Entering Subscriber Payments
Use this option to enter subscriber payments in batches.
You also enter adjustments here. An adjustment is typically an amount paid for other than subscription purposes. A check for a promotional coffee mug, for instance, would be an adjustment. Adjustments can also be non-cash. An example of a non cash adjustment might be a subscriber who missed a week’s worth of papers, and so has the expire date adjusted an additional week.
To enter subscriber payments and adjustments:
Select Batch Payments from the Subscriber Payments menu in Graphical Accounting to display the Subscriber Payment Batch screen.
Before payments can be entered, defaults and batch information must be set for this batch of payments, in the Batch Entry panel. These fields are described below.
Field Type What to enter BATCH
open (10)
Create an ID for the batch of subscriber payments you are entering. If you are restarting a suspended batch (such as an auto renew batch), enter the batch ID here and the remaining batch information will default.
DESCRIPTION
open (30)
Enter a description of this batch.
BATCH DATE
date
Enter the date of this batch. This date is used as the default payment date, which may be overridden.
CASH CONTROL
decimal (11)
Enter the control total for this batch of payments. “Cash” includes the subscription payments, any tips, and cash adjustments, but does not include coupons or non-cash adjustments.
COUPON CONTROL
decimal (11)
Enter the total of coupon amount for this batch of payments.
ADJUSTMENT CONTROL
decimal (11)
Enter the net total of non cash adjustment amounts included in these payments. If this is a negative number, enter a minus sign with the amount.
BANK
setup
Select the bank into which this batch of payments will be deposited, or accept the default.
SHORT DESCRIPTION
open (10)
If you are restarting an auto renew bank draft batch, the short description that will print on the bank statement defaults (see Auto Payments). You may keep this default, or enter another short description.
SOURCE, REASON
setup setup
Select a source and reason code for these payments, or accept the defaults.
Click the OK button below the Batch Entry panel to accept the batch information.
You can now enter the payments, one at a time. Click the Add button in the Subscriber Batch Payments panel to enter a payment.
Enter payment information in the Subscriber Batch Payments fields, described in the table below.
Field Type What to enter TYPE
display
This field displays the type of payment being entered (single or group). Currently, only single payments can be entered via the graphical interface. Group payments can be entered in character Circulation—see Entering Group Payments.
SUBSCRIBER
setup
Enter the subscriber’s last name (or part of their last name), telephone number or subscription ID. Circulation will search for an exact match. If multiple matches are found, they are displayed in a scrollable window so you can select the correct subscriber. If the subscriber has more than one subscription, the subscription information is displayed in the same way.
PAY DATE
date
The date entered on the Batch Payments screen displays. You may change this date. Note that payments cannot be entered for a fiscal period that has been closed (see Close Period (Subscriber) for more information).
EFFECTIVE
date
Enter the date on which the payment should go into effect. This field is not active for office pay subscribers. For subscribers changing from carrier collect to office pay, enter the start date for the office pay status. If this date is before the last publishing date, back credit is issued to the carrier/dealer(s) using the draw adjustment code established in Business Rules. Business Rules determine how far back to search for this customer’s previous expiration date. If found, that date is displayed. If not, the next publishing date is displayed (and can be changed).
PAY TYPE
predefined
Indicate whether the payment is a check, cash, credit card or bank draft payment. If “Bank Draft,” “Check,” or “Credit Card” are selected, a window will open for additional information, as described in the steps below.
AMOUNT
decimal (6)
Enter the amount of the payment (without tip, coupon or adjustment). The amount may default from the previous payment (as determined by Business Rules); the default can be overridden.
COUPON
decimal (6)
Enter the coupon amount, if any, with this payment. The amount entered is added to the payment amount to determine the length of the subscription.
TIP
decimal (6)
Enter the amount of the tip, if any, included with this payment. If the subscription is delivered by multiple carriers, the tip will be distributed evenly between them or based on the number of days delivered, as governed by Business Rules. For example, a 5.00 tip for a subscription delivered by a Sunday carrier and a Mon-Sat carrier could be divided evenly at 2.50 per carrier, or by days at 0.71 (Sunday) and 4.29 (Mon-Sat). Press F5 to override these amounts and enter your own tip distribution. A Charge Code (see Publication in the Setup Manual) and a Charge GL Account (see CR GL Account in the Setup Manual) must exist for tips before processing.
ADJUSTMENT
yes/no
Check this field if the subscriber payment includes an adjustment. If so, the Adjustment window (shown below) will open for entry of the adjustment code and amount.
TERM, LENGTH
display or integer
The subscription term and length (based on the rate code and the amount of the payment) are displayed. If an exact match is found, the exact term and length display. If not, Circulation calculates the number of days that the amount of payment can buy. You may override these terms and lengths. Note: If a subscription term contains bonus days with premiums (Paying for Premium Days), the total premium amount is included in the term cost and will be placed in the subscriber’s premium day wallet.
REMARKS
open
Enter any remarks that pertain to this payment. Remarks appear in the Payment Journal and are retained in history.
If the payment is a check (based on the Pay Type field), the Check Info window opens. Enter the check number in the Check Number field. The bill-to subscriber name displays in the Holder Name field.
If this is a credit card payment, a window opens for the credit card number and other information—the fields in this window vary based on Business Rules, your selected credit card authorization vendor, and whether you are using the Hosted Order Page. See About Payment Authorization for more information. Note:
If you are using the character version of Batch Payments and the Hosted Order Page, use the Vaulting Service to obtain a vault ID for the credit card payment, and enter it in the Vault ID field. See Vaulting Service for details.
If this is a bank draft payment, the Bank Draft Info window displays. Enter the bank routing number and account number here. Additional fields may also be required, based on your bank draft interface format.
Click the OK button to add the payment to the batch, or the Add Another button to add the payment and begin entering the next payment. (If you click OK and then decide to enter another payment, you can just click the Add button.) You can also modify or delete payments added to the batch (authorized credit card payments, however, cannot be deleted). The payment is listed in the Subscriber Batch Payments grid on the right side of the screen.
As you enter subscriber payments, the amount displayed in the Total field (above the Subscriber Batch Payments grid) changes. If you enter coupon and/or non cash adjustment amounts, those totals change also. When you finish entering payments for a batch, Total Cash and Control Cash should be equal. Otherwise, the batch is out of balance. The same is true of the coupon and adjustment totals.
After all payments have been entered, click the Accept button below the Batch Entry panel to enter the batch of payments into the database (the payments will be applied to subscriber accounts during Payment Processing). If the totals for the payments do not match the control totals entered with the batch, you will be prompted to update the control totals. You may also suspend the batch by clicking the Suspend button. To reject the batch, click the Reject button (all of the payments will be lost).
If a payment batch is suspended, you can print the Payment Journal to verify payments, and restart it at a later time. To restart a suspended batch, go into Batch Payments and select the suspended batch in the Batch field (rather than entering a new batch ID). The batch will then display with its payments, and can be accepted.
If you accept a batch and later find that a payment was entered incorrectly, you must cancel the payment in Customer Service (see Cancel Payment) and then reenter it.
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