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Creating Adjustments for Bills

End users can create adjustments for bills. Requested adjustments that are approved are reflected on the next bill that the customer receives. You can adjust only a single bill and not multiple bills at a time. You can enter adjustments for an entire bill, for selected item charges on a bill, for selected events associated with an item charge, and for a balance total associated with a selected event.

The level of your selection in the bill detail determines the invoice lines that display when you create adjustments. For example, if you select an entire bill, no invoice lines display. If you select item charges for usage charges and balance forward charges on a bill, an invoice line for usage charges displays, and an invoice line for balance forward charges displays. If you select two phone call events for a usage item charge, an invoice line displays for each of the two phone calls. If you select a balance total for an event, a single invoice line displays for that balance total.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Adjustments in Siebel Communications (End User).

To create adjustments for an entire bill, complete the steps in the following procedure.

To create adjustments for an entire bill

1. Navigate to the Billing Profile portal.

   For information on billing profiles, see Accessing Billing Information.

2. Click the Bills view tab to display a list of bills for the billing profile.
3. Click the Bill Number field for the bill that you want to adjust.

   The Bill Details form for the bill displays and a list of service charges for that bill displays in the Service Charges view tab.

4. Click Adjust in the Bill Details form.

   The Billing Adjustments screen displays showing the form to create an adjustment request with some fields populated and showing the Line Items view tab with no invoice lines.

5. Enter adjustment details in the fields for the form.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Status	Status of the adjustment. The value in this field is automatically changed when the billing application processes the adjustment.
   Status Description	Read only. Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management populates this field with a reason for an adjustment not being posted, if such a case arises.
   Request Amount	Amount for which you want to adjust the bill. Defaults to 0.
   Approved Amount	Read only. Amount approved for the adjustment to the bill. Defaults to 0. After you click Submit and the billing application processes the adjustment request, the portion of the Request Amount that the billing application approves appears in this field.
   Customer Decision	The customer's decision to accept or reject the adjustment.
   Adjustment Type	Type of adjustment; for example, Credit, Cash, or Debit.
   Reason for Request	Reason for the adjustment request; for example, Billing Error, Partner Code, Special Credit, or Other.
   Approval Date	Read only. Date on which the billing application approves the adjustment. You cannot enter data in this field.
   Comments	If necessary, enter additional comments about the adjustment request.
   Request Percentage	Percentage by which you want to adjust the bill. If the Request Amount field contains a value, do not enter a percentage in this field.
   Approved Percentage	Read only. Portion of the Request Percentage that the billing application approves. After you click Submit and the billing application processes the adjustment request, the percentage of the Request Amount that the billing application approves appears in this field.

6. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).

To create adjustments for the item charges on a bill, complete the steps in the following procedure.

To create adjustments for item charges on a bill

1. Navigate to the Billing Profile portal.

   For information on billing profiles, see Accessing Billing Information.

2. Click the Bills view tab to display a list of bills for the billing profile.
3. Click the Bill Number field for the bill that you want to adjust.

   The Bill Details form for the bill displays and a list of service charges for that bill displays in the Service Charges view tab.

4. Select the appropriate service charge from the Service Charges list and scroll down to the Item Charges list.
5. Select the item charges and click Adjust in the Item Charges list.

   The Billing Adjustments screen displays showing the form to create an adjustment request with some fields populated and showing the Line Items view tab with invoice lines for the item charges that you select.

   NOTE:  You can delete existing line items, but you cannot add more line items.

6. Enter adjustment details in the fields for invoice line items.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Original Amount	The original amount of the item charge. This field is automatically populated with the amount in the Charge field in the Item Charges list. You cannot change this amount.
   Request Amount	Amount for which you want to adjust the bill. Defaults to 0.
   Approved Amount	Read only. Amount approved for the adjustment to the bill. Defaults to 0. After you click Submit and the billing application processes the adjustment request, the portion of the Request Amount that the billing application approves appears in this field.
   Request Description	If necessary, enter additional comments about the adjustment request.
   Status	The status of the adjustment. The value in this field is automatically changed when the billing application processes the adjustment.
   Sub Status	Read only. Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management populates this field with additional information about the Adjustment being posted or not posted.
   Status Description	Read only. Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management populates this field with additional information about the Adjustment being posted or not posted.
   Adjustment Type	The type of adjustment (for example, Credit, Cash, and Debit).
   Reason	The reason for the adjustment request (for example, Billing Error, Partner Code, Special Credit, and Other).

7. Click Refresh Total to see the cumulative effect of the adjustment line items in the Request Amount field of the form for the adjustment request.
8. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).

To create adjustments for the events on a bill, complete the steps in the following procedure.

To create adjustments for events on a bill

1. Navigate to the Billing Profile portal.

   For information on billing profiles, see Accessing Billing Information.

2. Click the Bills view tab to display a list of bills for the billing profile.
3. Click the Bill Number field for the bill that you want to adjust.

   The Bill Details form for the bill displays and a list of service charges for that bill displays in the Service Charges view tab.

4. Select the appropriate service charge from the Service Charges list and scroll down to the Item Charges list.
5. Click the Net Amount field for the appropriate item charge.

   The Event Details list displays.

6. Select the events, and click Adjust in the Event Details list.

   The Billing Adjustments screen displays showing the form to create an adjustment request with some fields populated and showing the Line Items view tab with invoice lines for the events that you select.

   NOTE:  You can delete existing line items, but you cannot add more line items.

7. Enter adjustment details in the fields for invoice line items.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Original Amount	The original amount of the event. This field is automatically populated with the amount in the Charge field in the Event Details list. You cannot change this amount.
   Request Amount	Amount for which you want to adjust the bill. This field displays 0 (zero) by default.
   Approved Amount	Read only. Amount approved for the adjustment to the bill. This field displays 0 (zero) by default. After you click Submit and the billing application processes the adjustment request, the portion of the Request Amount that the billing application approves appears in this field.
   Request Description	If necessary, enter additional comments about the adjustment request.
   Status	The status of the adjustment. The value in this field is automatically changed when the billing application processes the adjustment.
   Adjustment Type	The type of adjustment (for example, Credit, Cash, and Debit).
   Reason	The reason for the adjustment request (for example, Billing Error, Partner Code, Special Credit, and Other).

8. Click Refresh Total to see the cumulative effect of the adjustment line items in the Request Amount field of the form for the adjustment request.
9. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).

To create adjustments for the balance totals that are associated with a bill, complete the steps in the following procedure.

To create adjustments for balance totals associated with a bill

1. Navigate to the Billing Profile portal.

   For instructions, see Accessing Billing Information.

2. Click the Bills view tab to display a list of bills for the billing profile.
3. Click the Bill Number field for the bill that you want to adjust.

   The Bill Details form for the bill displays and a list of service charges for that bill displays in the Service Charges view tab.

4. Select the appropriate service charge from the Service Charges list and scroll down to the Item Charges list.
5. Click the Net Amount field for the appropriate item charge.

   The Event Details list displays.

6. Select an event for which the Non-Currency check box is selected, click View Detail, and scroll down to the Non-Currency Balance Impacts for Event list.

   The Non-Currency Balance Impacts for Event list is populated with the noncurrency balance totals for the event.

   NOTE:  If the Non-Currency check box is not selected, noncurrency balances are not available for the event, and the View Detail button is disabled.

7. Select a balance and click Adjust in the Non-Currency Balance Impacts for Event list.

   The Billing Adjustments screen displays showing the form to create an adjustment request with some fields populated and showing the Line Items view tab with an invoice line for the noncurrency balance total that you select.

   NOTE:  You can delete existing line items, but you cannot add more line items.

8. Enter adjustment details in the fields for the invoice line item.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Request Value	The value by which you want to adjust the balance total. This field is automatically populated with the value in the After AR Actions field in the Non-Currency Balance Impacts for Event list, but you can change this value. If you enter a percentage in the Request Percentage field, you must clear this field.
   Approved Value	This field is automatically populated with the amount in the After A/R Actions field in the Non-Currency Balance Impacts for Event list, and you cannot enter data in this field. If you change the Request Value field, this field displays the value in the Request Value field. After you click the Submit button, and the billing application processes the adjustment request, the portion of the request value that the billing application approves displays in this field.
   Request Description	If necessary, enter additional comments about the adjustment request.
   Status	The status of the adjustment. The value in this field is automatically changed when the billing application processes the adjustment.
   Request Percentage	The percentage by which you want to adjust the balance total. If the Request Value field contains data, do not enter a percentage in this field.
   Adjustment Type	The type of adjustment (for example, Credit, Cash, and Debit).
   Reason	The reason for the adjustment request (for example, Billing Error, Partner Code, Special Credit, and Other).
   Approved Percentage	The portion of the request percentage that the billing application approves. You cannot enter data in this field. The billing application processes the adjustment request after you click the Submit button.

9. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).

Creating Adjustments for Unbilled Usage

You can create adjustments to charges for unbilled usage (for example, phone calls that have not yet been added to a bill). For more information about unbilled charges, see Viewing Unbilled Services for a Billing Profile. To create adjustments for unbilled usage, complete the steps of the following procedure.

To create an adjustment for unbilled usage

1. Navigate to the Billing Profile portal.

   For instructions, see Accessing Billing Information.

2. Click the Unbilled Usage view tab to display a list of service charges that the company has not yet billed for the billing profile.
3. Click Refresh to retrieve up-to-date data from the billing application.
4. To view the item charges for a service charge, select that service charge from the Service Charges list and scroll down to the Item Charges list.
5. To view the events for an item charge, click the Net Amount field for that item charge.

   The Event Details list appears.

6. To find specific events in the Event Details list, click Search, enter search criteria, and click Go.
7. Select the event representing the unbilled usage to be adjusted, and click Adjust.
   • On the Invoice Adjustment view, Siebel Communications creates an invoice to track the adjustment. The invoice contains the Bill Number.
   • In the Billing Profile Adjustments view, Siebel Communications creates a record for the adjustment. This adjustment record likewise contains the Bill Number.
8. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).

Creating Adjustments for Unbilled Usage for Child Accounts

To create an adjustment for unbilled usage for a nonpaying (child) account, complete the steps of the following procedure.

To create an adjustment for unbilled usage for a child account

1. Navigate to the Account Summary view.
2. In the Installed Assets list, find the asset (for example, Wireless Service) associated with the child account for which you want to create an adjustment for unbilled usage.
3. In the Installed Assets list, drill down on the Billing Profile.

   Siebel Communications displays the Billing Profile screen, Balance Group view. The integration retrieves and displays the billing profile of the nonpaying account.

4. Click the Unbilled Usage tab and review the service charges.
5. Click the Item charges to review the currency and noncurrency event details.
6. Select the event representing the unbilled usage to be adjusted, and click Adjust.

   Siebel Communications displays the Invoice Adjustment view.

   • An invoice is created to track the adjustment. The invoice contains the Bill Number. (The external Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management application tracks unbilled events in the bill with a status of Open.)
   • A list item is created in the Billing Profile view's Adjustments list. This list item likewise includes the Bill Number.
7. Click Submit to submit the adjustment to the billing application.

   The adjustment record becomes read-only, and its Status changes to Submitted. When the response message comes back from the external billing application, it updates the Status to either Posted (indicating that the adjustment succeeded) or Not Posted (indicating that the adjustment failed).