courts sometimes impose a levy on the wages of a carrier for such things as alimony, child support, or auto loans. The levies are based on the Include In Payments amount on the 1099 forms (i.e., the 1099 net income). States usually have laws that define a “protected” amount or percentage of wages that cannot be deducted by levies. A levy charge code is similar to a recurring charge code, except that:
It is at the account level, rather than at the route level.
It is limited by the 1099 net income, rather than the carrier’s balance as a whole. If a carrier’s 1099 income for a period is zero or less, the levy will not be imposed.
Note: 1099 net income is typically associated with carriers on predominantly office pay routes. These are carriers who receive a check from the newspaper (rather than sending the newspaper a payment from money collected).
Define levy charge codes (see Charge/Credit Code for more information). The LEVY flag in Charge Code setup must be set to “y”, and a levy order must be entered. The levy order defines the order in which the levy should be imposed in relation to other levies. For example, a court may stipulate that child support levies be deducted from wages before levies for loans.
Enter the protected amount or percent for the carrier, if any. This is done in Specifics | Account Billing, above.
Assign levies to the accounts, including a secondary order (if there are two levies with the same charge code, the secondary order will be used). Levies are assigned in this specific.
Once defined, levies will be calculated and deducted from the carrier’s income during Account Billing Processing. It is possible that the carrier will not have enough unprotected 1099 income to pay off the levies imposed on the account. In this case, the levy charge code order and the secondary order for a particular levy will determine how much of the levy is imposed. We will illustrate how this works with a few examples.
The carrier has an auto loan levy for $200, and a protected amount of $0. The net 1099 income for the carrier in this period is $941. Circulation would calculate the levy as follows:
Net 1099 income
$941
No protected amount
- $0
Unprotected income
= $941
$941 > $200, so ...
Auto loan levy
= $200
The carrier has an auto loan levy for $200 (order of 50) and an alimony levy for 20% (order of 20). The carrier’s protected amount is $700, and the net 1099 income for the carrier in this period is $1015. Circulation would calculate the levies as follows:
Net 1099 income
$1015
Protected amount
- $700
Unprotected income
= $315
Alimony levy (first in order) 20 x 1015 = 203
-$203
Which leaves unprotected
= $112
$112 < $200 so ...
Auto loan levy
= $112
The carrier has two alimony levies. One is for 20% (2nd order of 5) and the other for 25% (2nd order of 10). The carrier’s protected amount is 60%, and the net 1099 income for the carrier in this period is $1225. Circulation would calculate the levies as follows:
Net 1099 income
$1225
Protected amount .60 x 1225 = 735
- $735
Unprotected income
= $490
First alimony levy (2nd order of 5) .20 x 1225 = $245
-$245
Which leaves unprotected
= $245
.25 x 1225 = $306.25 $245 < $306.25 so ...
Second alimony levy (2nd order of 10)
= $245
Select Specifics | Account Levy from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Levy Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
ACCOUNT
display
The ID of the account that is being set up is displayed here.
COMPANY, BILL SOURCE
setup
Enter the company and bill source under which the account is being assigned this levy.
CHARGE CODE
setup
Enter the charge code for the levy. The charge code must be defined in advance and be flagged as a levy charge code.
SECONDARY ORDER
integer (5)
The order different levies are deducted from the carrier’s wages is defined when the levy charge code is set up. However, there may be situations where two levies with the same charge code are imposed on a carrier (for example, two auto loan levies). If two levies of the same charge code are assigned, this field determines which levy is imposed first.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range during which this levy will be imposed on the carrier’s wages. End Date may be left blank.
AMOUNT
decimal (6)
If the levy is for a flat amount, enter the amount here. This amount will be deducted from the carrier’s wages each period, if possible.
PERCENT
decimal (6)
If the levy is for a percentage, enter the percentage here. This percentage of the carrier’s wages will be deducted for the levy, if possible.
MAXIMUM AMOUNT
decimal (8)
Enter the maximum cumulative amount for the levy. For example, if the levy for an auto loan is for $100 a period until the entire loan of $2000 is paid off, then $2000 would be entered here.
TOTAL TAKEN
display
The cumulative amount that has been taken out of the carrier’s wages for the levy is displayed here. This will typically increase with each pay period until the maximum amount is met.
COMMENTS
yes/no
Indicate whether you want to enter comments pertaining to the levy. If so, a COMMENTS window will open and you can enter notes about the levy.
Select Accept to accept the assigned levy.
Add another levy, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Circulation categorizes accounts that have the same billing status into bill sources. For example, if you bill your home delivery and single copy carriers at different times, you would create two billing sources. An account will typically belong to only one bill source, but it is possible to assign an account to different bill sources based on route or district. See Introduction for more information about bill sources.
Note:
After you have started billing accounts, do not modify an account’s bill source. Because accounts are organized under company and bill source, all payments, open items, and other records will become separated from the account. An account’s bill source can be changed (along with all related records) by a special utility. See the User Manual for more information.
Select Specifics | Account Bill Source from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Bill Source Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
BILLING ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
PRODUCT
setup
Enter the product for which this account will be billed.
ROUTE
setup
Enter the route for which this account will be billed.
ENTITY TYPE, ENTITY
predefined, setup
These two fields will open for non-delivery carriers only (and only if you bill multiple accounts for the same draw). Enter the entity type (district or route) and specific entities for which the account should be billed by this bill source. For example, if “route” is entered in ENTITY TYPE and “03” in ENTITY, the account will be billed for route 03’s draw.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range for this bill source record.
ACCOUNT
setup
Enter the account ID of the carrier who actually delivers the route. If the carrier who delivers the route also receives the bills, accept the default (the same as ACCOUNT).
BILL SOURCE
setup
Enter the bill source indicating the billing group for which this account will be billed.
COMPANY
setup
Enter the company for which this account will be billed.
MIN DRAW CREDIT
decimal (6.2)
Enter the minimum amount credited to this account each day. The availability of this field is controlled by Business Rules.
Select Accept to accept the assigned bill source.
Link another route and publication to the bill source for this carrier, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Select this option to specify the primary billing route and publication for an account. This is the route that appears in the header of the account invoice and is used for route-based sorting of invoices, if applicable.
Select Specifics | Account Bill Route from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Bill Route Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
BILLING ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
BILL SOURCE
setup
Enter the bill source for which you are defining the account bill route for this account.
COMPANY
setup
Enter the company for which you are defining the account bill route for this account.
PRODUCT
setup
Enter the publication for this account bill route.
ROUTE
setup
Enter the route that should serve as the primary billing route for this account.
DISTRIBUTION CODE
setup
Select Accept to accept the bill route information.
Press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Circulation allows you to bill multiple accounts for a route’s draw—for example, the regular delivery carrier and the agent overseeing the route (see Account Type for more information). If your newspaper does bill multiple accounts for the same draw, and you are defining a non-delivery carrier, select this specific to assign the account one or more routes and an account type. Also select this specific if you are setting up a substitute carrier.
Note:
If this is a non-delivery or substitute carrier, set up this specific rather than Account Distrib Point (see Specifics, Account Distrib Point).
Select Specifics | Billing Distrib Point from the Account Setup screen to display the Billing Distrib Point Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
PRODUCT
setup
Enter the product for which you are assigning routes and account types to this non-delivery carrier.
ENTITY TYPE
predefined
You can set up non-delivery carriers for districts as well as routes. For example, an agent may be billed for draw for an entire district. If so, enter district here. Otherwise enter route.
ENTITY
setup
Enter the routes (or districts) for which this non-delivery carrier should be billed.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range in which these route and account type assignments should be active.
ACCOUNT TYPE
setup
DAYS OF WEEK
y/n X 7
Indicate the days of the week in which the carrier should be assigned this route (or district) and account type.
PENALTY, PREMIUM
decimal (6) X 7
If this is a substitute carrier, enter the penalty, if any, that should be charged to the regular carrier, and the premium credited to the substitute for each day the substitute delivers the route.
Select Accept to accept the billing distrib point information.
Set up billing distrib point information for another publication or route serviced by this account, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Select this option to set up and maintain the recurring charges for each product and route combination for this account. Recurring charges (for items such as insurance, or monthly bond charges) show up on the carrier’s bill on a regular basis. See Charge/Credit Code for more information about charges.
Select Specifics | Recurring Charges from the Account Setup screen to display the Recurring Charges Setup screen.
Select Add and enter data in the fields described below.
ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
BILLING ACCOUNT
setup
Enter the account to which the recurring charges should be applied (not necessarily the same as the account in the previous field).
PRODUCT
setup
Enter the publication for which recurring charges for this account apply.
ROUTE
setup
Enter the route for which recurring charges can be applied.
ENTITY TYPE, ENTITY
predefined, setup
These two fields will open for non-delivery carriers only (and only if you bill multiple accounts for the same draw). Enter the entity type (district or route) and specific entities for which recurring charges are being defined.
CHARGE CODE
setup
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range in which recurring charges may apply.
BILL PERIOD
setup
ADVANCE BILL
yes/no
Indicate whether the recurring charge should be included in the account’s advance bill, if accounts are billed in advance.
RATE TYPE, CALCULATION TYPE
display
FLAT RATE
decimal (6)
If the rate type is flat, enter the amount of the charge or credit for this account.
MAXIMUM AMOUNT
decimal (9)
Enter the maximum ongoing amount that can be charged to the account with this recurring charge. For example, if an account was charged $10 per billing period for a bond, and the maximum was $70, the recurring charge would show up for seven billing periods before it would reach its maximum and no longer appear. It is possible to exceed MAXIMUM AMOUNT with interest calculations. For example, if the recurring charge RATE is $50, MAXIMUM AMOUNT is $150, and the account’s current balance is $145, only $5 of the current recurring charge would be added to the total, but any interest calculations could increase the total amount to more than $150.
PERCENTAGE RATE
decimal (6)
If the rate type is percentage, enter the percentage that draw charges or credits should be multiplied by to calculate the charge. For example enter 3% as “3.000”.
MAXIMUM FACTOR
decimal (6)
If you did not enter a maximum amount for a percentage charge, you can establish a maximum amount each billing period based on the draw charge/credits. This factor is multiplied by the draw charge or credit to find the maximum amount. For example, if the draw charge is $100 and the maximum factor is 2.000, the maximum for this recurring charge would be $200. If you use a maximum factor, the maximum amount will be “floating”—i.e., it will be recalculated each time the charge is billed, based on the current draw charges or credits.
TOTAL AMOUNT
display
Each time this recurring charge is selected for billing and processed, Circulation increases the TOTAL AMOUNT by the amount charged/credited.
Select Accept to accept the recurring charge.
Set up more recurring charges for the account, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Select this option to set up and maintain any tax exemption information for this account, in the case where accounts are normally taxed for a product, but this account is exempt from taxes. Tax authorities and tax exemption reason codes must have been previously set up (see Tax Authority).
Select Specifics | Account Tax Authority from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Tax Authority Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
ACCOUNT
display
The account entered on the Account Setup screen is displayed.
PRODUCT
setup
Enter the product for which this account is exempt from one or more taxing authorities.
ROUTE
setup
Enter the route for which this carrier is exempt from one or more taxing authorities.
ENTITY TYPE, ENTITY
predefined, setup
These two fields will only open for non-delivery accounts (and only if you bill multiple accounts for the same draw). Enter the entity type (district or route) and specific entities for which tax exemptions are being defined.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range in which this tax authority/exemption may be used.
CITY *
display
Circulation displays the city in which this carrier lives.
COUNTY *
display
Circulation displays the county in which this carrier lives.
STATE *
display
Circulation displays the state in which this carrier lives.
COUNTRY*
display
Circulation displays the country in which this carrier lives.
CITY TAX AUTHORITY
display
Circulation displays the city tax authority in which this carrier lives.
CITY EXEMPT REASON
setup
Enter the tax exemption reason code for the city tax authority, if applicable.
CITY TAX NUMBER
open (13)
Enter this carrier’s tax exempt number for the city taxing authority.
COUNTY TAX AUTHORITY
display
Circulation displays the county tax authority.
COUNTY EXEMPT REASON
setup
Enter the tax exemption reason code for the county tax authority, if applicable.
COUNTY TAX NUMBER
open (13)
Enter this carrier’s tax exempt number for the county taxing authority.
STATE TAX AUTHORITY
display
Circulation displays the state tax authority.
STATE EXEMPT REASON
setup
Enter the tax exemption reason code for the state tax authority, if applicable.
STATE TAX NUMBER
open (13)
Enter this carrier’s tax exempt number for the state taxing authority.
COUNTRY TAX AUTHORITY
display
Circulation displays the country tax authority.
COUNTRY EXEMPT REASON
setup
Enter the tax exemption reason code for the country tax authority, if applicable.
COUNTRY TAX NUMBER
open (13)
Enter this carrier’s tax exempt number for the country taxing authority.
*
The system defaults this information from the carrier’s address. It cannot be entered or changed.
Select Accept to accept the tax authority information.
Set up tax information for another publication or route serviced by this account, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Account Setup screen.
Select this option to identify the account’s notification preferences. This option is used along with the Carrier Mail Export option to distribute notifications to accounts. For example, if an email address is specified here, the notification will be sent to the account’s email address.
Select Specifics | Notify Preference from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Notification Preference screen.
Select a notification preference method and enter the necessary details. For example, if you select “home email” as the Notification Preference, you would enter the account’s email address in the Notification Method Details field.
Select Accept to accept the notification preference.
Enter another notification preference, or press F4 and select exit.
Select this option to set up and maintain a billing occupant record for this account, in cases where a person other than the carrier/dealer should receive the bill.
Select Specifics | Bill Occupant from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Occupant Setup screen.
Select Find Occupant and locate the occupant record. If you cannot locate the occupant record, select Add Occupant and enter information in the fields described in the User Manual.
Select Accept to accept the occupant information.
Select this option to set up and maintain a billing address for this account, in cases where the bill should be sent to an address other than the carrier/dealer’s address.
Select Specifics | Bill Address from the Account Setup screen to display the Account Address Setup screen.
Select Find Address and locate the address record. If you cannot locate the address record, select Add Address and enter information in the fields described in the User Manual.
Accept to accept the address information.
Enter the account class or press F2 for lookup. See to learn how to set up account classes.
If this account belongs to a special rate class, enter the rate class here. See for more information.
Enter the bill source indicating the billing group in which this account will be billed. See for more information.
Enter a terms ID to indicate the terms which should be used to bill this account (such as “By3rd” to indicate that the payment is due by the 3rd of each month). See for more information.
Enter the account group to which this account belongs, if applicable. These are set up in ACCOUNT GROUP (see ).
You may want to assign a distribution code to this account (see ). Distribution codes can be used in sorting account invoices.
Enter the account type for the carrier, such as “agent” or “trainee”. This may be used to determine the rate for the non-delivery carrier. It also determines if the carrier is a substitute. See for more information.
Enter the recurring charge/credit code. Charge and credit codes need to be set up in advance of recurring charges (see ). Note that if the account is a non-delivery carrier at the district level (i.e., is not assigned to a specific route), only charge codes with a flat rate type will be available.
Enter the bill period (see ) in which the recurring charge should appear on the account bills. For example, if the recurring charge should appear on bills the fourth week of every month, enter the code established for the fourth week recurring charges. Then, during account billing, Circulation prompts you to enter which bill period should be billed in that run.
The rate type (percentage or flat) and calculation type (the percentage can be calculated based on draw charges or draw credits) display. This is defined when the charge code is set up (see ).
