Note
If you need to exempt certain charges from late fees, set up invoice categories before you set up your finance groups as they will be part of the finance group setup. All revenue-generating items in the IDI platform, including catalog items and usage types, are assigned an invoice category as a means of determining how payments and adjustments are allocated. They can also be used to exempt certain charges from late fees.
Invoice categories are set up via Admin Console > Data Management. Refer to the online help topic in IDI platform Online Help. With invoice categories in place, assign all revenue-generating charges to their respective invoice categories. With all this in place you can associate invoice categories to their finance groups as covered in Setting Up Finance Groups below.
To set up finance groups in Admin Console Data management:
Double-click Finance Groups to display the Finance Groups form.
This form lets you edit existing groups and create new groups as needed via right-click menu options. In either case, the Add/Edit Finance Group form is displayed.
Use this form to establish finance charge rules as described below.
Finance Group ID (read only)
System-generated number that identifies the finance group.
Note
IDs 1-10000 are system defined and cannot be modified.
Description
Description of the finance group.
Finance Method
Method by which the charge is calculated. Available methods:
Per Period - Calculate the charge as a percentage of the amount past due: Finance Charge = Overdue Amt * Rate. When this method is selected, both the Rate and Fee fields are enabled. Enter the percentage in the Rate field. As an option, you can use the Fee field to enter a fixed amount to assess on top of the calculated percentage.
Flat Fee – Charge a fixed amount when the account is past due. When this method is selected, only the Fee field is enabled; the Rate field is disabled.
Per Period Next Due Date – By default, late fees are waived when an overdue balance is paid by the next due date see Overdue Balance Paid in Later Bill Period). If you configure your system to assess late fees in this scenario, this method lets you exempt certain customers from late fees on the amount paid by the next due date. Note: Both Rate and Fee fields are enabled, similar to Per Period.
Examples of how finance charges are computed for each of these methods are provided in Calculation Examples.
Grace Days
This is the number of days the account is allowed to be overdue before a charge is applied. The account is not considered past due until the grace period has elapsed.
Rate
This is entered as a percentage of the amount past due to be applied as a late fee. This field is available for Per Period and Per Period Next Due Date.
Fee
This is entered as a dollar amount to be added to the amount due. Fee is required when Finance Method = Flat Fee and optional for the other two finance methods.
Minimum Charge/Maximum Charge
These fields let you set a minimum or maximum late fee to ensure a minimum or maximum amount is assessed in place of the calculated amount when the calculated amount is too large or too small. These fields are optional. Values are entered as dollar amounts.
For the Minimum Charge to apply, the calculated finance charges must be greater than zero, and the Minimum Charge must be greater than than the calculated finance charge amount.
For the Maximum Charge to apply, the Maximum Charge must be greater than zero and the calculated finance charge must be greater than the Maximum Charge.
Minimum Balance
This is the smallest balance amount that will incur a finance charge. Note: This setting can be used to avoid imposing a finance charge due to a minimum E-Pay charge being deferred to the next bill period. To avoid this scenario, set the minumum balance to greater than or equal to the minimum E-Pay charge. See Avoiding Finance Charges on Minimum And Maximum E-Pay Payments.
Finance Group Details – Exclude Charges from late Fees by Invoice Category
Note
Finance Group Detail configuration is an optional part of finance group configuration. This lets you exempt certain charges from late fees for the group on an invoice category basis. Invoice categories must be set up in the Data Management > Invoice Categories table beforehand. You’ll also need to assign revenue-generating items to their respective invoice categories, but this can be done before or after you configure the finance group details.
To exclude invoice categories from late fees:
Right-click on the appropriate Finance Group row and select View Detail. This displays the Finance Group Details form.
Then right-click on an empty row in the Details form and select New (or click on an existing detail and select Edit). This displays the Add/Edit Finance Group Detail form.
Use the Invoice Category Excluded drop-down menu to select an invoice category to exempt and click Save.
Add as many invoice categories to the Finance Group as needed.
Note
You can use this to exclude finance charges assessed in previous bill periods from late fee calculations in a subsequent bill period. This requires you to add a finance charge invoice category in Admin Console Data Management and then associate finance charges to that invoice category. IDI Desktop Client users cannot associate finance charges to an invoice category on their own. This requires assistance from an authorized IDI associate through a service request.