Bills
In Evergreen, all charges—fines, fees, bills—are called bills. There are two types of bills:
- Circulation: System-generated bills, such as fines, lost item costs, processing fees, etc.
- Grocery: Staff-applied bills, such as printing charges, replacement card fees, non-resident fees, etc.
Parts of the Bills Screen
To access the bills, go into the patron record and click on the Bills button.
On the bills screen, the top left gives a summary of the account.
The Pay Bill area on the top right allows you to enter payment information.
The Bill Patron button is where staff can add Grocery bills to the patron record.
The History button opens a bill history screen that shows both Transaction History and Payment History.
The detail window in the bills screen shows current bills, with information on the type of bill, total billed and paid, balance, bill number, and the title of the item, if it is a circulation bill.
You can also take a variety of actions in the detail window, using the Actions for Selected Transactions menu. You can show the item in the catalog (if the bill is a circulation bill, applied for a particular item), show the item details in Item Status, void a billing, adjust the balance to zero, apply a refund, add billing, and show full details about a bill.
The Full Details option in the Actions for Selected Transactions menu opens a new window that gives all the information about bills and payments related to the bills.
You can print one or more receipts using the Receipt Options button, and you can print a list of all the bills with the Print Bills button.
The information at the bottom of the screen shows change owed, as well as Owed, Billed, and Paid columns. If you want to convert patron change into credit on their account, check the box to do so BEFORE applying the payment.
You can also see circulation bills related to items on the Items Out screen at the bottom of the screen. Grocery bills do not appear on the Items Out screen.
Making Payments
When bills are paid, the money applied starts at the top of the list of bills. To pay specific bills, uncheck the bills that you do not wish to pay at this time. The amount displayed inTotal Checked:will change to reflect the appropriate amount.
To record bill payments, first choose the payment type from the drop-down menu. Payment options are: Cash, Check, Credit Card, Patron Credit, Work, Forgive, and Goods.
Next, enter the amount of the payment, and check the annotate payment box if you want to leave a note about the payment. Click Apply Payment!to record the payment.
If you chose to annotate the payment, a screen will pop up asking for your annotation. When you have finished typing, click OK.
The screen will refresh to display the updated bill information for the patron. If change is due, the bottom portion of the screen,Change Due Upon Payment:will briefly reflect the amount due to the patron.
NOTES:
- Items marked with red are still checked out. Items marked with dark red are lost. Items marked with orange are still checked out and long overdue.
- It is possible for a patron to pay a bill while the item is still out and accruing fines.
- When Check is selected as the payment type, it is not necessary to selectAnnotate Payment, as a box for the check number and a note displays automatically.
Patron Credit
It is possible to convert change due to a patron credit by selecting theConvert Change to Patron Creditcheckbox and to later apply that credit to a bill by selecting thePatron Creditpayment type.
By default, the payment typePatron Creditis enabled in the staff client. Within the Bills interface of a patron’s account, the Patron Credit payment type, the Credit Available, and the option to Convert Change to Patron Credit are exposed in the staff client.
Some libraries do not use patron credits, so these features can be disabled. Patron Credit will not be an option within the payment type dropdown menu. The Convert Change to Patron Credit and the summary of Credit Available will be hidden from the patron billing interface in the staff client.
Forgiving vs. Voiding vs. Adjusting Bills
The following are guidelines for using void, forgive, and adjust when clearing bills off a patron record.
- Use forgive when staff is waiving a portion/all of a bill. A forgive_payment payment type will be used to credit the bill. The history of the bill will be retained.
- Use void when the bill should not be on the patron record and when the goal is to remove the entire bill. Once voided, there will be no history of the bill available from the staff client. If the bill was partially paid before voiding, a negative balance will be produced.
- Use adjust to zero when the bill should not be on the patron record and when the goal is to remove the balance of the bill. An account_adjustment payment type will be used to adjust the bill’s balance. The history of the bill will be retained and available from the Bill History interface of the staff client.
Forgiving Bills
Choose forgive as the payment type as described in the sectionMaking Payments, above.
Enter the amount to be forgiven. ChooseAnnotate Paymentas required by local policy.
Apply Payment. Annotate, if prompted.
The screen will refresh to display the payment.
Voiding Bills
Bills under one transaction are grouped in one bill line. Bills may be voided in part or in whole.
To void the full billing amount:
Highlight the bill, then choose Void Bill from the Actions for Selected Transactions menu. Be careful when using void, as it can create refunds on patron accounts that can be difficult to resolve.
To void a partial amount:
Select a billing and choose Full Details from the Actions for Selected Transactions menu.
The bill details screen displays.
Select the specific bill to void.
Click on the Void Selected Billings button and confirm the action.
Adjusting Bills to Zero
In the Bills interface, select the bill to adjust.
Right click or use theActions for Selected Transactionsmenu to selectAdjust to Zero.
Negative Balances on Patron Accounts
If a library has not enabled Prohibit Negative Balance settings via the library settings editor, certain workflows and settings can create a negative balance on a patron’s account.
Removing negative balances from a patron account:
A negative balance can be cleared either by refunding a bill or by adjusting the bill to zero.
To refund the bill (which is reflected in the cash report):
1) Select the billing with the negative balance.
2) ChooseActions for Selected TransactionsRefund.
3) Click Yes on the confirmation screen.
4) Click Apply Payment. Do not enter an amount in the Payment Received box.
The payment will then be applied and the billing line will disappear from the Details Window.
To clear the negative balance without affecting the Cash Report:
1) Right click on the billing with the negative balance.
2) SelectAdjust to zero.
3) Click Yes on the confirmation screen.
Adding New Grocery Bills
Bills added by staff are called grocery bills. To add a new grocery bill, click on the Bill Patron button on the left.
Clicking the button opens a pop-up window where you can choose the type of grocery bill from a drop-down menu, add the amount, and add a note, if desired. Click on Submit this Bill to add the bill to the patron record.
Last Updated: March 22, 2016Page 1 of 13Circ 11 - Bills