Finance Charges
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Activities ... Billing ... Apply Finance Charges


About Finance Charges

Finance charges are used to charge penalties and/or interest for unpaid invoices. This process allows you to rapidly select customers and charge the appropriate late fee or interest based upon user-selected criteria. Customers can be charged flat penalties, or percentage-based fees, which can be applied on a simple or compounded basis. These charges will constitute new invoices, which will then appear on the next statement the customer receives.


In this Topic
   Quick Help - Finance Charges
   Field by Field Help - Finance Charge Criteria screen
   Posting Finance Charges
   Field by Field Help - Post Finance Charges screen
   Q & A - Finance Charges


Related Topics
   2.10   How to Use Activities
   3.5   Terms
   5.6   Bad Debt Write-Off
   7.7   Statement Processing
   7.9   Collections



Quick Help - Finance Charges

1)Select the Apply Finance Charges menu option.  
2)Click the Build List button to enter finance charge criteria.  
3)Verify list of finance charges to be posted. Delete items if necessary.  
4)Click the Post button to post finance charges.  




Field by Field Help - Finance Charge Criteria screen

Billing Group
Enter or select the billing group for which to run finance charges.

Calculate Finance Charges Based On
Choose from the following options:

All Unpaid InvoicesThe program will examine all invoices which remain unpaid. If the due date has passed and a balance remains on the invoice, a finance charge will be assessed. This method can result in a finance charge being assessed multiple times on the same invoice.  
 
New Past Due InvoicesThe program will examine any invoices which have not previously been subject to finance charges. If any new invoices were paid after the due date, or remain unpaid after the due date, a finance charge will be assessed. This method will not result in a finance charge being assessed multiple times on the same invoice.  
 
Minimum Invoice(s) Balance to Qualify
Enter the minimum amount on an invoice for that invoice to be subject to finance charge calculation.

Finance Charge Amount on Past Due Invoices (percent) / (flat rate)
Enter the amount which should be levied for finance charges, or a percentage of the balance to be charged. If both fields are provided, the program will assess the greater of the two amounts.

Allow Compounded Finance Charges
When checked, instructs the program to levy finance charges on unpaid or late-paid finance charges.

Skip Invoices with due date more than XX days ago
When checked, instructs the program to examine invoices with a due date no earlier than the date XX days ago.
exampleFor example, if today is May 25, and you want the program to consider invoices that were due on or after May 10, you would enter 15 in this field.  
 
Include inactive customers in selection criteria
When checked, the program will consider all customers; not just the active customers.

Include tardy invoice reference note on finance charges
When checked, the program will include a reference note on the finance charge transaction, which will enumerate the invoice numbers for which a charge was applied.

infoYou can prevent a customer from being assessed a finance charge, or override the finance charge criteria for a specific customer, using the options found on the Customer screen.  




Posting Finance Charges

The next step in assessing finance charges is to post the list which has been created. Before posting, any unintended items may be removed from the list. Once ready, click Post, and the program will generate finance charge invoices as listed, and post the invoices to the account.

exclaimLike most other posting processes, past due notice posting is irreversible. In the event of power failure or computer lockup during posting, re-attempt the posting process again to finish the process.  





Field by Field Help - Post Finance Charges screen

Begin posting list
Click this button to begin posting the finance charges list.

Billing Group
Displays the billing group used to create the finance charges list, as well as the description of the billing group.

Entries to Post
Displays the number of finance charge invoices that will be created during the posting process.
Use SuperSpeed Posting for Very Large Databasesgear
When checked, speeds up the posting process by using more memory and system/network resources. This option is recommended for larger databases and/or during times of light system usage.




Q & A - Finance Charges

Q01.   Why would a customer get a finance charge even though their balance is $0.00?
A01.   If the "New Past Due Invoices" option was used, zero balance invoices can be charged a finance charge, if the invoice was paid after the due date.

Q02.   Will the finance charge feature create a new invoice to send as a bill to a customer?
A02.   You can print out the invoice that the program creates. It will show the finance charge information and optionally can show which invoices were considered for the late fee.

Q03.   Can finance charges be applied by sub-account instead of the main account?
A03.   No. The finance charges are charged to the main account only.

Q04.   How many times will the program let you charge a finance charge per invoice?
A04.   If you choose to calculate finance charges based on "All Unpaid Invoices", then you can charge finance charges for the same invoice over and over until it is paid. If the "New Past Due Invoices" option was used, invoices will be considered once for finance charges.

Q05.   I don't see my question here. Where else can I get information?
A05.   Visit our website's Technical Support section.




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