circ:bills:negative-balances
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision | ||
circ:bills:negative-balances [2020/03/05 20:37] – [Refunds] tmccanna | circ:bills:negative-balances [2023/01/12 15:02] (current) – [Identifying Patrons with Negative Bills] smorrison | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
- | ====== Negative | + | ====== |
There are several scenarios that may result in a patron account showing a negative balance or credit. PINES policy states that patrons are not allowed to carry a credit balance on their account, so accounts that show negative balances should be reviewed regularly and balanced. In some cases, the patron is due a refund, and in other cases they are not. | There are several scenarios that may result in a patron account showing a negative balance or credit. PINES policy states that patrons are not allowed to carry a credit balance on their account, so accounts that show negative balances should be reviewed regularly and balanced. In some cases, the patron is due a refund, and in other cases they are not. | ||
- | |||
- | ===== Obtaining a List of Patrons with Negative Balances ===== | ||
- | Open the Evergreen Staff Client and go to: // | + | Patrons may also have a combination of negative and positive bills on their account which will prevent online payments and may create confusion about the amount that is actually owed or due as a refund. |
+ | |||
+ | The information provided in this section is also available through the [[https:// | ||
+ | ===== Identifying Patrons with Negative Bills ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Negative Balances** | ||
+ | |||
+ | Open the Evergreen Staff Client and go to: // | ||
+ | |||
+ | This screen will show all patrons with a total balance that is a negative amount, but will not show patrons that have negative bills with a positive total balance. | ||
This screen may take some time to load. It will default to the library location that your workstation is registered to. After it loads, you may select a different library location. | This screen may take some time to load. It will default to the library location that your workstation is registered to. After it loads, you may select a different library location. | ||
- | Double-click | + | Click on the patron |
- | ===== Investigating a Negative | + | **Negative Bills** |
+ | |||
+ | Open the Evergreen Staff Client and go to: PINES Quick Reports > (Login with your credentials) > Choose “New Quick Report” > then “Bills” > then the report “Bills with Negative Balances” and create a report. This will show patrons with individual bills that are negative. The patron may have a total balance that is not negative but have individual bills that need to be corrected. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Investigating a Negative | ||
- Open the patron' | - Open the patron' | ||
Line 18: | Line 30: | ||
- You may also wish to look at the history (from the main Bills screen, click the History button). From here you may view all Transactions or limit to all Payments for any specified time period. | - You may also wish to look at the history (from the main Bills screen, click the History button). From here you may view all Transactions or limit to all Payments for any specified time period. | ||
+ | //Types of Scenarios That May Create Negative Bills// | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A patron pays overdue fines before the item is checked in, and then the item is checked in under amnesty mode or with backdating enabled. (For example, a patron turns a book into the book drop, then comes to the desk and pays the overdue fines before the book drop is checked in with backdating enabled.) | ||
+ | * A staff member forgives a patron' | ||
+ | * A staff member checks items in under amnesty mode and also backdates the checkin. | ||
+ | * A patron pays the Lost or Long Overdue fine for an item, but then finds it and returns it within 6 months of the payment date. The item cost will be voided, and the fines will be restored and any processing fees will be kept. This generally creates a situation where the patron is due a refund. | ||
===== Correcting a Negative Balance Caused by a Bill Being Forgiven and Voided ===== | ===== Correcting a Negative Balance Caused by a Bill Being Forgiven and Voided ===== | ||
Line 32: | Line 50: | ||
- Click Submit Bill. | - Click Submit Bill. | ||
- Click the Refresh button to refresh the main Bills screen to see the balanced account - this is sometimes cached and you may need to close the patron account and reopen it to see the balanced account. | - Click the Refresh button to refresh the main Bills screen to see the balanced account - this is sometimes cached and you may need to close the patron account and reopen it to see the balanced account. | ||
- | |||
- | See Also: | ||
- | * {{ : | ||
- | * {{ : | ||
===== Refunds ===== | ===== Refunds ===== | ||
Line 54: | Line 68: | ||
- From the Bills screen, place a check mark in the box on the billing line with the negative amount owed.{{ : | - From the Bills screen, place a check mark in the box on the billing line with the negative amount owed.{{ : | ||
- Check the Annotate Payment box. | - Check the Annotate Payment box. | ||
- | - Enter the amount of the refund in the “Payment Received” box. This is because this is the payment the //patron will receive// from the library. The system understands that a refund is being processed and that the library is not receiving any money from the patron. | + | - Enter the amount of the refund in the “Payment Received” box. This is because this is the payment the //patron will receive// from the library. The system understands that a refund is being processed and that the library is not receiving any money from the patron.{{ : |
- | {{ : | + | - Change the number of receipts to the number you will need for your library' |
- | - Change the number of receipts to the number you will need for your libraries | + | - Click Apply Payment.{{ : |
- | {{ : | + | - A popup box will appear. |
- | - Click Apply Payment. | + | |
- | {{ : | + | |
- | - Enter annotation (for example, " | + | |
- Click OK. | - Click OK. | ||
- If cash reports are used a copy of the receipt will need to be placed in the register to account for the difference in the actual cash and the cash report. | - If cash reports are used a copy of the receipt will need to be placed in the register to account for the difference in the actual cash and the cash report. | ||
Line 76: | Line 87: | ||
* If you right-click on a bill and click Refund, it will add the dollar amount to the Payment Pending column, but does not complete the Refund. You would still need to click Apply Payment to complete the process. For PINES libraries doing refunds, it is usually better to click Check All Refunds and then Apply Payment. | * If you right-click on a bill and click Refund, it will add the dollar amount to the Payment Pending column, but does not complete the Refund. You would still need to click Apply Payment to complete the process. For PINES libraries doing refunds, it is usually better to click Check All Refunds and then Apply Payment. | ||
* If you right-click on a bill and click Add Billing, one of the Billing Types is Refund: Lost Item Returned. If you use this, it may appear to balance the account (unless there are other fines and fees on the account), but the transactions will not show up under Bill History. For PINES libraries doing refunds, it is usually better to click Check All Refunds and then Apply Payment. | * If you right-click on a bill and click Add Billing, one of the Billing Types is Refund: Lost Item Returned. If you use this, it may appear to balance the account (unless there are other fines and fees on the account), but the transactions will not show up under Bill History. For PINES libraries doing refunds, it is usually better to click Check All Refunds and then Apply Payment. | ||
+ | * If you click the Bill Patron button at the top of the list, a new billing line will appear. This may result in a total balance owed of zero, but negative and positive bills will still be present. To correct negative billing errors, always right-click on the negative bill and choose Add Billing. This will add a new billing line item to the negative bill rather than creating a new bill. | ||
===== Help Desk ===== | ===== Help Desk ===== |
circ/bills/negative-balances.1583440632.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/03/05 20:37 by tmccanna