Account Information
Last updated
Last updated
In addition to route information, Route Service allows you to view information about your accounts. To access account information, click the Account Inquiry button ().
Your first action will be to find an account:
Click the Find Account button ().
Enter search criteria, such as the account ID or name, social security number, or route ID.
Click OK. If more than one account meets the search criteria, select the correct account from the window that appears.
Once selected, the account ID and other personal information about the carrier/dealer will appear in the upper-left part of the window. The routes delivered by the carrier/dealer are shown in the upper-right corner.
Additional information about the account is shown in the tabs in the lower half of the window. These tabs are described below.
This tab contains information about the carrier/dealer’s balances, among other things. This information is useful when they call to ask about the status of their accounts.
If available, the Account tab will display:
The account’s vendor ID. Vendor IDs may be used in the accounts payable system, and Circulation exports the vendor ID when interfacing credits to AP.
The account’s tax ID, permit number, account class, birthday and contract date.
Account Groups information, which is entered in Account Setup.
The account’s balance for each company and billing source (most carrier/dealers belong to just one company and billing source). The balance will be broken out into four aging periods, with the Current period containing the most recent charges, and Period 3 the oldest. You may or may not apply finance charges to balances in one or more aging periods. Included with the balance information is the date and amount of the last payment.
The Routes tab displays information about the routes delivered by this carrier, or the single copy outlets managed by this dealer. The district, carrier type and start date for the route are listed. You can also see the days on which the carrier delivers the route (in Circulation, a carrier can deliver more than one route, and a route can be delivered by more than one carrier).
Double-clicking on a route will take you to the main Route Service window, with information about that route displayed.
A miscellaneous charge is a charge or credit applied to a carrier account on an irregular basis—for example, a credit because the carrier had a shortage and had to buy papers from a store.
The Charges/Credits tab lists the amounts and charge codes of any miscellaneous charges entered for the account, starting with the most recent charge. Note that the Billed column indicates whether the carrier/dealer has been billed for this charge.
In contrast with miscellaneous charges, recurring charges are standard charges or credits applied to carrier accounts on a regular basis—for example, a charge for insurance. The Recurring tab lists all recurring charges that have been set up for the account (in Account Setup).
Court-ordered levies can be imposed on a carrier’s wages for expenses such as alimony and car loans. In Circulation, levies are similar to recurring charges, but they are based on the carrier’s 1099 net income. Levy charges are displayed on the Levy tab.
You can view payments made by the account, starting with the most recent, on the Payments tab. The date, check number, and the batch in which the payment was entered is also shown. The invoice or invoices associated with each of an account’s payments are also shown. Clicking the “+” next to each payment will display the related invoice(s).
If you tax your accounts, you may find the Tax Authorities tab useful. Any city, county, state or country tax authorities that apply to the account are listed. If the account is exempt from a tax authority that would normally tax them, the exempt reason code will be shown in the Exempt column.
Carrier/dealers sometimes have questions about items on their invoices. Existing invoices can be viewed on the Invoices tab. The payment or payments associated with each invoice are also shown. Clicking the “+” next to each invoice will display the related payment(s). To view a specific invoice, highlight it and click the View Invoice button. It will be displayed in your browser, and the standard view/print options will be available. You can also click the View Signature button to view the signature for a payment, if there is a signature image on file.
In addition to viewing invoices, you can enter and resolve disputes from the Invoices tab. While an invoice is disputed, payments cannot be applied to it, and the invoice will show up as disputed on the Detail Age Analysis report.
Click the Dispute button to enter a dispute for the invoice. In the Dispute window that opens, enter the dispute date, reason, date, and any comments that pertain to the dispute. Then click OK.
Click the Task button to create a task for a disputed invoice. (The task button is only active when a disputed invoice is selected.)
Click the Resolve button to resolve a disputed invoice. This will close any task related to the dispute, and an alert can be generated automatically.
The Complaint tab displays complaints entered for an account within a given date range. To view complaints, enter a start and end date, then click OK. The date, product, route, complaint code and complaint text will be shown for all complaints entered for this account that have a complaint date within this date range.
The Demographics tab displays the demographic questions and answers that apply to the account. To enter a demographic answer, highlight the question, click Modify, and enter the answer.
The Notification tab displays the message notification preferences defined for the account. These preferences define how this account receives messages when the carrier mail export is run.
The Tasks tab allows you to enter a manual task for an account.
