Options on the Accounting menu enable you to set up and maintaSubscin account billing information, account and subscription rates, GL records, and tax information.

The topics covered in this section are as listed below:

Circulation operates in two main areas: distribution and accounting. Distribution was discussed in the previous chapter; now it is time to leave the route and delivery truck behind and sit down at the accountant’s desk.

In the big picture, Accounting in Circulation moves in a five-step process:

1. Accounts (carrier/dealers) are rated and charged for the papers they deliver.

2. Office pay subscribers are rated for the subscriptions they receive (the papers are usually paid for in advance). Account and subscriber rating are usually done independently of one another—for example, if a subscriber gets a reduced rate, the carrier delivering that paper can still receive the same amount of credit for delivery. Carrier collect subscribers may or may not be rated, depending on Business Rules.

3. Additional charges (such as insurance and taxes) and adjustments are added to the account’s bill. Taxes are also added to the subscriber rates.

4. Accounts are billed and subscribers are sent renewal notices. Account and subscriber payments are then received. Most of this setup involves account billing.

5. The billing/payment process creates credits and debits in the general ledger. Circulation records what should be credited and debited to different general ledger accounts. This information can be transferred to the general ledger itself manually or via an interface.

These steps are discussed separately in the below sections.

Account Rating

Rating is done by linking an amount (a rate code) with a set of characteristics (rules) an account must meet in order to qualify for the rate. Account rating rules are given below.

Any rule item (such as Delivery Schedule) may be defined by a specific entity (such as “Mon-Fri”) or be entered as valid for all entities (all delivery schedules). An example of account rating would be if a rate code (such as 0.20 per copy) were linked with the following rules:

• Account Rule—Adult, 2 years, all account types, all account rate classes

• Product Rule—All products

• Delivery Rule—Mon-Sat, all distrib methods, all rate codes

• Route Rule—All districts, routes, route rate classes, AAM Zones, and draw types. Paper count of 40

Any account that met these conditions would receive these rates, except if the account met more selective conditions. For example, let’s say we have a rate with the same set of rules, but with a Product Rule of Tribune. A Tribune account might be eligible for both rates, but because Tribune is more selective than All products, the account would receive the Tribune rate.

When the rules involve numbers, Circulation selects the highest possible rule. For example, the paper count in the Route Rule above is 40. If there were another rate with the same conditions, but a paper count of 60, the rule above would match only carriers whose paper count was 40-59.

The procedure for setting up account rates is explained below (refer to the diagram):

1. The first step is to set up rules for all of your rating combinations (i.e., the product, delivery, route and account rules).

2. The next step is to set up rate codes, which specify amounts for your rates.

3. Finally, you must link the rules with the rate codes to create the rate.

As an alternative, you can define the rating rules “on the fly” as part of the Rule Rate Link process (thereby combining steps 1 and 3).

Subscriber Rating

Subscriber rating functions much like account rating: amounts are linked with a set of rules (given below). For subscribers, however, amounts are defined by payment lengths (for example, 25.00 for 13 weeks) to form rate terms. (Rate terms do not apply to account rating.) The rate terms are then linked with a rate code, and the rate code is linked with the rating rules to form the rate.

In some cases, a subscriber may be eligible for two rates, each with a “particular” rule. For example, let’s say a subscriber has a delivery type of “mail” and a dwelling type of “apartment”, and qualifies for two rates, as follows:

In these cases, Circulation defaults the rate by consulting a rule hierarchy. It first gives priority to promotional and reduced rates (as defined in the rate term). It then goes down the rules (and items within each rule) in hierarchical order, defaulting the rate with the highest “particular” item (for which the subscriber or account is eligible).

The rules and items are listed in the tables above in the correct hierarchy (Publication first, Subscription second, etc.). In our example, Delivery Type (in the Subscription Rule) is above Dwelling Type (in the Location Rule), and so Rate 1 would be assigned to this subscriber. This applies to account rates as well.

The hierarchy is used to default rates during starts, billing changes, and other transactions. The default can be overridden and another rate entered, even though the subscriber does not qualify for all of the rules. However, in order to qualify for the rate, the subscriber must have the same publication, delivery schedule and delivery method as the rate.

The procedure for setting up subscriber rates is explained below (refer to the diagram).

1. The first step is to set up rules for all of your rating combinations (i.e., the publication, subscription, occupant, payment and location rules).

2. The next step is to set up rate codes, which define certain attributes of rates (such as the renewal message).

3. The third step is to link the rules with the rate codes.

4. Finally, you must set up terms, which specify payment lengths and amounts for each rate code.

Additional Charges

Account rating calculates only the charges for the newspaper itself. Other charges, such as insurance, bonds, and taxes, can also be included on bills and invoices.

Miscellaneous charges are charges and credits applied to accounts on an ad hoc basis. A carrier/dealer might be charged for a complaint, or a supply of poly bags or rubber bands. Miscellaneous charges are also set up in Charge/Credit Code, but they are entered in Misc Charge (see the User Manual).

Finance charges can be applied to carrier/dealer accounts which are past due, while accounts can be charged minimum daily draw charges if they are under a minimum draw amount (defined for each account in account setup).

Taxes can be applied to both subscribers and accounts. Taxes are set up under a tax authority (which represents a geographical area). Tax authorities are then linked to countries, states, counties and cities. A carrier/dealer or subscriber who lives in the area of the tax authority will then be taxed. In order for taxes to be applied, the publication the carrier delivers or subscriber receives must also be linked to a tax authority.

All additional charges and credits must have a charge/credit code defined for them. This code is used to identify the charge or credit, and determines whether it updates accounts receivable, among other things. Draw charges and credits (and returns) must also have charge/credit codes set up for them. If a charge or credit is taxed, it must be linked to a tax charge code and tax authority.

Billing

You may want to bill your accounts at different times—for example, bill your home delivery carriers monthly and bill your dealers every two weeks. For this reason, Circulation has bill sources. An account is assigned a bill source during account setup, and this bill source determines what billing date should be used on the statement calendar to bill the account.

When the bill goes out, it will contain draw charges and perhaps recurring charges; it is important to understand, however, that all recurring charges do not have to appear on every bill. That is because recurring charges are linked to one or more bill periods. You can define as many bill periods as you wish. When you begin your billing run, you specify the bill period (as well as the bill source) to use, and all recurring charges linked to that bill period will be added to the bill of accounts linked to those recurring charges.

Another period used in billing is the aging period. Aging periods can be defined for varying lengths of time and apply to carrier/dealer accounts that are overdue for payment. For example, you could set up three aging periods, each of 30 days. Account payments that are 30 days overdue would fall into aging period 1; after 60 days if the payment has still not arrived the account will go into period 2, and so on. Finance charges can be applied according to aging period (set up in Business Rules) and collection messages are also aging period driven.

General Ledger (GL)

General ledger information can be interfaced from Circulation to a General Ledger system, using an ASCII file. Business Rules determine whether the ASCII file should be created. If so, Circulation will append GL transactions to the file, which can then be imported into the GL (from the GL side). Note that the file is appended (not written over). This means that the file should be deleted after you import the information in to the general ledger.

GL flow for Fees

1. feWhen a Start transaction is processed, a GL gets created for the Activation Fee.

   • Credit to the account defined in FeeCodeInfo.GLAccountID.

   • Debit to the subscription Accounts Receivable (AR) account.

2. When a Payment is processed that pays for an Activation Fee:

   • Credit to the subscription AR account.

   • Debit the cash.

3. When an Activation Fee is Waived at the time of entering the Start, the fee is still created but marked as waived. No GL is created.

4. When an Activation Fee is Written-Off after the Start has been processed, reversing GL entries (from the GL entries that were created when the Start processed) are created.

   • Credit to the subscription AR account.

   • Debit to the account defined in FeeCodeInfo.GLAccountID.

5. When Renewal Notices are run and a Printed Bill fee is generated:

   • Credit to the account defined in FeeCodeInfo.GLAccountID.

   • Debit to the subscription AR account.

6. When Undo Renewal Notices are run for an invoice/renewal that has generated a Printed Bill fee:

   • Credit to the subscription AR account.

   • Debit to the account defined in FeeCodeInfo.GLAccountID.

Summary

The relationship between rating, charges, billing, and the GL is outlined in the diagram below. Most of the setup work in these areas will be done on the Accounting menu.

Bill periods are used for applying recurring charges and/or credits to accounts. The bill period does not have a length of time; rather, you select one or more bill periods during a specific billing run. All of the recurring charges and credits that use the bill periods selected will be billed. For example, if you bill weekly, you may want some recurring charges to appear only on the first bill of the month. Other recurring charges may appear on every bill. You could set up a “Monthly” bill period for the once-a-month charges, and an “Every” period for the weekly charges. Circulation uses bill periods only for recurring charges and/or credits.

To set up a bill period:

1. Select Bill Period from the Account Billing menu to display the Bill Period screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Click OK to save the bill period in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another bill period.

You may set up collection messages to print on account invoices that are a certain number of days past due. These messages are defined by company, bill source, and aging period. The table below gives an example of how you would set up collection messages for company “DS”, bill source “monthly”:

To set up a collection message:

1. Select Collection Message from the Account Billing menu to display the Collection Message screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Click OK to save the collection message in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another collection message.

You use Address and Occupant specifics here to set up the remittance address for your account invoices. Business Rules determine whether or not the remit address prints on account invoices.

To specify remittance addresses:

1. In character Circulation, select Remit Address from the Account Billing menu to display the Remit Address Setup screen.
2. Then select Add and enter in formation in the fields described in the table below.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Select Specifics and enter your company’s address and name in Address and Occupant. See the Circulation User Manual for information about setting up addresses and occupants.

4. Select Accept to accept the remittance address.

5. Set up a remittance address for a different company or bill source, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Account Billing menu.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the General Ledger menu.

Naviga initially defines the format and contents of account invoices, invoice export files, and the Account Billing Journal. However, users have some flexibility and can change these settings—both in Business Rules and by using this option.

Business Rules contain a number of settings relating to the format and contents of account invoices and the Account Billing Journal. See the Account Invoice, Account Export, and Account Journal sections in Business Rules for more information.

Information that is included on the invoices and journal (known as billing areas—see the table below for a complete list) can be defined here.

To define a bill format:

1. In character Circulation, select Bill Format from the Account Billing menu to display the Bill Format Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   BILL AREA

   predefined

   Enter the bill area you wish to define. The areas are listed in the table below.

   BILL REPORT

   predefined

   Indicate if you are defining a bill format for the Account Invoice, Account Billing Journal, or Invoice Export.

   TYPE OF BILL

   predefined

   COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the company for which this bill format is valid. Enter an asterisk (*) to indicate all companies.

   BILL SOURCE

   setup

   Enter the bill source for which this bill format is valid. Enter an asterisk (*) to indicate all bill sources.

   PRINT ORDER

   integer (8)

   Specify the order in which this bill area should be printed on the account invoice, invoice export, or Account Billing Journal. Use increments of ten so additional areas can be defined later, if desired.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   When the display format for this bill area is for a single line (for example, for “Balance Forward”), enter the description, or heading, that should be printed on the same line as the item on the bill. This description is not used in exports.

   AREA HEADER

   open (50)

   Enter the heading that should appear above the (potentially) multi-line bill area. You can incorporate the publication and route into the header by using tokens. For example, for the Miscellaneous Charges header, you might enter PUBLICATION <PUBL>, MISC CHARGES FOR ROUTE <ROUTE>.

   SUBTOTAL

   yes/no

   Indicate whether the items in the bill area should be subtotalled.

   DISPLAY FORMAT

   predefined

   If this bill area has more than one possible format, enter one of the formats for the bill area. Note that these formats have different meanings, depending on the bill area.

   RECAP FORMAT

   predefined

   If a display format of “Recap” is selected, indicate the level at which information should be recapped: publication, district, route type or route. Note that recapping at the “route” level is different from having a non-recap display format. For example, if a route was delivered by two carriers and had a bill-to account, the recap format would just list draw, returns, etc. for the route, while non-recap format would list draw for each delivery account separately.

   EXPORT FORMAT

   predefined

   For a BILL REPORT of “export”, indicate the export format: delimited, fixed width, progress, or quoted.

   DELIMITER

   open (4)

   Enter the delimiter character(s), such as a pipe symbol ( | ). This field is required if the export format is “Delimited”, optional if the export format is “Progress” or “Quoted”, and skipped if the export format is “Fixed Width”.

   EXPORT FILE NAME

   open (30)

   Enter the file name for the export.

   PRINT

   yes/no

   Indicate whether this bill area should be printed on the invoice or journal, or exported.

3. Select Specifics | Draw Format, if appropriate, to further define the format (see below).

4. If you are defining a format for Invoice Export, select Specifics | Export Element from the Bill Format Setup or Publication Draw Format screen to set up the appropriate file map (see Appendix B of the User Manual for a list of data elements that can be used in the invoice export).

5. Select Accept to enter the format of the billing area and associated specifics into the database.

6. Define another billing item, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.

Specifics, Draw Format

Select this option to enter product-specific format information for the bill area. This determines format for draw at the calendar (daily) level.

1. Select Specifics | Draw Format from the Bill Format Setup screen to display the Publication Draw Format Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   PRODUCT

   setup

   Enter the product that should use this bill format for this bill area.

   DRAW FORMAT

   predefined

   Enter the desired draw format: calendar or recap. Recap will print summary information for daily draw. Calendar will print draw totals for every calendar day. Note that the “Advance Draw Charges” bill areas must have a “recap” draw format.

   CALENDAR HEADING

   open (50)

   If you entered calendar in Draw Format, enter the heading that should appear above the individual draw calendars (optional). This is discussed below.

   EXPORT FORMAT

   predefined

   For a Bill Report of “export”, indicate the export format: delimited, fixed width, progress, or quoted.

   DELIMITER

   open (4)

   Enter the delimiter character(s), such as a pipe symbol ( | ). This field is required if the export format is “Delimited”, optional if the export format is “Progress” or “Quoted”, and skipped if the export format is “Fixed Width”

   EXPORT FILE NAME

   open (30)

   Enter the file name for the export.

   SUBTOTAL CHARGES

   yes/no

   Indicate whether the draw charge recap should print a draw charge subtotal.

   SUBTOTAL CREDITS

   yes/no

   Indicate whether the draw credit recap should print a draw credit subtotal.

   COMBINE SCHEDULES

   yes/no

   Indicate if all delivery schedules should be combined into one calendar (rather than printing on separate calendars for each delivery schedule).

   COMBINE ROUTES

   yes/no

   Indicate if the draw should be combined for all routes for which an account is responsible or a separate calendar for each route.

3. Select Accept to accept the format information.

4. Enter format information for another publication that will use this bill area, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Bill Format Setup screen.

Calendar Heading

If you enter calendar in Draw Format and enter a heading in Calendar Heading, the heading displayed depends on the following:

• If neither delivery schedules nor routes are combined, the route and schedule are positioned at the beginning of the heading to form a new title for the draw calendars.

• If delivery schedules are not combined, but routes are, this heading is appended to the delivery schedule to form a new heading which is displayed above the draw calendars.

• If delivery schedules are combined but routes are not combined, the account and route are positioned at the beginning of the heading to form a new title for the draw calendars.

• If both delivery schedules and routes are combined, the heading entered displays as the title for the draw calendars.

• For draw charges and returns, if routes are not combined, you can enter <CARRIER> after your calendar heading. This will print the delivery account for the route above the calendar on invoices for non-delivery accounts.

• You can enter <PUBL> in your calendar heading to print the name of the product above the calendar.

Specifics, Export Element

Select this option to control the file mapping elements of the invoice export. To learn more about file mapping, refer to File Map. To see a list of data elements that can be used in the invoice export, see Appendix B of the User Manual.

This menu option is available for both bill format setup and draw format setup, and the process is the same.

To set up file mapping elements of the invoice export:

1. Select Specifics | Export Element from the Bill Format Setup screen to display the Export Element Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   SEQ

   integer (4)

   Enter the sequence order of this field as it relates to other fields in the record. We recommend giving the first field a sequence of 10, the second field 20, and so on, so additional fields can be inserted later if needed.

   DATA ELEMENT

   predefined

   Specify the DATA element that maps to this field in the format. Press F2 for a list of valid elements or see Appendix B of the User Manual for a list. If the field should be ignored by Circulation, enter “Filler” here.

   LENGTH

   integer (3)

   If this is a fixed length format, enter the character length of this field.

   FORMAT

   predefined

   Some data elements have a variety of possible formats. For example, dates could have the format “dmy” (day, month, year), “mdy”, etc. If this field is open, press F2 and select the correct format for the data element.

3. Select Accept to accept the format information.

4. Enter format information for another publication that will use this bill area, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Bill Format Setup screen.

Assigning bill sources to accounts allows you to bill different categories of accounts at different times. For example, if you bill single copy outlets weekly and home delivery routes monthly, two bill sources must be set up.

To set up a bill source:

1. Select Bill Source from the Account Billing menu to display the Bill Source screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   BILL SOURCE

   open (10)

   Enter a bill source. For example, if you bill both weekly and monthly, you might assign a “weekly” bill source to accounts that receive bills on a weekly basis and a “monthly” bill source to accounts that receive bills on a monthly basis.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description for this bill source.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which this bill source may be used.

3. Click OK to save the bill source in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another bill source.

4. Set up additional billing information related to the new bill source, such as aging periods and the statement calendar.

The billing dates for a particular bill source are defined by the Statement Calendar. It is therefore the Statement Calendar that drives the entire billing cycle.

To set up the Statement Calendar:

1. In character Circulation, select Statement Calendar from the Account Billing menu to display the Statement Calendar Setup screen. Statement calendars can also be set up in the Calendars option in Graphical Setup—see Calendars.

2. Enter the company and bill source for which you wish to define billing dates. The screen will appear as shown below.
3. Select specific days for billing, using the table below as a guide. For example, to pick June 14, you would highlight that day and press Enter.

   Action

   Key

   Execute an action (such as a cancel) or select a specific day.

   Enter

   Move the cursor to previous day

   Backspace or left arrow

   Move the cursor to previous week

   Up arrow

   Move the cursor to next week

   Down arrow

   Move the cursor to previous month

   Page Up

   Move the cursor to next month

   Page Down

   Move the cursor to next year

   Esc - right arrow

   Move the cursor to previous year

   PF13

   To enter a date range

   - (hyphen)

   To enter the “to date” range

   / (slash)

   To multiply

   X or * (asterisk)

   Accept

   F1

   Reject

   F4 or End

   To display help

   F2

4. Press F1 to accept the dates selected. Set up a calendar for another company and bill source, or press F4 to exit to the Setup menu.

During account billing processing, Circulation calculates the finance charge amount based on answers to certain Business Rules and whether or not the account can be charged finance charges (as defined during account setup).

Business Rules determine the first aging period with which to apply finance charges, and whether the charges should be flat or a percentage. Business Rules also determine the finance charge amounts, as well as the minimum and cutoff amounts, and the charge code that should be used.

Circulation calculates finance charges as follows:

• It determines the type of finance charge to apply to past due account balances (flat or percentage). If “flat”, selects the amount defined in Business Rules if the account has any past due balances in applicable aging periods. If “percentage”, determines the percentage amount of the past due balance.

• It determines the cutoff finance charge, based on Business Rules. If the calculated amount is less than the cutoff amount, the finance charge is waived.

• It determines the minimum applicable finance charge, based on Business Rules. If the calculated amount is less than this minimum, Circulation applies this minimum.

• It determines the maximum allowed by the state/province for this route (set up using this option, as described below). If the calculated amount is greater than the maximum amount entered here, Circulation applies the maximum. Otherwise the calculated amount is applied.

As an example of finance charge calculation, suppose a account’s balance is 3.50, and the answers to certain Business Rules indicate that the finance charge percentage is 2%, the minimum finance charge is 1.00, and the maximum percentage for this state is 10%.

Circulation would calculate the finance charge as 0.07 (2% of 3.50 balance), but the minimum amount (as defined in Business Rules) is 1.00.

However, the maximum percentage allowed for this state is 0.35 (10% of the 3.50 balance); therefore, 0.35 would be the finance charge applied.

To set up maximum finance charge amounts and percentages:

1. Select Finance Charge from the Account Billing menu to display the Finance Charge screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   STATE

   setup (3)

   Enter the state for which finance charges apply.

   MAXIMUM FINANCE CHARGE PERCENT

   decimal (5)

   Enter the maximum finance charge percentage, such as 5%. This is usually defined by law.

   MAXIMUM FINANCE CHARGE

   decimal (6)

   Enter the maximum late fee amount, such as 25.00. This is usually defined by law.

3. Click OK to save the finance charge in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another finance charge.

This option allows you to enter messages that will be printed on account invoices.

To set up a bill message:

1. Select Bill Message from the Account Billing menu to display the Bill Message screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   BILL SOURCE

   setup

   Enter the bill source for which this message should be displayed.

   ENTITY TYPE

   predefined

   Enter the entity type for which this message should be displayed. Valid choices are route, account, distribution method, District Manager, truck, AAM Zone or all.

   ENTITY

   setup

   Enter the entity ID for the entity type. For example, if you enter distribution method in Entity Type, enter any of your route types or single copy types.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which this message should appear on the invoice.

   PRINT ORDER

   integer (8)

   Enter the order in which this message should be printed on the invoice within the bill format for messages. Number by tens to make it easier to insert new messages at a later time.

   MESSAGE

   open

   Enter the message.

3. Click OK to save the bill message in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another bill message.

Aging periods are used to classify carrier/dealer accounts that are overdue; finance charges and collection messages are driven by aging period. By default, Circulation uses the billing periods on the Statement Calendar to determine aging periods for each bill source. For example, if an account belonged to a bill source that billed every 30 days, any balance past due for 30 days would fall into aging period 1. If after 60 days it was still not paid, it would fall into aging period 2 and, after 90 days, into aging period 3.

However, you may want your aging periods to run on a different schedule than the billing cycle. You would then use this option to define aging periods of your own for each company and bill source. For example, if the Tribune’s aging periods are 1-30 days past due, 31-60 days past due, and 61-90 days past due for accounts that are billed weekly, the following aging periods would be set up:

Business Rules determine whether bill sources age by days, billing periods, or the Aging Calendar. You need define aging periods here only if you select “days”. Business Rules also determine the most recent aging period for which a finance charge can be applied.

Aging is reported in the and (see the Circulation User Manual).

To define an aging period:

1. Select Age Period from the Account Billing menu to display the Age Period screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the company for which the aging periods should apply.

   BILL SOURCE

   setup

   Enter the bill source for which the aging periods should apply.

   AGE PERIOD

   predefined

   Enter the aging period, 0 through 13, that you are defining for this company and bill source. Age period zero (0) indicates the current period (i.e., no days past due).

   AGE DAYS

   integer (3)
3. Click OK to save the aging period in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another aging period.

Terms govern the due date of an account bill, as well as discounts for on-time payment. You might offer accounts different payment terms based on their particular situation or account type. For example, you may offer different payment terms to youth and adult carrier/dealers. Or, terms may differ for payments received monthly and payments received weekly. Terms are assigned to accounts on an individual basis during account setup (see Account).

To set up terms:

1. Select Terms from the Account Billing menu to display the Terms screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   TERMS

   open (8)

   Enter an ID for these account payment terms.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which these terms may be used.

   DISCOUNT TYPE

   predefined

   If there is a discount for payment with these terms, indicate the discount type: flat or percentage.

   CASH DISCOUNT

   decimal (4)

   Enter the discount (percent or flat amount) for payment within a time period by accounts with these terms. If you do not offer a cash discount to accounts with particular terms, do not enter any values in the related discount fields (accept the default values zero).

   DISCOUNT APPLIES TO

   predefined

   Indicate what this discount applies to—total, gross draw, or net draw. Total indicates account’s total current charges - total current credits; Gross includes gross draw charges; Net indicates gross draw charges - returns.

   DISCOUNT NUMBER OF DAYS

   integer (3)

   If discount depends on payment made within a number of days after bill date, enter the number of days here. Business Rules determine the number of days after the discount date that accounts can qualify for a discount.

   DISCOUNT DAY OF MONTH

   integer (2)

   If discount depends on payment made by a specified day of the month, enter that day here.

   CAN DISCOUNT PAST DUE

   yes/no

   Indicate whether a cash discount can be given if the account is past due at the time the bill is produced.

   DUE NUMBER DAYS

   integer (3)

   If payment is due within a specified number of days after the bill date, enter that number here.

   DUE DAY OF MONTH

   integer (2)

   If payment is due on a specified day of the month, enter that day here.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description of these terms.

3. Click OK to save the terms in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another terms record.

Aging can be based upon:

• Billing periods (specified in the Statement Calendar)

• A specified number of days (specified in Terms and Age Period), or

• Aging periods as specified using this option, Aging Calendar.

Business Rules determine which method is used, and if “Aging Calendar” is selected, the aging periods must be specified here.

To set up the Aging Calendar:

1. In character Circulation, select Aging Calendar from the Account Billing menu to display the Aging Calendar Setup screen. Aging calendars can also be set up in the Calendars option in Graphical Setup—see Calendars.

2. Enter the company and bill source for which you wish to define aging dates. The screen will appear as shown below.
3. Select specific days for aging, using the table in the Statement Calendar section as a guide. This calendar works the same as the Statement Calendar.

4. Press F1 to accept the dates selected. Set up a calendar for another company and bill source, or press F4 to exit to the Setup menu.

Account invoices can be distributed by various methods—by mail, for example, or by having carriers pick them up at the office. The distribution codes you set up here can be used to sort invoices for ease of distribution. For example, you could have a “truck” code for truck-delivered invoices, and a “mail” code for invoices delivered by mail. Individual accounts can be assigned one of these codes (in account setup), and when invoices print, they will be sorted in distribution code order (for example, mail delivered first, and then truck delivered).

Within each distribution code, invoices will still be sorted in one of the standard sort options: by account, depot, district, name, publication/district, route or truck.

To set up a distribution code:

1. Select Distribution Code from the Account Billing menu to display the Distribution Code screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   DISTRIBUTION CODE

   open (8)

   Enter an ID for this distribution code.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description of this distribution code.

   SORT ORDER

   predefined

   Indicate how account invoices should sort within this distribution code: by account, depot, district, name, publication/district, route or truck.

   PRINT SEQUENCE

   integer (10)

   Indicate in the order in which this distribution code should be printed, relative to other distribution codes. For example, if you enter a print sequence of 10 for code A and 20 for code B, code A will be printed first.

3. Click OK to save the distribution code in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another distribution code.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Account Setup menu.

See in for below menu options.

A draw adjustment is an adjustment made to a route’s draw figures after transaction processing has been completed for the final time.

Suppose that after a publishing day is complete, a major story breaks and you add papers to each newsstand manually. You then enter draw adjustments for these papers so that the routes are billed for the extra draw. A draw adjustment code, such as “latedraw”, might be defined to update the draw figures.

Draw adjustment codes can be linked to charge codes or credit codes, depending on whether they increase or decrease the draw. Business Rules determine the draw adjust code to be used when a subscriber converts from Carrier Collect to Office Pay with a payment (which creates an automatic draw adjustment).

The Business Rule— Should Draws and Draw Adjustments be billed based on End Publishing run or Final Tran Processing? (Account Finance section) determines whether the draws and draw adjustments will be billed based on the "End Publication Run" or "Final Tran Processing."

To set up a draw adjustment code:

1. Select Draw Adjustment from the Accounting | Account Billing menu to display the Draw Adjust Code screen.
2. Click the Add Draw Adjust Code icon () and enter the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Click OK to accept the draw adjustment code in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another draw adjustment code.

Use this option to specify the dates on which you will run accruals. See the User Manual for more information about accruals.

To set up the Accrual Calendar:

1. In character Circulation, select Accrual Calendar from the Account Billing menu to display the Accrual Calendar Setup screen. Accrual calendars can also be set up in the Calendars option in Graphical Setup—see .

2. Enter the company and bill source for which you wish to define accrual dates. The screen will appear as shown below.
3. Select specific days for accruals to be run, using the table in the previous section as a guide. This calendar works the same as the Statement Calendar.

4. Press F1 to accept the dates selected. Set up a calendar for another company and bill source, or press F4 to exit to the Setup menu.

This option allows you to define collectors, who can be assigned to accounts and are responsible for collecting late payments from them.

To set up a collector:

1. In character Circulation, select Account Collector from the Account Setup menu to display the Collector Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Attach an occupant record to this collector by adding or finding an occupant record.
4. Select Accept to enter the distribution code into the database.

5. Set up more collectors, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.

See Business | Products | Company - GL

See Business | Products | Company

See Accounting | Accounting Billing | Charge/Credit Code

See Accounting | Accounting Billing | Charge/Credit Code

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Account Rates menu.

About Charge and Credit Codes

Draw charges, returns, recurring charges, miscellaneous charges, account levies, finance charges, minimum daily draw charges and taxes must all be assigned charge codes using this option. Charge codes for most account charges and credits are defined in Charge/Credit Code setup. This includes all charges and credits that appear on an account bill, except payments, credit memos and discounts. Charge amounts are not defined here, however. The different types of charge codes set up here include:

• Draw charges, which are used to bill accounts for newspapers delivered. This includes office pay credits, return credits and draw adjustment charges/credits. Draw charge codes should not be used as miscellaneous or recurring charge codes; both the Recurring and Miscellaneous fields should be set to “n”. GL account information does not need to be specified, as it is defined elsewhere for draw. Draw charge and credit amounts are automatically calculated by account rating.

• Recurring charges, which are used for credits or charges that are the same each billing period; for example bonds and insurance. The Recurring field should be set to “y” and the Miscellaneous field to “n”. These codes should have a mirror code that is miscellaneous. For example, if an account was set up to be charged 4.00 for insurance instead of 0.40, a miscellaneous charge for insurance would be entered to adjust the carrier/dealer account. These codes must always have a GL account set up. Recurring charge amounts are assigned individually in account setup (see Account).

• Miscellaneous charges, which are entered for accounts on an ad-hoc basis in Miscellaneous Charge (see the User Manual). The Miscellaneous field should be set to “y” and the Recurring field to “n”. These codes should always be set up in pairs, such as BagsDR and BagsCR. This allows the clerks to correct any posting errors and at the same time the correction will affect the correct GL account. These codes must always have a GL account specified.

• Account levy charges. Levies are court-ordered deductions to a carrier/dealer’s net income used to pay such things as child support or auto loans. Levy charge codes must have the Levy flag set to “y”, and a GL account should be specified. Levy amounts are assigned in Account Setup (see Account).

• Finance charges, tips, and minimum daily draw charges. Both the Recurring and Miscellaneous fields should be set to “n” for these charges, and GL accounts must be specified. Amounts for these charges are assigned in Business Rules.

• Taxes. Both the Recurring Miscellaneous field should be set to “n” for these charges, and GL accounts must be specified. Tax amounts are defined in Tax Authority (see Tax Authority).

• Interest charge codes, which are used to calculate interest for other charge codes. For example, an account bond charge (typically recurring) may have an interest charge code that adds interest to the account’s bond balance. Interest codes must always have a GL account set up. The Recurring field should be set to “n”, and Miscellaneous field to “y”. In addition, the charge code that the interest charge code updates should be entered in Update Bal Chg Code and Update AR should be set to “n”.

Charge Code Examples

The charge/credit codes themselves are used to classify and report on the various charges and, in some cases, they specify the GL account to be used with the charges.

As an example of how you might set up a charge code, suppose you have a miscellaneous charge for supplies of bags. This charge should be applied to Accounts Receivable (in the GL). Suppose further that you charge accounts 15.00 per month for bond insurance and that you pay interest on any accumulated bond balance on the account. In this case, two charge codes should be set up—a bond charge code and a bond interest credit code that updates the bond charge balance rather than Accounts Receivable.

To embellish the example even further, let us also add a draw charge and a route bonus, which both affect 1099 forms for accounts. To indicate that the draw charges should be included in Box 9 of the 1099 form, you would enter “y” in Include In Resale Value. The route allowance credits should be included in Box 7 of the 1099 form, so you would enter “y” in Include in Payments. The charges and credits would be set up as follows:

Setting up a Charge or Credit Code

Follow the procedure below to define a charge or credit code.

To set up a charge or credit code:

1. In character Circulation, select Charge/Credit Code from the Account Billing menu to display the Charge Code Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   CHARGE CODE

   open (8)

   Enter a charge code ID for this credit/charge, such as “bond”.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which this charge/credit code may be used.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description of this charge/credit code. The description appear on the account bills.

   LEVY, LEVY ORDER

   yes/no integer (5)

   If you are defining a charge code for an account levy, enter “y” in Levy and specify the levy order, which 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. None of the fields after Levy Order will be open for levy charge codes.

   CHARGE OR CREDIT

   predefined

   Indicate whether this charge code is a charge or a credit. This determines whether the account is debited or credited by the charge/credit amount.

   DEFAULT RATE

   decimal (11)

   If desired, enter a default rate that should be displayed during miscellaneous charge and credit entry or when recurring charges are linked to accounts.

   INCLUDE IN RESALE VALUE

   yes/no

   Indicate whether charges/credits with this code should be included in Box 9 on the 1099 form.

   INCLUDE IN PAYMENTS

   yes/no

   Indicate whether charges/credits with this code should be included in Box 7 on the 1099 form.

   RECURRING

   yes/no

   Indicate if this is a recurring charge/credit (a charge or credit that is applied regularly). Enter “n” here for all except recurring charges/credits.

   DEFAULT BILL PERIOD

   setup

   If this is a recurring charge, enter the default bill period in which this charge should be added to account bills.

   DEFAULT ADVANCE BILL

   yes/no

   When recurring charges are assigned to accounts, you can specify whether or not they should apply to advance bills. Indicate whether this field should default to “y” or “n”.

   CHARGE RATE TYPE

   predefined

   Indicate if this recurring charge/credit is for a flat amount, a percentage of draw, a per-drop compensation amount, or multiplied by the total draw of the route.

   CALCULATION TYPE

   predefined

   Flat is displayed if you entered “flat” or “drop” in the preceding field. If you entered “percentage”, indicate whether the recurring charge/credit should be a percentage of draw charges or draw credits. For example, for a bond, you might want to have a monthly charge that is a percentage of the account’s office pay credit (i.e., draw credits).

   DFLT PERCENTAGE

   decimal (5)

   If the rate type is percentage, enter the default percentage for the recurring charge/credit (the actual percentage is entered for each account in account setup).

   DFLT MAX FACTOR

   decimal (5)

   If the rate type is percentage, enter a default maximum factor for the recurring charge/credit (the actual maximum factor can be entered for each account in account setup). The maximum factor is multiplied by the draw charges or credits to determine the total maximum balance allowed for the charge.

   PRINT BAL ON BILL

   yes/no

   Indicate whether or not the balance for the recurring charge should print on the account bills.

   REFUND CHARGE CODE

   —

   This field is not currently used by Circulation.

   PRORATE CHARGE

   yes/no

   Indicate whether this recurring charge is prorated. When a charge code is prorated, the number of days in the billing period and the number of days the account is active are compared. If there is a difference, the flat rate is divided by the days in the period and multiplied by the days the account is active to arrive at the prorated amount.

   MISCELLANEOUS

   yes/no

   Indicate whether this charge/credit code is valid for miscellaneous charges. Enter “y” here for all miscellaneous charges and credits.

   APPLY AR NOW

   yes/no

   For miscellaneous charges/credits, indicate whether the charge/credit should be applied immediately to the account balances or deferred until account billing Processing for the billing period. For example, you might set up a miscellaneous charge code for writing off account balances, and enter “y” in this field.

   PRINT ON BUNDLE

   yes/no

   Indicate whether this miscellaneous charge/credit code should appear on the bundle top.

   UPDATE BAL CHARGE CODE

   setup

   You may have a miscellaneous charge code for updating a recurring charge balance. For example, if you have a recurring bond charge, you might have a miscellaneous charge code for moving the bond balance to accounts receivable (crediting the carrier). If this miscellaneous charge updates a recurring charge balance, enter the recurring charge code here.

   UPDATE AR

   yes/n

   If this miscellaneous charge updates a recurring charge, indicate whether the Accounts Receivable should also be updated. For example, if you have a miscellaneous charge to credit carriers for their bond deposit balance, you would enter “y” here. If you are transferring the balance elsewhere (for example, entering the amount in Accounts Payable so that a check can be cut) enter “n” here.

3. Optionally, select Specifics | BAS Category, as documented below, to assign BAS categories to the charge codes (BAS categories are used in tax reporting in Australia).

4. Select Specifics | Charge GL Account to link the charge code with a GL account, if necessary. For each charge/credit code you set up, you must define a Charge GL Account, except for draw charges/credits (whose Charge GL Accounts are defined by selecting CR GL Account) and finance charges.

5. Select Specifics | Charge Tax Authority to link the charge code with a tax authority, if this charge is taxed. Do not select this if you are defining tax charge codes themselves.

6. If you use drop credits (flat fees paid for each home address delivered, without regard to the number of pieces that are delivered to the address), and wish to combine draw and drop credits on invoices, you can select Specifics | Charge Code Combine to combine them by charge code. This will enable you to report separate totals for different draw types or days of the week.

7. Select Accept to enter the charge code and all associated specifics into the database.

8. Set up another charge or credit code, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.

Specifics, BAS Category

Select this option to add BAS categories to charge codes. BAS (Business Activity Statement) categories are used in reporting tax obligations to the Australian Taxation Office. If a BAS category is associated with a charge code, those charges will be picked up when the BAS Reconciliation report is run. BAS categories are set up in BAS Category setup (see BAS Category).

To assign charge codes to BAS categories:

1. Select Specifics | BAS Category from the Charge Code Setup screen to display the BAS Category Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   CHARGE CODE

   display

   The charge/credit code entered on the Charge Code Setup screen is displayed.

   BAS CATEGORY

   setup

   Enter the BAS category associated with this charge code.

   START DATE, END DATE

   date

   Enter the date range during which this BAS category is valid for this charge code. End Date can be left blank.

3. Select Accept to accept the GL account for this code.

4. Add another BAS category to this charge, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Charge Code Setup screen.

Specifics, Charge GL Accounts

Select this option to set up the general ledger account numbers for this charge/credit code. GL accounts can be set up for a charge/credit code by product, route, AAM Zone, district or a combination of the four. Or, you can have one GL account for all instances of this charge.

The general ledger accounts you enter here must have been defined in advance by selecting Chart of Accounts. Also, do not set up Charge GL Account records for draw charges, credits, and returns, as these are defined by selecting CR GL Account. See CR GL Account for details.

To specify GL accounts for the charge code:

1. Select Specifics | Charge GL Accounts from the Charge Code Setup screen to display the Charge GL Accounts Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   CHARGE CODE

   display

   The charge/credit code entered on the Charge Code Setup screen is displayed.

   PRODUCT

   setup

   Enter the product for which this charge/credit code should update this general ledger account (enter “*” for all).

   AREA REGION DISTRIB ZONE

   setup

   Enter the area, region, distrib zone, and district for these GL accounts (enter “*” in a field to indicate all).

   DISTRICT

   setup

   Enter the district for which this charge/credit code should update this general ledger account (enter “*” for all).

   ROUTE

   setup

   Enter the route for which this charge/credit code should update this general ledger account (enter “*” for all).

   AAM ZONE

   setup

   Enter the AAM zone for which this charge/credit code should update this general ledger account (enter “*” for all).

   GL ACCOUNT

   setup

   Enter the general ledger account number to which charges/credits with this charge code will be applied for this product/route/AAM zone/district combination.

   ADVANCE BILL ACCOUNT

   setup

   If accounts are billed in advance for this charge code, enter the general ledger account number to which this advance charge/credit will be posted.

3. Select Accept to accept the GL account for this code.

4. Link more GL accounts to this charge, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Charge Code Setup screen.

Specifics, Charge Tax Authority

For charges or credits that should be taxed, select this option to link the charge/credit code with a tax authority and tax charge code. Tax authorities must have been defined in advance. See Tax Authority for details.

To specify tax information for a charge code:

1. Select Specifics | Charge Tax Authority from the Charge Code Setup screen to display the Charge Tax Authority Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   PRODUCT

   setup

   Enter the product for which this charge/credit code is taxable (enter “*” for all products).

   ROUTE

   setup

   Enter the route for which this charge/credit code is taxable (enter “*” for all routes).

   CHARGE CODE

   display

   The charge/credit code entered on the Charge Code Setup screen is displayed.

   TAX AUTHORITY

   setup

   Enter the tax authority for this charge code/product/route combination.

   The tax authority determines what the tax percentage will be. It also determines the geographical area that will qualify for the tax.

   TAX CHARGE CODE

   setup

   Enter the charge code for this tax charge. This will allow you to break out taxes for specific charges on account invoices.

   Tax Charge Code may be left blank—the tax charge code defined for the tax authority assigned to the publication will then be used.

   If you would like the office pay tax credit printed separately from charges, separate tax charge codes should be defined.

3. Select Accept to accept the tax authority for this charge code, product and route.

4. Specify more tax authorities for this charge/credit code, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Charge Code Setup screen.

Specifics, Charge Code Combine

When combining draw and drop credits on invoices, you have the option of combining them by charge code. This will enable you to report separate totals for different draw types or days of the week.

The Charge Code Combine specific allows you to identify which codes should be combined on invoices. It also allows you to enter a description of the combined codes, which will be printed on the invoice.

For example, if you intend to combine draw and drop credits for Monday through Friday deliveries, you could set up the following combinations:

• “DropMon” combined with “DropMon”—this will be the parent/anchor code for which there is a description (e.g., “Combine Drop Amounts Mon - Fri”). Note that a description can be entered only for parent/anchor codes.

• “DropTue” combined with “DropMon”

• “DropWed” combined with “DropMon”

• “DropThu” combined with “DropMon”

• “DropFri” combined with “DropMon”

To specify charge codes to be combined on an invoice:

• Select Specifics | Charge Code Combine to display the Charge Code Combine Setup screen. When this screen displays initially, the Charge Code will be carried over from the Charge/Credit Code screen. In the Combine Charge code field, enter the code you want to combine with this parent/anchor code. Enter a start date and optional end date for this combination.
• Select Add and complete the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  COMBINE CHARGE CODE

  setup

  Select the charge code with which this charge code should be combined.

  START DATE, END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range during which the charge codes should be combined. End Date can be left blank.

  CHARGE CODE

  display

  The charge/credit code entered on the Charge Code Setup screen is displayed.

  COMBINE QUANTITY

  yes/no

  This field determines how the quantity count for the charges/credits is displayed on the invoices. Entering “y” will combine the charges/credits into a single quantity. In the above example, combining quantities will result in the total number of Monday-Friday drops being displayed as the quantity. Whether or not to combine quantities depends on how you are combining codes and the type of information you want to appear on the invoice. For example, you would enter “n” on either the drop credit or draw code side if you are combining drops and draw into one dollar value but only want to see one side of the quantity count on the invoice. If 110 subscriptions were delivered to 100 addresses, combining these two quantities would result in a meaningless total of 210. Since you want either 110 (the draw quantity) or 100 (drops) to appear as the quantity next to the dollar value on the invoice, you would enter “n” here, so that the quantities are not combined. You would also enter “n” here if you are combining draw charges and draw credits. Assuming these figures cancel each other out, the result will be a “0” quantity. More likely, you would want to show the quantity for only one side of the transaction—either the charges or the credits.

  DESCRIPTION

  open

  Enter a description for this combine record.

• Select Accept to combine the charge codes.

• Specify other charge codes with which this charge code should be combined, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Charge Code Setup screen.

This option allows you to define the default recurring charges for a route. When a new account is assigned to a route using Account Activation, the recurring charges will default based on how they are set up here.

To define default recurring charges:

• Select Setup | Accounting | Account Billing | Default Recurr Chrg to display the from the Account Billing menu to display the Recurring Charges Default screen.
• Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  PRODUCT

  setup

  Enter a product ID or “*” for all.

  ROUTE

  setup

  Enter a route ID, “*” for all, or leave blank.

  ENTITY TYPE ENTITY

  predefined setup

  These two fields will become available if the Route field is left blank. Enter the entity type (district, route, or “*” for both) and specific entities for which recurring charges are being defined.

  CHARGE CODE

  open (8)

  Enter the recurring charge code. Charge codes need to be set up in advance of recurring charges.

  START DATE END DATE

  date

  Enter the date range during which this recurring charge default can be used.

  BILL PERIOD

  setup

  Specify the bill period to which this recurring charge default will apply.

  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

  The rate type (percentage or flat) and calculation type (the percentage can be calculated based on draw charges or draw credits) are displayed. These are defined when the charge code is set up

  FLAT RATE

  decimal (6)

  If the rate type is flat, enter the amount of the charge for this route.

  PERCENT RATE

  decimal (6)

  If the rate type is percentage, enter the percentage that draw charges should be multiplied by to calculate the charge. For example, enter 3% as “3.000”.

  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 10.00 per billing period for a bond, and the maximum was 70.00, 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 50.00, Maximum Amount is 150.00, and the account’s current balance is 145.00, only 5.00 of the current recurring charge would be added to the total, but any interest calculations could increase the total amount to more than 150.00.

  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 100.00 and the maximum factor is 2.000, the maximum for this recurring charge would be 200.00. 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).

• Click OK to save the recurring charge default in the database or Add Another to save the existing record and add another default charge.

You must set up at least one bank and, in some cases, you will want to set up more than one. For example, you may want to deposit account payments received at the main office in a bank in that area, while payments at a remote office may go to a different bank.

To set up banks:

1. In character Circulation, select Bank from the General Ledger menu to display the Bank Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   BANK

   open (8)

   Enter the bank name, such as “Fidelity”.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description of this bank.

   CASH IN BANK GL ACCOUNT

   setup

   REFUND BANK GL ACCOUNT

   setup

   HOLDING GL ACCOUNT

   setup

   COMPANY

   setup (4)

   Enter the ID for the company that uses this bank.

   CLIENT NUMBER

   open (10)

   Enter this company’s account number with this bank.

   ELECTRONIC FILE FORMAT

   open (8)

   Indicate the format used by the bank for automatic deposits, withdrawals, transfers, etc. The valid options are ACH (Automated Clearing House, used by most US banks), CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), and BOF (Bank of Finland). If none of these formats are used, enter “ACH”.

   AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE

   open (9)

   If Electronic File Format is set to “ACH”, enter the automated clearing house identifier for this bank.

   ACH/RBC SFT HEADER DATA

   open (40)

   If the electronic file format is “ACH” or “RBC”, you may need to send header data in the file. The header information can be entered in this field. If header data is specified, it will be exported as the first record in the ACH or RBC file (before the File Header record); if no header data is entered, this record will not be exported.

   ORIGINATING DFI

   open (8)

   If the electronic file format is “ACH”, enter the originating DFI number for bank draft payments and refunds.

   IMMEDIATE ORIGIN

   open (10)

   If the electronic file format is “ACH”, enter the immediate origin number for bank draft payments and refunds.

   BANK NUMBER

   open (4)

   If the electronic file format is “BACS” or “CIBC”, enter the newspaper’s bank number.

   BANK BRANCH NUMBER

   open (5)

   If the electronic file format is “CIBC”, enter the newspaper’s branch number.

   BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER

   open (12)

   If the electronic file format is “BACS” or “CIBC”, enter the newspaper’s account number at the bank.

   RECEIVING DATA CENTER

   open (5)

   If the electronic file format is “CIBC”, enter the ID of the data center that will be receiving the file. For example, 01000 = Vancouver, 01010 = Montreal, 01020 = Toronto, 01070 = Winnipeg and 01090 = Calgary.

   REQUESTER ID

   open (16)

   The requester ID is used for processing Intell-A-Check one-time subscription checks by phone.

3. Optionally, select Specifics | Bank Validation to establish validation rules for the bank, based on the product and payment type entered. See Specifics, Bank Validation.

4. Select Accept to enter the bank information into the database.

5. Set up more banks, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.

Specifics, Bank Validation

Use this option to establish rules for validating and defaulting a bank based on the product and payment type entered by the user. These validation rules apply to auto-renew billing, subscriber lockbox processing, and the Subscriber Activity Import.

For example, if Bank One is valid only for the product of “DM”, users will not be able to select it for other products (i.e., it will not appear in the F2 lookup and cannot be entered). Additionally, if Bank One is valid only for bank draft payments, both the product of “DM” and the payment type of “bank draft” must be selected before Bank One can be selected as the bank.

If an invalid bank is encountered while processing lockbox payments or the Subscriber Activity Import, the payment will be rejected and a message sent to the log file. Note that field security can also be placed on the BANK ID field to allow only certain users to enter specific bank IDs. See Field Security for more information.

To set up bank validation rules:

1. Select Bank Validation from the Specifics menu. The Bank Validation Setup screen appears.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   BANK

   display

   The Bank ID is displayed.

   PRODUCT

   setup

   Select a specific product or enter “*” for all products. Defaulting will happen only if one product is selected.

   PAYMENT TYPE

   predefined

   Enter cash, check, credit card, bank draft, or “*” for all payment types.

   PRIMARY

   setup

   Enter “y” if this bank should be defaulted for this product and payment type. For example, if you enter a specific product and payment type (i.e., not “*”) and this field is set to “y”, the Bank will default for the user. If this field is set to “n”, the user will be required to select a valid bank.

3. Select Accept to enter the bank validation information into the database.

4. Set up more validation rules, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Bank Setup screen.

All general ledger accounts tracked by Circulation must be defined in this option, including accounts receivable and revenue accounts. The accounts will be used in GL reporting and interfacing GL transactions to the general ledger. For example, for two general ledger companies, the Tribune and the Star, both of which have general ledger accounts for subscriptions and carrier/dealer accounts, you might set up the following records:

Only general ledger accounts that are used by Circulation need be set up. See General Ledger for more information about general ledger accounts.

To define a GL account:

1. Select Chart of Accounts from the Accounting | General Ledger menu in Graphical Setup to display the Chart of Accounts screen.
2. Click the Add icon in the lower part of the screen and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   GL COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the general ledger company for this account.

   GL ACCOUNT

   open (40)

   Enter the GL account number (in the general ledger, not in Circulation).

   ROLL UP ACCOUNT

   open (40)

   You may, optionally, select a roll up account for this GL account for reporting purposes. The GL Interface Journal can be run to summarize at the roll up account level.

   DESCRIPTION

   open (30)

   Enter a description for this account.

3. Click OK to add the GL account to the database, or click Add Another to add the account and begin setting up another account.

Fiscal periods must be set up for a GL company for each year (see Company–GL). Since fiscal periods may not change within a company from year to year, it will save time to simply copy the fiscal periods from one year to another, using this utility.

To copy fiscal periods to another year:

1. In character Circulation, select Fiscal Period Util from the General Ledger menu to display the Copy Fiscal Periods screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   GL COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the GL company whose fiscal periods you want to carry forward.

   FROM YEAR

   integer (4)

   Enter the year you want to copy fiscal periods from (you must enter all 4 digits of the year; i.e., 2005).

   TO YEAR

   integer (4)

   Enter the year to which you want to copy fiscal periods.

3. Select Accept to copy the fiscal periods. The number of periods copied successfully is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Press the space bar to exit to the Setup menu.

Depending on your General Ledger software vendor, you may be able to import your chart of accounts from your GL system rather than entering them manually into Circulation. You can then read the file into Circulation through this option. See the User Manual for the file format.

To import GL accounts:

1. In character Circulation, select Chart of Acct Import from the General Ledger Menu. The Import Chart of Accounts screen will display.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   GL COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the GL company for which you are importing a chart of accounts. Records in the file that do not have this GL Company will be ignored.

   FILE NAME

   open (10)

   Enter the name of the file that contains the chart of accounts information.

3. Select Continue to carry out the import. File records that have the GL company ID specified and do not already exist in Circulation will be imported.

4. The Import Chart of Accounts report will display after processing. This report will list the number of records read from the file and any errors that occurred during processing.

Circulation needs to know the numbers of certain accounts in your general ledger. These accounts are defined in CHART OF ACCOUNTS and then linked to transactions (such as draw charges) elsewhere on the Setup menu (see General Ledger for more information). The GL accounts that are involved in Accounts Receivable are linked using this option.

Circulation uses the AR Account, Cash Account, Coupon Account and Credit Card Account during Account Payment Processing. The AR Account, Cash Discount Account, and Finance Charge Account are used during Account Billing Processing. You must set up the AR/GL accounts here, or errors will occur during Account Billing.

To identify these accounts:

1. Select AR GL Account from the General Ledger menu to display the AR GL Accounts Setup screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   COMPANY

   setup

   Enter the company for which you are defining AR accounts.

   BILL SOURCE

   setup

   Enter the bill source for which you are defining AR accounts.

   AR ACCOUNT

   DETAIL *

   setup

   yes/no

   Enter the Accounts Receivable general ledger account for this company and bill source, and indicate whether transaction detail should be kept for transactions with this AR Account. Business Rules determine the level of detail at which transactions should be created for the general ledger. Since retention of all detail can take up a great deal of disk space, retain only the necessary detail. You may decide to keep the detail initially for troubleshooting and then change the flags to “no” at a later date.

   CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT

   DETAIL

   setup

   yes/no

   Enter the Credit Card general ledger account (used for account credit card payments) for this company and bill source, and indicate whether transaction detail should be kept for transactions with this credit card account. Business Rules determine if payment by credit card is allowed for accounts.

   COUPON ACCOUNT

   DETAIL

   setup

   yes/no

   Enter the Account Coupon general ledger account for this company and bill source, and indicate whether transaction detail should be kept for transactions with this account. The Coupon Account is used for coupons entered with account payments.

   CASH DISCOUNT ACCOUNT

   DETAIL

   setup

   yes/no

   Enter the Cash Discount general ledger account for this company and bill source, and indicate whether transaction detail should be kept for transactions with this Cash Discount Account. The Cash Discount is used for cash discounts earned by an account.

   FINANCE CHARGE ACCOUNT

   setup

   yes/no

   Enter the Finance Charge general ledger account for this company and bill source. The Finance Charge Account is used if charging a late fee for past due balances. You must set up an AR GL Account for finance charges if you are finance charging past due balances for carriers/dealers.

   *

   Enter “yes” in DETAIL fields only if you want to store every individual transaction

3. Click OK to add the AR GL account to the database, or click Add Another to add the account and begin setting up another account.

Payment adjustments are credits or debits made to a account’s balance (see the User Manual). For example, an adjustment might be needed to cover papers purchased by a carrier because of a shortage. These adjustments will affect a carrier’s account balance immediately and be applied to the “oldest” balance. The adjustments are displayed in the payments section of the bill.

To set up an adjustment code:

• Select Account Payment Adj from the General Ledger menu to display the Account Payment Adjustment screen.
• Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

  Field

  Type

  What to enter

  ADJUSTMENT

  open (8)

  Enter a name for the adjustment code.

  DESCRIPTION

  open (30)

  Enter a description of the adjustment code.

  DEBIT CREDIT AR

  predefined

  Indicate whether this is a debit or credit to Accounts Receivable (debit if charging the account, credit if crediting).

  GL ACCOUNT

  setup

  Enter the General Ledger account number to which the adjustment will be applied. This is the “offsetting” general ledger account number; in the screen above, Accounts Receivable will be credited for this amount, and Account 101.1070 will be debited for this amount.

• Click OK to add the account payment adjustment code to the database, or click Add Another to save the existing record and add another code.

While some general ledger accounts are linked to Circulation transactions in AR GL Account or Charge/Credit Code, other accounts (for example, accounts used for draw charges and credits and subscriber revenue) are linked using the CR GL Account option. You may set up these accounts based on the company, product, distribution method, AAM zone, district, draw type/class, and delivery schedule.

In order to define these general ledger accounts, you must first set up your delivery schedules (see Delivery Schedule). All general ledger account numbers must have been defined in advance (see Chart of Accounts for details). For more information about general ledger accounts, see General Ledger.

1. Select CR GL Account from the Accounting | General Ledger menu in Graphical Setup to display the CR GL Accounts screen.
2. Click the Add icon in the lower part of the screen and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

   COMPANY

   setup

   Select the company for these GL accounts (select “*” for all).

   PRODUCT

   setup

   Select the product for these GL accounts (select “*” for all).

   DISTRIB METHOD

   predefined

   Select the distribution method (mail, day pass, a route type, a single copy type, or select “*” for all) for these GL accounts.

   Note: “Day Pass” will only be a valid option for publications set up to allow day pass subscriptions. When the distribution method is “Day Pass”, the delivery schedule will be set to “*” and the Draw Type/Class to “Office Pay”.

   AAM ZONE

   setup

   Select the AAM Zone for these GL accounts (select “*” for all).

   DELIVERY SCHEDULE

   setup

   Select the delivery schedule for these GL accounts (select “*” for all).

   DRAW TYPE/CLASS

   predefined

   Select the draw type for these GL accounts (Carrier Collect, Office Pay, Paid Complimentary, etc.) or a valid draw class, or select “*” for all.

   You must set up general ledger account numbers for all draw types, including “Samples” and “Service”, even though their rate may be zero.

   AREA REGION DISTRIB ZONE DISTRICT

   setup

   Enter the area, region, distrib zone, and district for these GL accounts (enter “*” in a field to indicate all).

   ACCOUNT TYPE

   predefined

   If you are defining CR GL accounts for a specific account type, such as “agent” or “sub”, select the account type here.

   Otherwise, choose “*” to include all accounts, or leave blank to define CR GL accounts for delivery carriers.

   G/L ACCOUNT

   setup

   For each day of the week, enter the general ledger account, if any, for Delivery Expense, Returns, Account Revenue, Advance Bill, Subscriber Coupons, and Subscriber Revenue. Click the Find icon to the right of a field to select from a list of valid GL accounts.

   For example, for a draw type of “office pay”, you might enter G/L account numbers for Delivery Expense, Returns, Account Revenue, Subscriber Coupons, and Subscriber Revenue. For a distribution method of “rack” and a draw class of “standing”, you might enter GL account numbers for Returns and Account Revenue.

3. Click OK to add the general ledger account information to the database, or click Add Another to add the GL information and begin setting up another record. You must set up a general ledger account for every draw combination. To make sure that every draw type has valid account numbers, you can set up a record and enter asterisks (*) in Distrib Method, AAM Zone, Region, District, Delivery Schedule, and Draw Type/Class.

See

Subscription payment adjustment codes are used for non-subscription related money. An example of an adjustment is a payment from a subscriber which includes money for a “frequent reader card” (providing discounts at local merchants). The payment for the “frequent reader card” does not relate to the subscription or adjust the subscription term, so it is entered with an adjustment code.

Adjustment codes may also be used with non-payment adjustments to subscriptions. For example, if a customer complains that the paper was not delivered all week, you could extend the expire date by a week. This would not involve a payment but would affect the subscription, so you would use an adjust code.

More examples of how different subscriber payment adjustment codes should be set up are given on . See the User Manual for more information about how adjustments are entered.

To set up a subscriber payment adjustment code:

1. In character Circulation, select Sub Payment Adjust from the General Ledger menu to display the Sub Adjust Code Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

3. If the Print on Renewal settings for this subscription adjustment code differ among publications, select Specifics | Sub Payment Adjust Info and enter Print on Renewal settings and descriptions for specific publications. Note: If you are going to add this specific, then you must add it for each product for which the subscription adjust code is valid. If no Specifics records are added, then the subscription adjustment code is automatically valid for all products.

4. Select Accept to enter the code into the database.

5. Set up more subscriber adjustment codes, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Setup menu.

Payment Adjustment Examples

Below are the most common scenarios in which subscriber payment adjustment that are used.

Merchandise/Donations

Money is accepted as a donation or to buy a merchandise item from the newspaper.

• Update Expire = n, since it is not purchasing days on the subscription

• Cash Adjustment = y, since it is actual cash in hand.

• Refundable = y, because it is money you could potentially give back to the customer for a return or if they demanded it back for poor service.

• Debit GL is left blank here. Because it is cash, the GL that will be debited will be the one used in Bank setup, based on the bank used when entering the subscriber payment adjustment.

• Credit GL should be the account used to track the merchandise or donations.

Make Good, Adjusting Subscriber Accounts, Advertising Correction or Balance Adjustment

There is a need to change the balance/expire date on an account (increase or decrease) due to some incorrect activity or non-standard complaint.

• Update Expire = y, as the subscription expire date is being adjusted.

• Cash Adjustment = n, as there has been no cash received.

• Refundable = y, because you are adjusting the subscriber’s balance.

• Debit GL should be a payment adjustment reversal account.

• Credit GL should always be the unearned revenue GL account, because you are impacting liability.

Non-refundable adjustments

There are circumstances when you may want to adjust the subscriber's expire date, but have not received a payment and therefore would not want to impact unearned revenue (liability).

• Update Expire = y, as the subscription expire date is being adjusted.

• Cash Adjustment = n, as there has been no cash received for the adjustment.

• Refundable = n, as a payment has not been received for the subscription.

• Credit GL should be the earned revenue GL account.

• Debit GL is once again a reversal account. When an adjustment is entered, the money is directly shifted between earned revenue GL and the reversal account (or vice-versa when doing a negative adjustment).

A drop credit is a flat fee paid to an account for each home address delivered, without regard to the number of pieces that are delivered to the address. Drop credits are not used with single copy routes.

Drop rates are associated with a product. Normally, the product with the highest drop rate determines the drop credit paid to the account, although product priorities can be established to override this calculation. For example, if a home delivery route delivered a daily publication and a TM product on a Saturday, the account would receive the drop credit for the publication or TM product, whichever was higher, or (if a priority was assigned) based on priority.

The Drop Rates option is where you define the daily drop rates. You must specify a product, but also may specify an account, route, district, zone, region, area, account class and account group. For each day of the week, you specify the GL account to use for the drop credit, as well as the credit code to use and the daily rate.

Drop credits are generated by the Create Drop Credits option (see the User manual).

To set up a drop rate:

1. In character Circulation, select Drop Rates from the Account Rates menu to display the Drop Rate Setup screen.
2. Select Add and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Select Accept to enter the bonus rate into the database.

4. Set up another drop rate, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Setup menu.

This section outlines how account and subscriber rates are set up in the Graphical Setup module.

In Graphical Setup, existing rates are listed in a “tree” that has “branches” to show the relationships among rules or other rates. When you select a rate in the tree, details about that rate are shown in the right pane of the window. The toolbar allows you to find and filter rates, as well as launch the Rate Setup Wizard. New rates are added by completing the Rate Setup Wizards, which take you step-by-step through the entire rate setup process.

Rate Trees

Different subscription rate types are represented by different icons, which are described in the following table.

For account rates, different rules are represented by different icons, which are described below.

Within the rate tree, a plus sign (+) next to an icon signifies that there is more information within an icon (such as the “next rate” for a promotional subscription rate). Click the plus sign to expand the rate tree.

Click the minus sign (-) to collapse the rate tree.

Subscription Rate Tree Filter

You can show All, Active or Inactive rate codes, and also narrow down your selection by choosing a specific publication, rate type, delivery method, reason, delivery schedule, or combination of criteria. Make the selections you want, and click Filter to apply them.

Tool Bar

Some options are available on the tool bar rather than the menu. These options are described below.

Unearned revenue includes subscriber payments which have been received and posted but for which products have not yet been delivered. Select this option to specify unearned revenue GL account numbers for each combination of product and delivery type (mail and the user-defined route types).

Unearned revenue may be posted to one general ledger account, regardless of delivery type. Or you might want different accounts to reflect motor-delivered, foot-delivered, and mail-delivered, revenue (you have two route types, “foot” and “motor”).

For example, suppose you have two products (the Tribune and the Star) that are both delivered via all three delivery methods. You could define unearned revenue accounts for each combination as shown below:

To specify unearned revenue accounts:

1. Select Unearned Revenue from the General Ledger menu to display the Unearned Revenue screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter

3. Click OK to add the unearned revenue account to the database, or click Add Another to save the existing record and add another unearned revenue account.

This option allows you to set up credit card types that can be used for each publication, and specify the general ledger accounts to which subscriber credit card payments and refunds should be posted. Surcharge percentages can also be defined here (see the User Manual).

The general ledger account numbers must have been defined previously. See for details.

To assign credit card types to GL accounts:

1. Select Credit Card Account from the General Ledger menu to display the Credit Card Account screen.
2. Click the Add icon and complete the following fields.

   Field

   Type

   What to enter
3. Click OK to add the credit card type to the database, or click Add Another to save the existing record and add another credit card type.

This option is used to export account rates, modify them in Excel or other third-party program, and import the changes back into Circulation. In Graphical Setup, select Accounting | Account Rates | Exp/Imp Acct Rates.

When exporting rates, you specify the rates you wish to export, as well as the names of the files that will be created.

When importing rates, you specify the files you wish to import.

The formats of the files that are exported and imported are given in Appendix B of the Circulation User Manual.

Payments that do not process (due, for example, to rating errors) will have GL entries, but instead of Unearned Revenue, a holding account will be credited. When the payment does process, the holding account will be debited and Unearned Revenue credited.

To define holding accounts:

1. Select Payment Holding Acct from the General Ledger menu to display the Subscriber Payment Holding Account screen.
2. Click the Add icon and select a publication and the holding account for the publication. As with other GL accounts, the account number must be set up in advance (in Chart of Accounts).

3. Click OK to add the payment holding account to the database, or click Add Another to save the existing record and add another payment holding account.

See Subscription | Codes | Source

See Subscription | Codes | Reason

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Subscription Rates menu.

This section guides the user through the menu options that are available under the Taxes menu.

This option is used to export subscriber rates, modify them in Excel or other third-party program, and import the changes back into Circulation. For example, you may want to create a new promotional rate structure that is similar to an existing promotional rate structure.

The formats of the files that are exported and imported are given in Appendix B of the User Manual.

Keep the following tips in mind when modifying rates:

• When importing new rate information, be sure to include all files that pertain to the rate. For example, if importing new auto pay terms for a combo, include both the Auto Pay Terms and Auto Pay Terms By Product Mix files.

• For each imported rate, the start date you have defined will be the effective date of the changes. When the records are imported back into Circulation, the old records are end-dated one day prior to the start date you defined.

• For flat rates, you need to change only the Total Amount figures.

• For amount-by-day variable rates, ignore the Total Amount column and enter information only in the weekday amount columns. The Total Amount is ignored during import, and will be recalculated in Circulation.

• For percent-by-day variable rates, enter information in both the Total Amount and weekday percent columns.

• Day pass rates will be ignored by Export/Import Rates.