Using Retail Installment Plans Using Web Modules

This article describes how to configure, sell and manage enhanced retail installment plans using the Orders web module and Customer Care.

To learn how to use equivalent functionality in IDI Desktop Client, refer to the applicable knowledge article here.

If this functionality is not yet enabled in your system, or you want a quick overview of the functionality, refer to Getting Started with Enhanced Retail Installment Plans.

Setup

Note:

When you use this functionality on the web, some of the required setup described below is done in IDI Desktop Client and Admin Console.

Enhanced retail installment plan functionality requires the following setup:

• Configure General Ledger for correct posting of the sale and billed installments.

• Configure a Billing Product – At least one Billing product is required.

• Set up installment agreements in IDI Desktop Client Product Catalog.

• Configure and assign Permissions:

  • In Admin Console Security

    • Installment plan profile setup in Product Management.

    • Selling a product on installments when the product is not assigned a profile.

  • In the Security web module

    • Assign return permission to applicable users in the Security web module.

  • Using Order Field Configuration in the web module as may be required:

    • overriding profile rules during the sale.

    • skip signing agreements.

    • overriding register policy rules for returns.

• Set up installment plan profiles – At least one is required.

• Assign profiles to retail products that you intend to sell on installment.

• Set up credit classes to allow or not allow installment plans.

• Set offset payment posting date – By default, the posted date of a pay-in-full transaction is set to the same day as the transaction. This may result in crediting the payment prematurely. Admin Console settings let you delay when the payment posts to ensure system processes are not affected due to premature crediting.

• Enable starting block functionality and configure starting blocks. This is covered in the related article in the IDI Knowledge Center here: Web Sales.

General Ledger Setup for Installment Plans

There are two GL posting processes for retail installment plan sales – one to post the full installment amount for the sale and one to post billed installments as they occur. Both processes should be set up to use the same GL account. The process for posting installment plan sales is driven by the respective POS locations where installment plan sales are tendered. This setup is covered below. GL setup for billed installments is driven by installment plan billing products and is covered in the section which covers all aspects of billing product setup.

GL Setup for Posting the Full Installment Amount for the Sale

It is recommended that for all store locations where retail installment plan sales are tendered, you select a specific GL Account to suit your business process. IDI recommends using an Accrued Accounts Receivable account. To do this, at each location you need to override the default GL account for the Retail Cash General Ledger Property on the Future Installment Tender Type and select your designated installment plan GL account.

In the IDI Desktop Client:

1. Choose Applications > POS Back Office > Locations.

   

2. Right-click on the store location and choose Edit.

   

3. On the Location Configuration form:

4. Select the General Ledger tab.

5. Select the Override these values option.

6. Select the Future Installment Tender Type and click Edit.

   

7. On the Edit Tender Type form click Edit.

   

8. On the Edit Assigned GL Accounts form, for the Retail Cash subcategory select Override from the Override drop-down menu and then choose the designated GL account (Accrued Accounts Receivable recommended).

   

9. Click Save.

10. Close the Edit Tender Type GL Accounts form.

11. Click Save on the Edit Location form.

Setting Up the Billing Product

At least one billing product must be set up in the IDI Desktop Client Product Catalog. This billing product is associated to the retail product being sold on an installment plan. The product is simply a marker to drive scheduled payments after the sale. It does not establish any of the parameters related to installment plans such as number of installments, down payment amount, and so on. The price is set on the retail product. All other variables (number of payments, down payment, whether to require a 1^st payment…) are set on an Installment Plan Profile which is then associated to the retail product. The billing product is also specified on the Installment Plan Profile.

Although only one such product is required, you may want to configure multiple billing products. The content of the Description (or Alt Invoice Description) field is used as the description for the corresponding line item on the invoice. Therefore, if you need to distinguish between different installment payments on an invoice, multiple billing products would need to be created and named accordingly.

GL Setup for the Billing Product

This GL setup accounts for the posting of billed installments. You have two options for GL setup on the billing product. You can either set up the GL on a Product Category, and then assign the Product Category to the billing product, or you can set up GL directly on the billing product. It is good practice to have a Product Category associated to all products in the Product Catalog, so this method is recommended. The GL configuration process for Product Category and billing product is the same as the respective forms look and operate the same way. This section covers the Product Category method.

Product Categories are added via Product Management (Product Management > Product Categories).

This displays the Product Category form.

To create the Product Category:

• Right-click in the grid on the Product Categories form and choose New from the context menu.

  

• Assign the new Product Category a meaningful name such as Installment Plans.

  

• Click Edit. This displays the Edit Assigned GL Accounts form.

• On this form find the Earned and Billed Revenue Subcategory.

• Set the Override column to Override.

• Then set the GL Account column to the same GL account as specified for GL posting of installment plan sales covered in the section on General Ledger Setup for Installment Plans. As indicated in that section, an Accrued Accounts Receivable GL account is recommended.

• Click Save.

  

• Click Save on the Add Product category form.

How to assign the Product Category to billing products is described in Configuring the Billing Product below.

Note:

If you’re using both the enhanced retail and older billing product-based installment plans, and there is a need to GL them separately, separate Product Categories should be set up and assigned to the respective billing products. It is recommended that you contact IDI for assistance with this setup.

Configuring the Billing Product

The following parameters must be properly configured to enable the billing product to be selected on a profile (to be present in the corresponding drop-down menu on the profile):

• Charge Cycle must be set to Once to enable the Allow Installments check box.

• Prorating Type must be set to None.

• Charge Tax Class = No Tax Class Assigned.

• Allow Installments must be checked.

  Note:

  Do not enter a value for Max Number of Installments This field on the New/Edit Product form is ignored when enhanced installment plan functionality is enabled in the system.

The following setup is also required:

• General Ledger setup for the billing product can be accomplished either via the General Ledger tab on the product, or by selecting the designated and properly configured Product Category as shown below.

• The entry in Description (or Alt Invoice Desc) determines the line item description on the invoice.

  

Permissions

Product Management – Installment Plan Profiles

Permissions for access to installment plan profiles must be enabled in the permission profiles of users charged with managing installment plan profiles. The path is: Application > CostGuard Client > Product Management > Installment Plan Profiles.

Setting Up Installment Plan Profiles

Installment plan profiles are set up via Product Management independent of retail products. This facilitates configuration and maintenance. You can associate a profile with multiple retail product types as needed. When a change is needed, you only need to edit the profile rather than having to edit multiple retail products.

The menu item below displays the Installment Plan Profile grid.

From this grid users can view, add, edit, and delete installment plan profiles.

Choosing to add or edit a profile displays the Add/Edit Installment Plan Profile form.

The upper portion provides fields for specify these profile-level parameters.

The Profile Rules section is an in-line editable grid for adding, editing, ranking, and deleting profile rules based on Credit Class and Account Type. This grid lets you define these parameters.

Ranking Rules

You can rank the rules within an Installment Plan Profile to set the order of precedence if more than one rule applies to a customer. Rank can be adjusted by dragging and dropping a row up or down in the order. The rank number changes accordingly. Note: The rules grid does not support filtering or sorting so as not to impact ranking.

Selecting Credit Class and Account Type

The Credit Class and Account Type columns convert to drop-down menus when you click on a cell. The Credit Class menu lists all defined credit classes except those marked in Data Management to not allow installment plans. The menu also lets you choose no credit class. The Account Type menu lists all defined account types. The menu also lets you choose no account type.

Notes:

• If a subscriber does not match one of the rules (credit class/account type combination), the subscriber will not be permitted to make a purchase with an installment plan. You can avoid this by setting up a catch all rule with no credit class or account type and ranking it at the bottom of the order.

• The system will not allow more than one rule to be defined for a credit class/account type combination.

Do Not Allow Installment Plan Option

When a rule is based on credit class, the Do Not Allow Installment Plan check box on the grid only applies if the Do Not Allow Installment Plan check box on the Credit Class form in Data Management is not checked (meaning installment plans are allowed for the credit class).

The setting in Data Management should only be used to always disallow installment plans for a particular credit class (for all installment plan profiles). This saves you from having to set up a do not allow installment plan rule for the credit class in every profile.

Not checking the check box in Data Management lets you have a do not allow installment plan rule for the credit class for some profiles and not for others.

Adding New Rules

There is always a blank row marked with an asterisk at the bottom of the grid for entering new rules.

As an alternative you can select an existing row and choose to duplicate it. This is handy if you want to create a new rule, but you only need to change one or two parameters (for example if you only need to establish a different down payment range for another credit class).

Note:

If you use this feature, you must change either the credit class or account type or both since each credit class/account type combination can only have one rule.

Deleting Rules

Existing rules can be deleted as needed.

Testing Rules

From the Add/Edit Profiles form you can test your rules by clicking the Test Profile Rules button.

This displays the Test Installment Plan Profile Rules form. To use this form, simply select the account type and credit class (none is a valid selection for credit class). The form will then highlight the applicable rule.

Note:

If the form cannot find a rule that matches the selected account type/credit class combination, the warning shown below will be displayed. This means that if a catch-all rule (any account type/credit class) is not added, any subscriber whose account type and credit class does not have a matching rule will not be permitted to make a purchase with an installment plan.

Assigning a Profile to a Retail Product

Each retail product that may be sold on installments must have an installment plan profile assigned. The Installment Plan Profile drop-down menu contains a list of all active profiles configured in the system. The menu filters out (does not include) profiles whose Start Date is in the future or whose End Date has passed.

Note:

Retail installment plans can only be sold on serialized retail products. Therefore, the corresponding drop-down will not be enabled unless the product is marked as Serialized.

The menu defaults to None. For products that will not be sold on installments, leave the menu at the default None. This will ensure that users will not have the option to sell the product with an installment plan.

Allow or Disallow Installment Plans by Credit Class

Users can configure whether to allow or disallow installment plans on a credit class basis. This is done via the Add/Edit Credit Class form in Data Management. Note: During a sale, if the customer’s credit class precludes purchases on installments, authorized users can override the Credit Class rule with a Manager Override.

Offset Payment Posting Date

By default, the posted date of an installment plan pay-in-full transaction is set to the same day as the transaction. This may result in crediting the payment prematurely, exempting the account from certain processes. This may also confuse both carriers and subscribers by not accurately reflecting the account balance for the interim until the bill period is processed.

Admin Console settings let you delay when the payment posts as a function of days prior to the end of the current bill period. This provides an accurate indication of account balance prior to the specified (delayed) posted date. Also, other system processes will not be affected due to premature crediting.

Note:

The on/off setting defaults to disabled (off). When disabled, there is no impact to existing functionality (pay-in-full transactions are posted the day of the payment).

The delay is specified as number of days before the next invoice date. This is done via two new settings in Admin Console Business Rules (Local Services/CostGuard Service/Product Catalog). First check Enable Installment Plan Payoff Posting Date Offset, then enter the offset as number of days before the next invoice date. The valid range is 1 to 14 days.

When enabled, the applied posted date of the payment is the number of days per the configured value before the customer’s last day of the current bill period. The result is that a payment will be created as an unposted transaction and not applied to the account balance until the specified Posted Date. If the defined number of offset days puts a Posted Date in the past (earlier than the current date), the current date is used.

Selling an Installment Plan

Prerequisite for Installment Agreements

As a prerequisite, your IDI Desktop Client Product Catalog must have retail products with installment agreements available to include in a sale.

An installment agreement is associated to a serialized retail product by first associating an agreement to an installment plan profile in Product Management > Installment Plan Profiles.

And then associating an installment plan profile to the retail product in the IDI Desktop Client Product Catalog.

Selling Retail Installment Plans via Web Orders

This article covers selling an installment plan using starting block-driven web sales. If you’re unfamiliar with web sales, refer to the related article in the IDI Knowledge Center here: Web Sales.

Applying Restrictions Through Order Field Configuration

This replaces equivalent permissions in Admin Console Security. Order field configuration can be used to restrict:

• Overriding register policy on return transactions.

• Overriding installment plan rules.

• Using Skip and Verbal options on service/installment agreements.

  

• Restricting Override Register Policy on ReturnTransactions

  During a return transaction, items selected for return are evaluated against the register policy return rules based on the transaction’s location. If any items violate a rule, those items are presented in a dialog with options for overriding the register policy. Typically these options are available to any user authorized to return items. You can restrict the ability to use these options on a user group basis by adding and configuring the Override Register Policy field.

  Select Return Item as the action and select the user group(s) to restrict. This is not set up by default and must be added if you need to restrict override capability for some users (restricting access to Sales user group shown below).

  

• Restricting Override Installment PlanRules

  To do this add and configure the Override Register Policy field.

  

• Restricting Skip and VerbalOptions for Completing Agreements

  The Skip and Verbal options for competing agreements are permitted by default, but you can optionally restrict access based starting block starting action and user group.

  

Installment Agreement Email Options

If you want the ability to email agreement documents during a web transaction, set up the starting block to support email options accordingly. Below shows starting block setup for email options. Starting blocks are configured via the web-based Product Catalog. For additional information, refer to the related article in the IDI Knowledge Center here: Web Sales or Product Catalog web help.

Transaction Steps for Adding an Installment Plan

Transactions can be initiated directly in the Orders web module, or you can initiate them in Customer Care if the starting block is configured to support this. Use a starting block set up with Location, Email and Receipt options as required for your retail web transaction process. If you initiate the transaction from Customer Care, you’ll be directed to Orders to complete the transaction.

• Assembly – Selecting a Retail Item that allows installmentpayments

  Saving the basic information displays the Detail page for assembling the transaction. This is where you select one or more retail items for the transaction. Click the Add Items icon.

  

  Choose to add account- and/or service-level items. Then use the search tool to find retail Items.

  

• Completing Retail Installment PlanDetails

  In the View menu choose the Installment Plan view.

  Note:

  This view is only available when the selected retail item requires or allows a retail installment plan. The fields in this view follow the rules for the installment plan profile assigned to the retail item. You can edit these fields as the profile allows/requires. In the example above, the profile requires you specify the Number of Installments and Down Payment Amount. First Installment Required is pre-selected and can only be changed by overriding this profile rule. You can see additional details for a field by hovering the mouse over the associated information (!) icon.

  

  The view indicates when you make an entry that’s not valid. Below you can see the current entry of 12 for number of installments is invalid as the allowable range is 5-10.

  

  If you need to override one or more rules (if permitted), click Override Rules and then click again in the confirmation prompt.

  

  In the example below, you can see the First Installment Included checkbox which was pre-selected and not editable can now be edited. You can also make entries in the other fields that exceed the ranges set by the profile rules.

  

Installment Agreements

You can add and manage installment agreements on web order/sales transactions. When a contract with an agreement is added to a transaction, you can:

• See that one or more agreements are present on the transaction, and be alerted when action is required (skip, sign, or verbal acknowledgement).

• Capture signatures or initials when required without a client-based peripheral.

• View and email completed agreement documents during order assembly.

• Access agreements in the Document Storage web module.

Notes:

• Installment agreements can be added at the service- or account-level.

• The following sections take you through the steps for managing agreements on a transaction. The steps may vary slightly depending upon starting block configuration.

The scenario described here is based on using a starting block configured to start a sale transaction which includes the Summary page. This page is not included in transactions where the starting block is configured to start as an order. The underlying functionality for managing agreements is the same. The only difference is where in the process you see this functionality. This scenario also uses a starting block set up with a register/location and support for emailing transaction documents.

When you add one or more contracts with service or installment agreements to a transaction, those contracts are marked with a paper clip with hover text in three places during transaction assembly:

• On adding the contract or serialized retail product – the hover text indicates the item has a contract or retail product with an agreement.

  

  

• By expanding Account Level or Service Level Items in the transaction details (left) panel.

  

  

• By viewing the contract/installment plan details in the right panel.

  

  

Indicating Action Required for an Agreement

If the transaction has one or more contracts with agreements and uses a starting block set up for a cart/sale, clicking Review takes you to the Summary page where you can manage the agreements. It lets you know there are agreements that require action before you complete the transaction. It shows you the total number of agreements and the number of agreements where the required action has been completed. For example, below the transaction has five agreements and none have been completed (0/5). It also provides an Actions button to proceed to the steps for completing the agreements.

Note:

The section formerly labeled as Cart Summary is now labeled Retail Summary. This is where any retail items will be listed.

For cart/sale transactions with this Summary page you can choose to deal with the agreements here or defer until after you proceed to checkout. This scenario shows deferring managing agreements until after checkout. On clicking Proceed to Checkout, the tendering page provides another opportunity to manage agreements.

Note:

From this point, functionality for managing agreements is the same for cart/sale or order transactions.

On this page, if the starting block is set up with a register, the tab formerly labeled as SUMMARY is now split into two tabs: BILLING and RETAIL. The RETAIL tab lists all retail items included in the transaction (if present) and a total cost. The BILLING tab provides a list of the actions being taken on the transaction (Adding, Updating, Disconnecting, etc.), MRC and One-Time charges, estimated amount to be included in the next invoice. And the BILLING tab has the same functionality related to agreements as the previous (Summary) page.

Note:

If the starting block is not set up with a register, the BILLING tab simply replaces the SUMMARY tab.

If you leave the BILLING tab without completing all agreements, the red dot will warn you that you MUST return to the BILLING tab to complete those agreements.

Managing Agreements

The Actions drop-down menu provides an option to complete the agreement(s).

Note:

Options for emailing and viewing documents may also be available at this time, depending on the transaction content.

In this case, the email and view options are available but only apply to the network receipt on the transaction by virtue of the retail products included in the transaction. Email and view only apply to contract service agreements once they’re completed, and their respective documents have been generated. Also, the email option is only available if the starting block is set up to permit emailing.

Completing Agreements

Choosing Complete Agreements displays a page that lists all agreements on the transaction. The Status column in each row shows you whether the associated agreement’s action has been addressed (Complete) or not (Incomplete). The Action column provides a drop-down menu for selecting an action. You can also use the Select action for all drop-down menu to select the same action for all agreements and then adjust individual agreements as needed.

Note:

The Skip and Verbal options below can be restricted through order field configuration. See Setup.

• None – Take no action. This lets you address some agreements at this time and defer others until later. For example, you can capture signatures on one agreement, email to the customer for review, and then pause the transaction to wait for a response from the customer. The agreement status will remain incomplete, and you will not be permitted to complete the transaction until the other agreements have been addressed.

• Sign – Capture required signatures (per the agreement’s design).

• Skip – Complete agreement without signatures or verbal acknowledgement.

• Verbal – Read terms to the customer and get verbal acknowledgement.

Note:

If the transaction has multiple instances of the same agreement with the Sign option selected, they would normally be grouped together in the subsequent signing dialog and be signed in bulk; however, you can use the check box below the listed agreements to sign each agreement individually. This check box is only available when you choose to sign two or more agreements that are the same.

Clicking Next starts the dialog for completing agreements. It lists required steps per the action you selected for each agreement. Below shows four steps are required.

• If you choose to skip one or more agreements, the first step shows you those agreements. Clicking Agree and Continue skips all the listed agreements.

  

• If you choose the Verbal option for one or more agreements, you’ll be presented with the terms and conditions to read to the customer. Click Agree and Continue to confirm the terms have been read and agreed to by the customer.

  Note:

  If there are multiple instances of the same agreement on the order, they are grouped and verbally acknowledged together, so each Agree and Continue step will bulk acknowledge all agreements that are the same.

  

• If you choose to sign one or more agreements, you’ll be presented with a dialog that will require you to initial and/or sign off on terms as dictated by the agreement. Click inside the respective boxes and use the cursor to initial or sign. You can clear a box if you’re not satisfied with the signature.

  Note:

  Below shows two instances of the agreement FR 3412 Service Agreement being signed in one step (not individually).

• The Agree and Continue button transitions to Agree and Finish once you finished all required steps and successfully completed all agreements.

  

  Below the indicator for number of agreements/agreements completed shows 5 of 5 agreements completed. On completing one or more agreements, the view and email options in the Actions menu will apply to all completed agreements as well as transaction receipt (if applicable). Note: The email option is only available if the starting block is set up to permit emailing.

  

Viewing Documents

The View Documents option lets you view agreement documents and the transaction receipt (when applicable).

Note:

Agreements must be completed before they’re available to be viewed. This option will not be available if the transaction has no completed agreements or a receipt.

Use the dialog to select which agreements to view and whether to include the transaction receipt when applicable. Only completed agreements are listed. Options below the agreements list facilitate selecting/unselecting all agreement documents.

Clicking OK presents each selected document (and receipt if applicable) on a separate tab.

Emailing Agreements

The Email Documents option is available when the starting block is set up to support emailing agreement documents and transaction receipt (when applicable). It displays a dialog for selecting which documents to email.

Note:

Only completed documents are listed. Options below the agreements list facilitate selecting/unselecting all documents.

Clicking Email displays a dialog for specifying the destination email address.

Note:

If the starting block is set up to Prompt for Email Upon Submit, the Email Transaction Documents page will be displayed if you attempt to submit the transaction without emailing completed documents.

Managing Installment Plans

On a Feature

Customer Care supports viewing installment plan information on a feature if the feature is set up to allow installment plans. This is done via the Services and Features page. Also, if the Feature has not yet been billed, users with permission to Manage Catalog Items can choose whether to pay in installments and set the number of installments.

Number of Installments can be set from 2 to the maximum as set in the Product Catalog.

At the Account Level

You can manage Installment plans on an account via the Customer menu by choosing Account > Installment Plans.

Click on a plan on the left to view its details on the right. For retail installment plans you can click to pay in full or view the associated agreement.

Payoff Now

This requires some setup.

• Permissions – Users must have the E-pay One Time Payments permission enabled in their permission profile in Admin Console.

• Manage Settings – Under MANAGE > Settings, there is a section for Installment Plans. To enable, a payoff register, and payoff order type are required. Note: Users must have the Manage Settings permission to edit these settings.

  

To initiate a payoff:

• Click PAYOFF NOW.

  

• Select an E-Pay account.

  Note:

  If the customer does not have an E-Pay account, you cannot continue with the payoff, and must first set up an E-Pay account.

  

  If a bank account is used, an Authorization type is required. This is consistent with all E-Pay payments. Select Customer is on the phone or Customer is present. When Customer is on the phone is selected, an additional consent (NACHA) script is presented, and you must select Agree before the payment can be submitted.

Moving an Installment Plan With Its Service

When a service is moved to a different account and you opt to move the installment plan, the retail installment plan information will move with the service to the new account. This lets you view the original POS receipt and the installment agreement on the moved-to account.

Note:

Returns on a moved retail installment plan are not supported from the Moved-To Account. The original POS transaction is tied to the original account. A return can either be done against the original account, or a blind return can be done.

How it Looks

When a service is moved to a different account and you opt to move the installment plan, the retail installment plan information will move with the service to the new account.

Moved-From Account

When viewing the retail installment plan on the moved-from account:

• The remaining Balance will be zero

• The payoff option is not available

• Final Installment Date will be the date the plan was moved

• The account the plan was moved to is displayed

  

Moved-To Account

When viewing the retail installment plan on the moved-to account:

• The account the plan was moved from is displayed

• Users can view the Billing Order for the move service order

• The Receipt Number of the original POS transaction for the installment plan is displayed

• Users can pay off the installment plan

  

Reports

There are four standard reports in Report Explorer to support the enhanced installment plan functionality. They’re located in the Installment Plans folder under Customer Care & Management.

Installment Plans By SKU

This report presents the following information related to installment plans by SKU:

• Number of active plans.

• Total value (number of plans * price).

• Total outstanding balance (yet to be invoiced).

You can run this report for a single SKU or all SKUs. Double-clicking a row (a specific SKU) runs the By Accounts report and returns all accounts that have the selected SKU.

Installment Plans By Account

This report lists accounts with equipment purchased on an installment plan. You can run the report for:

• A specific account number.

• Accounts with a specific SKU where plan is still active.

• All accounts.

You can choose to include or not include (filter out) disconnected installment plans. For each account, this report returns:

• Account number.

• Retail product SKU.

• Date of the sale.

• Receipt number.

• Whether or not the first installment was paid at the time of sale.

• Down payment amount (if applicable).

• Total installment amount.

• Number of installments (Label as Installments After Sale).

• Installment amount (amount owed each bill period).

• Number of installments remaining.

• Remaining balance.

• Service number (if applicable).

In addition to running the report directly from the Report Explorer, you can also run this report as a drill-down from the Installment Plans By SKU report by double-clicking on the row for a specific SKU. In this case the report returns all accounts that have the selected SKU.

Installment Plan Sales Detail

This report provides details to audit how an installment plan (when sold with an applicable serialized retail product) was applied and if it was done correctly according to your business process.

Installment Plan Payoff Detail

This report provides details on performed installment plan payoffs (in one list) to review, and if the POS transaction was done correctly according to your business process.