General Settings - Billing

The General Settings - Billing page includes settings for the frequency and scheduling of billing for the Billing Entity.

1. Open the appropriate Billing Entity. For instructions on finding and opening a billing entity, see the section on Managing Billing Entities.
2. In the Billing Entity Menu, select Billing. The General Settings - Billing page opens.

3. The panels and fields are described below. Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

   Note: The billing settings specified here can be modified for specific bill to parties at the Bill to Party configuration level.

   

   Enable Automatic Billing

   When enabled, the system automatically generates invoices based on the defined billing schedule for all bill to parties. This field is checked by default.

   

   The Billing Schedule panel becomes available when the Enable Automatic Billing checkbox is checked.

   The frequency and scheduling of the billing cycle is configured in the Default Bill To Party Settings panel described below, although custom settings can be applied for individual bill to parties. The Billing Schedule panel contains options to adjust when the billing process will run.

   Days to Bill in Advance	This setting will run the billing process ahead of the scheduled billing day. The scheduled billing day will still be used as the cut-off point, so any existing charges between the advance date and the scheduled date will still be included. By default, this field is set to zero.
   Shift Billing Occurrence	If the billing date falls on a day where the billing process should not run, such as a weekend or other excluded date, this setting will shift the billing day. The following options are available.
   Bill Before Excluded Billing Date	The billing date will shift one day earlier. This is the default setting.
   Bill After Excluded Billing Date	The billing date will shift one day later.
   	Note: If the shift lands on another invalid date, the system will continue to shift earlier or later until a valid day is reached.
   Allow Billing on Weekends	By default, the system will not run the billing process on weekends. This is due to common regulations about not generating invoices when mail services are not available. The billing will be scheduled earlier or later, according to the Shift Billing Occurrence setting. If this is not an issue, checking this box will allow the billing process to run on weekends.
   Exclude Dates from Billing Calendar	By default, the billing process will run on any day defined in the billing schedule settings, with the possible exception of weekends, depending on the Allow Billing On Weekends setting. If billing should not run on certain days of the year, such as holidays, this setting will cause the billing process to be scheduled earlier or later, according to the Shift Billing Occurrence setting. Checking this box will display a list of all defined dates to be excluded.
   Invoices with 0 Outstanding Amount	This setting enables the system to either send or not send invoices with an outstanding amount of 0.
   Do Not Send	Invoices with an outstanding amount of 0 will not be sent to recipients.
   Send	Invoices with an outstanding amount of 0 will be sent to recipients. This is the default setting.

   To add dates to the excluded list, click Add to open the Exclude Dates from Billing Calendar window.

   

   Date	Enter the date to be excluded, or select it from the calendar lookup .
   Description	Enter a description of the exclusion date.

   Click Add & New to save the date and clear the form to enter another date, click Add & Close to save and close the window, or click Close to close the window without saving the date.

   

   The Default Bill to Party Settings panel includes settings that will be applied to all new and existing bill to parties that are set to use the default configuration.

   Enable Automatic Billing	When enabled, the system automatically generates invoices based on the defined billing schedule for new bill to parties upon creation. This field is checked by default.
   	Note: Once checked, the system will generate invoices for all transactions associated to the bill to party. If applicable, this includes charges produced while the Enable Automatic Billing feature was disabled.
   Billing Frequency	This field is only available when Enable Automatic Billing is checked. Select how often the billing process will run, producing invoices.
   Run Billing On	Depending on the Billing Frequency setting, it may be necessary to select the day of the week or day of the month when the billing process will run.
   Day of Month	This selection will display the Day of Month field where a specific day can be entered.
   Last Day of Month	This selection causes billing to run on the last day of each month.
   Day of Month	This field is available when Billing Frequency is set to Annually, Semi-Annually, Quarterly, or Monthly. Enter a number from 1 to 30 for the day of the month on which to run billing. To run billing on the 31st, select Last Day of Month instead. If a certain month ends before the chosen day, billing will run on the last day of that month.
   Day of Week	This field is available when Billing Frequency is set to Weekly. Select a day of the week on which to run billing.
   Invoice Due (in days)	Enter the number of days prior to the charge(s) being due that the invoice is issued. For manually generated invoices, the issue date is selected by the user. For automatically generated invoices, the invoice issue date is set to either the charge date of the earliest charge included in the invoice, or the date the invoice is generated if the earliest charge date has already passed.
   Separate Invoices By	Select how generated invoices will be separated.
   Communication Preference	Select the preferred method of communication for bill to parties. The following options are available.
   	Email Fax Mail
   	Note: If Email is selected, the party will be eligible for automatic invoice emails. Note that both invoices and emails must configured for automatic generation for this feature.

   

   The Deductible Billing Settings panel allows for an alternate billing cycle to be configured for deductible invoicing.

   Invoice Due (in days)

   Enter the number of days prior to the deductible charge(s) being due that the deductible invoice is issued to the client. For manually generated deductible invoices, the issue date is selected by the user. For automatically generated deductible invoices, the invoice issue date is set to either the charge date of the earliest charge included in the invoice, or the date the invoice is generated if the earliest charge date has already passed.

   

   The Automatic Account Balance Allocation panel includes the setting to enable the automatic allocation of On Account Balance amounts to generated invoices. It also contains the setting to enable the automatic allocation of overpayments to future billing installments.

   Apply on Invoice Generation	When checked, the system automatically allocates the available On Account Balance to generated invoices of matching currency, regardless of policy effective date.
   	Notes: Upon the generation of an invoice with a positive outstanding amount, the system verifies whether there is an available On Account Balance applicable to the invoiced charges. This is the sum of On Account Balance receipts associated to the invoice policy transaction, policy term, and Bill to Party where the currency matches that of the invoiced currency. When identifying eligible On Account Balance amounts the following restrictions apply. If the invoiced charges result from multiple policy transactions, On Account Balance amounts that were posted to a specific transaction are not allocated. If the invoiced charges result from multiple policy terms, On Account Balance amounts that were posted to specific policy transactions and/or policy terms are not allocated. If the generated invoice is not of type Deductible, the system excludes overpayment amounts that are applicable to Deductible invoices. If the generated invoice is of type Deductible, the system allocates overpayment amounts that were flagged as applicable to Deductible invoices. Once eligible amounts are allocated, the system automatically creates a Batch Receipt of type Account Balance Allocation, as well as a Standard receipt for the Bill to Party. The invoiced Outstanding Amount is updated to reflect the On Account Balance deductions, and the updated value is displayed in documents and emails configured to be sent on invoice generation.
   Apply When Policy Term is effective	When the setting is checked, existing invoices will be automatically paid using the On Account Balance when a policy term becomes effective.
   	Note: If an invoice has a future effective date, it will not be automatically paid using the On Account Balance for a policy term. Invoices, however, will be still generated for policy terms with future effective dates.
   Apply to Future Installments on Collection	This field displays when the Apply on Invoice Generation checkbox is checked. When checked, the system automatically allocates the available On Account Balance to full payments on future charges.
   	Notes: When posting a Batch Receipt that contains an Account Balance Allocation or overpayment, the system applies this amount to the sum of future installments for Premium charges within either the same Policy Term, Policy Transaction, or Bill to Party, that can be fully paid by the allocation amount. In order to use this feature, either the policy term or policy transaction must be specified for all applicable receipts. Without this information, the system is unable to identify the appropriate installment charges to pay. The total allocation amount is calculated as the sum of overpayments applicable to either the policy term, policy transaction, or any On Account Balance for the Bill to Party which has not been designated for a policy term or transaction. Additionally, the On Account Balance amount is applied as follows: If the On Account Balance amount results from a receipt from a Policy Transaction, the OAB can only be applied to installments of the same transaction. If the On Account Balance amount results from a receipt from a Policy Term, the OAB can only be applied to installments of transactions of the same policy term. If the On Account Balance amount results from a receipt associated to a Bill to Party, the OAB can only be applied to installments for transactions and policy terms of the same Bill to Party. Once eligible amounts are allocated, the system automatically creates a Batch Receipt of type Account Balance Allocation with a receipt for each Bill to Party and Policy Term combination. A single invoice with an outstanding balance of zero is also created for each policy term. Account Balance Allocations that are not linked to a policy term are not applied to future installments. These amounts are allocated to the On Account Balance for the Bill to Party and will be available the next time the process runs. Note that when filtering receipts, the Bill to Party Payables report does not display On Account Balance receipts that are not reserved for future installments, as these receipts are considered eligible for refund.
   Apply remaining On Account Balance to Next Charges	This field is displayed when the Invoice Future Installments when OAB is Available checkbox is checked. When enabled, the system will allow partial allocation until the On Account Balance is exhausted.
   	Note: If Apply When Policy Term is Effective setting is enabled under the Billing Schedule panel, the system will allocate the On Account Balance as per the effective date of the policy.

   

   The Auto Bind Setting panel includes a field where a user may set the transaction types for the automatic binding of the policies after a payment is received.

   Policy Transaction Types

   This field allows the user to select which transaction types are automatically set to Bind, based on the settings in the Master Cover. Users can select which policy transaction types should be set to automatically bind by selecting to move them individually or to move them all. The following transactions can be set for an auto bind: Renewal Cancellation Reinstatement ERP Endorsement New Business Adjustment Endorsement Declaration

   

   Last Modified By

   Identifies the last date and time the period was changed, and the user who made the changes.

4. Click Save to save the settings.