Bridge
User Guide - Billing
Version 2.4.78

Version 2.4.78Bridge User GuideUser Guide - Billing

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Managing Bill To Parties

Creating a New Bill To Party

Viewing and Navigating Bill To Party Information

General Information

Billing Settings

On Account Balance

Account History

Outstanding Invoices

Online Payment of Invoices

Offset Invoices

Deactivating a Bill To Party

Transactions

Managing Receipts by Batch

Creating a New Batch of Receipts

Viewing, Modifying, and Deleting a Batch

Importing Receipts to a Batch

Manually Adding Receipts to a Batch

Managing Invoices for Cash or Refund Receipts

Managing Invoices for Account Balance Allocation Receipts

Managing On-account Balance Receipts Allocated to a Refund Receipt

Editing Receipts

Deleting Receipts

Posting Batches

Receipt Corrections

Reversing a Posted Receipt

Reallocating a Posted Receipt

Invoice Write-Offs

Creating a Write-Off Receipt

Billing Adjustments

Creating a New Adjustment

Viewing and Modifying an Adjustment

Deleting an Adjustment

Posting an Adjustment

On Demand Invoicing

Manual Invoice Creation

Payables

Distributor Payables

Marking Distributor Payable Transactions as Paid

Insurer Payables

Marking Insurer Payable Transactions as Paid

Tax Payables

Marking Tax Payable Transactions as Paid

Billing Reports

Account History Report

Invoices Report

Charges Report

Receipts Report

Online Payments Report

Aged Receivables Report

Earnings Report

General Ledger Entries Report

Report Repository

Billing Configuration

Billing General Settings

Navigating Billing General Settings

General Settings - Billing

General Settings - Invoicing

General Settings - Payments & Receipts

General Settings - Write-Offs

General Settings - Statements

General Settings - Accounting

Managing Fiscal Years

General Settings - Reporting

Managing Payment Plans

Creating a New Payment Plan

Viewing and Modifying a Payment Plan

Deactivating a Payment Plan

Managing Adjustment Types

Creating a New Adjustment Type

Viewing and Modifying an Adjustment Type

Deactivating an Adjustment Type

Managing Bank Accounts

Creating a New Bank Account

Viewing and Modifying a Bank Account

Deactivating a Bank Account

Managing General Ledger Accounts

Creating a New General Ledger Account

Viewing and Modifying a General Ledger Account

Deactivating a General Ledger Account

Document Templates

Managing Billing Document Configurations

Creating a new Billing Document Configuration

Viewing and Modifying a Billing Document Configuration

Deactivating a Billing Document Configuration

Managing Payment Provider Configurations

Creating a New Payment Provider Configuration

Viewing and Modifying a Payment Provider Configuration

Deactivating a Payment Provider Configuration

Common Pages

Invoice Detail Window

Receipt Detail Window

Index

Version 2.4.78Bridge User GuideUser Guide - Billing

Version 2.4.78Bridge User GuideUser Guide - Billing

Introduction

Welcome to the Bridge insurance access portal. The system provides a full workflow, from the administration of products and coverage, to the submission and management of individual policies.

Access to all features, options, and data are controlled by the settings in your user account. This guide is for users with billing management rights, covering all aspects of configuring payment plans and managing accounts, invoices, and receipts.

This guide assumes the user is familiar with the general functions of the system. For instructions on logging in and using common features throughout the system, see the User Guide - Introduction document.

Version 2.4.78Bridge User GuideUser Guide - Billing

Managing Bill To Parties

With any business that has paying customers, it becomes necessary to arrange a method of payment. Whether the end-client pays directly, or the payment is handled through an intermediary such as a broker or distributor, the payment configuration begins with designating the bill to party.

Creating a New Bill To Party

A Bill To Party can be created manually by clicking the Designate as Bill To Party button on a company record screen. A Bill To Party can also be created automatically when required, such as when quoting a transaction with a new client company or individual client, or when new charges are produced by other parts of the system.

The Designate as Bill To Party button will create the account and open it for immediate editing. For bill to parties created automatically, you can access them through the Bill To Parties list.

See the section on Viewing and Navigating Bill To Party Information for details.

Viewing and Navigating Bill To Party Information

  1. In the main menu, select Billing then Bill To Parties. A list of all available parties is displayed.

/ Tip: By default, only Active parties are displayed. Clear the filter in the Status column to view all parties.
  1. Click a link in the Name column to view the bill to party details. If there are a large number of available profiles, see the Using Grids section of the User Guide - Introduction document for help on finding the appropriate profile.
  1. When viewing a bill to party, the information is divided into multiple pages. The pages are accessed through the Bill To Party Menu widget to the left of the screen. The General Information page opens by default when a bill to party is selected.

Click a link to view the page details.

General Information / Contains the general information for the bill to party, such as address and contact details
Billing Settings / Contains the settings for billing and managing invoices.
On Account Balance / Lists the funds held on account for the bill to party.
Account History / Lists invoices and receipts related to the bill to party.
Outstanding Invoices / Lists unpaid invoices for the bill to party, and allows payments to be made online.

Version 2.4.78Bridge User GuideUser Guide - Billing

General Information

The General Information page lists the bill to party details such as address and contact details.

If the Same as Policy Information box is checked, only the Account Number field can be edited. Unchecking the Same as Policy Information box will allow the details to be changed, but will prevent the system from updating the Bill To Party if changes are made to the core company details.

Same as Policy Information / Defines whether the Bill To Party information is maintained separately from the core company details, or if it should be updated with any changes.
When a client or distributor company is first designated as a bill to party, this option is checked by default and most of the company information is copied in. All fields are then disabled, except for the Account Number field.
While this option is checked, the bill to party details will be updated to match the core company details each time a payment schedule is selected for that party within a policy transaction. Selecting Designate as Bill To Party again on the core company screen will also update the information.
If unchecked, all fields can be edited manually and the details will not be changed by the system. Note that changing details for the Bill To Party does not affect the core company information.
Name / Displays the company or individual name.
Code / Displays the code assigned to the company or individual.
Description / Enter a description for the bill to party.
Address Fields / These fields display the full address, including street Address, City, Country, State/Province, and Zip/Postal Code.
Phone / Displays the phone number of the company or contact.
Fax / Displays the fax number of the company or contact.
Email / Displays the e-mail address of the company or contact.
Account Number / This field defaults to the Code, but can be changed. However, the Account Number must remain unique.
Active / Marks the billing profile as active and available for use. If unchecked, the profile remains linked to any existing invoices, but cannot be used for new charges.
Created By / Identifies the date and time the billing profile was created, and the user who created it.
Last Modified By / Identifies the last date and time the billing profile was changed, and the user who made the changes.

Click Save to save any changes and remain on the page, or click Close to return to the Bill To Parties list without saving any changes.

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Billing Settings

The Billing Settings page includes settings for the frequency and scheduling of billing for the Bill to Party.

Use Default Billing Settings / By default, all Bill to Parties use the default settings defined in the General Settings - Billing page. The current settings are displayed here, and any changes to the default settings will be applied to this party.
If this option is unchecked, the settings can be customized for this party alone. These settings will not be affected by changes to the default settings.
Billing Frequency / Select how often the billing process will run, producing invoices.
Run Billing On / Depending on the Billing Frequency setting, it may be necessary to select the day of the month when the billing process will run.
  • Day of Month
/ This selection will enable the Day of Month field where a specific day can be entered.
  • Last Day of Month
/ This selection causes billing to run on the last day of each month.
Day of Month / This field is not available when Billing Frequency is set to Weekly or Daily, or when Run Billing On is set to Last Day of Month. Enter a number from 1 to 30 for the day of the month on which to run billing. To run billing on the 31st, select Last Day of Month instead. If a certain month ends before the chosen day, billing will run on the last day of that month.
Day of Week / This field is available when Billing Frequency is set to Weekly. Select a day of the week on which to run billing.
Invoice Due / Enter the numbers of days from the invoice issue date before the payment is due. For manually generated invoices, the issue date is selected by the user. For automatically generated invoices, the invoice issue date is set to either the charge date of the earliest charge included in the invoice, or the date the invoice is generated if the earliest charge date has already passed.
Communication Preference / Select the preferred method of communicating with the Bill to Party.
If Email is selected, the party will be eligible for automatic invoice emails, if the invoices and emails are configured for automatic generation.
Separate Invoicing by Transaction / When invoices are generated, the charges are separated by bill to party and currency.
If this option is checked (the default setting), the charges are further separated by transaction. This produces individual invoices for each combination of bill to party, currency, and transaction.
If this option is unchecked, multiple transactions for the same bill to party and currency will be combined. This produces individual invoices for each combination of bill to party and currency.

Click Save to save any changes and remain on the page, or click Close to return to the Bill To Parties list without saving any changes.

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On Account Balance

The On Account Balance page lists the stored funds for the current bill to party. An on account balance can come from pre-payments, payments that have not been matched to invoices yet, or payments that exceeded the invoice totals. If funds exist in more than one currency, a separate entry will exist for each currency.

Click a link in the Currency column to view the breakdown of the current balance. The On Account Balance Details window opens.

The On Account Balance Details window lists each receipt where all or part of the payment went on account.

Click a link in the Receipt Number column to view the Receipt details window.

Click Close in the On Account Balance Details window to close the window and return to the On Account Balance page.

Click Close on the On Account Balance page to return to the Bill To Parties list.

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Account History

The Account History pageprovides details on all transactions for the bill to party, with the option to filter by a specific date range. Invoices and receipts can be selected to view the specific details of the transaction. This page is similar to the standalone Account History report, except this report is limited to the selected bill to party.

The results can be focused on a specific date range using the Reporting Period fields. Either or both dates can be entered, or selected from the calendar lookup.

Click Search to display the transactions. The results appear in the Transactions panel.

The Transactions list displays invoices and receipts for the selected bill to party and date range.

The Type column identifies the type of each transaction. Click a link in the Number column to view the Transaction Detail window for Invoices or Receipts.

Click Close to return to the Bill To Parties list.

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Outstanding Invoices

The Outstanding Invoices pageprovides details on all invoices for the bill to party that have not yet been paid in full. Invoices can be selected to view the specific details. This page is similar to the standalone Invoices report, except this report is limited to the selected bill to party and is filtered by currency.

Select a Currency and click Search. The Invoice List panel appears with the results.

Some columns have been hidden.

Click a link in the Invoice Number column to view the Invoice details window. To make payments for invoices, see the Online Payment of Invoices section. To use credit invoices to pay off debit invoices, see the Offset Invoices section.

Click Close to return to the Bill To Parties list.

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Online Payment of Invoices

Invoices can be paid directly from the Outstanding Invoices page in the Bill To Party information. One or more invoices can be paid, with the option to use any funds held on account and paying any remaining balance online.

  1. Open a bill to party record and navigate to the Outstanding Invoices page. See Viewing and Navigating Bill To Party Information for instructions.
  1. Select a Currency and click Search. The Invoice List panel appears with the results.

Some columns have been hidden.

  1. Check the boxes for all invoices to be paid, then click Pay. The Payment Initiation window opens.
  1. Complete the necessary information. Fields marked with a red asterisk *are required.

Bill To Party / Displays the name of the current bill to party.
On Account Balance / Displays any funds in the selected currency that may be on account for the bill to party.
On Account Amount to Apply / Enter an amount to use on account funds for this payment. The amount may not exceed the current On Account Balance or the Total Outstanding Amount.
Remaining On Account Balance / Displays the amount that will remain on account after this payment is completed.
Total Outstanding Amount / Displays the total unpaid amount of the invoices selected for payment.
Total Payment Amount / Displays the total remaining amount to be paid after any on account amount has been applied. Depending on the configuration of the payment system, this amount may be changed to make a partial payment.
  1. Click Submit to proceed with the payment, or click Close to close the window without making the payment.

If the Total Payment Amount is zero, meaning the full payment amount was covered by the on account funds, clicking Submit will complete the payment and return to the Outstanding Invoices list.

If there is a remaining amount to be paid, clicking Submit will close the window and change to the online payment screen. The instructions will be on-screen.

  1. When the payment is completed, the Online Payments screen opens with a summary of the payment.
Name / Displays the name of the bill to party for the current transaction.
Date / Displays the date the transaction was processed.
Amount / Displays the amount of the transaction.
Currency / Displays the currency for the transaction.
Status / Displays the status of the transaction.
Reference Number / Displays the system-generated reference number for the payment.
Receipt Number / Displays the number of the receipt generated within the system.
  1. Click the Back to Previous Page button to return to the Outstanding Invoices list page. Additional payments can be made, or click Close to return to the Bill To Parties list.

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Offset Invoices

Invoices with negative amounts (credits) can be used to pay invoices with positive amounts (debits).

  1. Open a bill to party record and navigate to the Outstanding Invoices page. See Viewing and Navigating Bill To Party Information for instructions.