DebtView User Guide User Guide v2.0 Receivables Management Services May 19, 2006
CONTEXT Introducing DebtView... 3 What s featured in DebtView?... 3 DebtView System Requirements... 3 Internet Browser... 3 Screen Resolution... 3 Plug-Ins... 3 Connecting to DebtView... 4 Homepage... 6 Features on the homepage:... 7 Client drop down box... 7 Navigation toolbar/links... 7 Personalised messages/tips... 7 Load Debts Individually... 8 To load a debt:... 9 For Single Debt - Multiple Invoice (SDMI) Clients only...11 New Customers only...13 How to enter the outstanding debt details/add invoices...14 For existing and new customers...14 Load a Batch of Debts...16 Send and Receive Messages...17 Receive Messages...17 Send Messages...18 Reports and File History...20 File History...20 D&B Debtor Number...20 Your Customer Number...20 Customer Reference...21 Name...21 Invoice Number...21 Reports...22 My DebtView...25 D&B Communication...26 Subscription Renewal...26 Active subscription...27 90 days or less, left on subscription...27 Subscription has lapsed...27 2
Introducing DebtView Welcome to Dun & Bradstreet s Internet facility DebtView. This product has been designed to assist and improve the likelihood of successful recovery of your outstanding accounts through greater debt placement efficiency and an extensive range of reporting What s featured in DebtView? DebtView has been developed to offer the following range of features: A personalised and user-friendly interface Real-time personalised information and collection tips Easy navigation through the system utilising the toolbars and links visible on all pages Ability to enter a range of details about each individual debt to improve the likelihood of successful collection Data input validation to ensure optimum data quality Ability to securely send through large volumes of debt to D&B for uploading Message functions to enable messages to be more easily viewed and replied Search facilities to easily retrieve File Histories Extensive range of reports available with a convenient printer friendly version that can also be exported to Excel or an XML file Ability to personalise DebtView to suit your needs and renew your annual subscription online to ensure you have uninterrupted access to D&B s collection services With the confidential nature of collection information, D&B has also provided the added protection of an encrypted site www.dnb.com.au / www.dnb.co.nz to ensure security. Please contact your Account Manager for further details or call 13 23 33 in Australia or 0800 733 707 in New Zealand. DebtView System Requirements DebtView is best viewed with the following system requirements: Internet Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer 5+ with 128-bit SSL Encryption (Required) Screen Resolution 800x600 with more than 256 colours (Required) 1024x768 with more than 256 colours (Recommended) Plug-Ins Adobe Acrobat Reader 6 (Recommended) Flash Player 5 (Recommended) For more information or to download any plug-ins, please visit http://www.dnb.com.au/general/browsing.asp 3
Connecting to DebtView To access the secure DebtView web pages visit http://www.dnb.com.au or http://www.dnb.co.nz and click on the DebtView option in the Collection submenu. DebtView link This link will take you to the Collections homepage with access to log into the DebtView system on the right side of the screen. Visiting http://www.dnb.com.au/collection/ or http://www.dnb.co.nz/collection/ will also take you to this page. 4
To log into the DebtView system, enter in your Subscriber No, User ID and Password. The Store Me option allows your system to remember your login details so you don t need to re-enter it next time. Enter the Subscriber No., User ID and Password Details Note: The Store Me option does not remember the password so you will need to re-enter it every time. 5
Homepage If you have successfully logged into the DebtView system, the following homepage will appear. The homepage contains links that will enable you to complete the following tasks: Load Debts Individually Load a batch of debts by uploading a data file containing debtor information. Send and Receive Messages to your Account Manager Generate Reports and View File Histories Modify your DebtView details and/or renew your subscription Links to other Dun and Bradstreet sites are located on the left side of the screen. 6
Features on the homepage: Client drop down box This feature allows a subscriber with multiple D&B contracts to conveniently switch between each client code eliminating the use of having separate subscriber login details. If you have logged in under a subscriber that has multiple client codes, you can conveniently switch between each code by select it from the drop down box. Navigation toolbar/links You can navigate through the system in 3 ways by: The 5 large icons on the main homepage The toolbar icons on the top right corner of the page or, The link on the bottom of the page. Personalised messages/tips Personalised messages/tips appear on the left side of the homepage to inform you of interesting facts about your account. New messages will appear every 10 seconds. These personalised messages include information about: The debt value recovered in the financial year or the average age of debts at the time of placement with D&B Other D&B services which you may find beneficial to your company or assist in the collection process Account Manager contact details Client drop down box and Navigation toolbar. (To view what each icon links to, scroll the mouse over each) Personalised messages 7
Load Debts Individually Click the "Load Debts Individually" icon at the Main Menu or on the navigation toolbar. The screen will appear as shown below, which is used to load debt one at a time into the D&B Collections System. Note: For SDMI customers, skip to page 12 for details on how to load debts. 8
To load a debt: 1. Select the Type of Action to be loaded. Initial Demand A demand letter is sent to your debtor requesting payment be made direct to you. You must advise D&B if payment is received, so that the account can be closed. Please note D&B will automatically proceed on your behalf after the 7-Day Initial Demand Period unless otherwise agreed. Immediate Action Accounts placed for Immediate Action bypass the 7-Day Initial Demand Period and are addressed immediately by our Collection Specialists. Commission is charged on any payments received (unless otherwise agreed) Letter Service Series of Letters for contact direct to customers (available to Letter Service Customers only) 2. Select the Type of Debtor (Commercial or Consumer) and enter your customer s details in the relevant fields. Note: If a Consumer account is selected additional fields such as DOB, Employer Details etc, will appear. 3. Enter in the Commercial or Consumer details including address and phone number details Note: For New Zealand Clients who are unsure about the postcode please enter 0000 into the postcode field. 4. Enter the outstanding debt details. 5. Ensure all mandatory fields, marked with * are entered to load a debt successfully. 6. When all information has been entered we suggest you print the account placement screen and then click on the "Continue" button. Note: Certain fields marked with the icon, allow you to hover the mouse over it to view the help text to assist in entering details in that field. 9
Once you have click the Continue button, a message will confirm the successful processing of your account and a D&B Debtor Number will be assigned which should be noted for future use. It may be necessary to obtain further documentation from you to verify the account. Please be prepared to forward copies of paperwork to your Account Manager when requested. Please note that any cheques received by D&B from your customers will take 5 business days to clear. Bank cheques, credit card and money order payments will be released immediately. 10
For Single Debt - Multiple Invoice (SDMI) Clients only 1 Click the "Load Debts Individually" icon at the Main Menu or on the navigation toolbar. The following screen will only appear if you are a client with the SDMI option; otherwise you will be shown the standard Load Debts Individually as detailed previously. The screen will appear requesting that a customer number be entered into the field. Enter the Your Customer Number details and click the Continue button. The system will then perform a search verify whether the debtor already exists on the system. If the customer exists on the system, the following screen will appear with their customer details loaded into the fields. Only the Outstanding Debt details section will be amendable for you to add another invoice to that debtor if the debtor already exists on the system. If the customer details are incorrect please contact your Account Manager to rectify this. 1 D&B SDMI client refers to clients who have the special option of loading multiple outstanding accounts onto our Collections System for a customer. 11
If the customer does not exist on the system, the following screen will appear with blank fields to allow you to enter in their details to be loaded onto the D&B Collections System. 12
New Customers only To load a new debtor and debt: 1. Select the Type of Action to be loaded. Initial Demand A demand letter is sent to your debtor requesting payment be made direct to you. You must advise D&B if payment is received, so that the account can be closed. Please note D&B will automatically proceed on your behalf after the 7-Day Initial Demand Period unless otherwise agreed. Immediate Action Accounts placed for Immediate Action bypass the 7-Day Initial Demand Period and are addressed immediately by our Collection Specialists. Commission is charged on any payments received (unless otherwise agreed) Letter Service Series of Letters for contact direct to customers (available to Letter Service Customers only) 2. Select the Type of Debtor (Commercial or Consumer) and enter your customer s details in the relevant fields. Note: If a Consumer account is selected additional fields such as DOB, Employer Details etc, will appear. Note: For New Zealand Clients who are unsure about the postcode please enter 0000 into the postcode field. 3. Enter in the Company or Consumer details including address and phone number details 4. Enter the outstanding debt details. 13
How to enter the outstanding debt details/add invoices For existing and new customers Enter in the Invoice details in the Outstanding Debt section. Once you have completed the Outstanding Debt details, click the Add Invoice button. Multiple invoices can be added by completing the Outstanding Debt section and clicking the Add Invoice button each time. Details, however, will only be loaded into the system once the Continue button is clicked. If you have entered an incorrect invoice, simply click the Remove link to delete the invoice. However this action can only occurr before you click the Continue button. Click here to remove invoice. This must be done before you click the Continue button. Ensure all mandatory fields, marked with the icon * are entered to successfully load a debt When all information has been entered we suggest you print the account placement screen and then click on the "Continue" button. Note: Certain fields marked with the icon, allow you to hover the mouse over it to view the help text to assist in entering details in that field. 14
Once you have clicked the Continue button, a message will appear confirming the successful processing of your account and a D&B Debtor Number will be assigned which should be noted for future use. It may be necessary to obtain further documentation from you to verify the account. Please be prepared to forward copies of paperwork to your Account Manager when requested. Please note that any cheques received by D&B from your customers will take 5 business days to clear. Bank cheques, credit card and money order payments will be released immediately. 15
Load a Batch of Debts Click on the Load a Batch of Debts link to display the following screen. This feature allows you securely send through large volumes of debt to D&B for uploading. Note: If you are not setup for with this option you will receive an error message. Please contact your Account Manager if you wish to use this feature. To assist in creating a file to send through for uploading, download the Referral File Template and follow the steps contained in the Instructions document. Please ensure that the file size if < 1MB to avoid issues when uploading the file. This can be achieved by saving the files in the preferred CSV format. Once you are ready to upload a file, click the Browse button to select your data file. Then click the Send button to upload the file. The File Tracker table will detail the files that have sent through to D&B and will also allow you see when it was loaded onto the D&B Collections System. 16
Send and Receive Messages To receive or send messages to your Account Manager click the Message link. Note: The total number of unread messages will appear under the icon in red The following page will be displayed. Message appears after the view link is clicked Click the links to view, reply or remove the message. Receive Messages To view, reply or remove a message, click the corresponding link on the right of the message By clicking the view link, the message will appear as shown above. The reply link will bring up a new message screen with the customer s details automatically entered into the message. The remove link will delete the message from the list/screen. This action will not delete any customer related messages from the system as it can still be view on the customer s File History screen. 17
Full file history details of the customer can be viewed by clicking the blue highlighted debtor number on the left, as shown below. View the Reports and File History section for view what the File History reports looks like and for more detail. Send Messages Click the Debtor Number to view the full File History of the customer. To send a message: 1. Click on the New Message tab to display the screen below. 18
2. Select the Message Type to be sent. Debt Instruction Use this to send information to your Account Manager about a specific account. The exact 6-digit D&B Debtor number, Your Customer Number or Invoice Number (if applicable) is required. General Message Use this to send a general message to your Account Manager or Sales Consultant. This is used when you wish to send a message that does not relate to a specific account, customer or payment. Advise D&B of Payments Use this to advise D&B of payments made by customers directly to you. The exact 6- digit D&B Debtor number, Your Customer Number or Invoice Number (if applicable) is required. 3. Once you have selected the message type, in the fields provided enter the: Debtor No and/or Customer Number Invoice number (if applicable) Details of payments (if applicable), and Your message/comments. Each comment can contain up to 500 characters. Click on the "Send Message" button to send your message. A message will confirm your successful transmission, as shown below 19
Reports and File History To view a File History or run a report click on the Report and File History icon to view the screen below: File History Individual Debtor File Histories provides a detailed report of the customer s account, including full transactional history, costs (legal and commission), invoice details and payment details. Full File history details can be viewed by using one of the following search functions: D&B Debtor Number The full Debtor Number needs to be entered to enable the system to find an exact match. This number would have been provided to you on the confirmation page when you first loaded the customer on the D&B Collections System. Your Customer Number The search will locate all customer numbers that begin with what is entered. (Full Customer number is not necessary) 20
Customer Reference The search will locate all customer references that begin with what is entered. (Full Customer reference number is not necessary) Name The surname or company name of the debtor needs to be entered to locate all debtors with a surname or company name that begins with what is entered. Invoice Number This option will only be visible for SDMI clients where the search will locate the exact invoice number By clicking the Print link, a print friendly version of the report will be available. Click this link to send a message to your Account Manager regarding this customer Printer friendly link. Acronyms and Abbreviations link. Clicking this box will collapse or expand the section. The Message your Account Manager link has been setup to allow you to conveniently send a message back to the Account Manager regarding the debtor. An Acronyms and Abbreviations document is also available by clicking the link, which lists all the Acronyms and Abbreviations that may be used throughout the file histories and report sections. By clicking the plus or minus box on the subheading, this will collapse or expand each section for you to view. 21
Reports To generate a report, click on the Reports tab to view the following screen. The Client section will only appear if you are a subscriber with multiple client codes. Note: The client section will only appear as a search criteria if you are a subscriber with multiple client codes. To run a report, select one of the following reports available on the DebtView system: Claim Placement Legal Review Arrangements Payments Placement Performance Letter Service (if applicable) Credit Bureau Defaults (if applicable) 22
To define the report required, select the criteria as explained below: Client (if applicable) will allow you to run reports on a selected client code or on all client codes. Detail reports provide details of each account matching the requested type (e.g. Active Claims), with a one-line description of the latest action taken. At the end of this report you will find a summary detailing costs, success rates and general statistics on the files listed. Summary reports provide the summary section, without reference to the individual accounts. Status indicates the status of the debts you require in the report: Active, Closed or All debts. Dates allow you to enter a range of dates to narrow your search or all dates can be selected. By Debtor/By Invoice allows you to search either a report by debtor/customer or by invoice. Click on the "Continue" button to retrieve the report. An example of a report is shown below: Printer friendly, Report Advice and Export to Excel or xml links By clicking the Print link, a print friendly version of the report will be available. 23
The Excel link allows you to export this report into an excel spreadsheet. Please note that the graph will not be export, only the data will be exported. The XML link allows you to export this report to an xml file. A Reports Advice link provides useful tips on how to get the best results out of your reports. 24
My DebtView To personalise your details on the DebtView system to suit your needs, click the My DebtView link and modify your details in the screen as shown below: The My DebtView page will display details of your contract as it appears in the D&B Collection Services System. Your contact details can be amended on this screen however details such as the Company and Address Details cannot be modified. If the information contained in these areas appears incorrect, please contact your Account Manager. 25
D&B Communication In this section, you can select whether you wish to receive D&B communication, which D&B believes would be beneficial to you. If you prefer not to receive this information select the No button to opt out. You can also customise the frequency that you wish to receive email notification when your Account Manager leaves a message on one of your accounts. You have the option to receive the email notification Every Time, Once a day (Max) or Never An example of the email notification is shown below: To: Subject: DebtView Message Notification Body: Please note that your Account Manager, Mr John Smith, has left a message for you on DebtView. View this message: Hyperlink to the sign-on webpage for DebtView If you would like to stop receiving email notifications of these messages, log onto DebtView and click on the My Details link. Or alternatively, contact Mr John Smith on 02 8233 3333, or email on smithj@dnb.com.au Subscription Renewal A new feature of the DebtView system, the Automatic Renewal feature gives you the option to have your subscription automatically renewed each year. The subscription will be renewed under the same terms and condition existing under your current contract and an invoice will be sent to you in the mail. If this feature is not what you re after, you can choose to pay your subscription using our secure credit card facility. Depending on the period left on your subscription you will also view one of the following subscription messages. 26
Active subscription 90 days or less, left on subscription Subscription has lapsed 27