Tenant Ledger Changes

Transcription

1 Tenant Ledger Changes Multiple changes occurred to the way Tenant Ledger information is presented and recorded, making it easier to use and understand. Here s how the new page looks and the changes that you will notice: $ Balance - The balance shown at the top of the page now reflects the true net balance on the ledger. The current balance matches the running ledger balance as of the current system date, including prepayments. With these changes, we removed the prepayment Credit Memo that caused prepayments to show as a $0 balance and it properly reflects the credit balance on the ledger. If unpaid charges and unapplied prepayments both exist on the ledger (because the auto-apply prepayments option is set to NO ), the balance includes all transactions. For example, if there is an unpaid charge of $55 and an unapplied prepayment of $25, the balance displays as $ Prepayments - The Prepayments total includes the total amount of all unapplied prepayments. When there are open charges to which the prepayment can be applied, the Apply button appears. If there are no outstanding unpaid charges, the Apply button is hidden. 3. Total Unpaid - This amount includes any unpaid charges, including future dated charges, regardless of whether there are open prepayments RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 1

2 4. A second Print Ledger button has been added at the top right side of the Tenant Ledger, providing easier access. 5. We split the Amount column into two columns: Charges and Payments. The Charges column displays charge transactions and adjustments that increase the ledger balance, not including NSF. All information from the previous Amount column displays in the new Charges column. 6. An added Payments column to the right of the Charges column displays payment transactions, discounts or adjustments that reduce the ledger balance. The addition helps differentiate charges and payments. A negative Charge adjustment or Discount displays as a positive number in the Payments column and decreases the ledger balance. Returned Payment transactions are also included in the Payments column, but as a negative payment, increasing the ledger balance. Note: Previous functionality for security deposit refunds remains. If the offset account to a refund is an account flagged as a security deposit account, the transaction displays in both the Charge and Payment columns and does not affect the ledger balance. The Deposit Held amount will be reduced by this transaction. 7. The Description column is minimized to two rows to improve content visibility and provide a cleaner view of the Tenant Ledger. Hover text allows you to see the full description, if necessary. 8. The text links in the Action column (to view, edit, delete, etc.) have been replaced with icons to provide additional room for other ledger information. Hover text displays the icon action names, if needed. 9. We made the Deposit Date field for Deposited Payments transactions a link that allows you to view the deposit transaction detail. 10. In the past, Journal Entry transactions displayed dashes (- -) in the Amount column on the ledger. Now, the total debit and credit amounts of the journal entry are shown: The Debit total displays in the Charges column. The Credit total is placed in the Payments column. There is no impact to the ledger balance or the Totals row, since the net effect is $0.00. In addition, we ve hidden transactions on the ledger that do not impact its balance. Several types of transactions, including Journal Entries, $0 Payments, Prepayment Credit Memos, and NSF Payment Adjustments, create accounting entries that keep track of money moving from one account to another. These are often confusing and have been hidden. You ll now see the final effect of the transactions on the ledger, but not all of the behind-the-scenes accounting entries. Historical transactions have not been changed, so will still display prepayment credit memos and other non-essential information that is hidden for new ledger transactions RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 2

3 Record Refund Page: New Tooltip To improve the understanding of how refunds affect the ledger balance, an informative tooltip was added. When clicking the Adjustments button on the Tenant Ledger and choosing the Refund option, a red Help button provides information related to how various accounts affect the ledger balance. The hover text reads: "Selecting a Security Deposit escrow account will reduce the Deposit Held total on the ledger with no change to the ledger balance. Selecting the Prepayments account will allow refund of payments that exceed charges and will reduce a credit balance on the ledger. Other accounts will not impact the ledger balance in any way RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 3

4 Prepayment Handling In this release, we ve also made numerous changes to how prepayments are processed in the system. These changes provide more flexibility and consistency throughout the application. Each of the specific changes is detailed below. New Chart of Accounts Setup Option for Prepayments Currently, there is an Auto-Apply Prepayments to Rent option that you set in Accounting Preferences. In order to give you more control on how specific transactions are handled, we ve removed this setup option and added a new option in the Chart of Accounts setup (Setup > Customize > Chart of Accounts). Now, this function is no longer limited to only rent accounts and you can set the Auto-Apply Prepayment option for any account. This new feature reduces the need for manual application of prepayments and credits. When creating or editing an account, users see a new field, named Auto-Apply Prepayment, as shown below RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 4

5 A red question mark tooltip with hover text is included beside the Auto-Apply Prepayment field and reads: Set to Yes if you want a new tenant charge using this account to be automatically applied (paid) by prepayments, negative discounts, or adjustments that already exist on the ledger. Here s how the new setting affects the application of charges to prepayments: When set to Yes, prepayments are automatically applied to unpaid charges. The application occurs on or after the charge date, either during the auto-charge nightly process or when a manual charge is added to a ledger while prepayments exist. When set to Yes, credits created either by a negative auto-charge, or negative discount adjustment, are automatically applied to charges. When a prepayment exists on the ledger and a manual charge is entered for an account that is flagged with Auto-Apply Prepayment, the prepayment is applied to the current charge that was created. When a prepayment exists on the ledger and an auto charge is added to the ledger for an account that is flagged with Auto-Apply Prepayment, the prepayment is applied to the current charge. When a negative discount or adjustment exists on the ledger, and a manual or auto-charge is entered for an account that is flagged with Auto-Apply Prepayment, the credit is applied to the current charge. When an unpaid charge exists on the ledger for an account that is flagged with Auto-Apply Prepayment, and a negative discount or adjustment is entered, it is automatically applied to the current charge. The $0 Payment transaction on the ledger that comes from applying a credit to a charge is not needed so it is hidden. The transaction is maintained so users can view the paid charge when viewing the payment history. Note: In order to take advantage of all of the above benefits, it is necessary to edit your Chart of Account setup for all accounts that may be seen as charges on a tenant ledger, including sales tax. Auto-Apply Prepayments and Charge Frequencies Previously, the automatic application of prepayments only worked with auto-charges with a frequency of "monthly." This was expanded to include all payment frequencies. In the case where there are multiple auto-charges on a lease with different frequencies, there is a possibility that the payment application will not apply to the correct charge account because the charges for the various frequencies do not occur all at once. The priority of auto-charges will be run in the following order: Monthly Yearly Quarterly Weekly 2013 RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 5

6 Semi-annual Prepayment Details A prepayment is now associated with a specific charge. This provides the benefit of knowing what charge a prepayment has paid and in the event a NSF occurs, the actual charge will be showing unpaid, rather than creating a negative prepay/credit memo. Another benefit of this change will be an update to the description of the prepayment. Instead of showing only that it applied to the Prepayments account, the Description on the ledger will change to show the charge to which the prepayment was eventually applied. In addition, the ledger no longer displays the Credit Memo and the paid Prepayment charge. This is one of the accounting entries that are hidden on the Tenant Ledger, as discussed previously. The following screenshot illustrates the current transactions and how they were changed. The following screenshot illustrates what the new transactions appear RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 6

7 1. The Paid Charge is hidden and the prepayment is posted to the ledger immediately upon receipt. 2. The Credit Memo that shows the application of the prepayment to the charge is hidden. 3. When a prepayment exists on the ledger, if a charge is created and automatically applied against the prepayment, The Description on the Deposited Payment will be changed from reference to the prepayment to the actual charge application information. (See Example 2 screenshot.) Viewing Prepayment Applications The Payment Detail screen now includes a new Prepayments Applied to Charges section. If any portion of the payment was a prepayment it will provide the details of the actual charges to which the prepayment was applied. It can be accessed by clicking View on the Deposited Payment transaction or by viewing Paid Charge, which opens the Item Detail page, and then clicking the view icon in the Action column to view the Prepayment Application page, as seen below RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 7

8 A new field in the Payment Summary section will display the Resulting Prepayment that remains after the payment has been applied to selected unpaid charges. Including the Delete button allows you to delete the application of the prepayment to the charge, adding that to the unpaid amount of the charge and to the prepay balance and allowing you to edit the allocation of the payment. This button only displays if the User Profile option on Leases to Delete Payments is active. Tenant Portal Setup Page 2013 RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 8

9 1. As part of the overall improvements to prepayment processing, we ve changed the field label of the old Record Early Payments as Prepayments (Even if Charges Exist) field to better describe what this option does. At Portals > Tenants, the field is now labeled Force the Manual Application of Prepayments made through Portal. 2. In addition, we added a tooltip with hover text to provide even more information. The new hover text reads: "Set to No to automatically apply an advance prepayment made through the portal to charges that are created or that already exist on the ledger." Returned Payment Processing Changes In this release, we ve also made numerous changes to how Returned Payments are processed in the system. New Accounting Preference Option 2013 RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 9

10 1. A new field, titled Delete Returned Payment Adjustment, includes Yes/No options. This eliminates the need to manually delete this entry if undoing or deleting a returned payment transaction. When Yes is selected and you Undo Returned Payment, the returned payment adjustment Journal Entry is deleted. When Yes is selected and you Delete a returned payment, the returned payment adjustment is deleted with the returned payment. The returned payment that is deleted is the Deposited Payment transaction if the Accounting Preference setting is set to Recharge as of Original Date or the Returned Payment Adjustment if the setting is set to Recharge as of Return Date. 2. The new field includes a red question mark tooltip with hover text that reads, When activated, if you delete or undo a returned payment, the returned payment adjustment that is created from it will also be deleted. Returned Payment Transactions The way that the returned payment transactions are processed are determined by the way that the Returned Payment Recharge Date option is set in Accounting Preferences. Both scenarios are detailed below. Returned Payment Recharge Date = Date of Original Charge: The following screenshot shows the ledger transactions that are posted when you NSF a payment and your accounting preference option, Returned Payment Recharge Date is set to Date of Original Charge. 1. A new charge is not created on the ledger as of the original date. When a payment is marked as NSF, the original charge shows unpaid, rather than creating a new duplicate payment. a) The original Paid Charge changes from gray font to black. b) Paid Charge is replaced by the Unpaid Charge text in the Transaction column. 2. The Deposited Payment: a) Returned is added in red text next to the payment. b) Action items include icons for i. View - Displays the Returned Payment. ii. Delete Offers a pop-up message, Delete Returned Payment Adjustment also? with Yes/No buttons RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 10

11 iii. Printer icon To print Returned Payment notice. Note: If Undo Returned Payment is selected, the icons revert to those available on a normal Deposited Payment. 3) The old Journal Entry : a) Has been renamed to "Returned Payment Adjustment" and displays Transaction info in red font. b) Displays the amount as a negative number (in parentheses) in the Payments column. c) Adds the amount of the returned payment back into the ledger balance. If you Undo Returned Payment, the system deletes the NSF transaction. If you have also set the new Accounting Preference field, Delete Returned Payment Adjustment to Yes, the returned payment adjustment is also deleted. Returned Payment Recharge Date = Date of Returned Payment: The following screenshot shows the ledger transactions that are posted when you NSF a payment and your accounting preference option, Returned Payment Recharge Date is set to Date of Returned Payment. 1. The Deposited Payment serves the same purpose as the other NSF option, so it: a) Includes red Returned text in the Transaction column. b) Action items include icons for: i. View - Displays the Returned Payment. There is no change to the buttons available on this screen. ii. Delete - Deletes the NSF transaction (and if Accounting Preference is set to do so), deletes the returned payment adjustment. iii. Printer icon - To print Returned Payment Notice. Note: If Undo Returned Payment is selected, the icons revert to those available on a normal Deposited Payment RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 11

12 2. The old Journal Entry which had no impact on the ledger is no longer displayed. 3. New unpaid charge(s) are added to the ledger as of the NSF. When a NSF is Repaid 1. The regular Undeposited or Deposited Payment transaction information displays. 2. The text color on the Paid Charge and Deposited Payment transaction, including the red Returned, changed to gray font. 3. The Returned Payment Adjustment row that would display if the NSF recharge is as of the original charge date is changed to gray font, except for the text in the Transaction column RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 12

13 Item Detail Page Changes When NSF occurs as of the original date, it creates a child recharge, drilling down to the Item Detail from the original charge displays some information about both the original and child charge. To provide access to information about all potential related charges and prevent confusion, a UI design change occurred, as outlined below (see screenshot). To maintain consistency throughout the application, this applies to any charge, when viewed on the Item Detail screen, not just when recharges are displayed. 1. The watermark identifies the charge status from the Transaction column of the Tenant Ledger. 2. The screen width is extended to allow more room for additional columns at the top of the page. The additional space increases the Account field s width in the Payment History section. 3. The summary information at the top of the screen was removed and replaced with a grid view titled "Charge History" and placed on a purple section banner. 4. Column headers for the Charge History section include: a. Status - This represents the status of the charge and displays either Paid Charge or Unpaid Charge. b. Date - This is the charge date. Recharges adopt the same information as the parent so it is the same for all, when child charges exist. c. Ref # - This is the charge Ref #. Recharges adopt the same information as the parent so it is the same for all, when child charges exist. d. Account - This is the charge account. Recharges adopt the same information as the parent so it is the same for all, when child charges exist. e. Amount - This is the original charge amount. Recharges adopt the same information as the parent so it is the same for all, when child charges exist. f. Amount Due - This displays remaining unpaid charges. There should only be one charge on this screen that is unpaid at any time and it always displays last in the list RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 13

14 g. Last Modified - This is the date/time that the charge was created or edited. In the case of child charges, it is the NSF date. h. By - This is the person who created or last edited the charge. In the case of child charges, it is the person who NSF'd the original payment or "System" if the NSF was processed through epayments. i. Action - Action items are icons instead of text links. 5. Charges are listed in order by oldest on top, to most recent at the bottom of the list. Regular gray horizontal lines display between rows. 6. A Comments field is included at the bottom of the list. 7. A Linked Bill link is included under the Comments section 2013 RealPage, Inc. Propertyware Release Notes 14