InformationNOW – Billing
Monthly Procedures and
Posting Process Guide
Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide a monthly procedure of the order of posting to insure that all transactions
made during the month are posted to the accounting system in a timely manner to assist with reconciling accounts
receivable, prepayment liability, and individual deposits on bank reconciliations.
InformationNOW Billing, the receivables module, serves as a subsidiary ledger to the General Ledger. The monthly
procedures and posting processes together with Billing Reports helps the user to reconcile the two systems.
Transactions created in the billing system are usually posted to the general ledger of a customer’s accounting
system. The posting process is for the creating, viewing, deleting, printing, exporting and processing of posting
batches. A posting batch is simply a way to link a group of transactions, not already in a batch, in a group based on
specific criteria. Once a batch is created, it may be posted to an accounting system, such as STI Accountrak, by
creating an export file for the accounting system to import. If not using Accountrak, the user may also mark the
batch as posted indicating that the transactions in the batch have been processed by the accounting system. When the
Accountrak interface is in use, Accountrak will use a web service to automatically mark the batch as posted in
Billing.
If a transaction that is linked to a posted batch is deleted, a posting correction must be sent to the accounting system
for the deleted transaction. Posting correction records are also included in the posting batches and they are included
in the transaction count and amount totals.
Table of Contents
InformationNOW – Billing Monthly Procedures and Posting Process
Guide
1
Overview ................................................................................................................................... 1
Table of Contents
2
Monthly Procedures
3
About Monthly Procedures........................................................................................................ 3
A: Assess Charges ....................................................................................................... 3
B: Apply Recurring Credits......................................................................................... 3
C: Apply Prepayments................................................................................................. 3
D: Post to Accounting ................................................................................................. 4
Daily / Weekly Procedures
5
About Daily/Weekly Procedures ............................................................................................... 5
A: Add Payments / Miscellaneous Charges and Credits ............................................. 5
B: Post to Accounting.................................................................................................. 5
Posting Procedures
6
About Posting Procedures.......................................................................................................... 6
A: Add a Batch ............................................................................................................ 6
B: Print Batch .............................................................................................................. 7
C: Export Batch ........................................................................................................... 7
D: Post Batch............................................................................................................... 9
E: Delete Batch............................................................................................................ 9
Summary Reference for the Posting Process
10
A: New Transactions ............................................................................................................... 10
1: Accrual Method Processing................................................................................... 10
2: Cash Method Processing ....................................................................................... 11
B: Deleted Transactions – Correcting Entries.......................................................................... 11
1: Accrual Method..................................................................................................... 12
2: Cash Method ......................................................................................................... 12
Additional Documentation and Support
13
A: STI Support Documentation Page ...................................................................................... 13
B: Accessing Online Help........................................................................................................ 13
2 • Table of Contents
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Monthly Procedures
About Monthly Procedures
Typically, Steps A thru D are completed during the first of each month. However, it may be necessary to adjust the
time of the month to fit your specific needs and internal office procedures. In any event, Steps A thru D should be
performed during the same user session.
NOTE: If Require Transaction Posting is selected in Billing Preferences, it will be necessary
to complete the posting process after Step A, as well as after Step C.
A: Assess Charges
•
Assess Recurring Charges.
•
Assess Day Care Charges, if applicable.
•
Enter any Manual Billing/Incidental Charges, if applicable.
B: Apply Recurring Credits
If applicable, these non-monetary credits from recurring schedules should be processed immediately following
assessing recurring charges. This insures that credit installments are used up in a timely manner. Recurring credits
will only apply as much of the installment as there are open charges. So if payments are entered first, reducing the
balance of the charges, it is possible that credit installments will be left with a balance to apply later.
C: Apply Prepayments
Occasionally payments will be made in advance, or where there are no charges yet, these payments will create a
prepayment. Each month as new charges are assessed, these prepayments (old money) should be applied to the new
charges before more new payments are entered. Applying Prepayments should be a step that is performed once a
month – this could be during the first of the month after Recurring Charges are assessed, or at the end of the month
before the next month’s charges are assessed.
NOTE: If Require Transaction Posting is selected in Billing Preferences, it will be necessary
to complete the posting process after Step A, as well as after Step C.
NOTE to former School Minder Billing Users: This is a change in the posting process. If
Require Transaction Posting is unselected in Billing Preferences in InformationNOW Billing,
it is not required that all transactions be posted in order to apply Prepayments. If Require
Transaction Posting is not selected, unposted prepayments will apply to unposted charges.
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Monthly Procedures • 3
D: Post to Accounting
Posting to accounting involves several steps from creating batches to marking as posted. Refer to the steps outlined
in Posting Procedures below.
NOTE: Before creating a posting Batch, it is recommended that you print the General Ledger
Posting Report from the Management Reports for the same criteria (date range and transaction
types).
In Billing Preferences, you may elect to turn off the Require Transaction Posting. However, if Require
Transaction Posting is selected, all transactions must be posted before applying prepayments.
•
Print General Ledger Posting Report.
•
Create the Batch.
•
Print Batch Report (Optional).
•
Export the Batch.
o
•
Note: For Accountrak users, save the file as a .txt file in the ATWIN directory.
Mark Batch Posted.
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Daily / Weekly Procedures
About Daily/Weekly Procedures
Once the monthly procedures above are completed, the remainder of the month you will be entering payments,
assessing incidental charges, assessing weekly day care charges, and making adjustments (miscellaneous charges
and credits) to Household accounts.
A: Add Payments / Miscellaneous Charges and
Credits
At the end of each day, or range of days, as payments are prepared for depositing, print the Payment Receipt Journal
for the specific date range to review a list of monetary payments and for use with balancing your deposit.
B: Post to Accounting
Posting to accounting involves several steps from creating batches to marking as posted. Refer to the steps outlined
in the section “Posting Procedures” on page 6.
NOTE: Before creating a posting Batch, it is recommended that you print the General Ledger
Posting Report from the Management Reports for the same criteria (date range and transaction
types).
In Billing Preferences, you may elect to turn off the Require Transaction Posting. However, if Require
Transaction Posting is selected, all transactions must be posted before applying prepayments.
•
Print General Ledger Posting Report.
•
Create the Batch.
•
Print Batch Report (Optional).
•
Export the Batch.
o
•
Note: For Accountrak users, save the file as a .txt file in the ATWIN directory.
Mark Batch Posted.
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Daily / Weekly Procedures • 5
Posting Procedures
About Posting Procedures
Go to Billing | Utilities | Maintain Posting Batches.
NOTE: Before creating a batch, you should first print the General Ledger Posting Report from the
Reports menu.
The Posting Type and Posted Status drop-lists specifically refer to the display of batches in the grid. The Posting
Type will default to All, while the Posted Status will default to Unposted. Changes to these fields will automatically
refresh the list.
•
Posting Type: Select which batches are displayed in the list – Batches for All Transactions, Batches for
Charges and Discounts Only, or Batches for Payments and Credits Only.
•
Posted Status: Select which batches are displayed in the list – All for both Unposted and Posted Batches,
Unposted Batches Only, or Posted Batches Only.
A: Add a Batch
Click Add to create a new posting batch.
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NOTE: If you didn’t print the General Ledger Posting Report from the report menu, you may
print that now, by clicking on the link under Tasks. Once batches are marked as posted, this
report is no longer available for the transactions included in a posted batch.
•
Posting Type: Select the transactions to be included in the batch -- All Transactions, Charges and
Discounts only, or Payments and Credits only.
•
Format for Posting: The method of accounting selected in Billing Preferences is displayed as a view
only field.
•
Start /End Date: The date range of the transactions to be included in the batch.
•
Click Create to create the batch.
•
Cancel will return to the Maintain Posting Batches screen.
B: Print Batch
Click the checkbox to the right of the desired Batch and click Print.
This report will provide the detail of all transactions included in the batch by transaction type. The Totals for each
type of transaction will match the totals on the General Ledger Posting Report for the same type. This report may
also be printed at any time after a batch has been created and posted.
Printing a batch may be done at any time and does not have to be done before Exporting or Deleting. To Print a
Batch at any time, simply change the Posted Status drop down list to include Posted Batches.
C: Export Batch
NOTE: For Accountrak users, if Use Accountrak Interface is selected in Billing Preferences,
Accountrak will use a Web service to automatically mark the batch as posted in Billing.
Otherwise, this will give you the opportunity to create the .txt file for importing into Accountrak Finance &
Payables. Saving the .txt file and manually importing into Accountrak will require that the batch be marked as
Posted manually.
•
This step may be skipped if you are not creating a .csv or .txt file to import into your accounting software.
•
To create the export file, click the check box to the right of the desired Batch and click Export.
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When the File Download screen is displayed, click the Save button to navigate to the ATWIN directory. The default
file name is SMBPost##.csv – the file name will use the Batch ID.
•
On the next screen, Accountrak users must change the extension of the file name from .csv to .txt by
clicking into the Name field and changing the extension. In order to import the file into Accountrak using
the Utilities | Import SMBPost Text utility, the file should be saved in the Accountrak working
directory.
•
Click Save.
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D: Post Batch
Clicking the Post button will mark all entries in the Batch as posted. The date the Batch is marked Posted will
display in the grid. Once a batch is marked as posted, you may no longer print the General Ledger Posting Report
for these transactions. Marking a batch as posted will keep these transactions from being included on subsequent
batches.
Transactions included in an unposted Batch cannot be edited or deleted. In order to edit or delete a transaction in an
unposted batch, either mark the batch as posted, or delete the batch, make the necessary corrections and recreate a
new batch.
E: Delete Batch
Only Batches that are not Posted, or where the Date field is blank, can be deleted. Deleting a Batch will allow you to
make corrections to transactions and then create a new batch.
NOTE: Deleting transactions from Maintain Payments or Maintain Charges which are part of a
batch that has been Posted, will create reversing or correcting entries that will be included on the
next General Ledger Posting Report.
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Posting Procedures • 9
Summary Reference for the
Posting Process
A: New Transactions
1: Accrual Method Processing
Using the Accrual method, income is realized when charges are billed. The difference of what has been billed and
what is still uncollected is represented by the Accounts Receivable account.
Assessed Charges
•
Credit the accounts linked to the charge types for the amount billed.
•
Debit Accounts Receivable for total amount billed.
Discounts Given
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for the total amount of discounts given.
•
Debit the accounts linked to each discount type for the amount given.
Credits Given and Applied to Charges
•
Debit the GL accounts tied to the credit types for the amount of the credits given.
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for the credit amounts applied.
Credit Given and not Applied to Any Charges.
•
Credit Prepayment Liability account for full credit amount.
•
Debit the GL accounts tied to the credit types for the amount of the credits given.
Credit Given and Only Part of the Entire Amount is
Applied to Charges Leaving a Balance.
•
Debit GL account connected to credit type for full amount.
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for applied amount.
•
Credit Prepayment Liability account for unapplied credit amount.
10 • Summary Reference for the Posting Process
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Prepayment Credit Applied to Charges
•
Debit the Prepayment Liability account for the amount of credits applied to charges.
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for amount of credits applied to charges.
Payments Received
•
Debit Cash for the total of all monetary payments received.
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for payments applied to charges.
•
Credit Prepayment Liability account for the unapplied prepayments received/left over.
Monetary Prepayments Applied to Charges
•
Debit the Prepayment Liability account for the amount of prepayments applied to charges.
•
Credit Accounts Receivable for amount of prepayments applied to charges.
2: Cash Method Processing
Using the Cash method, only cash income is recognized and the income is not realized when charges are billed,
ONLY when payments are actually received.
Assessed Charges
•
No posting occurs.
Discounts Given
•
No posting occurs.
Credits Given and Applied to Charges
•
No posting occurs.
Payments Received
•
Debit Cash for the total of all monetary payments received.
•
Credit Income accounts of charge types for charges to which payments were applied.
•
Credit Prepayment Liability account for the unapplied prepayments received/left over.
Prepayments Applied to Charges
•
Debit the Prepayment Liability account for the amount of prepayments applied to charges.
•
Credit Income accounts of charge types for charges to which prepayments were applied.
B: Deleted Transactions – Correcting Entries
When a posted transaction is deleted, the program will create correcting entries referred to as posting corrections, for
the accounting interface and report. These will be included at the end of the report in a separate section. The entries
created will be based on the item being deleted and the accounting method chosen in Billing Preferences.
Only an entire payment/credit entry may be deleted. Multiple correction entries, however, will be made to match
each detailed application and any prepayment amount created from the payment/credit.
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1: Accrual Method
Transaction
Charges
Discounts
Applied Payments
Unapplied Prepayments
Applied Credits
Unapplied Credits
Applied Prepayments
Applied Prepay Credits
Posting Entries
Credit Accounts Receivable
Debit Accounts Receivable
Credit Cash
Credit Cash
Debit Accounts Receivable
Debit Prepayment Liability
Debit Accounts Receivable
Debit Accounts Receivable
Debit account on Charge Type
Credit account on Discount Type
Debit Accounts Receivable
Debit Prepayment Liability
Credit account on Credit Type
Credit account on the Credit Type
Credit Cash
Credit account on Credit Type
2: Cash Method
Transaction
Charges
Discounts
Applied Payments
Unapplied Prepayments
Applied Credits
Unapplied Credits
Applied Prepayments
Applied Prepay Credit
Posting Entries
No Entry
No Entry
Credit Cash
Credit Cash
No Entry
No Entry
Credit Cash
No Entry
Debit account on Charge Type
Debit Prepayment Liability
Debit account on Charge Type
Individual correcting entries will be created for each transaction deleted. On the posting report, these will appear as
summary entries by transaction type (charge, discount, prepayment, etc) and related general ledger account number.
12 • Summary Reference for the Posting Process
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Additional Documentation and
Support
A: STI Support Documentation Page
To view other documentation on InformationNOW Billing, go to www.sti-k12.com. Select Support and enter your
User Id and Password. Select Documentation | Quick Reference Guides | InformationNOW – Webbased SIS. The following documents are available or are in development
•
InformationNOW – Billing Setup Guide
•
InformationNOW – Billing Reports Guide
•
InformationNOW – Billing Monthly Procedures and Posting Process Guide
•
InformationNOW – Household Setup Guide (coming soon)
•
InformationNOW – Billing Daily Usage and Procedures Guide (coming soon)
B: Accessing Online Help
Where available, use the Help link in Tasks in the upper left of most of the Billing screens.
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