5.1Overview
Use Recurring Billing to automate the process of posting batches of invoices. This feature is very handy to bill periodically for products or services. For example if the store offers a "product of the month" club or other monthly subscriptions.
5.2Open Recurring Batch
The Open Recurring Billing card is used as a template for the current and future billing batches.
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ID, Description, & Item
To begin, enter the ID and Description of the Recurring Billing. This is an internal ID for reference purposes.
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Next, enter the item(s) that will be used for the recurring billing. These are the actual items the customer is purchasing or being billed for each month.
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If there is recurring shipping or handling charges, select a freight type and enter the freight amount.
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Add Recurring Customers
Next, add the list of customers that are going to be subscribed to this recurring billing batch. Enter the customer ID's into the blank row or click "Lookup Customers..." to lookup and select the customers.
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When the customer is added to the batch, enter and verify the following information:
- Start Date
The date that billing will start. By default, the start date will be set as the day the customer is added to the open batch. The start date can be changed per customer if needed.
- End Date
The date that billing will end. By default, the end date will be set to 12/31/2099. The end date can be changed per customer if needed.
- Qty
This will provide a total quantity for the number of recurring items that the customer will be billed for.
- Total
This will provide a total price for the items that the customer will be billed for.
- Payment Type
Select a payment type for how the customers recurring billing payment will be processed. Choose from On Account, Credit Card (if using PayStream and have a credit card on file), Other 1, Other 2 or Other 3 (these payment types may have custom names).
- Email Inv
Check this box to email the customer(s) an invoice when the batch is posted.
The email address that the invoice will be emailed to.
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Item Customizations Per Customer
Each customer can be set with a custom quantity and/or price for the recurring item(s). Additional custom items can be added for individual customers separately.
1
In the customer section, locate and click on the line for the customer to edit. In the recurring items section, two areas become available to edit: Cust Qty and Cust Price.
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2
Change the quantity and/or price for the recurring item(s) for the customer.
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3
Enter or lookup additional items that the individual customer will be billed for.
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4
If the customer has a custom freight type or freight amount, check the "Custom Freight Type" box, select the freight type and enter the freight amount.
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5
The charges for each customer will be displayed in the "Total" column. This total is a sum of all recurring items, custom items and freight charges.
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Once Item
Under the Additional Customer Items section there is a "Once" checkbox. This feature is used to bill a customer for an item or fee that will be charged one time, but not as a recurring item. This is useful for things like fees or custom add-on's.
Check the "Once" box to charge customer(s) once for certain item(s). When the batch is posted, the additional items will be removed from the future open batch.
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Right-Click Options
- Send Email
Select this option to send an email to the selected users.
- Remove From Subscription
Select this option to remove the selected customer rows from the open batch.
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Hold Pricing
This preference provides the ability to give one time special pricing or to "hold" the special pricing that was entered on the open batch for future batches.
Without "Hold Pricing" checked: The price for recurring items will be based on the item's Current Price from the item card. Any special pricing that was entered on the batch will not carry over to future batches.
With "Hold Pricing" checked: Any special pricing that was entered on the batch will automatically carry over to future batches.
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Payment Summary
Under the Tools menu, there is a Payment Summary option. This will show a summary of the payment methods selected on the batch. This same summary is also available on the working and closed batches.
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Posting the Open Batch
When it is time to start the batch billing process, click Post All. This will begin creating and posting invoices with the Customer, Item, and Payment Method selected. A window will come up with the posting status as it is processing.
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Payment Types: Each customer needs to have a payment method selected.
Start and End dates: If any customers are expired or not within the date range, a warning message will appear.
Last Posted Date: Each subsequent time an open batch is posted, a warning message will appear indicating the last time that the batch was posted.
Item Qty Out Of Stock: If the item(s) are trackable and will be sold out of stock, a warning message will appear.
A working batch will be created to display the posting status.
5.3Working Recurring Batch
This card is used to keep track of the invoice posting status and any payment issues during the batch posting process. Many actions can be performed with the right-click menu, such as modifying a customers payment method or removing a customer from the subscription.
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Payment Status
- AR_CREDIT_LIMIT_EXCEEDED
This status will display if the customer is over their AR Credit limit. See the right-click option "Retry Payment" below for instructions on changing this status.
- AR_PAST_DUE
This status will display when the the customer has an existing AR Balance that is past due. See the right-click option "Retry Payment" below for instructions on changing this status.
- CC_DECLINED
This status will display if the credit card was declined. You can hover your mouse over this field to see the actual declined reason.
- PAID
This status means the payment method was approved and the invoice has been posted. The goal is to get all customers to have a status of PAID. Once all customers have a status of PAID, then the working batch will become a closed batch for historical purposes.
- PAID_AVS_FAILED
If address verification is enabled with your credit card processor, then the billing address on the EVO customer card is verified with the billing address of the customers credit card. If there is a mismatch, a warning message will appear. An AVS mismatch can be an indication of fraud, please review these transactions and void any suspicious transactions.
- PENDING
This status will display when an "Other" payment method was selected. Since there are so many different ways that the "Other" payment methods can be used, the invoices are not automatically posted. For example, let's say the Other 1 payment method is used for ACH transactions. The clerk would need to verify that the ACH billed successfully before marking the payment as PAID. See the right-click option "Mark as Paid" below for instructions on changing this status.
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1. Change their payment method. If the customer wants to pay with a different payment method, change their payment type and then right-click>Retry Payment.
2. Remove the customer from the subscription. Select one or more customer rows, then right-click and choose "Remove from Subscription". For this option the customer will not be billed and therefore will not be eligible for the service you provide according to your company policy.
Right-Click Options
Many of the functions in recurring billing are built into the right-click menu. The batch lines can be sorted by clicking on any column header, then select one or more rows to perform an action on the selected rows.
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- Retry Payment
This option applies to credit card payments that have not been paid or "On Account" payments that have not posted. Select this option to try charging the customers credit card or to charge the customer's account. If the customer's account is past due or if the customer will exceed their credit limit, an option to override will appear.
- Mark as Paid
This option applies to unpaid "Other" payment types. Select this option to mark the payment as PAID and the invoice will post.
- Email Invoice
When a payment is processed and marked as PAID, an invoice will be emailed to the customer. The email message will use the invoice template, see Email Defaults
for more information.- Send Email
Select this option to send an email to the selected users.
For the customer that are marked as PAID, an Invoice, Packing Slip, or Picking Ticket can be printed. The document will print on the invoice printer selected in Computer Preferences
.- Remove From Subscription
For the customers that are not marked as PAID, select this option to remove the customer(s) from the subscription. A message will appear to ask whether the customer should be removed from only this batch or from future batches as well.
Closing the Batch
Once all customers have paid or been removed from the batch, an option to print the batch of invoices will appear.
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1
Choose one of the following print options:
Select Don't Print to continue posting without printing invoices.
Select Print Invoices to continue posting and print a copy of the invoice for each customer who paid.
Once a print option has been selected, the working batch will post and close.
2
A closed invoice will be auto generated for each customer who was billed in the batch.
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Closed Invoices from the Batch
When a working batch is fully paid, one closed invoice will be automatically created for each customer who paid. For example: if ten customers were billed on the batch, then ten closed invoices are created during the posting of the batch.
Salesperson Based on the Clerk
To assign the salesperson based on the clerk who is logged in, enable the "Clerk is Salesperson" preference inside of General Preferences.
1
Go to General Preferences > Invoice > Postings & Payments. Check the box "Clerk is Salesperson, " then save and close the preferences.
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2
Verify that "Is Salesperson" is marked on the clerk's employee card. To mark an employee as a salesperson, go to Administration > Employee Administration and open the employee card. Inside of the Employee Attributes panel, check the "Is Salesperson" box.
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3
If the clerk is marked as a salesperson, when the working batch is posted, the clerk will be marked as the salesperson on the closed invoices that are generated from the batch.
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Customer Assigned Salesperson
To bypass the "Clerk is Salesperson" preference for recurring batches and have a specific salesperson tied to each customer invoice, enter or select a dedicated salesperson on the customer's card.
1
Open the Customer card.
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2
In the "Sales Rep" field, type the first name of the salesperson or click on the "Sales Rep" hyperlink to select a salesperson.
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3
Once a salesperson has been entered or selected, the salesperson will appear on the customer card.
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4
When a working batch is posted, the salesperson that was assigned on the customer card will be marked as the salesperson on the closed invoices that are generated from the batch.
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5.4Closed Recurring Batch
Once the batch has been fully paid and processed, a closed batch will be created for permanent history of the batch.
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Right-Click Options
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- Email Invoice
For the customers that are marked as PAID, select this option to send or resend an email to the customer with their invoice. The email message will use the invoice template, see Email Defaults
for more information.- Send Email
Select this option to send an email to the selected users.
Select this option to print an Invoice, Packing Slip, or Picking Ticket. The document will print on the invoice printer selected in Computer Preferences
.