How to apply fees to accounts
An operator with the security setting SysManager - Menu/Activity - Accounts - Apply Fees can look up an account in SysManager and apply fees, such as annual maintenance fees, to the invoices linked to that account. To do this the operator goes to the Invoices tab of the account and selects the Apply Fees button, which is next to the Pay Invoices button. This brings up the Apply Fees To Invoices On Account [Account Name] form. The form is divided into sections, with various settings and instructions on the top and a grid of invoices on the bottom. The following columns are present and are sortable within the grid (when the form first loads, the invoices grid is sorted by Last Transaction Date):
• Apply – Check boxes that indicate whether or not the fee is going to be applied to that invoice – initially these are unchecked
• Fee To Apply – Indicates the fee that gets applied to the invoice – initially set to 0.00
• Invoice #
• Description – Name on the invoice
• Last Transaction Date
• Balance – Current invoice balance –
Note: that a negative number means that the guest still has money to spend and a positive number means that the guest owes money
• Pass # – This is 0 for non-In-House Cards invoices
• Pass Swipe Number – This is blank for non-In-House Cards invoices
• Pass DCI – This is blank for non-In-House Cards invoices
Steps to applying fees:
1. As indicated on the form, the first step in the process is to set the fee transaction information. This includes setting the Operator and Salespoint to associate with these transactions using the two dropdown menus in the upper left corner of the form, setting the date/time using the calendar control, entering a twenty character message if desired into the Message text box, and selecting the Fee DCI that is used for these transactions.
Note: that any price associated with the Fee DCI is ignored, and the fee amount calculated using the rules defined in step #2 are used instead. Some examples of Fee DCIs might be one called “Dormant Fee” or “Annual Renewal Fee” for In-House Cards invoices, or one called “Past Due” for past due invoices for groups.
2. In step 2 of this process, the operator sets how the fees are calculated and actually calculates the fees. You can enter a flat rate fee and/or a percent fee to use and then set a radio button to use the flat rate, use the percent, use the greater of the two, or use the lesser of the two.
Note: that the percent fee is calculated the same on a negative balance or a positive balance – e.g., a 3% fee on a +$500 balance and a -$500 balance is calculated as $15 in both cases. The operator next needs to decide whether the check box labeled Do not allow a positive balance is checked. Checking this box makes it so that an invoice’s balance is not taken above $0.00 (i.e., the guest owes you money) if the calculated fee exceeds the balance remaining on the invoice. This can be useful for removing remaining credit on dormant In-House Cards items. Finally, the operator needs to click the Calculate Fees button to perform the actual calculation of the fees for each invoice and to populate the Fee To Apply column in the invoice grid.
3. The next step is to select the invoices (put a check in the check boxes in the Apply column in the invoice grid) that get the calculated fees applied to them. There are four buttons for this as well as a calendar control that works in conjunction with two sets of radio buttons. The four buttons are:
• Select All
• Unselect All
• Unselect Zero Balances – Used to unselect invoices that have a $0.00 balance
• Unselect Credit Balances – Used to unselect invoices with a negative (credit) balance
Note: The calendar control is used to set a date that can be used in conjunction with the two sets of radio buttons that Select/Unselect invoices whose last transaction date is Before/After the set date. To apply the actions as set by the radio buttons and calendar control, the operator needs to click the Go button next to the calendar control. Note that all of these controls for selecting the invoices can be used together to select/unselect a very specific set of invoices in the grid.
4. Before clicking the Apply button to apply the fees to the invoices, the operator can manually modify the fee per invoice if necessary or select/unselect invoices. Also, the operator can see the total of the fees that are applied to the selected invoices on the form below the grid.
5. When ready the operator can click the Apply button to apply the fees and create a transaction for the calculated fee amount per invoice using the selected DCI.