Accounts Receivable
- Persia Xenopoulou (Deactivated)
- Frini Pouyiouka
- Photos Panayi (Unlicensed)
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Overview
An accounts receivable is a ledger of the financial transactions carried out between a company and its customers, such as invoices and payments. It keeps a running balance of debits and credits and displays the amount a company is owed in exchange for goods supplied and services rendered. Multiple currencies are supported.
Billable processes, such as subscriptions and jobs, result in account receivable debits. These may be funded by the parent accounts of beneficiary groups. The credit limit determines how much money a customer can owe a company. Credits in accounts receivables can be allocated against debits on the basis of FIFO (first-in, first-out) or against specific invoices.
The accounts receivable can be used to restrict purchases and the usage of services to a specific period or transaction.
The information required to conduct automatic payments, such as credit card details for online payments, bank account numbers for direct debits, and billing preferences, are saved with the accounts receivable.
Setting Up Accounts Receivable
Business definitions
Accounts Receivable Definitions are business rules that are used to control the behavior of an accounts receivable throughout its life cycle. They can be used to establish:
- The allocation principle for credits and debits
- The available account credit ratings
- The method for calculating invoice due dates
- Whether the system will support multiple currencies.
Configure the following before setting up the definition and then add the entities you want to have available in the system to the definition.
- Classifications are used to label accounts in a meaningful way. System processes such as pricing, billing and subscription activation can group results according to their classification and apply different actions to each group.
'Allowed Organisational Unit' designates the users that can select the classification. - Payment Preferences are used to define the customer's preferred methods of payment for each account. They hold the information, such as bank account and credit card numbers, which is necessary for third-party systems to perform payments.
- Payment Medium Brand is used to establish the brands of cards that are accepted for payments to and from customers and (goods and services) providers, such as American Express, Visa or Electron. Accepted Brands are added in the payment preference (not in the definition).
- Payment Medium Type is used to establish the accepted types of payment. For example, where payment medium brands are Visa and American Express, the type can be set to Debit and/or Credit. Accepted Types are added in the payment preference (and not in the definition).
- Presentment Preferences are used to define the account owner's preferred method for receiving and exporting bills and integrating bills with third-party systems.
Presentment preferences can be associated with a responsible contact. For example, each geographic location can have a specific person responsible for delivering bills in the area. The preference type can be based on classifications, such as Post, Email, SMS, F2F or other depending on business needs.
- Account presentment preferences can also be taken into consideration when communicating with the customer through the Notification process. For example, a customer is notified only if the communication template's media matches that of the presentment preference set on the account.
- Banks and Bank Account Types are set in an accounts receivable when the type of payment is 'Direct Debit' and 'Payment Gateways'.
Configuration entities belonging to an active definition or assigned to an account that is not 'Terminated' cannot be deleted. Deleted information is still visible on the records, next to a 'Deleted' label.
Definition Fields
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
| State | Can be 'Active' or 'Inactive'. Use the respective Action in the Summary page to activate the definition. |
| Global settings | |
Currencies | Use Multiple Currencies: Whether multiple currencies are enabled in the system for billing purposes. Refer to Platform for more information on currencies. |
| Allocation Principle | When financial transactions are posted, credits are allocated against debits in order to settle an account's outstanding balance. There are two allocation principles:
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| Account Name Generation Method | Manually (default) or automatically, based on the account number or a combination of the account number and contact name. |
Select whether a billing address is:
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| Recurring Payment Rules | Select whether the recurring payment is:
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System Accounts | |
Suspense and Write-off accounts are owned by the business and are created through the definition. System accounts work as sub-ledgers and register transactions that should be processed through a specific business flow, such as those posted against an invalid account. A Suspense Account is used as a repository that temporarily holds financial transactions whose associated customer account is not found. This can happen when the use of bank payment import files result in an account which:
Validations in the software's UI or WEB API do not permit the processing of transactions with an incorrect or missing accounts receivable. A Write-off Account is used for financial transactions that have been classified as non-collectible. Once an invoice is written off, an identical invoice is created and allocated against the system Write-off account for analysis purposes. | |
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| General Due Date Rules | Determine the day of the month on which account invoices are due and automatically applied to accounts. The rules for each account can be customized based on the allowed proximity range.
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| Additional Due Date Rules | Defines an additional set of Due Date Rules. In this set of rules, each rule is conditional, i.e. the credit period is applied per accounts receivable only if a set of conditions are met. If no additional due date rules can be applies on an accounts receivable, then the General Due Date Rule will be applied. |
| Credit Limit | The maximum balance of an Accounts Receivable. A Credit Limit is defined for each Credit Rating and reflects the risk associated with the account. The Credit Limit Status is calculated whenever the account balance is updated. When it is exceeded, customers can no longer order products or subscribe to services. The activation, planning, and progress of subscriptions are halted. The default CRM.COM credit limit rule can be modified by defining your own credit rating rules in the active billing term definition of subscriptions and jobs. Predefined credit ratings can be customized. Note: The Credit Rating Label is used to replace the Credit Rating Code in the accounts page. |
| Credit Period | Credit period is the length of time for which a customer is allowed to settle any given debit. By default, debit financial transactions that are created for the accounts receivable are due according to the credit period defined on the accounts receivable definitions. However, the credit period can be extended per accounts receivable to manage exceptional customer cases. The credit period can be extended by specifying one of the two options:
The whole section is read-only, each value can be modified through the two dedicated actions:
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Allowed Preferences | |
When a new account is created, configured entities such as payment preferences and bank accounts must be added to its definition. Select the entities you want to make available for selection in each section and a default value where appropriate. Only accounts receivable classifications are mandatory to be added to the definition.
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Usage Allowance Limits Rules Usage allowance limits are set to implement a threshold on how much a subscriber can spend on a specific service in a predetermined period or in a single transaction. Limits are applied when adding usage services to a subscription. | |
| Settings | Apply Usage Allowance Limits: Select the box to enable usage allowance limits. Select whether the allowance limits set at the definition (through the Rules tab) can be applied to all accounts or whether you can select to change the limits per account.
Usage Authorisation Valid for: Set a predefined period within which an authorized expenditure must take place. For example, when paying with a credit card in a petrol station, the card is authorized to carry out a transaction of specific value within a limited period. If the transaction does not take place while the authorization is in effect, re-authorization is necessary.
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| Rules | Rules apply to all accounts receivable if usage allowance limits are enabled: Allowed Exceeded Usage Limit: The defined usage limit can be exceeded as long as the account credit limit is not exceeded. The following formula is used to calculate the allowed exceeded usage amount: Block Usage Consumption When Billed and Non-billed Amounts Exceed the Allowed Credit Limit: . i.e. account balance considered = account balance + account non-billed posted UDRs + the UDR which is about to be submitted.
Accumulated Usage Allowance Rated Amount Limits: Define the maximum cash amount which can be spent on each transaction, or per day or month, across all services. Accumulated Usage Allowance Usage Limits: Define the maximum amount of usage (e.g. minutes, liters, movies) that can be consumed on each transaction, or per day or month, across all services. Block Not Included Services: If selected, the customer is only allowed to consume services that are defined in the 'Usage Allowance Limits per Usage Service' section. Otherwise, they are allowed to consume any usage service restricted by the overall limits. Conditions: Add and select the account classifications to which the rule will apply. |
Automatic Recurring Payments Recurring payments done using online payments, such as credit card payments contacted through Stripe. For payments effected successfully the respective preferences must be set and enabled in the accounts receivable page. | |
| Recurrence Settings | Select whether the recurring payments will handle bill payments and wallet top-ups, and define how often the process should be executed. Define the payment gateway (e.g., Stripe) which will be contacted for the payments, as well as additional information such as the payment type and method. |
| Bill Payment Rules | Restrict Bill Payment: Effect payment only for bills generated within the defined period. Retrieving Bills Method: Select which bills should be paid.
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| Wallet Top Up Rules | Automation Scope: Define who sets the rules regarding top-ups.
If it is the company, then the following must be defined for each rule:
Each rule can be applied to specific account classifications and payment preferences, or to all. |
Payment Preferences
Payment preferences are used to define the methods of payment available for each account. They hold the information, such as bank account and credit card numbers, which is necessary for thrid-party systems to perform payments.
Mandatory
Configurable
| Main Information | |
|---|---|
The predefined payment preference types are the following:
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Supported Fields | |
The tab is present if the payment preference type in the main information tab is set to 'Generic Payment Gateway', 'Other' or one of the five 'Custom' options. Identifier Field: Identifies accounts receivable payment preferences.
In case of a direct debit payment preference, the unique identifier is the bank account number. For a credit card payment preference, the identifier of the payment medium (i.e. the card number) can be used as an identifier.
The Identifier Field must also be selected in the specific fields.
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Supported Fields Select the configured entities available when the payment preference is selected on an account | |
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Related configuration areas
The following modules are related to accounts receivable and may be configured for the accounts receivable module to operate at its full capacity.
| Module Link | Area | Description |
|---|---|---|
Generic Payment Gateway Provider
| Used to define the parameters necessary for CRM.COM to communicate with each Payment Gateway. If a payment preference type is set to 'Generic Payment Gateway' then the provider related to the payment preference must be selected. |
Using Accounts Receivable
Finance > Accounts Receivable > Manage Accounts Receivable
Accounts Receivable Data Entry page
Accounts receivable fields
This table contains an explanation of the sections of the accounts receivable Data Entry page, a description of the usage of its fields and additional information.
Mandatory
Configurable values
| Header | |
|---|---|
Life Cycle State describes the operational state of the account:
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Currency used in transactions is defined when creating a new account and cannot be changed subsequently. A default currency is set in the general system settings. To change currency, enable the multi-currency setting in the active account definition. When a currency other than the default is selected, the account's bills, rewards and wallet transactions are converted using the system's conversion rates. If the user does not define an (exclusive) currency when creating a new account, and multi-country and multi-currency are enabled in General Settings, then the currency defined for the country/community of the 'owned by group' is used.
Account Manager: The field is visible and applicable when the account is owned by a company (i.e. corporate account) the account manager is the CRM.COM user who is responsible for handling the account
Type differentiates between customers and company accounts. New accounts are created as customer accounts and the type cannot be modified.
Primary Account is used to designate which account to use, if the customer has more than one. You can set an account as primary by using the respective action from the Action panel. Description can be used for notes. | |
| Balance Information | Account Balance is calculated as the latest accounting period's opening balance plus all of the financial transactions posted against the account during this latest accounting period.
When the Credit Rating is selected, Credit Limit is updated accordingly. Refer to Update Credit Terms to change the credit limit of the account. Credit Limit is the maximum amount that the customer can owe the company. As customer spending can be regulated subject to their solvency, the credit limit of an account can serve as a mechanism to stop further purchases.is updated according to the configuration in the definition of the account. Credit Limit Exceeded is shown when an account balance goes over the credit limit. The customer can no longer order products or subscribe to services. The activation, planning, and progress of subscriptions are halted. Outstanding Amount is the aggregated amount of posted debits which are not settled and are past their due date. Amount Due in the Next 30 Days is the unsettled balance of the account with a due date within the next 30 days. Latest Credit and Latest Debit display the latest date that a credit or debit transaction was created for the account. |
| Accounting Period Information | Opening Balance is the result of the transactions posted during the closing of the previous period. Total Period Credits is the sum of credit transactions created in the current period Total Period Debits is sum of debit transactions created in the current period View Period Financial Transactions: A list of the account's financial transactions posted during the current accounting period. This information is available once the account is included in at least one accounting period closing process. |
| Account Preferences | |
The address used to communicate accounts receivable billing information, selected from a list of addresses specified in the customer's Contact Information. If an address is not yet available you can create one by selecting the address type and providing the respective information. If there are multiple addresses, the one selected before saving the account is considered as the billing address. Whether a billing address is mandatory is defined in the respective rules of the active accounts receivable definition. | |
Payment preferences define the methods used by the customer to make payments. The information necessary in order to integrate with thrid-party systems and perform payments, such as bank account and credit card numbers, must be provided in this section. In order to be able to specify a payment preference, the preference must be included in the active accounts receivable definition. Depending on the type of the configured payment preferences, different fields become available. The available payment preference types are:
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Presentment preferences indicate how account owners want to receive their bills. Multiple presentment methods can be active at a time. For Email presentment, provide an address. A select box displays the email addresses found in the contact information. Use the NEW link to add an address that will also be added to the contact information. For SMS presentment, provide a phone number. A select box displays the area code and phones numbers of type Mobile or Custom found in the contact information. Use the NEW link to add a phone number that will also be added to the contact information. Presentment preferences that are set on the account can also be taken into consideration when communicating with the customer through the Notification process. For example, a customer is notified only if the communication template's media matches that of the presentment preference set on the account. Refer to Notifications manual for more information. | |
Usage allowance limits are set to implement a threshold on how much a subscriber can spend on a specific service in a predetermined period or in a single transaction. Limits are applied when adding usage services to a subscription. Depending on the settings of the definition, you may be able to update the settings for each account. Block Usage Consumption When Billed and Non-billed Amounts Exceed the Allowed Credit Limit: Determines whether the usage consumption will be blocked when both billed and non-billed amounts exceed the allowed credit limit. i.e. account balance considered= account balance + account non-billed posted UDRs + the UDR which is about to be submitted. Allowed Exceeded Usage: The defined usage limit can be exceeded as long as the account credit limit is not exceeded. The following formula is used to calculate the allowed exceeded usage amount: Accumulated Cash Amount Allowance: Defines the maximum cash amount that can be spent on each transaction, or per day or month, across all services. Accumulated Usage Allowance: Defines the maximum amount of usage (e.g. minutes, liters, movies) that can be consumed on each transaction, or per day or month, across all services. | |
| Limits per usage service defined either per service, type or family | Block Not Included Services: If selected, the customer is only allowed to consume services that are defined in the 'Usage Allowance Limits per Usage Service' section. Otherwise, they are allowed to consume any usage service restricted by the overall limits. Add specific services and define the maximum cash and/or usage amount for a specific service that a customer is allowed to consume on each transaction, or per day or month. The values in this section cannot exceed the accumulated amount. |
The communities, groups or units whose members can add usage services on the account (refers to 'Performed By Unit' defined on the 'Add Usage Service' subscription action). Parent conditions apply unless member account set up own conditions. | |
| Members | |
This section is used to define an account group, where one account acts as a parent and one or more accounts act as members. The parent account can sponsor services used by the members. Member accounts own normal subscriptions that are fully or partially funded by the parent account. An account's Funding Scope determines whether it is Fully or Partially Funded. When a member is fully funded it can subscribe and consume Funded Services for which the parent account is billed. When a member is partially funded, it is responsible for settling bills arising from non-funded services. | |
| Pricing Terms | |
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Authentication Settings | |
The configuration of the Access Token Definition determines whether defining a token is mandatory. Refer to Access Tokens for more information. | |
Creating and processing an account
Validations take place before an action is initiated (prerequisite) or after it is submitted (postcondition).
While creating and modifying an account is handled through the New and Edit buttons from Action menu the rest of the actions are available in the action panel
Selecting and creating an accounts receivable
Specify the criteria that match the accounts receivable you are interested in, or click on NEW from the Actions Menu to create a new account. Provide the information defined as mandatory in the attributes table and SAVE the account.
Modifying an accounts receivable
Use EDIT from the Actions Menu to enter edit mode. Note that credit limit and credit period can only be modified through the dedicated/wiki/spaces/WIP/pages/10010224actions and not through EDIT. Once an account is created the contact cannot be changed.
Terminating an accounts receivable
Accounts in a 'Terminated' state are no longer operational, and cannot be edited. The action cannot be reverted. The account is not deleted and its (potentially valuable) data is retained. Account based entities such as subscriptions and jobs cannot be created for terminated accounts.
- Use TERMINATE ACCOUNT from the Action Panel in the Data Entry page
- Confirm by clicking YES.
| Post conditions |
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It is possible to cancel or close entities associated to the account directly through the accounts receivable. This is possible by viewing the entities by using the 'Open Related Entities' action, and then accessing and processing each one individually.
Billing an accounts receivable
Use BILL ACCOUNT from the Action Panel to bill an account and all subscriptions and jobs associated with it. You can also preview the bill.
| Postconditions |
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Instantly settle a bill by using Quick Pay on the Bill Account modal.
- Provide the payment details and Submit.
Suspending and reactivating an accounts receivable
Accounts can be suspended in case of a dispute or while running a credit check. When an account is in a suspended state, financial transactions can still be created, but new subscriptions, jobs or service requests cannot be related to the account. The account can be reactivated once the issue is settled or the check is successful.
Suspend
- Use SUSPEND ACCOUNT from the Action Panel
- Confirm by clicking YES.
Reactivate
- Use REACTIVATE ACCOUNT from the Action Panel
- Confirm by clicking YES.
| Action | Suspend | Reactivate |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites | Account must be 'Active' | Account must be 'Suspended' |
An accounts receivable cannot be suspended if it is related to a group that owns a warehouse.
Managing the credit terms of an accounts receivable
The credit terms of an account are set when it is created, based on the selected credit rating and the settings in the active accounts receivable definition. Credit limit defines the maximum allowed account balance, and credit period is the time granted to a customer by a company to meet their financial obligations, indicated in the invoice due date.
The credit limit and credit period can be adjusted from the account (otherwise, default values set in the definition are used).
The allowed due date range in a credit period is either determined at the definition, using the proximity range or on the actual account, using the new credit period in days.
- Using default definition credit period: When creating an invoice the allowed due date range is between the default credit period AND (default credit period + definitions proximity range)
- Using account credit period: When creating an invoice the allowed due date range is between the default credit period AND (default credit period + new credit period in days)
To change the default values for credit limit and credit period:
Click on Change Credit Terms in the Action Panel.
Select a New Credit Rating from the drop-down list, automatically modifying the New Credit Rating Limit, or define a new limit under Change to Credit Limit.
- Provide a New Credit Period in Days (The new credit period days will be added to the default credit period).
Click SAVE.
If you would like to reset the credit period to the default credit period (i.e. as in definition) then on changing the credit period leave the 'New Credit Period in Days' blank and SAVE
The maximum credit limit of an account can be controlled by the KYC profile of the customer. For more information refer to Contact Information.
Managing accounts receivable assets
Once a customer purchases a (traceable or not traceable) physical good it becomes an account asset. Assets can change hands through:
- A 'Quick Sale'
- Buying a physical good through a job
- Transferring an asset from one account to another
- Importing a physical good into CRM.COM and relating it to an accounts receivable.
You can Manage Assets through the Action Panel of the accounts receivable data entry page:
- View assets history: View the physical goods sold to the account owner and returned or replaced.
- Return physical goods: Goods sold through the jobs module are added to the account as assets. Agents can return a product by using the respective action available in the account Data Entry page. The product is returned to the warehouse through a 'Stock In' transaction. View the Inventory Management manual for more information on warehouse transactions. Multiple items can be moved simultaneously.
- Transfer of ownership: Transfers an item from one accounts receivable to another. The original owner of the good is responsible for the cost of the purchase.
Once the ownership is transferred, a physical good will appear in the asset history of the initial owner, and as a current asset of the new account.
If the transferred good had a warranty policy, then the policy will be transferred unchanged with the good. - Import asset: Usable items located with the customer and registered with the provisioning provider (not with CRM.COM) can be imported, associated with the accounts receivable, and added to subscriptions. The items remain with the accounts receivable when they are returned or replaced. They are easily identified on the installed items page by their 'Owned by Customer' status.
| Action | Return Physical Good | Transfer of ownership |
|---|---|---|
Postconditions |
| The good is not used by any subscription |
Quick Sale
Customers can instantly buy physical goods by using Quick Sale available from the Action Panel. Using Quick Sale:
- Expenses associated with the sale can be charged (optional).
- Goods and expenses are invoiced and can be paid for directly.
- Any applicable warranty is added directly.
- Click on Quick Sale in the Action Panel.
- Select the good (and expense) to purchase, enter the quantity and specific serial number (if applicable).
- Select the Price Plan to retrieve the applicable rate.
Price plans available for each account must be defined as 'Allowed' in the active Inventory Management Definition.
Corporate accounts will be billed according to the price plan defined in the pricing agreement.
Viewing account vouchers
Vouchers are used across CRM.COM as a way of payment. Vouchers that are used or are available within CRM.COM can be viewed by using View Vouchers available in the Action Panel. Once the action is selected, the available vouchers will be displayed in the modal:
- Eligible for Use are the activated vouchers that are ready to be used (not expired)
- Not Eligible for Use will return only the vouchers that were used or expired
Selling Vouchers
Accounts owned by a physical person or company that is created in CRM.COM as a partner (refer to Network Management for more info) can buy a voucher by using the ‘Voucher Sales’ action.
Through this action, one or more vouchers can be bought by defining the quantity, the range of vouchers or a voucher number.
Transferring funds to wallet
Funds can be transferred from an accounts receivable to a wallet owned by the same customer (when this happens the account is debited so the two can be kept in balance).
To transfer funds click on Transfer to Wallet available in the Action Panel.
Prerequisites |
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| Postconditions |
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Creating financial transactions from the accounts receivable page
Use the respective action available from the Action Panel in the Data Entry page. The following financial transactions can be created directly through the account:
- Payment
- Invoice
- Credit Note
- Refund
Applying business flows on accounts receivable
Blocking financial events based on the credit limit
An accounts credit limit status is calculated when the balance is updated. If it has been 'Exceeded', customer actions that use funds are blocked. The default credit limit rule can be overridden by defining discrete credit rating rules in the active billing definition.
- Subscription events related to activating a subscription or service are blocked
- Planning new jobs, starting the progress of jobs or completing jobs is not allowed.
Communicating accounts receivable
Tags (text that is automatically replaced by values specific to selected records) can be used when creating communications. Access tags by typing '#'. Refer to the Communications manual for a complete list of accounts receivable tags.
Creating corporate accounts
A corporate account is an account owned by a company (rather than a physical person). Corporate accounts can be managed by specific CRM.COM users, defined as account managers. Corporate accounts can be subject to discrete pricing. To create a corporate account:
- Create a new account and select a company contact information.
- Select the CRM.COM user who will be appointed as the account manager.
- In the pricing terms tab, select a Price Plan or Usage Service Catalog, or create new ones by copying existing ones and updating the prices.
If the corporate account is also a group account (with members), then the agreed pricing will also apply to the members of the group.
Creating group accounts
Set an account as a 'parent' by adding 'member' accounts. Funding applies to services that are provided through normal subscriptions, termed services, usage services, and expenses. A parent account is responsible for fully or partially settling the balance of member accounts (depending on the funding scope). Fully funded members can subscribe and consume the services at the expense of the parent account. Partially funded members must settle bills for non-funded services.
Additional Information
Rules, restrictions, and actions (such as suspension, reactivation or termination) that apply to a parent account also apply to its members.
Add a member to an account through the Members section in the Data Entry screen. You can create NEW, ADD existing or REMOVE member accounts. Select the funding scope for the new members.
- Click on ADD FUNDED SERVICES TO ALL to search and add services which will be funded to all member accounts, or
- Click on ADD (under Funded Services) to search for services to fund, by selecting individual products or products types and families.
| Prerequisites | The parent account must:
The member account must:
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The agreed pricing for the parent corporate accounts also applies to the members.
Setting usage allowance limits on an accounts receivable
CRM.COM Usage Services are services that can be quantified - such as 500 SMS, 100 minutes of phone calls, 100 ltr of petrol, 10 movies. You can restrict how much is spent on usage services (in a predetermined period or single transaction) by setting Usage Allowance Limits on the customer account. The eligibility of usage transactions is validated before the transaction is completed.
Transactions of a predetermined value and duration of validity can be authorized on customer request for spending on a specific service.
Example: A bus driver has a subscription at a petrol station, which is handled by the bus company. By using a subscriber card, the driver is allowed to buy up to €100 worth of petrol at a time. If the driver requests €120 worth of petrol, the system blocks the transaction. If the driver requests up to the predetermined maximum value, the cash machine provides him with an authorization code, which is valid for 20 minutes. The driver must use the code and fill-up with petrol before the code expires; otherwise, the transaction process must be repeated.
Click on View Remaining Usage Allowance Limits to see a breakdown of the remaining balance.
Usage allowance limits can be inherited from the active accounts receivable definition. They can be updated for each account if 'Apply Per Account Receivable' is selected. To update the usage allowance limits for each account:
- Click on Apply usage allowance limits from the Action Panel
- Modify the values as required (Refer to the accounts receivable fields table for information on setting values).
- Save the changes.
Once the original values in the definition have been changed, they can be modified simply by using EDIT from the Actions menu.
If at any point you wish to revert to the original values in the definition, click on Reset Usage Allowance Limits from the Action panel.
If the accounts receivable is a member of a group account, click on 'Inherit Parent Account's Usage Allowance Limits' to inherit the settings of the parent account.
Additional Information
- The system uses billed and unbilled Usage Detail Records as well as blocked authorized usage, in the calculation of usage limits.
- You can set the overall limits in the 'Accumulated Usage Allowance Rated Amount Limits' and 'Usage Allowance Limits per Usage Service' areas.
| Action | Apply Usage Allowance limits | Reset Usage Allowance Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites | 'Apply Usage Allowance Limit Restrictions' must be enabled in the active accounts receivable definition. The accounts receivable definition setting is set to 'Apply per Accounts Receivable'. | 'Apply Usage Allowance Limit Restrictions' must be enabled in the active accounts receivable definition. Accounts receivable definition is set to 'Apply per Accounts Receivable'. 'Apply Usage Allowance Limits' action was already performed once. |
| Postconditions | If usage allowance limits are defined for each usage service, then the (rated or usage) amount per service should be less than or equal to the corresponding setting of the accumulated usage service limit. If the account is a 'parent', then each member's:
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Registering a card
A payment gateway card is used for online payments and handles the transfer of funds from the bank account of the customer to that of the seller. For security purposes, only a part of the information (which is required to register the card with the payment gateway) is kept in CRM.COM.
CRM.COM is integrated with the following payment gateways: Stripe, Braintree, Payeezy. For more information refer to Payment Gateways.
- Enter EDIT mode and go to the payment preferences section
- Select a payment preferences that is based on a payment classification associated with the gateway to which you would like to register the card.
- Fill out the card information and 'VERIFY' using the respective button
- Check whether to 'Use For Recurring Payments', and whether the registered billing address should be used.
- To add more cards click on the 'View more cards' link and fill out the card information.
- Select the card that should be used as default.
Preconditions |
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| Postconditions |
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Handling recurring payments
Recurring payments can be used to automatically settle bills or to top-up the wallet of an account when funds are running low.
Use the Set up Recurring Payments action to select a preference for recurring payments.
In the Automatic Recurring Payments section of the accounts receivable definition, set whether payments for bills as well as wallet top-ups should be effected, and define the recurrence (how often a background process should be executed to check for necessary payments).
Managing favorite items
Favorite items can be added to a customer account and used by processes to enhance their experience (especially useful when ordering through jobs). The items can be retrieved through WEB APIs and presented to customers ordering through portals or mobile applications.
Use the respective action to access the Manage Favorite Items screen and add or remove physical goods. In case of flexible bundle products, the composition of the bundle (the products and their quantity) can be specified.
Accounts Receivable Analytics
Segmenting accounts receivable
Accounts receivable with common business characteristics can be grouped together. Use the lists in system business processes for identification of customers or for simple statistical calculations.
For more information on Segmentation and creating Accounts Receivable lists view Segmentation.
Dashboards
Dashboards make accounts receivable data available from a single integrated view. Dashboards are made up of components such as charts and summary tables. Refer to Dashboards for information on their use and set-up.
Accounts receivable dashboard components
Accounts Receivable per Classification and Credit Limit Status
The component displays active accounts, grouped by classification and credit limit status ('Exceeded' or 'Not Exceeded'), in a vertical stacked bar chart.
Accounts Receivable per Payment Preference
The component displays active accounts grouped by payment preference in a pie chart. The results can be filtered based on payment preferences specified on the component settings.
Accounts Receivable per Presentment Preference
The component displays active accounts grouped by presentment preference in a pie chart. The results can be filtered based on presentment preferences specified on the component settings.
Terminated Accounts Receivable per Month
The component displays accounts receivable terminated each month, during the last 12 months in a bar chart. The results can be filtered based on accounts receivable classifications and credit ratings specified on the component settings.
Reports
Accounts receivable information can be extracted in a structured format for analysis by using reports. The accounts included in the report are selected and grouped based on user-defined criteria. The user can select the fields displayed in the report.
Refer to Reports for more information.
Accounts Receivable Balance Report
The report displays a list of accounts including their credit rating and current balance.
Accounts Receivable Groups Financial Summary Report
The report displays a list of accounts receivable (parent and member) groups with their detailed information.
Terminated Accounts Receivable Report
The report displays a list of terminated accounts receivable with their remaining balance.
Printouts
An accounts receivable printout displays the transaction that took place in the current year, the year's balance to-date and the balance carried over from the previous year. It's available through the accounts receivable Data Entry page in one of the following formats: HTML, XLS, CSV, RTF, or PDF.
Refer to Printouts for information on how they can be created, printed and sent.
Accounts Receivable Business Examples
Scenario 1.
Company ZX customers settle their balance via Direct Debit payments. Once a week ZX receives a file from the bank containing all Direct Debit payments effectuated from its customers, including the account and bill numbers.
- If the bill number is recognized by the system, the payment is allocated to the bill.
- If the bill number is not recognized but the account is, the payment will be allocated to the account using FIFO.
- If neither the bill nor account numbers are recognized, then the payment will be placed in Company ZX's system account for investigation and further manual processing.
Solution
Payments of unidentified accounts should be moved to the Company's Suspense account.
Configuration
In the Accounts Receivable Definition configure the following:
- Allocation Principle: Set allocation principle to Against Item & FIFO
- System Accounts: Create a Suspense Account
Other
A Direct Debit file import must be created in order to:
- Move unidentified account/bill payments to the Company's suspense account.
User Process
Daily process for Back Office personnel:
- Financial transaction Summary page - search for all payments residing in the Suspense account.
- Financial transaction Data Entry page - use the MOVE PAYMENT action to move all payments to the correct customer account.
Scenario 2.
Company ZX lets its customers buy or rent the equipment required when signing up for a subscription. Customers can receive the bill at the end of the month together with their subscription fee or at the time of purchase. In both cases, the invoice will include the monthly subscription fee and the physical goods that have been bought.
Solution
Setup
- Company ZX customers must all have an Accounts Receivable.
- Subscribed channels are added to a Subscription.
- Equipment bought by the customer is added to the account through a Job sale.
- Jobs and subscriptions are linked to the customer's account.
User Process
Issue a bill for the account:
- The agent uses the BILL ACCOUNT action from the customer's accounts receivable Data Entry page.
- The bill will include the:
- Customer's monthly subscription fee (from subscription billing)
- Physical goods purchased (from job billing)
- The agent can send the bill directly to the customer by using the COMMUNICATE BILL action via the /wiki/spaces/WIP/pages/10008423 screen.
- If the customer is on location and wishes to settle the bill directly then the user can click on the QUICK PAY button (available on the Bill Account modal) and process the payment.
Scenario 3.
Company ZX assigns a Credit Rating to its customers, based on the evaluations made by the Q rating agency. The three levels of Credit Rating are A, B, and C:
- AAA: high certainty of meeting debt obligations
- BAA: slight issues with debt obligations
- C: most probably unable to meet debt obligations
The account activation process is different for a customer with a rating of "C" than that with a rating of "A".
Solution
Configuration
Make the following configuration in the accounts receivable definition:
Credit Limit - Define the following values for each credit rating:
- AAA: 1000
- BAA: 500
- C: 0
More credit ratings are available but three are used for the purpose of the example.
Due Date Rules:
- Due Date: 15th of the next month
- Proximity Range: defined as -14.
On creating new accounts:
- Select the Credit Rating applicable to the customer
- Set the Proximity Range accordingly. If the due date is set to the 5th of the upcoming month, then the Proximity should be set to -10.
Scenario 4.
Company ZX assigns a credit rating to its customers, based on the evaluations made by the Q rating agency. The three levels of credit rating are A, B, and C:
- A: high certainty of meeting debt obligations
- B: slight issues with debt obligations
- C: most probably unable to meet debt obligations
Solution
Configuration
Make the following configuration in the accounts receivable definition:
Credit Limit - Define the following values for each credit rating:
- AAA: 1000
- BAA: 500
- C: 0
More credit ratings are available but three are used for the purpose of the example.
Due Date Rules:
- Due Date: 15th of the next month
- Proximity Range: defined as -14.
Process
The user will create a new account based on stats provided by the Q rating agency. On creating new accounts:
- Accounts created for high-risk customers are assigned a "C" credit rating and a credit limit of 0.
- The user suspends the account, using the respective action from the Data Entry page.
- Once the account is credited with 500 Euro, the back office user:
- Updates the account to Active by using the "Reactivate Account" action from the Data Entry page.
- Creates a new Subscription and links it to the account
- Subscriptions cannot be created for suspended accounts.
Notes
- If you are using a previous release, view CRM.COM Release Changes.
- Use the accounts receivable WEB API to create and manage accounts receivable from an external system, such as a customer portal. View the accounts receivable WEB API for a complete list of actions available through the WEB API.
Glossary
| CRM.COM Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Job | A small project initiated by the operator for customers, involving the delivery and billing of services, products, and activities. Customer requests and orders, such as that for a new subscription, can be initiated and registered through a job. |
| Subscription | A collection of customer services billed on a recurring, usage or one-time basis. |
| Communications | Log interaction between customers and agents. Communications can support multiple Communication media such as Email, SMS, telephony, letters, and others. |
| Notifications | Auto-generated text, used to communicate financial or customer care information to existing or prospective customers. Notifications are sent through CRM.COM by email or SMS or by using a thrid-party external system, such as a mobile app or portal. |
| Access Tokens | Used to identify and authenticate customers, users or applications with access to CRM.COM. Access Tokens can be created automatically by the system or manually through the UI or the Web API. They are primarily used when access is required to CRM.COM data from a thrid-party system, such as a mobile application or a portal. |