Vision Municipal Solutions CASH MANAGEMENT How-To Guide
Contents Set-Up... 4 Changing Your Default Period... 4 How to Change Your Default Period... 4 Payment Centers... 4 Adding a Payment Center... 4 Drawers... 5 Adding a new Drawer... 5 Operator Defaults... 6 Hot Keys... 8 Configuring Hot Keys... 8 Adding the Hot Key Column to the Financials Posting Window... 9 Using Hot Keys for Financials Postings... 10 Payment Methods... 10 Adding a New Payment Method... 11 Financials Hookup (Setting Account Numbers)... 12 System Defaults... 12 Assigning a fee to an account number... 12 Posting... 14 The Receipt Center... 14 Keyboard Navigation... 14 Posting Receipts... 14 Posting Budgetary (Financials) Receipts... 15 Posting Utilities Receipts... 16 Posting Business License Receipts... 18 Direct Debit... 20 Running Direct Debit... 20 Summary Transactions... 21 Posting a Summary Transaction... 21 Deposits... 23 Creating a New Deposit... 23 Reporting... 24 FAQ... 26
How do I post an NSF?... 26 NSF Transactions... 26 Locating the Original Receipt and Performing an NSF... 26 Adding an NSF Fee in Utility Billing... 28 What do I do if I posted a receipt to the wrong account?... 30 In the event the receipt hasn t been deposited yet... 30 In the event the receipt has already been deposited... 30 What do I do if I posted a receipt to the wrong period?... 31 If only a few receipts were posted to the wrong period... 31 If a significant number of receipts are posted in the wrong period... 32 How do I alter a receipt that s already been attached?... 33 Unattaching a Receipt... 33 Reattaching the Receipt... 34
Set-Up Changing Your Default Period At the beginning of each month you must change your default period in the Cash Management system. The Default Period governs which period each Center shows by default, as well as which period receipts are being posted to. How to Change Your Default Period 1. From the Cash Management Home Screen, click the Set-Up periods button, this opens the Period Defaults window. 2. Select the period you wish to be default from the drop-down. 3. Click Save and Close at the top left of the Period Defaults window to save your selected period as the default. Payment Centers Payment Centers are physical locations where your institution receives money. For example: If your institution tracks revenue through the Cash Management system from both City Hall, and the Courthouse, you can add each one to the system as a location. In scenarios like this, having multiple payment centers allows you to report off of receipts taken by location. Adding a Payment Center 1. Under Data Center on the left-hand navigation pane, click Payment Center. This opens up the Payment Center Center, here you can view a list of all Payment Centers currently in your system.
2. To add a New Payment Center, click the New Payment Center button on the Ribbon at the top left. This launches the Payment Center Manager. 3. Enter the name of your new Payment Center in the Center Description field, when done, click Save and Close to add this new Payment Center to your system. Drawers The Cash Management system has the ability to track more than one Cash Drawer in the event an institution uses multiple. Configuring multiple drawers will allow you to filter reports based on which transactions were taken into which drawer. Adding a new Drawer 1. Under Data Center on the left-hand navigation pane, click Drawer. This opens up the Drawer Center, here you can view the drawers currently in your system, or open existing Drawers to manage them. 2. To add a new Drawer, click the New Drawer button on the Ribbon at the top left. This launches the Drawer Manager.
3. Enter the name of this Drawer in the Drawer Name field, then click the Add button to track the Payment Center where this Drawer is located. If this Drawer is hooked up to a computer, you can choose the computer and the port the Drawer is attached to as well. When done, click Save & Close to add this Drawer to your system. Operator Defaults The Cash Management Operator Center allows you to assign default Payment Centers and Drawers for each individual user. To assign a default payment center and drawer for a user: 1. Under Data Center on the left-hand navigation pane, click Operator. This opens up the Operator Center, here you can view the Operators currently in your system and Open them to assign defaults.
2. To manage Operator defaults, highlight the Operator we wish to set defaults for, and click the Open button on the ribbon at the top left. This launches the Operator Manager. 3. Under the Operator Information section, if you have multiple Payment Centers select the Default Payment Center associated with this employee from the drop-down. Then click Add to insert a default Drawer for this operator. Choose the Payment Center, the computer this drawer is located at, and the Drawer itself. If this operator uses a different default drawer when at another computer, you can click Add to insert a second line for a different computer and drawer combination. Click Save and Close when done adding the default(s) for this operator.
Hot Keys Hot Keys allow you to enter a code in order to populate a specific account number when posting a Financials receipt, as opposed to typing out the BARS account number, or selecting it from the drop down. This can come in handy when you receive a large number of financial receipts that go to the same account number. Configuring Hot Keys To add a new Hot Key to the system: 1. Under Data Center on the left-hand navigation pane, click Hot Keys. This opens up the Hot Key Center, here you can view the Hot Keys currently in your system. 2. To add a new Hot Key, click the New Hot Key button on the ribbon at the top left. This launches the Hot Key Manager. 3. Enter the code you would like to be associated with this Hot Key, the Description of what transaction this hot key is for, and the associated Account Number. Click Save and Close when done, or Save and New if you wish to enter another Hot Key.
Adding the Hot Key Column to the Financials Posting Window Before you can use Hot Keys, you have to add a column in the Financials receipting window. In order to accomplish this: 1. Click the Financials Receipting Quick-launch button to open the Financials receipting window. 2. Right click on the Account Number column header in the Payment Detail Information section of the screen, and choose Column Chooser from the resulting drop-down list. 3. This opens the Column Chooser box, in it will be a Hot Key customization column header, click and drag this hot-key header to the left of the Account Number header. (Continued on Next Page)
4. Once the Hot Key column has been inserted to the left of the Account Number column, you can close the Customization box. Next Click the Settings button at the top of the window, and choose Save Settings from the drop-down. You can now close this receipting window and click No when it prompts you to save. Using Hot Keys for Financials Postings When adding the Payment Detail Information for a Financials receipt, you can use the hot keys by clicking the button to insert a detail line, typing the associated hot key number, and clicking Tab. Note that after clicking the Add button you do not have to click in the Hot Key column, but can simply type the Hot Key. Payment Methods In order to choose a Payment method from a receipting window, it must first be entered into the system. Payment Methods are placed into one of three deposit groups: Auto Deposit These will be credit card or EFT transactions that hit your bank through a clearing process. Group Deposit These will be Cash, Check, or Money Order payments, those types that are taken to the bank physically. Manual Deposit These will be payment types that do not fit into either of the above categories.
Adding a New Payment Method 1. Under Data Center on the left-hand navigation pane, click Payment Method. This opens up the Payment Method Center, here you can view the Payment Methods currently in your system. 2. To add a new Payment Method, click the New Payment Method button on the ribbon at the top left. This launches the Payment Method Manager. 3. In the Payment Method Manager, enter the name of the Payment Method you re adding. If you would like this Payment Method to be the default when posting a receipt, you can choose so from the Sorting drop-down. Otherwise leave the Sorting box blank. Finally choose the Deposit Method in the Method box. If you have questions regarding which Deposit Method this payment type is, see the beginning of the Payment Methods section in this guide. When finished, click Save and Close to add this Payment Method to the system.
Financials Hookup (Setting Account Numbers) In the Vision System, any modules you have outside of Vision Financials, such as Vision Utility Billing, License, Receivables, Permit, etc. need any charges from that system assigned to a specific Account Number. System Defaults Some charges are marked as a Default. The charges will be items such as Service Groups or Rate types, these items are categories of charges. If you set a number on a Default Charge, which is notated by the Default Flag check box, any charge in that category will use that number. An example of this is the Service Group Water line under System: Utility Billing, choosing an account number for this line will cause all water charges to go to this number unless otherwise assigned on the charge itself. Assigning a fee to an account number To assign an account number to a fee in Cash Management: 1. Under Data Center in the left hand navigation pane, click Financials Hookup. 2. Locate the system you wish to assign account numbers for, this can be accomplished by either scrolling through the list to the system we re looking to assign, or by clicking the little funnel icon on the System header and selecting the appropriate system from the drop-down.
3. To assign a Financials Account number to a charge, click in the center column to the right of the charge in question and either begin typing the account number, or select the number from the dropdown. If you choose to type out the number please note that the number has to be typed in format with all extra zeroes and hyphens. 4. Once all defaults have been assigned, and any charges that need a number different than the default have received one, click Save and Close at the top of the window to Save the Changes.
Posting The Receipt Center The Receipt Center is where you can view all receipts that have been posted into the cash management system. To access the receipt center, click Receipts under Posting in the navigation pane on the left. Default settings for this screen are to show any receipts that have yet to be attached to a Summary Transaction or Deposit, and to hide any attached or locked receipts. This can be changed by expanding the filter and setting new criteria. Keyboard Navigation Cash Management now supports extended keyboard navigation. In addition to an improved order for tabbing through the receipt, there are new keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + T Adds new tendered line Ctrl + D Adds new Account Number Line (Budgetary Posting) Ctrl + S Save Ctrl + L Save and Close Ctrl + N Save and New Ctrl + I Account Inquiry (displays a simple receipt register) Posting Receipts To begin posting a receipt, you can click the New button from the Receipt Center and choose the appropriate system from the drop-down, or you can click any of the Receipting shortcuts along the top of the program.
Posting Budgetary (Financials) Receipts To post a budgetary receipt: 1. Open the Financials receipting window by selecting it from the New Drop down, or by clicking the icon at the top of the program. 2. Enter the Total Amount of the receipt in the Total Amount Box, and click Post. 3. Enter the tendered amount in the Amount column under Receipt Distribution, to change the tendered amount, click the drop down in the Tendered column and select the desired tendered type. To add another line to track a second tendered item, click Add. If the tendered amount was a check, enter the number in the Reference column. 4. Under Payment Detail Information click Add, this inserts an Account Number line, you can then Type the Account Number (in format with dashes and zeroes) in the account number column, or select it from the drop-down.
5. At this stage, verify your Posting Date and Financials Period are correct, as well as add received from information and notes if you would like to track them. 6. Click Print Receipt if you would like to print the receipt, Save and New if you would like to post another budgetary receipt, or Save and Close if you are done posting budgetary receipts for now. Posting Utilities Receipts To post a Utilities receipt: 1. Open the Utility Billing receipting window by selecting it from the New Drop down, or by clicking the icon at the top of the program. 2. Type in the account number for the customer you wish to enter a receipt for, or use the drop down list and contained search functions to locate this account. You can search the drop-down by name or service address. (Continued on Next Page)
3. Once the account is entered or selected the system will fill in account information, and default the total payment to the account balance. If the customer would like to pay a different amount, simply enter the new amount in the Total Payment box. 4. Change the Tendered amount if different from the default in the Receipt Distribution section, put the check number in the Reference field if applicable, and alter the amount tendered if different from the amount paid. 5. If the customer chose to pay a greater amount than what was owed, you will be prompted to distribute the overpayment. The system can be set to default the overpayment to Credit Memo, or you can choose which buckets to distribute the overpayment to. To add an additional bucket hit the Add button in the overpayment section. (Continued on Next Page)
6. Verify your date, Financials period, and add any notes on the right side of the receipt. 7. Finally, Click Print Receipt if you would like to print the receipt, Save and New if you would like to post another Utilities receipt, or Save and Close if you are done posting budgetary receipts for now. Posting Business License Receipts To post a Business License receipt: 1. Open the Business License receipting window by selecting it from the New Drop down, or by clicking the icon at the top of the program. 2. Type in the account number for the customer you wish to enter a receipt for, or use the drop down list and contained search functions to locate this account. You can search the drop-down by name or account address.
3. Once the account is entered or selected the system will fill in account information, and default the total payment to the account balance. If the customer would like to pay a different amount, simply enter the new amount in the Total Payment box. 4. Change the Tendered amount if different from the default in the Receipt Distribution section, put the check number in the Reference field if applicable, and alter the amount tendered if different from the amount paid. 5. If the customer chose to pay a greater amount than what was owed, you will be prompted to distribute the overpayment. To add an additional bucket for the overpayment hit the Add button in the overpayment section. (Continued on Next Page)
6. Verify your date, Financials period, and add any notes on the right side of the receipt. 7. Finally, Click Print Receipt if you would like to print the receipt, Save and New if you would like to post another Business License receipt, or Save and Close if you are done posting budgetary receipts for now. Direct Debit The Direct Debit tool will automatically generate a receipt for any accounts that have the Direct Debit part of their utility account filled out, and will generate a file for you to send to your banking institution. Running Direct Debit 1. Click File Import/Export under Posting in the left-hand navigation menu. 2. Click the New Direct Debit button on the ribbon at the top left. This launches the File Imports window. 3. First choose the posting date, this is the date these receipts will show on the Account Register.
4. Next, if your institution has specific Utilities groups set up for Direct Debit (such as those based on specific pay dates) check those groups in the lower left of the File Imports Window. Otherwise do not check any groups. 5. Click the Run button to generate the list of the accounts and amounts that will be posted. 6. If everything looks correct, click Save and Close. This will prompt you to save the NACHA file, and post the receipts to the accounts. Click Yes when prompted to Save the NACHA file. 7. Follow your banking institutions procedures for transmitting the NACHA file. Summary Transactions Any receipt that is not a Financials receipt needs to be placed in a Summary Transaction prior to being deposited. This includes, but is not limited to, Utility Billing, Business License, Pet License, Permit, and Receivables receipts. Summary transactions will be done at a minimum as often as you deposit, but depending on the volume of receipts your institution takes, best practice may be to create a summary transaction at each days end. Posting a Summary Transaction To post a new Summary Transaction: 1. Click Summary Transaction under Posting in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Click New Summary Transaction on the ribbon at the top left. This opens the Summary Transaction Manager. 3. Select the sub-system you want to create a Summary Transaction for by it on the left, and then click Create Transaction on the right half. 4. Check the box next to the receipts you would like to add to this summary transaction, if you wish to add all the receipts to this summary transaction, you can click the top-most check box to select them all. Note that if your institution takes credit cards, you will have to create a summary transaction for the Group Distribution and the Auto Distribution Separately. In this event filter the distribution column prior to selecting receipts. When the appropriate receipts are selected, click the to add them. button
5. Once the receipts have been added to the Summary Transaction, verify the total of the Attached receipts on the left matches the total of the Account Number distribution on the right. In the event these two totals do not match, please contact Vision support. 6. Once you ve verified the totals match you can click Save and Close to complete this Summary Transaction, or Save and New to create one for a different deposit type or system. Deposits The final step in the Cash Management system is the Deposit, the deposit gathers Financials receipts and Summary Transactions into a single transaction that will be used to reconcile your bank statement in the Financials program. Creating a New Deposit To create a new deposit: 1. Click Deposits under Banking Services in the left-hand navigation menu. 2. Click New Deposit on the ribbon at the top left, this opens the Deposit Manager. 3. From the Deposit Manager, first choose the Deposit Method generally this will be Group for cash and checks, or Auto for Credit Cards and other electronic payments.
4. Next check the boxes next to each transaction that needs to be grouped with this deposit. 5. Once all your transactions are selected, verify your Fiscal Period, Print Date, and Institution are correct, as well as add any notes relevant to this deposit. 6. When finished, click Save and Close to create this deposit, or Save and New if you have another deposit to create. Reporting After each deposit, Vision recommends running a Payment Center Activity report. The Payment Center Activity report will provide you with breakdowns by Operator, Drawer, System, Cash or Check and more. To run the Payment Center Activity Report: 1. Open the Cash Management reporting services by clicking the Reporting Services button from the Home page, or by clicking the bar graph icon at the top left corner of the software. 2. Click the Payment Center Activity report.
3. In the Starting Posting Date parameter put the date and time you started posting receipts, and in the ending parameter, place the day after. The day after is chosen because the report runs from midnight to midnight unless otherwise specified. Figure 1 - For a deposit with receipts done on exclusively on November 12th Figure 2 - For a deposit that started with receipts starting part way through the 8th of December 4. If your institution uses invoice cloud, you may find it easier to reconcile the report to the deposit if you uncheck the Invoice Cloud Website from the Payment Center Parameter. 5. Click View Report to run the report with the chosen parameters. Verify the Payment Method totals at the end of the report match the totals of your day s deposits. You can experiment with the Extra and Detail line parameters to see which information suits your institution best. 6. You can click the printer icon to print this report, or if you would prefer, you can export it and keep a digital copy using the button.
FAQ How do I post an NSF? NSF Transactions In the Vision system, NSF transactions are accomplished in two parts. The first part is locating the original receipt in Cash Management and reversing it using the NSF tool. The second is to enter the system that the account is from (such as Utility Billing, License, or Receivables) and charge your NSF fee to the account, for the purpose of this guide the Utility Billing program has been used as a sample for applying the charge. Locating the Original Receipt and Performing an NSF From the Cash Management program, enter the Receipt Center by clicking Receipts from the left hand navigation menu: 1. Expand the filter at the top of the receipting center by clicking the V located to the left of the word Filter. 2. Change the Show parameter to be Attached, Change the Period parameter to reflect the Period in which this receipt was taken, and change the Locked Parameter to Locked. When finished setting the parameters, click Apply Filter. 3. Locate your receipt by filtering for the Receipt number, Reference, or Amount, when you locate the receipt, click the check box on the left to select it.
4. Click Reverse Receipt on the ribbon, and select NSF from the drop-down. 5. Click Yes on the pop-up asking if you are sure. 6. After you click Yes you may receive the following Selection Error. This is normal, click OK on the error and then click Clear Filter. 7. Once the filter is cleared, and any searches are removed, you will be able to find an NSF transaction listed in your receipt center. This receipt will be a perfect reversal of the original receipt, and will have NSF appended to the original receipt reference. 8. The next steps will be to attach this receipt to its own Summary Transaction and Deposit. Add NSF to the reference for both the Summary Transaction and the Deposit to make them easy to locate later. (Continued on Next Page)
Adding an NSF Fee in Utility Billing Please note the following process will be automated in a subsequent patch, watch the Vision patch notes for more information on when this will occur From the Home center in Utility Billing: 1. Click Billing and Adjustment Posting 2. If you already have an Adjustment posting for the current month, you can use that one. Otherwise, click the drop-down in Step 1 and select Create New Billing Run 3. If you intend on printing these adjustments to send to the customers, please verify the Due Date reads what you would like them to see, otherwise simply click OK.
4. Click Select on Step 2, and check the box next to the Account or Accounts that need the NSF fee added. Click at the top, and then. 5. Highlight the account in the bottom portion of the screen, and then click in the middle segment to add the NSF charge to this account. Select the NSF charge from the top box, and then enter the amount of your NSF charge in the Manual Amount box, click OK. 6. Once the charge has been added to this bill you can close the tab to return to the billing steps screen. From the billing steps screen, click Issue Statements on Step 5 to make this amount live on the Account.
What do I do if I posted a receipt to the wrong account? In the event a receipt is posted to the wrong account there are two ways to make a correction, depending on if this receipt has been deposited or not. In the event the receipt hasn t been deposited yet We can simply delete it and re-post it to the correct account: 1. Locate this receipt in the Receipt Center and double-click it, or highlight it and click the Open button to launch the receipt manager. 2. Once the receipt is open, click the button on the ribbon near the top left of the manager to delete this receipt. If this receipt had been assigned a receipt number, it will be voided. 3. With the receipt that was posted to the wrong account removed, you can now post a new receipt to the correct account. In the event the receipt has already been deposited We will reverse the receipt posted in error, prior to posting the corrected receipt: 1. Locate the receipt in the Receipt Center, check the box to the left of it, and click the Reverse Receipt button on the Ribbon. Select the Reversal option. You may receive a message that No Record has been selected this is normal, click OK. 2. If you had to apply any filters to locate this receipt, clear the filters by removing any text searches and clicking the button. 3. Once the filters are cleared, you will see a receipt with a reference that says Reversal prior to the original receipt reference. When you ve verified the reversal is present. You will post the receipt to the correct account. 4. Next time you complete a Summary Transaction, attach both the Reversal Receipt, and the New, Correct receipt, they will balance each other out as to not affect your day s deposits.
What do I do if I posted a receipt to the wrong period? In the event receipts have been posted to the wrong period, the best solution is dependent on how many receipts were posted to the wrong period. If only a few receipts were posted to the wrong period We can simply change the period on each receipt. 1. Locate the receipt(s) in the Receipt Center, and double click, or highlight and click the open folder to open the receipt. 2. Once the receipt is opened, you can change the period by using the Financials Period drop down on the right of the Receipt Manager in the Receipt Details section. 3. When the correct period has been selected, click Save and Close to finish moving this receipt to the correct period. Once all receipts are in the correct period, set the system default to the correct period.
If a significant number of receipts are posted in the wrong period We can move them in a group with a deposit. In the even most of a day s receipts have been posted to the wrong period, it is best to finish out that day in the same period the majority of receipts were posted. Attach these receipts to a Summary Transaction and Deposit as usual. 1. Once this deposit is complete, double-click or highlight it and click the Open button on the ribbon to launch the deposit manager. 2. When the deposit is open, you can use the Fiscal Period drop down under Deposit Information to choose the correct period. 3. Once the correct period has been selected, you can Save and Close the deposit to move it, and all receipts which are attached, to that period. Once this deposit has been moved, set the system default to the correct period.
How do I alter a receipt that s already been attached? Occasionally receipts that have been attached to a Summary Transaction and Deposit need to be altered. For example, if a Financials receipt was posted and one of the Account Numbers was mistyped. Please note Vision does not recommend this process to correct any receipts prior to the current period. In the event a mistake was caught in the prior period, Vision recommends posting a correction receipt. Unattaching a Receipt 1. First, determine which Deposit this receipt was attached to. In the event of a sub-system such as Utilities or License, we must determine the Summary Transaction for the receipt as well. a. If you do not know which Deposit and Summary Transaction this receipt is attached to, open the Receipt Center, and locate this receipt. b. Right Click on any of the column headers in the receipt center and select Column Chooser from the drop-down. c. From the Customization pop-up, click and drag the Deposit Reference and Summary Transaction Columns into the grid, this will allow you to locate which receipts are in which Deposits and Summary Transactions. d. If you would like to save these columns into the grid, you can do so by clicking the Grid Settings > Save Settings button.
2. Once you ve isolated which deposit your receipt is in, go the Deposit Center and open this deposit by double-clicking it, or highlighting it and clicking the open button on the ribbon. 3. With the deposit open, locate the receipt (if this is a Financials Transaction) or Summary Transaction (if this receipt is from a sub-system) and uncheck the box to the left of the item. This will unattach it from the Deposit. Click Save and Close. 4. Next, if this receipt is in a Summary Transaction, navigate to the Summary Transaction Center, and open this Summary Transaction by double-clicking it, or highlighting it and clicking the open button on the ribbon. 5. With the summary transaction open, locate the receipt, and check the box on the left. Click the blue icon to move this transaction back to the top which unattaches it. Click Save and Close. Once the receipt is unattached from both the deposit and the summary transaction if applicable, you will be able to locate it in the Receipt Center to open it and make any changes that are required. Once the changes have been made, save the receipt, and reverse the above process to re-attach it to where it belongs. Reattaching the Receipt 1. Once the appropriate changes have been made, if this receipt came from a summary transaction, enter the Summary Transaction Center and locate the appropriate Summary Transaction. Open this summary transaction by double-clicking it, or highlighting it and clicking the open button on the ribbon.
2. With the summary transaction open, locate the receipt, and check the box to the left of the transaction. Click the blue arrow to move this receipt to the bottom section and attach it, click Save and Close. 3. Next enter the Deposit Center, locate the Deposit this Receipt or Summary Transaction resides in, and double-click it, or highlight it and click the open button to launch the Deposit Manager. 4. To re-attach the Summary Transaction or Receipt to the Deposit, simply check the box to the left of the transaction. When finished, click Save & Close.