Unofficial Accounts

Unofficial Accounts

Unofficial accounts associated to a Subscriber allow them to be billed for equipment, service, one-time, recurring and call charges.

Managing Billing Cycle

Within Manage Billing Cycle, cairs.net defaults a few items for you. We default the Fiscal year start date to October 1^st. We also determine the start day and end day for each month, you can edit these fields if necessary.

There are some important considerations to keep in mind when determining your billing cycle. First, the Run Month and Run Day, these fields determine the earliest date you can generate a bill. It is advisable that you allow a few days at the beginning of the Run Month to allow manipulation of accounts, if necessary.

Second, a system setting determines whether cairs.net generates the bill automatically, if set to true, cairs.net automatically generates the bill on the Run Day.

Managing the Billing Cycle

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are two ways to manage the billing cycle:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click the Manage Billing Cycle Plan
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Manage Billing Cycle Plan

4. With either option, the Billing Cycle Plan window opens.
5. The first step is to determine when your fiscal year starts, within the actions ribbon group click one of the following buttons:

• • Set to October 1^st Fiscal Year – click this button to set the fiscal year as October 1^st, once clicked the Billing Cycle Plan Dates pane changes to start your billing cycle with October.
  • Set to January 1^st Fiscal Year – click this button to set the fiscal year to January 1^st, once clicked the Billing Cycle Plan Dates pane changes to start your billing cycle with January.
  • Set Fiscal Year with First Start Month and Day – click this button to set the fiscal year to the first unofficial billing date as determined by a the First Official Billing Date system setting

6. Next, you determine the days to wait before running the bill and the bill due date Within the top pane complete the following fields:

• • Days to Wait Before Running Bill – type-in the number of days to wait from the end day to the day you want to run the bill, most times this is set to one or two. This gives your users the time fix any account issues.
  • Days to Wait Until Bill is Due – type-in the number of days to wait from the end day to the billing due date. Most times, this is set to 15 or 16.

7. Now that you have determined your fiscal year start date and billing dates, it is time to complete the setup of your billing cycle. Within the Billing Cycle Plan Dates pane, complete the following fields (although some fields are auto-populated you can modified them to fit your needs):

• • Sequence – this field auto-populates with a number between 1 and 12 to reflect the corresponding location in the billing cycle.
  • Start Month – this is the first month of your billing cycle, this is determined by your Fiscal year start date. To change the month, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, once you click the arrow a list of month appears, click on the month. The selected month populates within the field.
  • Start Day – this is the first day of the month that you start your billing, most times this is the first of the month. To change the day, click on the field and type in the new day to start the billing.
  • End Month – for each start month, you must select an end month, most times this is the same month as the start month. However, you can bill for multiple months at a time by altering the end month. To change the month, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, once you click the arrow a list of month appears, click on the month. The selected month populates within the field.
  • End Day – this is the last day of the month that you will end the billing. To change the day, click on the field and type in the new day to end the billing.

! Don’t forget about Leap Year, it occurs every four years! The end day for February is the 29^th in a leap year. Here is a list of the next couple of leap years:  2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, and so on.

• • Run Month – this is the month in which you run the bill for the previous billing period. If you bill on a monthly basis, this is next month. To change the month, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, once you click the arrow a list of month appears, click on the month. The selected month populates within the field.
  • Run Day – this is the day of the run month that the bill generates. This field populates with the selection you determined in the upper pane. To change the day, click on the field and type in the run day.
  • Due Month – this is the month in which the bill you generate is due, this is most likely the same as the run month. To change the month, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, once you click the arrow a list of month appears, click on the month. The selected month populates within the field.
  • Due Day – this is the day the bill is due. This field populates with the selection you determined in the upper pane. To change the day, click on the field and type in the due date of the bill.

8. Within the Actions ribbon group, click the Save (to save and stay) button to continue working with billing cycles, or click the Save & Close (to save and exit) button to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Account Categories

Often times, you may want to categorize your account number based on a field other than organization or subscriber. This is where Account Category comes into play.

Adding a Category

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are two ways to manage account categories:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click the Account Category
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Account Category

4. The Manage Account Category window opens.

Adding

5. Click the row with an asterisk (*) to add new items to the list and type the new account category.
6. Once you start typing in the category, a new row with an asterisk (*) displays at the top of the list allowing you to add multiple categories at once.

Modifying

7. Click a row to modify and type the new information.

Deleting

8. Right-click the selector box next to the category name and click Delete.
9. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the category. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
10. Once selected, CAIRS draws a line through the category allowing you to delete multiple items at once.
11. If you do not want to delete the category, right-click the record and click Undelete.
12. Once you select Undelete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to keep the category. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
13. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with account categories, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Official Accounts list.

Late Payment Management

With Late Payment Management, you determine what happens on an account when a payment is not received by the due date. This is a two-step process, first you what action is taken on the account when it is past due by a certain number of days. The following actions are available:

• Send Reminder Notice
• Set as Overdue
• Send Overdue Notice
• Generate Work Order
• Set In Paycheckage
• Set As Current
• Set as No Subscriber

The second step in the process is to create templates, which is essentially an email sent to the subscriber or other personnel regarding the status of the account. For each action, you can associate a template that is automatically generated by cairs.net when the account becomes overdue.

Creating a Notice Template

Before creating the notification timing, create the notice template. This allows you to build the notice that is sent to the subscriber at your determined intervals.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are three ways to manage late payments:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click the Late Payment Management
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Late Payment Management
  • Within the account, click the lower half of the Payments button to access a list. From the list, select Late Payment Management.

4. With either option, the Late Payment Management window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the lower half of the Notice Templates From the list, select New Notice Template.
6. The General-Document Template Editor window opens, allowing you to create the notice sent to subscribers.
7. Within the General pane, complete the following information:

• • Notice Name – type the notice name to send out. For example: 30 Days Past Due Notice.
  • E-mail Subject – type the e-mail subject.

8. Within the Document Text pane, type the body of the e-mail. Adjust the font by clicking the appropriate button within the Font ribbon group.
9. When complete, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with this template, click Save & New to save the template and refresh the screen to allow you to add another template, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Late Payment Management window.

Creating a Notification

You can create several notifications that are e-mailed to the subscriber and/or commanding officer at date intervals for past due payments.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are two ways to manage late payments:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click the Late Payment Management button
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Late Payment Management

4. With either option, the Late Payment Management window opens.
5. Click the line marked with an asterisk (*) to add a new notification. Complete the following fields (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

• • Days Past Due* – type the number of days the bill is past due before this notification is sent
  • Action* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the action to perform. The following options are available:
    • Send Reminder Notice
    • Set As Overdue
    • Send Overdue Notice
    • Generate Work Order
    • Set In Paycheckage
    • Set As Current
    • Set as no Subscriber
  • Notice Name – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the notice name (notice template). If nothing displays within this list, you will need to create a new template. Please refer to Creating a Notice Template.
  • Notice to Commanding Officer – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the notice name you want to send to the subscriber’s Commanding Officer.
  • Work Flow Name – if you set the action to ‘Generate Work Order’ you will need to select what work order you want to initiate, click the dropdown arrow to access a list of all workflows. From the list, select the work flow that cairs.net creates when the payment is past due.
  • Site – if you manage multiple sites, you can make the late payment action site specific. Click on the field to access a list of sites from the list select the site to associate to the action
  • Account Status and Excluded Selected Status * – these fields work together include or exclude an account status from the notification. For example, if you have selected an account status of closed and put a checkmark in the exclude column, all accounts with a status of closed will be excluded from this action.  Click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the different account statuses, from the list select one of the following statuses to apply to the account for this action:
    • Any
    • Open
    • Closed
    • Suspended
  • Exclude Selected Status * – the default is to remain unchecked, to excluded the status click on the box to insert a checkmark
  • Description – type a brief description of the notice.

6. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue adding notifications or click Save & Close to return to the Accounts list.

Account Status Change Configuration

The Account Status Configuration allows you to change the account status seamlessly within your database. For example, if changing an account to a Suspended status, you want to be able to also suspend any associated configured items. Each status is associated to a work order that performs a certain action within your database as well as your switch database.

There are two places within cairs.net that you can configure your status changes. From the main accounts menu, within the Actions pane there is the Account Status Change Configuration link. Also, within an account you can click on the lower portion of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu on which you can select the Status Change Configuration option. With either selection, the same window opens allowing you to configure how you want to deal with your different account statuses.

Adding a Status Change

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria.
5. There are two ways to access the Status Change Configuration window:

• • Within the Actions pane, click the Account Status Change Configuration link
  • Within the list, double-click on the account number to open the Accounts window. Within the Management ribbon group, click the lower half of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Status Change Configuration

6. With either option, the Status Change Configuration window opens. Within the lower pane click the field marked with an asterisk, this row is used to add new information. Once you click the first field, a new line displays allowing you to add multiple items at one time. Complete the following information for each status change (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

• • Account Status * – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the account status that you want to configure
  • Work Flow Name – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the work flow that is associated with the change type.
  • Work Order Description – type any information regarding the work order
  • Override Default Actions * – this field defaults to include a checkmark to indicate that your users can override the actions that the system performs when you change the status. For example, when you change the status to closed the system automatically sets the delete date for associated equipment and services. This setting allows your users to override this and set the delete date themselves. By clicking the field you remove the checkmark to indicate that the users cannot override the system actions.

7. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list.

Deleting a Status Change

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria.
5. There are two ways to access the Status Change Configuration window:

• • Within the Actions pane, click the Account Status Change Configuration link
  • Within the list, double-click on the account number to open the Accounts window. Within the Management ribbon group, click the lower half of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Status Change Configuration

6. With either option, the Status Change Configuration window opens. Within the lower pane, right clcik on the selector box next to the Account Status, a small pop-up menu opens, within the box click Delete.
7. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the item. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.

Once selected, cairs.net draws a line through the item allowing you to delete multiple items at once.

8. If you do not want to delete the item right-click the record to access a pop-up menu, click Undelete
9. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list or the account.

Unofficial Account Report Preferences

The Unofficial Account Report Preferences allow you to determine what files you want to generate when creating a bill. In addition, you can determine where those files go, whether to a file or printer.

You can set the report preferences for each account number. When you set the preferences within the account, they overwrite any selections you have made here. For example, if the Call Detail XLS is checked here but not in the account number, the call data XLS file will not generate.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are two ways to change your report preferences:

• • Within the toolbar directly above the Navigation pane, click the Official Report Preferences
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Official Report Preferences

4. Within either option, the Billing Report Preferences window opens. The lower portion of the window displays the different formats and delivery options for your billings, as a default all fields are checked. This indicates the account summary or call data generates to the particular file type or location.

The following options are available:

• Account Summary XLS – the account summary for each account number generates to an Excel Spreadsheet
• Call Detail XLS – the call data for each account generates to an Excel Spreadsheet
• Call Detail Tab Delimited – the call data for each account generates to a tab delimited file
• One Time Charges Tab Delimited – the one-time charges for each account generate to a tab delimited file
• Recurring Charges Tab Delimited – the recurring charges for each account generate to a tab delimited file
• Account Type – this default to Unofficial
• Mailed Report PDF to File – the mailed report is generated to a PDF file
• Mailed Report PDF to Printer – the mailed report is sent directly to the printer
• Report to XML – the call, recurring, and one-time charges are generated into an XML file.

5. If you want to remove the file type from generating, click on the box to remove the checkmark.

Within the Actions ribbon group, click on Save (to save and stay) to continue working with your preferences, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Address Types

Adding an Address Type

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Within the Actions pane, click the Address Types
4. The Address Types window opens.

Adding

5. Click the row with an asterisk (*) and type the new type.
6. Once you start typing in the type, a new row with an asterisk (*) automatically displays at the top of the list allowing you to add multiple types at once.

Deleting

7. Right-click the selector box next to the Address Type. From the pop-up, click Delete.
8. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the type. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
9. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue deleting types, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Understanding the General Account Window

There are four parts to the General – Accounts screen: Ribbon groups, Account pane, Bill Summary pane and Account Balance Summary pane.

Ribbon Groups

Each of the ribbon groups allows you to perform certain account functions. For instance, you can associate site and organizations to an account, generate a bill for the account number, and make a payment to the account, etc.

Actions

Within the Actions ribbon group, you can perform the following actions:

• Save & Close – click this button to save the completed information and return to Accounts list.
• Save – click this button to save the information you have completed and remain within the Account.
• Refresh – click this button to add newly saved information to the account.

Show

Within the Show ribbon group, you define what entities belong to the account. You define the Organizations, Site, Set Device, Authorization Codes, etc.

Management

Within the Management ribbon group, you are able to view and change the account status, active, closed, suspended, etc.

Billing Tools

Within Billing Tools, you create bills to send to your customers for their one-time, recurring, and call charges. Each bill also includes the charges for equipment and/or services applied to the account.

Once you generate a bill, you can then perform refunds or adjustments as well as make payment to the account balance.

Panes

Each account has several panes of information that appear within the Billing Account window.

Account Information Pane

The Account Information pane displays general account information. For example, the account number, what charges the account is responsible for and account type, to name a few.

Equipment and Services

The Equipment and Services pane allows you to associate an equipment or service item directly to the account for billing purposes. In addition, you can view the related subscriber information by clicking the tab at the bottom of the pane.

Bill Information

The Billing Information pane is separated into two panes. The top pane displays the Bill Summary. The bottom pane displays the Account Balance Summary.

Summary Pane

The Bill Summary pane displays the balance and charges for the selected billing period. Each billing period with a generated bill displays in the dropdown list on the right side of the pane. Once you select a billing period, the pane displays the balance, current charges and payments or adjustments.

Account Balance Summary Pane

The Account Balance Summary pane displays a more detailed bill description. There are several information tabs:

• Balance Summary – displays basic information for the bill. For example, the date you generated the bill, payments, charges, adjustments, and statement balance.
• Number/Circuit Summary – displays the telephone number or circuit, and the charges associated with each.
• One-Time Charges – displays a list of one-time charges associated with the billing cycle.
• Recurring Charges – displays a list of recurring charges associated with the billing cycle.
• Calls – displays a list of calls associated with the billing cycle.
• Payments – displays a list of payments applied to the account balance when you generated the bill.
• Adjustments – displays a list of the adjustments applied to the account when you generated a bill.

Within any of the tabs, if the complete information does not appear, you can search by typing the parameter into the text box and clicking the magnifying glass or by clicking the Show All button.

Unofficial Accounts Configuration

Within this section, we discuss how to add an account and its basic information. We will then discuss how to associate an account to a subscriber, sites, set devices, etc.

Adding an Unofficial Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are two ways to add an Account:

• • Within the tool bar directly above the Navigation pane, click the dropdown arrow next to New. From the list, select Unofficial Accounts.
  • Within the Actions pane, click Add New Billing Account.

4. With either option the General – Account window opens (If you have automatic numbering turned on then the window name is Automatic By Setting – Accounts). There are four information panes within the Account Complete the following fields (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

• • Account Number* – type the account number. This field can contain numbers, letters and/or symbols. If the field reads ‘Automatic By Setting’, the account number is auto-created by the system.
  • Mailing Address – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the mailing address of where to send the bills.
  • Category – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the account category.
  • Call Charges* – click the box to insert a checkmark indicating the account is responsible for all charges incurred from calls.
  • One Time Charges* – click the box to insert a checkmark indicating the account is responsible for all one-time equipment and service charges.
  • Recurring Charges* – click the box to insert a checkmark indicating the account is responsible for all recurring equipment and service charges.
  • Account Type* – this field auto-populates with Unofficial indicating you are creating an unofficial account.
  • Mission Funded – click the box to insert a checkmark the field indicating the charges associated with the account are mission funded.
  • Mail Delivery Preference* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select whether the contact receives the entire bill, notification only or nothing by mail.
  • E-mail Delivery Preference* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select whether the contact receives the entire bill, notification only or nothing by e-mail.
  • Account Miscellaneous 1 – 10 – use these fields to add any additional account comments.
  • Exclude From Financial Summary – click the box to insert a checkmark in the box, this indicates that you want to exclude this account number from the Financial Summary. Leave the field blank to include the account number in the summary.
  • Created Date – This field auto-populated with the date you created the account number. The field populates after you save the information. To change the created date, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, click the arrow to access a calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.

5. Within the Equipment and Services pane, click on the Subscriber Information tab to associate subscriber to the account you are currently creating. Complete the following information within the pane (required fields are indicated by an asterisk (*)):

• • Site* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the site. The site dropdown list displays the bottom-most site first. After the ~~ is the complete path to the site. Each site level is separated by a >.
  • Organization – click the dropdown arrow to access a list; from the list, select the name of the organization. The organization dropdown list displays the bottom-most organization first. After the ~~ the complete path to the selected organization appears. Each level of the organizational tree is separated by a >. Once you select an organization, the complete path populates within the field.
  • Organization Path – displays the complete path to the organization name. Each level is separated by >.
  • Authorized – this field defaults to include a checkmark to indicate that the subscriber is authorized to access the Subscriber Portal. Click the box to remove the checkmark to indicate that the subscriber cannot access Subscriber Portal.
  • Disabled – this field defaults to include a checkmark to indicate that the subscriber is disabled, click the field to remove the checkmark to indicate the subscriber is active.
  • Last Name – type the subscriber’s last name.
  • First Name – type the subscriber’s first name.
  • Middle Name – type the subscriber’s middle name.
  • User Name – type the subscriber’s user name (used to access their subscriber information within Subscriber Portal, if applicable).
  • Alt Sub Number – type the alternate subscriber telephone number.
  • Rank – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s rank.
  • Branch – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s branch.
  • Grade – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s grade.
  • Rate – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s credit limit.
  • TCO – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s TCO.
  • Commanding Officer – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the subscriber’s Commanding Officer.
  • Publishing Option* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and from the list select the publishing option for the subscriber’s information. The following options are available:
    • Published
    • Non-Published
    • Classified
    • Temporary
    • Both Published and Classified
    • Alternate
  • Job Description – type the subscriber’s job description, if applicable.
  • E-Mail Address – type the subscriber’s e-mail address.
  • Contact Phone Number – type the subscriber’s contact phone number.
  • Key Word – type a name allowing operators to perform a precise subscriber search. For example, if the Subscribers last name is Smith, the key word can be the first name.
  • Date Added* – this field auto-populates with the current date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year, click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Account Type – this field auto-populates to Unofficial.
  • Comments – type any additional comments regarding the subscriber.
  • Subscriber Misc 1 – 5 – use these fields to add any additional subscriber comments.

6. Once charges are associated to the account, the Bill Summary and Account Balance Summary pane displays information.
7. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue adding information for the account, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Account list.

Modifying an Unofficial Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account that matched your search criteria. Double-click the account to modify. The Accounts window opens
5. Modify the fields as necessary.
6. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue modifying accounts, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Deleting an Unofficial Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Highlight the account to delete. There are two ways to delete an account

• • Within the tool bar directly above the Navigation pane, click the red X.
  • Once highlighted, click the Delete Billing Account link within the Actions

5. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the account. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
6. If there are account associations (a warning message displays notifying you that there is existing information associated to the account), cairs.net does not allow the account number to be deleted. Click Continue to remove the assignments.

Account Entries – Components

Within Account Entries, you can view the configured items associated to the account and the related charge types. This is also where you will add component to the account. When you access the window there are two panes, the top pane displays a list of the components that are currently associated to the account and the following information:

• Item Number or Name – displays the telephone number, circuit name, etc.
• Item Type – displays the item type for example, Subscriber, Cell Phone Number, Telephone, Circuit Segment, etc.
• Item Delete Date – displays the date the item was deleted from the account. The item still appears in the list, however, no charges are incurred.
• Account Number – displays the account number
• Site – displays the site name
• Organization Name and Path – displays the organization name and the entire organization path
• Billing Start and End Date – displays the date the account started to incur charges and the date the charges ended
• Charge Type – displays the charge type the account is responsible for, there are four types: Call Charges, One Time, Recurring, and Both One Time and Recurring Charges.

A component may appear in the list more than once, depending on the charge types associated.

The lower pane allows you to search for components to add to the account. There are two tabs at the bottom of the pane, the Add Item Pick List is a general tab that will allow you to search for any component whether telephone, cell phone, circuit, etc. The Add Sets Pick List is more specific to configured sets, this tab allows you to search on fields within a set, for example, port, building name, room, etc.

Once you have associated the component to the account you can also associate equipment and services.

Viewing Related Components

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account to view.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click on the Accounting Entries button. The screen changes to displays two panes of information. The top pane displays a list of the items related to the account. The lower allows you to associate more items to the account.
6. The top pane displays the following item information:

• • Item Number or Name
  • Item Type
  • Item Delete Date
  • Account Number
  • Site
  • Organization Name and Path
  • Billing Start and End Date
  • Charge Type

7. An item may appear in the list more than once depending on the different charge types. For example, if the account is responsible for one-time and call charges, each item may appear twice within the list.
8. To view more detail, double click on the record to open the Assigned Accounts and Equipment window. This window allows you to associate additional equipment and services to the component.

Adding a Component (other than a set) to an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account to view.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click on the Accounting Entries button. The screen changes to displays two panes of information. The top pane displays a list of the items related to the account. The lower allows you to associate more items to the account.
6. Within the lower pane, there are two sections; the left hand side allows you to search for components to add to the account. The right hand side displays a list of instructions on how to add the component to the account.
7. At the bottom of the pane are two tabs:

• • Add Items Pick List – this is a generic list of all items within your database, this could be anything from a circuit to subscriber to a set.
  • Add Sets to Pick List – this is a more specific list that pertains to only your configured sets.

8. Click on the Add Items Pick List tab to perform a search, there are a couple of ways to find the component:

• • Within the Search textbox, you can type-in the entire component name or number or a portion of the name or number, then click on the magnifying glass
  • Click on the Show All button to view every component within your database
  • You can also use the Last Search button to display the list of items from your previous search

9. Once the list displays, find your component to add to the account, double click on the record to open Assigned Accounts and Equipment window.
10. Within the window there are three panes of information, the Configured Item pane displays the item name or number, item type (Telephone, circuit, etc) and the Delete Date
11. The Accounts for Equipment and Services pane displays the account numbers that are associated to the item. There can be more than one entry in this pane depending on how the charges are distributed. Within the pane, you can add an account number to the configured item.
12. The Equipment and Services pane displays a list of the equipment and services associated to the configured item. Within this pane, you can also add equipment and services to the item.

Adding an Account Number to the Configured Item

13. Within the Accounts for Equipment and Services pane, click the row marked with the asterisk to enter in a new account number for the equipment and services. Complete the following fields, required fields are marked with an asterisk (*):

• • Charge Type* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, then select one of the following choices:
  • Both One Time and Recurring Charges – bills the account for all one time and recurring charges
  • Recurring Charges – bills the account for only recurring charges
  • One-time Charges – bills the account for only one- time charges
  • Site* – once you click any of the dropdown lists, the site name auto-populates with the site selected on the General-Set Device window.
  • Subscriber Name – click on the dropdown arrow to access a list of subscriber and from the list select the subscriber responsible for the equipment or service charges
  • Organization – this field does not apply to unofficial accounts.
  • Account Number* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the account numbers associated to the subscriber, select the appropriate account

! When you create an account number, you can assign it to an organization or to a subscriber; this designates the account as official or unofficial. If you select an account with an organization, it is most likely an Official Account. If you select an account where the organization is blank, it is most likely an Unofficial account and associated to a subscriber.

• • Billing Start Date* – click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar, from the calendar select the date to start the billing. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Billing End Date – click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar, from the calendar select the date to stop the billing for the equipment or service. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.

14. At this point, you should save your progress. Within the Actions ribbon group, click the Save

Adding an Equipment or Services to the Configured Item

15. Within the Equipment and Services pane click on the row marked with an asterisk to add new equipment or services to the item. Use the dropdown lists or type the appropriate information in each of the following columns for the equipment or service , required fields are marked with an asterisk (*):

• • Equipment or Service Type* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, there are three columns of information within the list:
  • Equipment or Service Types – displays the name of the equipment or service
  • Is Service Type – a checkmark indicates that the type is a service
  • Allow Cost Adjustment – a checkmark indicates that the you can adjust the cost of the equipment or service

Within the list, select the equipment or service type.

• • Equipment or Service Name* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and then select the equipment or service name. This list displays only the names associated to the type that you previously selected.
  • Part Name* – click on the dropdown arrow to access a list, select the part name.
  • Site – once you click any of the dropdown lists, the field auto-populates with the site name you selected in the Device Properties pane.
  • Serial Number* – this field may auto-populate after you select a part name, it may either contain None or Generate Automatically, if these are contained within the field do not change the selection. However, if the field is blank click the dropdown arrow to access a list, and select the appropriate serial number
  • Quantity – this field auto-populates with a pre-determined quantity amount. To change, click the field and type-in the new information.
  • One Time Cost – this field auto-populates with the equipment’s one-time charge.
  • Recurring Cost – this field auto-populates with the equipment’s recurring charge.
  • Total One Time Cost – displays the total one-time cost for the equipment item.
  • Total Recurring Cost – displays the total recurring cost for the equipment item.

! At the bottom of the list of equipment is a totals line displaying the one-time and recurring charges totals for all the equipment items within the list.

• • Install Date* – this field auto-populates with today’s date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown arrow, once clicked a calendar displays. From the calendar, select the date to install the new equipment. This is the date the charges start for billing purposes. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Delete Date – click the field to access a dropdown arrow. Once clicked, a calendar displays, from the calendar select the date to delete the item from the set. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Technician – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the technician name.
  • Notes – click on the grey square in the field to open the Note popup that allows you to enter in any notes regarding the equipment or service. Once you have finished typing the note, click on the OK button to save the note and close the popup.  Alternatively, you can click on the Cancel button to cancel the operation.
  • Location – type the equipment or service location.
  • Last Recurring Bill Date – this field indicates the last date the piece of equipment generated a bill.

16. You can continue to add equipment and services to the item, when finished, click on the Save & Close button within the Actions ribbon group to return to the Account.

You will notice that the item now appears in the Related to Account pane.

Adding a Configured Set to an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account to view.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click on the Accounting Entries button. The screen changes to displays two panes of information. The top pane displays a list of the items related to the account. The lower allows you to associate more items to the account.
6. Within the lower pane, there are two sections; the left-hand side allows you to search for components to add to the account. The right-hand side displays a list of instructions on how to add the component to the account.
7. To add a set to the account, click on the Add Sets to Pick List tab at the bottom of the pane
8. You need to search for the set to add to the account, there are a couple of ways to find the set:

• • Within the Search textbox, you can type-in the entire component name or number or a portion of the name or number, then click on the magnifying glass
  • Click on the Show All button to view every component within your database
  • You can also use the Last Search button to display the list of items from your previous search

9. Once the list displays, find the set to add to the account, double click on the record to open the Set Management window.
10. Within the lower portion of the Facilities pane, click on the Accounts for Equipment and Services tab. The pane changes to display the accounts related to the different charge types for the equipment and services.
11. Click the row marked with the asterisk to enter in a new account number for the equipment and services. Complete the following fields, required fields are marked with an asterisk (*):

! Most of the information auto-populates in the pane from the account record after you select a charge type. To make any modification, click the field to access the correct information.

• • Charge Type* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, then select one of the following choices:
  • Both One Time and Recurring Charges – bills the account for all one time and recurring charges
  • Recurring Charges – bills the account for only recurring charges
  • One-time Charges – bills the account for only one- time charges
  • Site* – once you click any of the dropdown lists, the site name auto-populates with the site selected on the General-Set Device window.
  • Subscriber Name – click on the dropdown arrow to access a list of subscriber and from the list select the subscriber responsible for the equipment or service charges
  • Organization – this field does not apply to unofficial accounts.
  • Account Number* – click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the account numbers associated to the subscriber, select the appropriate account

! When you create an account number, you can assign it to an organization or to a subscriber; this designates the account as official or unofficial. If you select an account with an organization, it is most likely an Official Account. If you select an account where the organization is blank, it is most likely an Unofficial account and associated to a subscriber.

• • Billing Start Date* – click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar, from the calendar select the date to start the billing. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Billing End Date – click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar, from the calendar select the date to stop the billing for the equipment or service. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.

12. When you have added the account number to the set click the Save & Close button within the Actions ribbon group to return to the Account, you will notice that the item now appears in the Related to Account pane.

Removing a Component from an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account to view.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click on the Accounting Entries button. The screen changes to displays two panes of information. Within the top pane, double-click the item to remove from the account.

The Assigned Accounts and Equipment window opens.

6. Within the Account for Equipment and Services pane, right click on the selector box next to the charge type, a popup menu opens, within the box click Delete.
7. Once you click Delete, a message box appears verifying that you really want to delete the account. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
8. To save your changes, click on the Save & Close button within the Actions ribbon group to return to the Account.

Viewing the Component

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account to view.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click on the Accounting Entries button. The screen changes to displays two panes of information. Within the top pane, double-click the item to view.

The Assigned Accounts and Equipment window opens.

6. Within the Related Item Actions ribbon group, click on the Open Item button. This opens the components window allowing you to make changes.
7. If you do make any changes make sure to save them by clicking either the Save or Save & Close button within the Actions ribbon group.

Current Balance

You can determine the balance due on an account for any billing period.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Current Balance There are two panes of information; the top pane allows you to select the billing period and the lower pane displays the bill for the period selected.
6. Within the top pane, complete the following fields to select a billing period and determine the balance (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*) (*)):

• • Bill From Date* – this field auto-populates with the current billing cycle. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Bill To Date – this field auto-populates with the current date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Fiscal Year* – this field auto-populates with the current fiscal year. To change to a previous year, click the field and type the appropriate year.
  • Due Date* – this field auto-populates with the current billing cycle’s due date based on the Billing Cycle created within Manage Billing Cycle.
  • Date Mailed – the field displays the date the bill was sent the printer.
  • Date E-mailed – this field displays the first date the billed was e-mailed to the subscriber.
  • Last Delivery Attempt Date – this field displays the date that CES last attempted to deliver a bill by either method.
  • Date Copied – this field indicates the date the bill was copied
  • Previous Statement Balance – displays the balance of the previous statement for the account number
  • Previous Reimbursable Statement Balance – displays the balance of the reimbursable charges for the previous statement

7. Once the fields are completed, click the Determine Balance
8. The lower pane populates with the bill information with current balance for the account shown in last field within the pane.

Unofficial Account Addresses

Viewing Associated Addresses

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the top half of the Addresses
6. The window displays two panes of information. The top pane displays a list of addresses currently associated to the account and the lower pane displays a list of all address currently within your database.
7. If the information in the top pane does not readily populate, you can search for an address by typing in the name or portion of the name within the search text box or click the Show All link.

Adding a New Address

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the lower half of the Addresses button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, click Add New Address.
6. The Address window opens, complete the following fields (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*) (*)):

• • Address Label – type the address label. For example, work, home, etc.
  • Street* – type the mailing address.
  • City – type the city name.
  • State/Province – type the state abbreviation, province name or other designation.
  • Zip Postal – type the 5-digit zip code.
  • Zip Plus 4 – type the 4-digit code appearing after the standard zip code, if applicable.
  • Country/Region – type the country abbreviation.
  • Address Type – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from list select the address type.

7. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with the account, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.
8. Once you have added the address into the system, associate the address to the account.

Associating an Address to an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the top half of the Addresses The window displays two panes of information. The top pane displays a list of addresses currently associated to the account and the lower pane displays a list of all address currently within your database.
6. To populate the information within either pane:

• • Within the search box, type a portion of the address and then click the magnifying glass
  • Click the Show All button

7. To associate an address to an account, find the address within the Available Addresses pane and double-click the address. The address displays in the Addresses for Account
8. To associate additional addresses, repeat the process.
9. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with the account, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list.

Adding a Mailing Address

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the top half of the Addresses There are two ways to populate the list of Account addresses:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

6. Once the list populates, highlight the address within the Addresses for Account
7. Within the Show ribbon group, click the lower half of the Address button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, click Make Mailing Address.
8. Alternatively, right-click the address within the list to access a pop-up menu. From the menu select Use this address for mailing bills.
9. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with the account, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list.
10. To ensure the address is now the mailing address, within the Show ribbon group click the Billing Account Within the Account pane, the mailing address now populates with your selection.

Removing an Address from an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the top half of the Addresses There are two ways to populate the list of Addresses for the Account:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

6. Right-click the address to access a pop-up menu and from the menu, select Remove from this account.
7. The address re-appears in the Available Addresses
8. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with the account, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list.

Unofficial Account Calls

If the account you are currently viewing is responsible for call charges, you can view a summary of the charges applied to the account. To view the calls associated to the account, click the Calls button within the Show ribbon group. Depending on the amount of calls associated to the account, the list may not populate right away. To populate the list, complete one of the following:

• Within the search box, type any portion of a call record (site name, extension, etc.) and then click the magnifying glass.
• Click the Show All

The window displays the following information for each call type:

• Call Type – call type name.
• Total Calls – the total number of calls made.
• Total Cost – the total cost of calls.
• Total Duration – the total duration of call in minutes.

At the bottom of the list is a total for all call charges. To view the details for each call type, click the plus sign (+) next to the call type name. To return to the default view, click the minus sign (-) next to the call type name.

You can export or print the call data by clicking the Sharing tab at the top of the screen. There are 3 export formats:

• PDF – you can export the total report, expanded bands only or primary band to a PDF file. Once selected the PDF file generates to your screen, you can save the file to any location.
• Excel – you can export the total report, expanded bands only or primary band to an Excel spreadsheet. Once selected, Excel opens with your report, you can save the file to any location.
• Print – you can send the entire report, expanded bands only or primary band report a printer. Once selected the Print box displays, allowing you to choose your printing options.
• Text – you can export the total report, expanded bands only or primary bands to a tab delimited text file. Once selected, the Select the location to save the Tab-delimited Text File box opens. Browse to the location, type the file name within the text box and click the Save

Reimbursable Types

When you click the Reimbursable Types button, the screen changes to display two panes of information: Call Types and Equipment and Service Types. Within each account, you can indicate a specific call type(s), equipment type, or service type as reimbursable. This button works in connection with the Type of Service, for each reimbursable type, you must indicate a type of service. The Type of Service is used to indicate whether the reimbursable type is mission funded.

Adding a Call, Equipment or Service Type as Reimbursable

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Reimbursable Types
6. The screen changes to displays two panes of information: Call Types and Equipment and Service Types.
7. To add a Call Type, click the row marked with an asterisk (*). Within the Call Type column, click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the call types within your database, from the list select the appropriate call type.
8. In the Type of Service Name column, click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the associated type of service.
9. Before adding more information, it is a good idea to save your changes, within the Actions ribbon group, click the Save
10. To add Equipment and Service Types, click the row marked with an asterisk (*). Within the Billable Cost Type Name column, click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the equipment and service types within your database, from the list select the appropriate type.
11. In the Type of Service Name column, click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the associated type of service.
12. Within the Actions Ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with reimburseable types, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Removing a Reimbursable Type

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Reimbursable Types

The screen changes to displays two panes of information: Call Types and Equipment and Service Types.

6. Within the appropriate pane, right-click the selector box next to the type name. A small pop-up menu opens; click Delete.

Once selected, cairs.net draws a line through the item allowing you to delete multiple items at once.

7. If you do not want to delete an item, right-click the record to access a pop-up menu and click Undelete.
8. Once you select Undelete, a message box displays, verifying that you really want to keep the item. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
9. Within the Actions Ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with reimburseable types, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Viewing Unofficial Accounts

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Use the Views pane to sort the Accounts list based on a common category or characteristic. The following views are available:

• • Simple List (default view)
  • Detailed List
  • Accounts by Charge Type
  • Account Status
  • Account Standing
  • Pending Status Changes
  • Accounts with Bad Checks
  • Unofficial Accounts Billing Summary
  • Unofficial Report Preferences
  • Accounts by Bill Delivery Dates
  • Accounts by Building
  • Account Notes
  • Custom View – this selection allows you to create a custom view by dragging and dropping column headers to create a line display.

5. To select a different view, click the option button next to the selection. There are two ways to populate the list:

• • Within the search box, type any portion of a record and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

6. If available, click the plus sign (+) next to the group to view the individual records.
7. Double-click the record to view the Account window.

Settings

Within the Settings button, you determine two things: what billing report files you want generated for the account and what call types you want to exclude from the printed bill. Excluding calls from the bill is helpful if you do not want to include zero cost calls.

Account Billing Report Preferences

There are two ways to set the preferences; you can set them either for each account number or for all of the official accounts. Within this option, you are setting the preferences for this account number. The selections here over-ride the setting you may have chosen for all of official accounts.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Accounts window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Settings There are two panes of information, within the top pane you determine the preferences, the lower is used for excluding call types from bills.
6. The Billing Report Preferences pane displays the different formats and delivery options for your billings, as a default all fields are checked. This indicates the account summary or call data generates to the particular file type or location.

The following options are available:

• • Account Summary XLS – the account summary for each account number generates to an Excel Spreadsheet
  • Call Detail XLS – the call data for each account generates to an Excel Spreadsheet
  • Call Detail Tab Delimited – the call data for each account generates to a tab delimited file
  • One Time Charges Tab Delimited – the one-time charges for each account generate to a tab delimited file
  • Recurring Charges Tab Delimited – the recurring charges for each account generate to a tab delimited file
  • Account Type – this default to Unofficial
  • Mailed Report PDF to File – the mailed report is generated to a PDF file
  • Mailed Report PDF to Printer – the mailed report is sent directly to the printer
  • Report to XML – the call, recurring, and one-time charges are generated into an XML file.

7. If you want to remove the file type from being generated, click on the box to remove the checkmark.
8. Within the Actions ribbon group, click on Save (to save and stay) to continue working with your preferences, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts list.

Adding a Call Type to Exclude from Bill

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Settings
6. Within the Call Types to Exclude from Printed PDF Bills pane, click the row marked with an asterisk (*). Within the Call Type column, click the dropdown arrow to access a list of the call types within your database, from the list select the appropriate call type.
7. Within the Exclude From Bill column, click the box to insert a checkmark to indicate that you want to exclude the call type from the printed bill.
8. You can continue adding call types by clicking on the row marked with an asterisk (*).
9. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with settings, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts.

Deleting a Call Type from being Excluded

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All button.

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Show ribbon group, click the Settings
6. Wiithin the Call Types to Exclude from Printed PDF Bills pane, right-click the selector box next to the type name. A small pop-up menu opens, within the box click Delete.
7. Once selected, cairs.net draws a line through the item allowing you to delete multiple items at once.
8. If you do not want to delete an item, right-click the record to access a pop-up menu and from the pop-up, click Undelete.
9. Once you select Undelete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to keep the item. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
10. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue working with settings, or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Unofficial Accounts.

Unofficial Account – File Attachments

Before you can attach files to a record, your cairs.net administrator must determine the allowable file types and size.  Please contact your cairs.net administrator if you are unable to attach files.

There are two different types of files that you can attach to a record; the first button allows you to attach a regular file. These files follow the record and other users are able to see them. Although, this is convenient, if changes need to be made to the file, the file will have to be saved and then re-attached.

The second file attachment type allows you to attach a link to a file that is in a shared location.  The benefit of this file attachment is that when changes are made to the file there is no need to reattach the file.  The disadvantage is that all cairs users have to have access to the shared file location.

The process to add either file type is the same.

Attaching a File or External File to an Account

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Depending on the amount of records you have within your database, the list may not readily populate. To populate the list, perform one of the following actions:

• • Within the search box, type any portion of the record and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Accounts window opens.
5. Within the Attach ribbon group, click on either Add File or the Add External Link
6. The Select the File to Attach window opens. Browse to select the file to attach and click the Open

! If the file type that you want to add in not showing up within your location, click on the file type dropdown arrow to select the correct file format.  If the file type is not available within the dropdown, please contact your cairs.net administrator to add the file type to the allowable file types list.

7. Once attached, a button displays directly below the ribbon. To view the attached file, click the button.

Viewing and Saving an Attached File

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Depending on the amount of records you have within your database, the list may not readily populate. To populate the list, perform one of the following actions:

• • Within the search box, type any portion of the record and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Accounts window opens.
5. Directly below the ribbon, a button displays with the file name. Click the button to view the attachment.
6. Alternatively, right-click the file name to access a pop-up menu, then select Open.
7. To save, right-click the file name to access a pop-up menu, and then select Save Target As.
8. Within the Save Target As window, browse to the location of where you want the file saved and click the Save button.

Deleting a File Attachment

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Depending on the amount of records you have within your database, the list may not readily populate. To populate the list, perform one of the following actions:

• • Within the search box, type any portion of the record and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Accounts window opens.
5. Right-click the file name to access a pop-up menu, and then select Delete.
6. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the file. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.

 

Account Management

Within the Management ribbon group, you can view the account’s status over its entire history. This is the area to see if the account is active, closed, suspended, etc. You can change the account status but be aware this ribbon group overrides all other account statuses. For example, if you close the account here, the billing on this account stops.

Manage Status Change Types

This option allows you to populate the Status Change Types dropdown list. These change types (possible change types are non-payment, customer request, etc.) explain why the account status is changing.

Adding a Status Type

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Management ribbon group, click the lower half of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Manage Status Types.
6. The Account Status Change Types window opens. Click the field marked with an asterisk (*) (*), this row is used to add new records. Once you start typing, a new row displays above allowing you to add multiple items.
7. Type the Change Type that explains why the account status is changing, for example, non-payment, customer request, rotation date, etc.
8. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) to continue adding types or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts list.

Deleting a Status Type

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Management ribbon group, click the lower half of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Manage Status Types.
6. The Account Status Change Types window opens. There are two ways to delete a type:

• • Right-click the type to access a pop-up menu, and from the menu select Delete.
  • Highlight the row by clicking the name. Within the Actions ribbon group click the Delete

7. Once you click Delete, a message box displays verifying that you really want to delete the type. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.

Status Change Configuration

Please see the section Account Status Change Configuration in the beginning of the Unofficial Accounts section.

Account Status

Within this option, you can change the status of the account allowing you to suspend or close an account for different reasons. At the same time, it allows you to reopen or make the account active again. Keep in mind that when you change the account status to suspend or closed all billing stops for that account.

There are a few important notes about Account Status.  For Account Status to work properly you must have turned on the ‘Update Account Status’ CES process and have it running at regular and frequent intervals.  If CES does not run then the account status will not change.  There are two dates relating to each status, the Requested and the Date Applied.  The Requested Date is the date the user requested the CES process to run.  The Date Applied is when the account status change took effect.

Account Status cannot be set to a date that already passed.  Since the status update is directly related to a CES process if you put the effective date in the past it will update the status to the date and time the CES process was run.  It can be set to a date in the future, once CES runs the process the account status changed and the action is initiated.

Viewing Account Status

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. There are two ways to view the account status. First, the solid line directly beneath the ribbon displays the current status.
6. Second, click the top half of the Account Status button within the Management ribbon group.
7. The screen displays the account’s complete status history.
8. There are four account statuses:

• • Active
  • Suspended
  • Closed
  • Reopened

There are six additional columns of information: User Name, First Name, Last Name, Effective Time, Account Status Change Type, and Date Applied.

Changing Account Status

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Management ribbon group, click the lower half of the Account Status button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Change Account Status.
6. The New Account Status Change window opens. Complete the following fields (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

• • Status * – click the field to access a dropdown list and from the list select one of the following:
    • Active
    • Suspended
    • Closed
    • Reopened
  • Date Requested – the field defaults to today’s date. To change the date click the field to access a drop-down arrow, once clicked a calendar displays, from the calendar select the effective date. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.

Keep in mind, this is a CES process so the date and time requested is when you have initiated the process to run.  Once the process runs, the Date Applied will populate with actual date and time the account status was changed.

• • Status Change Type – click the field to access a dropdown list and from the list select the change type.

7. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save (to save and stay) or click Save & Close (to save and exit) to return to the Accounts window.

When you change the status of an account the yellow line directly below the ribbon displays the new account status.

 

Billing Tools

Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, you generate bills for the account you are currently viewing. You can adjust the bill without generating a new bill by either crediting or debiting the account. Once you generate the bill and send it out to the customer, you can apply any payment made. Payment made to an account will not show on the account until you generate a bill for the next bill cycle.

Finally, you can also rollback a bill cycle. When you perform a rollback, you are deleting the previous bill for the cycle and generating a new bill in its place. Please make sure this is the correct action, as there is no backup in place.

The first step in ensuring your billing generates properly is to make sure that the account number displays in all the necessary menu options. For Unofficial billing, the account number needs to appear in Accounts, Subscriber and on the set device or circuit.

Once the account displays on the device, you must decide what charges the account number is responsible for paying. There are four choices: All, Recurring, One-time and Call charges. This feature allows you to portion out the charges to various different organizations.

Adjustments

You handle refunds and adjustments the same way within cairs.net. You can enter a credit (refund) to the account allowing the positive balance to apply to the next generated bill. Alternatively, you debit (adjust) the account to apply a balance added to the next generated bill.

Applying a Credit or Debit

Please remember that when applying a refund to an account, the credit amount does not apply until you generate the next bill cycle.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens, and defaults to show the Billing Account information.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the Adjustments Within the solid blue line below the ribbon, click the circle next to either:

• • Credit (Refund) – apply funds to an account.
  • Debit (Adjustment) – add charges to the balance statement.

6. Within the top pane complete the following information (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

• • Adjustment Amount* – type the adjustment amount. When you enter in the amount, type the total amount with a decimal point. If you fail to enter in the decimal point cairs.net adds one in the appropriate location, for example if you type $100, cairs.net converts that to $1.00 instead of $100.00.
  • Adjustment Date* – this field auto-populates with the current date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Type of Service Name – click the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the Type of Service
  • Site – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the site. The site dropdown list displays the bottom-most site first. After the ~~ is the complete path to the site. Each site level is separated by a >.
  • Organization – click the dropdown arrow to access a list from the list, select the name of the organization. The organization dropdown list displays the bottom-most organization first. After the ~~ the complete path to the selected organization appears. Each level of the organizational tree is separated by a >. Once you select an organization, the complete path populates within the field.
  • Note – type any necessary information regarding why you are adjusting the account.

7. Directly below the top pane, on the right-hand side of the screen, click the Apply Adjustment
8. The information moves from the top pane to the Pending Adjustments pane.
9. When you generate the next bill, the refund or adjustment applies to the account.

Viewing Adjustment History

In order for a credit or debit to apply to an account, you must generate the bill for the next bill cycle. After generating the bill, there are two ways to view the applied adjustments.

First, within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the Refunds and Adjustments button. Any adjustments made to the account appear in the Adjustment History pane. Cairs.net designates a credit with the amount encased in parenthesis while a debit does not have parenthesis.

Second, on the Billing Account screen (Show ribbon groupàBilling Account button), select a bill period from the dropdown box in the middle of the screen. The bill summary displays on the lower half of the screen. Click the Adjustments tab to view the credits and debits applied to the account.

Creating a Bill

Within Billing Tools, you can create a bill for the account that you are currently viewing. This allows you to adjust an account and then generate an updated bill immediately.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the Create Bill
6. The Create Bill pop-up opens. Complete the following fields (required fields are marked with an asterisk (*)):

! Some of the following fields auto-populate within information you have previously designated. When you enabled and created a billing cycle, you determined the information appearing in these fields.

• • Bill From Date* – this field populates with the last date of the previous bill period. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow. Once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Bill To Date* – this field populates with the current date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Fiscal Year* – this field populates with the current fiscal year. To change, click the field and type the correct fiscal year.
  • Due Date* – this field auto-populates with the bill due date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Date Mailed – type the date you mailed the bill or click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar. From the calendar, select the date that you mailed the bill.
  • Date E-mailed –type the date you e-mailed the bill or click the dropdown arrow to access a calendar. From the calendar, select the date you e-mailed the bill.
  • Last Delivery Attempt Date – this field displays the date that CES last attempted to deliver a bill by either method.
  • Date Copied – this field indicates the date the bill was copied.
  • Previous Statement Balance – displays the balance of the previous statement for the account number

7. Once you have completed the information within the pop-up, click the Run Bill button to produce the bill for this account.

Viewing the Bill created for an Account Number

When you create a bill, the bill information automatically displays in the Account Balance Summary pane within the Billing Account screen. To view the detailed bill, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens, and defaults to show the Billing Account information.
5. Within the Bill Summary pane, click the Select billing period dropdown box (in the upper right-hand corner of the pane). From the list, select the billing period to view.
6. The Bill Summary pane displays the following information:

• • Previous Balance
  • Current Charges
  • Payments and Adjustments
  • One-time Charges
  • Recurring Charges
  • Call Charges

7. Within the lower half of the screen, are several information tabs displaying various portions of the bill. View the following information by clicking the appropriate tab:

• • Balance Summary – displays the bills generated on the account and the total charges, payments and adjustments made on the account. Any amounts seen within parentheses are credits to the account.
  • Number/Circuit Summary – if multiple set devices and/or circuits are associated to the account, this tab displays the device name, total one-time charges, total recurring charges, and total call charges. To view the full details, click the plus sign (+) next to the number or circuit name.
  • One-Time Charges – displays only the one-time charges associated to the account. Within the column on the left hand side of the screen are the view selections. To change the view, click the option button next to the name. Each of the views changes how the information is organized or grouped together.
  • Recurring Charges – displays only the recurring charges associated to the account. Within the column on the left hand side of the screen are the view selections. To change the view, click the option button next to the name. Each of the views changes how the information is organized or grouped together.
  • Calls – displays a list of the call data associated to the account. Within the column on the left hand side of the screen are the view selections. To change the view, click the option button next to the name. Each of the views changes how the information is organized or grouped together.
  • Payments – displays a list of payments credited to the account.
  • Adjustments – displays a list of adjustments made on the account.

Rollback a Bill

The purpose of rolling back a bill is to delete the previous bill and create a new one. Please be aware that there is not a backup of the previous bill. When you roll back a bill, you are removing the charges from the bill and placing them back into the system. This allows you to modify the bill before sending a final bill to your customers or the Subscriber Portal.

You can perform a rollback on a single account or on the entire bill. Please see the section on Generating an Entire Bill which covers how to perform a rollback on the entire bill.

Performing a Rollback

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens, displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens, and defaults to show the Billing Account information.
5. To verify you are on the most recent bill cycle, click the dropdown arrow in the Select billing period Cairs.net performs a rollback from the top of the list to the bottom.
6. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group click the Rollback Last Bill
7. A message box displays, verifying that you really want to perform the rollback. Remember a rollback deletes the last bill.
8. Click Yes to continue with the rollback or No to cancel the operation.
9. The bill cycle no longer displays in the list, allowing you to generate a new bill for this account number.

Payments

Subscribers can make payments that apply to their statement balance. Before you can accept payments, you must determine the types, methods and locations you allow within your cairs.net.

A Type is considered what type of payment you are accepting, for example, a standard payment, late payment, etc.

A Method is considered what form of payment you are accepting, for example, cash, check, credit card, etc.

A Location is considered where your customer is making the payment, for example, in office, cash box, mail, etc.

Payment and Funding Types

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are three ways to Manage Payment and Funding Types

• • Within the tool bar directly above the Navigation pane, click the Payment and Funding Types button
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Payment and Funding Types
  • Within the Account list, double click on the account number, The Account window opens. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the lower portion of the Payments button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Manage Funding Types.

4. With either option, the Payment and Funding Types popup opens. Click the line marked within an asterisk. Once you start typing, a new row appears allowing you to add multiple items.
5. Within the field, type-in the payment type explaining the payment types you are applying to the account. For example, a type can be a standard payment, discrepancy, bad check, etc.
6. Within the Actions ribbon group, click the Save (to save and stay) button or click on the Save & Close (to save and exit) button.

Payment and Funding Methods

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are three ways to Manage Payment and Funding Methods:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click on the Payment and Funding Methods
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Payment and Funding Methods
  • Within the Account list, double click on the account number, The Account window opens, within the Billing Tools ribbon group, and click the lower portion of the Payments button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Payment and Funding Methods.

4. With either option, the Payment and Funding Methods popup opens. Click the line marked within an asterisk. Once you start typing, a new row appears allowing you to add multiple items.
5. Within the field, type-in the payment type that explains what form of payment you accept. For example, cash, check, credit, debit, etc.
6. Within the Actions ribbon group, click the Save (to save and stay) button or click the Save & Close (to save and exit) button.

Payment and Funding Locations

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are three ways to Manage Payment and Funding Locations:

• • Within the tool bar directly the Navigation pane, click on the Payment and Funding Locations
  • Within the Actions pane, click the Payment and Funding Locations
  • Within the Account list, double click on the account number, The Account window opens, within the Billing Tools ribbon group, and click the lower portion of the Payments button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, select Payment and Funding Locations.

4. With either option, the Payment and Funding Locations popup opens. Click the line marked within an asterisk. Once you start typing, a new row appears allowing you to add multiple items.
5. Within the field, type-in the payment locations. For example, drop box, mail, OTC, etc.
6. Within the Actions ribbon group, click on the Save (to save and stay) button or click the Save & Close (to save and exit) button.

Deleting a Type, Method or Location

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. There are three ways to delete a type, method or location:

• • Within the tool bar directly above the Navigation pane, click on the appropriate button
  • Within the Actions pane, click the appropriate link
  • Within the Account list, double click on the account number, The Account window opens, within the Billing Tools ribbon group, and click the lower portion of the Payments button to access a dropdown menu. From the menu, make the appropriate selection.

4. With either option, the window opens.
5. Right click the selector box next to the name, a small popup box opens and within the box click Delete.
6. Once you click Delete, a message box appears verifying that you really want to delete the item. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
7. Once selected, cairs.net draws a line through the name; allowing you to delete multiple items at once.
8. If you do not want to delete the item, right-click the record to access a popup menu and from the popup, click Undelete.
9. Once you select Undelete, a message box appears verifying that you really want to keep the item. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
10. Within the Actions ribbon group, click Save & Close.

Making a Payment

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type-in the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens to the right displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the upper portion of the Payments
6. The screen changes allowing you to enter in a payment to apply to the account. Within the top pane complete the following information (required fields are marked with an asterisk(*):

• • Payment or Funding Type – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the payment type.
  • Payment or Funding Method – click the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the payment method.
  • Payment or Funding Location – click on the dropdown arrow to access a list and from the list, select the location where the payment was made.
  • Receipt Number* – this field auto-populates with an invoice number. To change the number, click the field and type-in the new invoice number.
  • Received Date* –this field auto-populates with the current date. To change the date, click the field to access a dropdown calendar. To change the month and year click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date. The date populates in the box.
  • Amount Due – this field auto-populates with the current account balance.

! The next four fields work together allowing you to keep an accurate account of the funds submitted into your system. If the amount submitted is greater than the amount due, cairs.net makes the appropriate calculations and displays the amounts in the appropriate fields. For example:

Amount Due – 35.65

Amount Submitted – $40.00

Change Given – $4.35

Net Payment – $35.65

Cairs.net does not allow you to give change if the total submitted is more than the net payment. For example, if the customer submitted $30.00 but wants to pay $25.00, cairs.net does not allow this. Both fields change to the total amount submitted.

• • Amount Submitted – type-in the total amount submitted. When entering in the amount received, type-in the total amount with a decimal point. If you fail to enter in the decimal point, cairs.net adds one in the appropriate location. For example if you type-in $100, cairs.net converts it to $1.00 instead of $100.00.
  • Change Given – this field auto-populates with the correct change to give to the person when they have submitted more that the balance statement. For example, if the statement balance is $35.50 and the submitted amount is $36.00, this field displays -$0.50 allowing you to keep an accurate accounting of the funds entering your system.
  • Net Payment – if the amount submitted is the same as the amount due, this field populates with the same amount.

! Cairs.net has a built in calculator. In the lower left hand corner of the top pane, click the Calculator button. The standard Windows calculator displays.

• • Check Number – if the customer submitted a check for payment, type-in the check number.
  • Check Status – click on the dropdown arrow to access a list, from the list select the check status. You have three options: Good, Bad, or Resolved.
  • Fiscal Year – type-in the current fiscal year, or the fiscal year the payment should apply to.
  • Note – type-in any additional payment notes.

7. Once you have completed the fields, click the Apply Payment button in the lower right hand corner of the pane.

! Payments made on the last day within the billing cycle are included within that billing cycle.

8. Once applied, the payment information displays in the Payment History pane in the lower portion of the screen.
9. The status of the payment is Pending. A payment is not applied to a balance until you generate the next bill cycle.

Viewing Payment History

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Before the Account list populates, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type-in the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass,
  • Click the Show All button,

4. The Accounts list opens to the right displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the upper portion of the Payments
6. Within the Payment History pane in the lower portion of the screen, view the payment(s) applied and pending on the account.
7. If the list does fully populate with all payments processed, you can search for a particular payment by typing in any portion of any field or by clicking the Show All

Late Payment Action History

On the Late Payment Action History tab you view the actions that have been taken on an account that is overdue. The Action Date, Days Past Due, Action and Description are displayed.

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Official Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type-in the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens to the right displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the upper portion of the Payments
6. Within the Payment History pane, click on the Late Payment Action History tab to view the actions taken on the account for overdue payments.
7. If the list does fully populate with all actions, you can search for a particular action by typing in any portion of any field or by clicking the Show All

Editing a Payment

You can edit a payment that is pending to an account. However, once the status of the payment changes from pending the payment is no longer editable

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type-in the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens to the right displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the upper portion of the Payments
6. Within the Payment History pane in the lower portion of the screen, a list of the payments made to the account appear.
7. Next to the status, click on the record selector box to access a popup menu, from the menu select Edit. The complete payment details appear in the upper pane.
8. Make the necessary changes and click on the Update Payment button in the lower right hand corner of the pane.
9. The status of the payment is Pending. A payment is not applied to a balance until you generate the next bill cycle.

Deleting a Payment

You can delete a payment that is pending to an account. However, once the status of the payment changes from pending the payment is no longer editable.

1. Click the Accounting
2. In the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Official Accounts.
3. To populate the Account list, you must either:

• • Within the search box, type-in the account number or portion of the number and then click the magnifying glass.
  • Click the Show All

4. The Accounts list opens to the right displaying the account matching your search criteria. Double-click the account. The Account window opens.
5. Within the Billing Tools ribbon group, click the upper portion of the Payments button.
6. Within the Payment History pane in the lower portion of the screen a list of the payments made to the account appears.
7. Next to the status, click on the record selector box to access a popup menu, from the menu select Delete.
8. Once you click Delete, a message box appears verifying that you really want to delete the payment. Click Yes within the box to continue or No to cancel the operation.
9. The payment is removed from the Payment History pane, the total amount due return to the amount before the payment was applied.

 

Running a Bill – Unofficial

Within Billing Cycle History, you can view the bills have are completed or are in the process of completion for all cycles. You can also generate or schedule a bill for a cycle.

! You cannot generate a bill on a cycle if there is already one in place. If this is the case, you must Rollback the current bill to generate another.  See Billing History – Official à Rolling Back a Billing Cycle.

Viewing Billing Cycle History

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Run Bill Requests – Unofficial.

A list of the bills you have asked CES to run populates within the pane on the right-hand side of the screen.

4. To view the complete information, double-click any row.

The General – Billing Cycle History window opens. The top pane displays the same information as listed above while the lower pane breaks the bill down based on account.

5. To view the complete account information, double-click the row. The General Account’s window opens. To return to the General – Billing Cycle History window, click the X in the upper right-hand corner of the account.
6. To view the complete account information, double-click the row. The General Accounts window opens. To return to the Billing Cycle History window, click the X in the upper right-hand corner of the account.

 

Run Bill – Unofficial

Before you can run a bill, you must set-up your Billing Cycle; this determines the dates of the billing period, run month, run date and due day of the bill. Each bill run is determined by the billing cycle.

! Within the Billing Cycle Plan, there is a Run Month and Run Day. These determine when cairs.net is allowed to generate the bill. For example, if you have the following scenario:

Bill Start Date – January 1                                                                             Bill End Date – January 31

Run Month – February                                                                                   Run Day – 6

All charges between the 1^st and 31^st of January are included in the bill.

The bill cannot be generated before February and not before the 6^th. This allows you to review and correct any issues with accounts, if necessary.

If you put a request to generate the bill before February 6^th, the bill will not generate until the 6^th. You will see the request as Not Yet Started, on the 6^th you will see a In process status.

If you put click on the Run Bill link on the 7^th, the bill runs right away, there is no wait time.

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Run Bill Requests – Official.
4. Before the list of bills generated or are in the process of being generated are populated in the pane to the right you must click the Show All button. The most recent bills appear at the top of the list.

! Before you run a bill, it is a good idea to make sure that no other bills relates to the billing period. Pay close attention to the Status column, this column displays whether the bill is completed, in process, or not yet started.

5. Within the Actions pane, click the Run Bill – Unofficial link
6. Once you click the link, the following message box appears:

As stated in the message, the bill runs based on the billing cycle’s run month and run day. You have the option of viewing the cycle plan by clicking the View Cycle Plan button.

7. Click on Yes to continue the run bill process, this process may take several hours to complete.
8. A status box appears with the following information:

• • Bill Status
  • Processing # of #
  • Accounts Billed
  • Account Failed
  • Account Current
  • Accounts Unassigned
  • Accounts Closed and Suspended

9. The status box stays open until the bill is completed. To view the complete details of the bill, click the View Details button. This General – Billing Cycle window opens. This window displays three panes of information:

• • General Information – this pane displays the status of the bill, including start time, total accounts processed, total bills succeeded, total bills failed, to name a few fields.
  • Bills Generated – once cairs.net generates a bill for an account, the account number lists within this pane. The pane displays such information as total payments, total charges, etc.
  • Failed Bills – if cairs.net is unable to generate a bill for an account, the account number displays within this pane. Any additional information that cairs.net can provide also displays.

10. To make sure you are viewing the most current information, click the Refresh button within the Actions ribbon group.

Schedule Bill – Unofficial

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts, then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Run Bill Requests – Official.
4. Before the list of bills generated or are in the process of being generated are populated in the pane to the right you must click the Show All button. The most recent bills appear at the top of the list.

! Before you schedule a bill, it is a good idea to make sure that no other bills relates to the billing period. Pay close attention to the Status column, this column displays whether the bill is completed, in process, or not yet started.

5. Within the Actions pane, click the Schedule Bill – Unofficial link

Once clicked the following popup becomes available:

6. To schedule the bill for a future date, click on the dropdown arrow to access a calendar. There are two ways to change the date:

• • Click the right or left arrow, and once at the appropriate month and year, click the number to select the date.
  • Click the month name, a list of the months opens, from the list select the appropriate month. To change the year: click the year to access a set of up and down arrow, use the arrows to select the appropriate year. Once at the appropriate month and year, click the date.

Within either selection, the date appears in the box.

7. Once you have the appropriate date, click the Schedule button.
8. Alternately, click the Cancel button to not schedule the bill and return to the Accounting menu.

Deleting your Billing Cycle History

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Run Bill Requests – Official.

A list of the bills you have asked CES to run populates within the pane on the right-hand side of the screen.

4. Within the list, highlight the cycle that you want to delete.
5. Within the Actions pane, click the Delete Billing Cycle History link
6. A message box opens asking if you really want to delete the history, within the box click Yes to continue or No to cancel the operation.
7. Once you click yes, the cycle history is removed from your database.

Billing History – Unofficial

Viewing your Billing History

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Billing History – Unofficial.
4. A list of the bills produced populates within the right-hand pane.
5. Each row gives a summary of the Billing information. The following read-only information displays:

• • Bill From and Bill To dates
  • Total Bills Sent
  • Total Bills Certified
  • Total Charges
  • Total Payments
  • Total One-time, Recurring and Call Charges
  • Total Adjustments
  • Account Type

6. To view the account number breakdown of the above information, click the plus sign (+) next to the Bill From Date.
7. Within the Views pane, are several alternate view selections. Each selection organizes or groups the bills differently, to change the view click the option button next to the selection.
8. The list displays additional information pertaining to each account number. To view the complete account information, double-click the row. The General Accounts window opens.
9. If you make changes to the account number, click the Save & Close button within the Actions ribbon group to return to the Billing History Unofficial list.

! At this point, if you make any changes to the charges on the account, the Billing History will not reflect the new charges. You need to either rollback the current bill or produce a new bill for the individual account number.

Rolling Back a Billing Cycle

1. Click the Accounting
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Billing History – Unofficial.

A list of the bills you have asked CES to run populates within the pane on the right-hand side of the screen.

4. Within the Tools ribbon group, click Rollback Billing Cycle.

! Please be aware that there is not a backup of the previous bill. When you roll back a bill, you are removing the charges from the bill and placing them back into the system.

5. When asked if you really want to roll back the billing cycle, click Yes to continue or No to cancel the operation.
6. The status changes to Rolled Back After Completed.

At this point, there is no bill for the cycle; you must run another bill for the cycle.

 Exporting your Billing History

1. Click the Accounting menu.
2. Within the Navigation pane, click Accounts and then Unofficial Accounts.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to Unofficial Accounts to access the submenus. Click Billing History – Unofficial.
4. A list of the bills produced populates within the right-hand pane.
5. Within the toolbar at the top of the screen, click the dropdown arrow next to Export. There are seven options to choose from:

• • Excel (All Levels) – exports all records to an Excel spreadsheet. If you have several account numbers `in your database, this procedure can take some time.
  • Excel (Top Level Only) – exports only the top level of information.
  • Excel (Expanded Levels Only) – exports the full detail for the expanded records to an Excel spreadsheet. The un-expanded records are in the file as a top level and you only see the summary line.
  • Excel (Multiple Files) – exports each bill into a separate file.
  • PDF (All Levels) – exports all records to a PDF file. If you have several account numbers in your database, this procedure can take some time.
  • PDF (Top Level Only) – exports only the top level of information.
  • PDF (Expanded Levels Only) – exports the expanded records full detail to a PDF file. The un-expanded records are in the file as a top level, and you only see the summary line.
  • Tab-Delimited Text (Top Level Only) – exports the top level of information into a tab-delimited text file. Once selected, the Select the location to save the Tab-delimited Text File box opens. Browse to the location, type the file name within the text box and click the Save button.

6. The file opens allowing you to save or modify the file in the appropriate program.

Accounting Entries

Within Accounting Entries, you can view a list of the components associated to each account and the related charge types. When you access the menu option, you can click on the Show All button in the upper right hand portion of the window or you can perform a search for a specific component or account. When the list opens the following information displays:

• Item Number or Name
• Item Type
• Item Delete Date
• Account Number
• Site
• Organization Name and Path
• Billing Start and End Date
• Charge Type

The component may appear in the list more than once depending on how many accounts are related to the different charge types.

By double-clicking on any record you open the Assigned Accounts and Equipment window, to learn more about associating information please see the Official Account Configuration à Account Entries section.