Financial Management System
Student Tuition Easy
Payment Plan (STEPP)
Center for Information Services
Supporting Washington State’s Community and Technical Colleges
April 2008
 Center for Information Services
3101 Northup Way, Suite 100
Bellevue, WA 98004-1449
Phone 425.803.9700
http://www.cis.ctc.edu
This documentation provided by Tara Lewis and the staff at Columbia Basin College.
Table of Contents
Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Using STEPP .............................................................................................................................. 2
Activity, Spreadsheets and Reports ............................................................................................ 8
Clearing PT and Posting Tuition Payments .............................................................................. 14
Notes for Hope Scholarship and 1098T Reporting ................................................................... 20
This page inserted for back-to-back printing.
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Student Tuition Easy Payment Plan
(STEPP)
The Student Tuition Easy Payment Plan (STEPP) was implemented in 1999 as an alternative to
existing vendor tuition payment plans. Removing the tuition and fees from the cashiering screen
and using STEPP to provide a monthly payment alternative helps prevent students from being
dropped for non-payment after the published tuition due date.
This document provides information on and instructions for using STEPP. The screenshots and
instructions that follow show Columbia Basin College’s (CBC) application of STEPP. Other
colleges have modified the original plan to suit their own preferences.
Overview
Students pay an annual enrollment fee in the fall (or when first starting STEPP) and make
monthly payments throughout the year. CBC currently charges $35 for plan enrollment. Once a
student enrolls in STEPP, his or her charges are “paid” on CBC’s cashiering screen using
Customer ID PT (Prepaid Tuition).
While certain high-cost programs such as Fire Science and Dental Hygiene allow their fees to be
carried on and paid for through STEPP, in general, CBC does not allow special, non-refundable
course fees, for example lab fees or distance learning fees, to be carried through STEPP. These
must be paid in advance by the published tuition due date.
Charges are divided into three equal payments. A student signs an enrollment form agreeing to
the amounts and due dates. Payments are due on the first working day of each month and become
delinquent on the fifth working day. A $15 late fee is charged for payments received after that
time. (In the past, CBC did not allow students with more than one late payment to continue
STEPP. However, CBC subsequently discovered some students are willing to pay the late fee
repeatedly so CBC allows it.)
Payment due dates are arranged so that the bulk of tuition is paid before the quarter starts, with
the final payment being due well within the 50% refund period. (However, Highline Community
College was able to get an attorney general to state that they could collect the payments over the
course of the quarter.)
After the third payment due date, PT is cleared by applying the amount paid to tuition and fees
and reversing the Q (deposit) transactions. Any unpaid amounts are transferred back to the
student’s account as tuition and the normal collection process ensues.
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Using STEPP
To use STEPP, follow the instructions below. (As a reminder, these instructions and screenshots
are based on CBC’s process.)
1
In the Debt Type Transaction Table (BM1020), in the Debt Type field, type PT.
2
In Account Maintenance (BM1626), in the Customer ID fields, type PT and O
(Other).
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3
In Billing Schedule (BM1023), in the Billing Schedule field, type NI (No Invoice).
To view the Charge Status Sequence and associated codes, use the Charge Status
Table (BM1025).
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4
In the Fee Class Table (BM1011), set up Fee Class PT for Q fee codes.
CBC uses fee class 50 for both PS (enrollment fee) and PU (late fee). Fee Class PT is
allowed for 1098T reporting; fee class 50 is not.
5
In the Organization Information Table (GA1092), set up Org Index to accumulate Q
payments (deposits).
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6
In the Program Index/Organization Index Table (GA1062), attach Org Index to Prg
Index.
7
In the Fee Code Table (BM1001), set up a payment fee code for each quarter (Q1,
Q2, Q3, Q4) to receive STEPP payments.

The Fee Class displays PT.

The YRS Edit displays Y.

The Debt type displays B1 deposits (Trans Code 190, GL5191).
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8
In the Debt Type Transaction Table (BM1020), in the Debt Type field, add B1
(Customer Deposits). The Trans Code is 190, Dr 1110, Cr 5191. (Q payments are
recorded as deposits until all three payments are made. Then payments are
reclassified to tuition.)
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9
In the Fee Code Table (BM1001), add fee codes for PS (enrollment fee) and PU (late
payment). The Debt type is your college’s default debt type.
Below is an example of the Fee Code Table with the PS fee code information
entered:
Below is an example of the Fee Code Table with the PU fee code information
entered:
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Activity, Spreadsheets and Reports
This screenshot of the Customer Account Activity screen (BM1625) shows typical STEPP
transactions.

The first payment was due February 2, but the student had not yet registered for spring
quarter. The payment is either what was paid in the prior quarter, or an amount
appropriate for the expected number of credits.

The student registered and made his second payment March 4 for the adjusted amount
after registration. STEPP-eligible charges were “paid” using Customer ID PT.

The third payment was received April 4.
To view these transactions, see “Student, Matt” in row 7 in the STEPP spreadsheet.
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This screenshot is an example of a STEPP reconciliation spreadsheet.
The reconciliation compares data from several sources to ensure accuracy. The PT section
numbers are derived from the STEPP spreadsheet. The total is reconciled to the Customer
Accounts Aging Report (BM1710J). The Q section numbers are also derived from the STEPP
spreadsheet. The total is reconciled to the GA1335J Prg/Org set up to hold Q deposits/payments.
Samples of each of these reports and instructions on how to generate them follow.
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This screenshot is an example of a STEPP detailed spreadsheet.

Total Tuition (Total in PT): $117,168.25

Total Q Payments received: $40,363.90 + $37,014.67 + $28,150.41 = $105,528.98

Refunds of PT (student dropped a class, the credit balance was paid with PT): $13,151.66

Refunds of Q (Q overpaid or Q was NSF). PT will be adjusted by this amount when
applied to tuition: $511.06
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The following Prg/Org Trial Balance Report (GA1335) agrees with the previous reconciliation:
MON, MAY 9, 2005, 9:35 AM
PERIOD ENDING: 050509
19
FYR: 04-05
FMO: 10
FUND: 570
PRG
INDX
COLUMBIA BASIN COMM COLLEGE
PROGRAM/ORGANIZATION TRIAL BALANCE
PAGE
98
REPORT GA1335
VER007
OTHER AUXILIARY ENTE
ORG
INDX
PRG/ORG TITLE
GL
1B39
PPD TUITION DEPOSITS
1110
5191
AMOUNT
106,476.86
106,476.86.00
*
Payments entered from Cashiering using the Q fee code generate a liability/deposit entry to
GL5191. When Q payments are reversed and PT is applied to tuition on BM1620, GL5191 is
reduced to zero (for more information, see “Clearing PT and Posting Tuition Payments” on page
14.
The following BM1710J report also agrees with the previous reconciliation:
MON, MAY
2, 2005,
9:08 PM
19
DEBT TYPES: PT
COLUMBIA BASIN COMM COLLEGE
STEPP
BY CUSTOMER NAME
CHRG
STAT
UO
UO
UO
UO
UO
UO
UO
CUSTOMER
WHEAT TIM L
WHELPLEY CRYSTAL N
WILDE MARIANNE
WOOD BRADLEY D
WORMAN SYNNOVE S
YADEN ANDREW S
ZAMORA DENNIS C
PAGE
6
REPORT BM1710-PT
VER005
UNOFFICIAL
747.00
528.15
747.00
814.20
382.25
831.00
747.00
104,016.59 *
TOTAL
747.00
528.15
747.00
814.20
382.25
831.00
747.00
104,016.59 *
This report lists all students whose charges have been “paid” by PT. Customer ID PT has a Debt
Type of PT which does not generate accounting entries in UO (unofficial) status. When the PT is
applied to tuition and the Q entries reversed, the balance on this report goes to zero.
The following is from the CIS Job Documentation and provides instructions and parameters for
running BM1710J.
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BM1710J
Customer Accounts Aging Report
The Customer Accounts Aging report provides information on the age of various receivables.
BM1710A
Report:
BM1710B
None
Special Instructions
On-request
Frequency
None
Scheduling Restrictions
Anytime (O, B, P or I)
Execution Time
JOBFAIL
Job Completion Status
None
Job Groups
None
Job Dependency
None
Operator Instructions
15 minutes
Estimated Run Time
This job is restartable.
Recovery/Restart
Parameters
BM1710The aging format to use in producing the report. The aging format must have been defined
AGE-FRMT using the Aging Format Table (BM1022). This determines the column headings and
defines the data to be placed in them.
BM1710Indicates whether the report should be sorted by debt type. Possible values are:
DEBT-OPT Y = Sort report by debt type
N = Do not sort the report by debt type
BM1710Indicates the debt type for which the report should be produced. One or more debt types
DEBT-TYP may be specified separated by commas. A range of debt types may be entered using a
colon. If left blank, all debt types are included.
BM1710The report format to use in producing the report. This determines the classifications of the
RPT-OPT
charges appearing on the left hand side of the report. Possible values are:
1 = Charge Status
2 = Fund
3 = Customer, sorted by Customer ID
4 = Customer, sorted by Customer Name
5 = Customer Reference, sorted by Reference ID
6 = Customer Reference, sorted by Reference Name
BM1710Indicates whether each line item should be shown by charge status. This option has no
STAT-OPT effect with BM1710-RPT-OPT = 1. Possible values are:
Y = Show each line item by charge status
N = Do not show each line item by charge status
Distribution: FMS
Created: WED, DEC 10, 2003, 3:26 PM
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To run BM1710J, follow the instructions below:
1
In the Aging Format Table (BM1022), for Aging Format, add PT so that the PT will
print on BM1710J.
2
In the Job Scheduling screen, schedule report BM1710J to print.
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Clearing PT and Posting Tuition Payments
Clearing and posting of PT, Q and tuition should be done only after reconciling the STEPP
spreadsheet, Report BM1710J – PT and Report GA1335J – Prg/Org Trial Balance for 5191 in
the Q Prg/Org.
The PT and Q amounts must be equal for each student when clearing PT and posting tuition.
Make adjustments to the student’s account on the cashiering screen. Adjustments are made for
amounts not paid, insufficient funds, overpayments and so on, to both the cashiering screen and
the spreadsheet so that the correct amounts are applied to tuition.
For example, if a student has not fully paid, the amount due is re-established as tuition (TR) on
the cashiering screen. The same amount is added as a negative charge also as TR and then is
“paid” with PT to reverse the pending unpaid amount in PT. The columns on the spreadsheet are
then adjusted to match the net PT “payments” on the student’s account.
A new batch is created to apply payments to the tuition and fees. The transactions look like
payments, but in actuality, net to zero cash. The deposit account (Q payments in GL5191 and the
Customer ID PT) will be simultaneously cleared. This is why reconciling must be done prior to
these entries and why PT must equal Q on the spreadsheet.
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To clear PT and post tuition payments, follow the instructions below:
1
In the Batch Identifier Table (GA1068), set up Batch ID PT for posting the
application of PT into tuition categories. This allows easy identification of batches
used to complete tuition payments. The batch can be set to post manually (post
indicator=1) until the system is operating smoothly.
2
To continue, press Enter.
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3
In the Customer Activity Maintenance – Option Selection screen (BM1620), select
Customer ID for payment. To move to the next screen, press F5 (Payment).
4
In the Customer Activity Maintenance – Payment screen, enter the total payments
the student made. The amount should equal the net amount charged to PT during the
quarter. To continue, press Enter.
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5
To balance the batch to zero cash, the Q entries must be reversed. Press F6 (Next
Keys).
6
Press F2 (Miscellaneous transaction).
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7
Enter the coding to reverse the Q payments to GL5191. To do so, use Transaction
Code 190R. Use the account (Prg/Org) coding that was set up to accumulate the Q
payment/deposits for this student.
8
To post the transaction, press F4 (Post Trans) twice. After posting, you can enter
another Customer ID. Continue down the STEPP spreadsheet until all PT/Q is
cleared and the tuition and fees are posted.
9
Check the batch for accuracy in the General Accounting Batch Header Screen
(GA1103) and the General Accounting Transactions Screen (GA1104).
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The 023 entries automatically generate to apply PT to tuition and fees. The 190R entry is
the miscellaneous entry that was input to clear the Q deposits (GL5191).
Notes for Hope Scholarship and 1098T Reporting

For 1098T reporting, include the Q fee code (fee class PT) used to receive payments. Be
sure to type a Y in the YRS indicator in BM1001 when setting up Q fee codes. By using
the Q payments as allowable charges/payments, the actual amount paid is reported in the
proper time period for the taxpayer.

When running the 1098 process, exclude the third-party Customer ID code used to
“pay/move” the tuition charges off the cashiering screen (PT). PT is not a third-party
payer.

Be sure not to allow any non-1098T allowable fees to be carried via STEPP so that they
will not be included in the Q payments.
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