Fee Management Year End

Transcription

1 Fee Management Year End Overview Pre-Year End Processing Year End Processing Options 1 Accrual Example Option 2 Cash Basis Outstanding Balances with Fee Detail Example Option 3 Cash Basis Outstanding Balances Only Example Post-Year End Processing Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 1 of 31 Version

2 Overview The Fee Management Year End is a series of processes run annually to close the current year and begin the upcoming school year. The modules of Student Records, Food Service and Special Education also have a Year End process. Processing Order The following may be processed before or after Fee Management Year End Student Records Food Service Special Education Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 2 of 31 Version

3 Pre-Year End Processing Before running the year end process there are several steps that should be completed. These steps include: Create Prorate Schedules for Next Year (if using) Clone Bill Codes to the Next School Year Run any Current Year Reports and Save them to PDF Files as desired Update the General Ledger (if using) Resolve Any Refunds in SBAA (if using) Update Any Outstanding Fee or Payment Batches Run the Update Abandoned Payments Utility if Using Online Payments Consider Applying Credit Balances to Outstanding Fees Turn Off Online Payments (only necessary when running the actual processing of year end) Create a Backup of the Database Lock the Student Management System if there is concern that anyone might access Fee Management while the year end is being processed Indiana Users: It is recommended that Indiana users who need to retain copies of the Summary Cost and Claim Form, to generate it for each month in advance of the Fee Year End Process if copies are needed for historical purposes. This report is not designed to be generated for historical years. See next page for important processing note Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 3 of 31 Version

4 Important Note: Districts can run Fee Management as Bill by Entity or Bill by District. How the district is set up will determine how many times year end will need to be run. To determine the setting for your district, navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Fee Management Configuration. Bill By District: The year end process will be processed one time and can be processed from any entity. The pre-processing items will also only need to be performed in one entity. Bill By Entity: The year end process and pre-processing items will need to be performed in all entities that use Fee Management. It does not matter which entity is processed first nor must they all be processed at the same time. However, the fee year will not increment to the next school year until all entities have run year end. If this option is checked the district Bills By Entity. If this option is not checked the district Bills By District. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 4 of 31 Version

5 Create Prorate Schedules for Next Year If the entity is using proration or discounting the Prorate Schedules for next year must exist in order for the clone of Bill codes utility to run properly. To determine if any Prorate Schedules have been created in the current school navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Codes > Prorate Schedules. If a code exists in the current year and has been attached to a Fee bill code, use the Add button to create the same code for next year. In this instance it is imperative that the code created for next school year match the code created in the current year. The system will prompt the user to set up the prorate/discount schedule to be used with the code being created. This step does not have to be completed prior to year. However, failure to set up the Discount/Proration table prior to charging students will result in inaccurate data. Clone Bill Codes to Next School Year Most districts will wish to continue to use existing Fee Management codes in the upcoming school year. The utility to Clone Data to School Year can be found under Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Utilities. If there is an issue with a code an exclamation mark will display and can be clicked for more information. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 5 of 31 Version

6 Run Current Year Reports and Save to PDF There are only a few reports that can be printed for historical years. They include the Billing Detail, Fee Code Totals, and Invoice reports. All other reports are only available for current and next year Fee Management. Of particular interest are Fee Statements. It is recommended that a current statement be run for all customers and saved as a PDF file so that individual statements from the current year can be printed if needed. Update the General Ledger (if using) Districts updating to the General Ledger must update all records prior to running year end. The system will not proceed with year end processing if there are outstanding records. To determine if your district uses this feature navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Fee Management Configuration. If the option Update To The General Ledger is checked the district is set up to use this feature and an update should be completed prior to year end. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 6 of 31 Version

7 Resolve Any Refunds in SBAA (if using) SBAA stands for School Based Activity Accounting which is an additional module that can be purchased. If this module is being used and set up to interface with Fee Management, all refunds must be resolved before year end can be processed. To determine if your district is updating to SBAA navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Fee Management > Configuration. If the district attempts to complete year end without resolving refunds the system will display a warning and will not allow year end to continue. If both Suppress Use of School Based Activity Accounting and Update To The General Ledger are unchecked, the district is updating to SBAA. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 7 of 31 Version

8 Update Any Outstanding Fee or Payment Batches Batch processing allows users to create lists of charges and/or payments to be assigned to customers/payors. The records on the list are not created until the batch is posted. Any outstanding batch that has valid current charge or payment information should be updated prior to year end. To determine if outstanding batches exist navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Mass Fee Creation > Batch Entry > Enter Fees (Enter Payments). If batches exist and should be posted to customer accounts, the Post Batches button should be used. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 8 of 31 Version

9 Run the Update Abandoned Payments Utility if Using Online Payments This step is only for districts using the Original or Single Point of Entry (SPE) option when taking fee payments online. To determine what option your district uses navigate to Product Setup > Skyward Contact Access > Student Management > Configuration and click the Vendor Setup button. Edit the displayed record and check the Payment Interface option. Districts using the XML format should not run the abandoned payments utility. It is recommended that the utility be run for the entire school year to capture any abandoned payments before year end is processed. SPECIAL NOTE: Districts using Payschools as their vendor should NOT run this utility. To access the utility, navigate to Families > Family Access > Setup >Utilities. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 9 of 31 Version

10 Apply Credit Balances to Outstanding Fees If there are credit balances on accounts, the district may wish to apply those credit balances to any outstanding fees prior to running year end. Doing so may lessen the amount of billing detail pulled to the new year. To apply credit balances, navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Utilities > Apply Credit Balance. The only requirement when setting up the template is to select a payment Bill code to use. This is typically an Adjustment code with a Bill Type of Other. If desired, the specific Bill codes to apply credit to and the order in which credit is to be applied can be defined. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 10 of 31 Version

11 Turn Off Online Payments (only necessary when running the actual processing of year end) It is recommended that as the year end process is run parents/guardians are restricted from attempting to make Fee Management payments online. To prevent this, navigate to Product Setup > Skyward Contact Access > Student Management > Configuration and click the Vendor Setup button. Edit the displayed line item. This drop-down identifies which modules can accept online payments. To prevent online payments, the Payment Subsystem should be set to Food Service or None. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 11 of 31 Version

12 Create a Backup of the Database Skyward recommends a backup be made prior to running the year end process and stored in a location where it will not be overwritten. Creating a backup of the database is usually something the Technology Department would handle. Lock the Student Management System To make sure the year end process runs smoothly no users should be working in Fee Management while the year end is processed. If this isn t something that can be controlled the district may wish to lock the entire Student Management system while the process runs. To lock the system, navigate to Product Setup > System Administration > System Administration > Utilities > Lock and Unlock System. Typically, only the Student Management system would be locked so that users could not gain entry during year end. If desired, Family Access could also be locked to avoid any parent adding charges to their account. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 12 of 31 Version

13 Year End Processing Before beginning the process here are some important reminders. Make a backup Bill by Entity sites need to process year end for each entity that uses Fee Management. The fee year will not increment until all entities have been processed. Bill by District sites will process year end only once. There are 3 options for how to process year end. All options will be available for selection unless SBAA or the General Ledger update are being used. If using SBAA or using the General Ledger update process the system will only provide the options that will maintain proper accounting. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 13 of 31 Version

14 Year End Option 1 Accrual The Accrual option will take any unpaid balances and carry the amount forward to the new year via an arrears charge selected during the year end process. To access year end, navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Year End. Setting Year End Options Reset all waiver flags for customers in this entity to Not Waived: This option should be checked if the entity/district has used the waiver flag on the customer record to determine system discounting and that waiver flag should be cleared before beginning to process next year fees. To determine if any customers have been marked as waived the Student Waivers Report can be run from Administration > Fee Management > Reporting. If this option is not selected during year end and it is later determined that the waiver flag should be cleared the Mass Change Waiver Status Flag can be used under Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Utilities. Arrears Due Date: Enter the date the arrears records created during year end should be due. Something to consider is when fees will be due that are charged for the next school year. Typically, the arrears charge should be due prior to any new fees. Arrears Code: Use the link or drop-down to select an Arrears code. Only codes with a Bill Type of Arrears will be available. If a code does not exist it can be added using the link displayed. A common code created is PRIORBAL with a description of Prior Balance. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 14 of 31 Version

15 Example of Accrual Year End Prior to Year End: Student has 1 fee that has been paid and 2 fees are unpaid. After Year End: The fees have been moved to history and a Prior Balance record for the full amount owed has been created. In this example the prior balance is being seen in the Next Year Fee Activity area because not all entities have run year end and therefore the year has not been incremented. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 15 of 31 Version

16 Year End Option 2 Cash Basis Outstanding Balances w/ Fee Detail With this option if a payor has a remaining balance, those charges that have not yet been paid will be moved to the next year. Payments made against these charges will also be moved, as well as other charges that are tied to receipts in any way connected to these charges. Setting Year End Options Reset all waiver flags for customers in this entity to Not Waived: This option should be checked if the entity/district has used the waiver flag on the customer record to determine system discounting and that waiver flag should be cleared before beginning to process next year fees. To determine if any customers have been marked as waived the Student Waivers Report can be run from Administration > Fee Management > Reporting. If this option is not selected during year end and it is later determined that the Waiver flag should be cleared the Mass Change Waiver Status Flag can be used under Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Utilities. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 16 of 31 Version

17 Example of Cash Basis Outstanding Balances with Fee Detail Scenario 1 This student has some fees that have been paid and some that haven t been paid. The receipt shows that all fees were part of the receipt for the entered payment. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 17 of 31 Version

18 After year end all fees remain displayed. This is due to the fact that the outstanding fees were attached to a receipt. To maintain the integrity of that receipt all fees and the receipt must be brought forward. In this example the records are being seen in the Next Year Fee Activity area because not all entities have run year end and therefore the year has not been incremented. Example of Cash Basis Outstanding Balances with Fee Detail Scenario 2 This student has some fees that have been paid and some that haven t been paid. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 18 of 31 Version

19 The receipt of payment shows that the fee still outstanding was not part of the transaction. Because the outstanding charge was not linked to a receipt the receipt can be sent to history while the outstanding fee remains. In this example the records are being seen in the Next Year Fee Activity area because not all entities have run year end and therefore the year has not been incremented. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 19 of 31 Version

20 Year End Option 3 Cash Basis Outstanding Balance Only This option moves all fee detail to history and then creates a new record in the upcoming school year for any amount still outstanding. As an example, if a $10.00 charge had $7.00 paid toward it during the current year, when year end is processed the $10.00 charge will be moved to history and a new charge (with the same Bill code) will be created for $3.00. Setting Year End Options Reset all waiver flags for customers in this entity to Not Waived: This option should be checked if the entity/district has used the waiver flag on the customer record to determine system discounting and that Waiver flag should be cleared before beginning to process next year fees. To determine if any customers have been marked as waived the Student Waivers Report can be run from Administration > Fee Management > Reporting. If this option is not selected during year end and it is later determined that the waiver flag should be cleared the Mass Change Waiver Status Flag can be used under Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Utilities. Credit Arrears Code: This is a required code needed to handle any payor who has a credit balance remaining on their account. The credit must be moved forward as an arrears record and then it will be automatically applied to the Credit Balance in the next year. This Arrears Code WILL NOT be used to roll any other outstanding fees into the next school year. A suggested code to create would be PYCRED with a long description of Prior Year Credit Balance. The system will require the Bill Type of this code to be Arrears. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 20 of 31 Version

21 Example of Cash Basis Outstanding Balances Only Scenario 1 This student has 1 fee that has been fully paid and 2 that have an amount outstanding. The year end process has moved all records to history and created two new charges for the amount that was still outstanding. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 21 of 31 Version

22 Example of Cash Basis Outstanding Balances Only Scenario 2 This account has a $25.00 credit balance. The year end process has used the Arrears code entered during the year end setup to create the credit balance in the next year. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 22 of 31 Version

23 Post-Year End Processing After the year end has been processed there are still a few items that need to be taken care of before starting the next year. Here is a list of steps that may need to be completed. Unlock system Turn Online Payments Back On Update, Add and Inactivate Codes as Needed Make sure Prorate Schedule Tables are Complete Set up Grad Year Fees Increment the Food Service Lunch Code Start Date (if using) Ensure Online Payment Codes are Filled in if the District will be Allowing Online Fee Payments Verify Optional Fees are Set Up for the New Year Transfer Balances to New Default Entity (if desired) Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 23 of 31 Version

24 Unlock System If the system was locked prior to processing year end it should be unlocked. To unlock the system, navigate to Product Setup > System Administration > System Administration > Utilities > Lock and Unlock System. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 24 of 31 Version

25 Turn Online Payments Back On If the Fee Management online payment option was turned off while the year end process was completed it can now be turned back on. To turn on online payments, go to Product Setup > Skyward Contact Access > Student Management > Configuration and click the Vendor Setup button. Edit the displayed line item: This drop-down identifies which modules can accept online payments. Change this to All or Fee Management depending on which modules accept online payments. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 25 of 31 Version

26 Update, Add and Inactivate Codes as Needed Codes can now be modified as necessary to prepare for the next school year. In order to add, change, delete or inactivate codes navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Codes. In this area all codes related to Fee Management can be accessed. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 26 of 31 Version

27 Make Sure Prorate Schedule Tables are Complete Districts that prorate or discount must make sure Prorate Schedules have been fully completed. To do this navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Codes > Prorate Schedules. Each Prorate Schedule should be edited and reviewed to make sure accurate Prorate Schedule information is present. If this is not done the system will not be able to process any prorating/discounting adjustments. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 27 of 31 Version

28 Set up Grad Year Fees This code is tied to the option in Fee Management Configuration to Add Billing Detail Records on Add and will automatically add the fees connected to the student s graduation year. This table needs to be set up each year and must be set up for each graduation year where a fee should be automatically received upon entry. To set up Grad Year Fees navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Codes > Graduation Year Fees. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 28 of 31 Version

29 Increment the Food Service Lunch Code Start Date (if using) If the district is using discounting or prorating utilizing the Lunch Code Start Date the date should be modified. To determine if the district is using this option navigate to Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Fee Management Configuration. If the Lunch Code date it is filled in, it should be modified to use a valid date for the upcoming year. This date typically corresponds with the Food Service 30 grace period given to free and reduced students. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 29 of 31 Version

30 Ensure Online Payment Codes are Filled In To verify Online Payment codes are filled in navigate to Families > Family Access > Setup > Configuration > Entity Configuration > General Information > Fee Management. In this area there may be fields called Current Year Payment Code and Next Year Payment Code. If so this information needs to be filled in for the system to accept payments. If these fields are not present, the system is likely configured in such a way as to not necessitate these codes. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 30 of 31 Version

31 Verify Optional Fees are Setup If parents are allowed to select optional fees for their students through Family Access, the charges available for selection should be verified. This can be done through Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Family Access Bill Codes Setup. Transfer Balances to Default Entity (if desired) This option can be used by districts who Bill by Entity to move the balance owed in a previous entity to the new entity a student is attending. In order to use this option a set of codes must be created and linked to each entity. These codes are used to negate the balance in the old entity and create that balance in the new entity. This setup is done under Administration > Fee Management > Setup > Configuration > Transfer Entity Bill Code Setup. After the codes are set up navigate to Administration Fee Management > Setup> Utilities > Transfer Balance to Default Entity. This utility will show a preview of fees to be moved to the new entity before processing. Note: This utility can only be run after the Student Records and Fee Management year ends have been completed. Transfer Balance Utility Special Note: As of the June Release Addendum 02 an additional option will be available that if selected will disable this utility. The option offers the ability to make payments toward fees in other entities provided proper security access is granted. If this feature is to be used the Transfer Balance to Default Entity utility should not be processed. Revised: 8/8/2017 Page 31 of 31 Version