8 Payments

You can manage your customers' payments by using Oracle Communications Billing Care.

To work with payments, see the following topics:

For information about batch payments, see "Batch Payments, Refunds, and Reversals".

Initiating a Payment

For information about searching for an account and opening the account page, see "Finding an Account".

You can initiate a payment from any of the following locations after opening an account in Billing Care:

  • From the Actions menu above the account bar, select Payments and then select Make a Payment.

  • From the Home section, click Make Payment under the Account History area.

  • From the Bills section, select the Actions menu and then select Make Payment.

  • From the Collections bar at the top of the account page, click Payments, and then select Make a Payment.

    From the Account details page of the account for which you want to make the payment.

For information about applying a payment to a customer's account, see "Making a Payment".

Making a Payment

Billing Care supports the following payment methods:

  • Credit Card

  • Debit Card

  • Cash

  • Check

  • Wire-Transfer

  • Inter Bank Payment Order

  • Postal Order

  • SEPA

Note:

  • A payment amount does not need to match a bill amount. You determine where to apply a payment when allocating the payment.

  • You cannot make payments to wholesale child accounts.

To make a payment:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Payments and then select Make a Payment.

    The Make a Payment dialog box appears. See "Make a Payment Dialog Box" for details.

    Tip:

    For alternative ways to open the Make a Payment dialog box, see "Initiating a Payment".

  2. Enter the amount.

  3. (Optional) To use a payment method other than the one displayed, select Use a different payment method and select a method from the Payment Method list.

    1. Enter the account information for the new payment method.

    2. Select Use name and billing address from primary contact, or enter the name and address for the card holder.

    3. (Optional) Select Save to Payment Methods on file for credit card and debit payment methods.

      If you are making a payment for an account, the payment method applies to the account. If you are making a payment for a bill unit, the payment method applies to the bill unit.

  4. For Select a reason, select the reason that matches the situation.

  5. (Optional) Enter notes.

  6. Do one of the following:

    • Click Continue to manually allocate to make the payment and to allocate the payment.

    • Click Save to make the payment without allocating.

See "Allocating Payments" for information about allocating payments.

Make a Payment Dialog Box

Use the Make a Payment dialog box to enter a customer's payment and to add new payment methods.

Field Description

Bill Unit

For accounts with multiple bill units, select a bill unit. If an account has only one bill unit, the term does not appear.

Use a different payment method

Select if you want to change the payment method.

Payment method

If multiple payment methods are available, select a payment method. If you selected Use a different payment method, select a new payment method option.

For a new payment method, new fields appear for you to enter the details.

Amount

Enter the payment amount.

Select a reason

Select the reason that most closely matches the situation.

Notes

(Optional) Enter notes.

Continue to manually allocate

Click to save and allocate the payment.

Save

Click to make the payment without allocating the payment. You can allocate the payment later.

Viewing Payment Details

You can view details of a payment, including an audit trail of related payment actions, and enter notes from several places in Billing Care.

To view payment details:

  1. Click the Bills tab and select a bill that has a payment.

  2. Click Payment Applied.

    One of the following happens:

    • If only one payment has been made, the Payment Details dialog box appears. See "Payment Details Dialog Box" for details.

    • If more than one payment has been made, the All Payments dialog box appears first. See "All Payments Dialog Box" for details. Click Payment Details to go to the Payment Details dialog box.

  3. View payment allocations in the Allocation tab.

  4. View the payment's audit trail in the Audit Trail tab.

  5. (Optional) If all or part of the payment has been allocated, to see details about the allocated items, do any of the following:

    • Under Original payment, click the Show all items affected link.

    • In the Allocation tab, click the link in the Items Affected column.

    The Items Affected dialog box appears. You can view details about the adjusted items. See "Items Affected Dialog Box".

  6. (Optional) Click Export to save the account adjustment details to a CSV file.

  7. Click Close.

Payment Details Dialog Box

Use the Payment Details dialog box to identify payments.

Field Description

Effective

The payment's effective date.

Receipt Date

The payment receipt date.

Receipt No.

An automatically generated ID for a receipt.

Transaction ID

Similar to a payment ID, a transaction ID is automatically generated for each payment, payment reversal, and refund. Additionally, the transaction ID identifies transactions involving third parties, such as transactions with credit card processing companies.

Original Payment

The original payment amount and method.

Show all items affected

If any part of the payment has been allocated, click for details on the items.

Effective (reversal)

The payment reversal date (if a payment has been reversed).

Move to Suspended Payments

Click to move payment into suspense.

Reverse Payment

The payment reversal amount and method.

Audit Trail

The audit trail information for any payment reversal or suspense actions.

Payment Details

The amount (with payment method), time, reason, and notes (if notes are available) for the payment.

Billing Care also lists any reversed payment amounts or amounts that have been moved into suspense.

Comment

Click to add a note to the payment.

Export

Click to export the payment details to a CSV file.

The Export button is enabled for the Allocation tab and disabled for the Audit Trail tab.

Allocation
  • Account - This is only displayed when the customer has multiple accounts.
  • Bill Unit -

    A bill unit is a group of one or more bills consisting of its own payment settings and invoices. This is only visible when the customer has multiple bill units.

    Note: Bill Unit will not appear if there is only one bill unit.

  • Payment ID -

    An automatically generated ID for a payment transaction. Accounting can use this number to process payments, refunds, and payment reversals.

  • Bill ID - Displays the ID number of the bill.
  • Items Affected -

    If any part of the payment has been allocated, click the links under Items Affected for details on the items.

  • Amount - Displays the payment amount.
  • Date - Displays the date of the payment.

All Payments Dialog Box

Use the All Payments dialog box to view detailed payments information for a bill's payments.

Field Description

Effective Date

The effective date of the applied payment.

ID

An automatically generated ID for a payment transaction. Accounting can use this number to process payments, refunds, and payment reversals.

Payment Amount

The payment amount.

Payment Actions

A description of reversed and suspended payment amounts.

Payment Details

The amount (with payment method), time, reason, and notes (if notes are available) for the payment.

Billing Care also lists any reversed payment amounts or amounts that have been moved into suspense.

Export

Click to export the payment details to a CSV file.

The Export button is enabled for the Allocation tab and disabled for the Audit Trail tab.

Items Affected Dialog Box

Field Description

Item

Displays the name or details of the affected or adjusted billing item.

Amount

Displays the total amount associated with the item, including both taxed and non-taxed portions.

Settled Tax Amount

Displays the portion of the adjustment amount that is related to tax that has been settled.

Settled Taxed Amount

Shows the portion of the settled amount that includes tax.

Settled Non-Taxed Amount

Shows the portion of the settled amount that does not include tax.

Export

Click to export the payment details to a CSV file.

The Export button is enabled for the Allocation tab and disabled for the Audit Trail tab.

Allocating Payments

You allocate payments to distribute the payments among the bills of an account. If the account has multiple bill units, you can allocate payments to specific bill units. You can also allocate payments to specific items.

Customers are credited for all payments. The company needs payments to be allocated for accounting purposes.

You can allocate to bills or to specific items or bill units. For information, see:

Allocating a Payment

To allocate a payment:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Payments, and then select Allocate.

    If there is only one unallocated payment, the Allocate Payment dialog box appears, and you can skip the next step. If there is more than one unallocated payment, the All Unallocated Payments dialog box appears.

  2. In the All Unallocated Payments dialog box, select the payment you want to work with, and click Next.

    The Allocate Payment dialog box appears.

    Note:

    To see more details about a bill or to allocate to a specific bill unit, or item, click the Advanced View icon. See "Allocating a Payment to a Bill Unit or an Item".

  3. Click a bill.

    You can search for a bill by entering the Bill ID or balance amount.

    The amount available for allocation is automatically applied to the balance.

    Tip:

    Press Shift+click to contiguously select Allocate cells.

  4. (Optional) Select an allocation cell and enter a specific amount to allocate.

  5. (Optional) Continue allocating funds to other bills.

  6. (Optional) Click Payment Details for more information about a payment.

  7. Click Save to complete allocating the payment, or Save, select another payment to allocate more payments.

  8. (Optional) Click Export to save the allocated payment details to a CSV file. Customize the exported data by choosing specific columns from the optional columns available in the drop-down list.

Allocating a Payment to a Bill Unit or an Item

You allocate payments to distribute the payment amount among multiple bills or bill units of an account. If the account has multiple bill units, you can allocate payments to specific bill units. You can also allocate to specific items.

To allocate a payment to specific bill units or items:

  1. From the Actions menu, select Payments, and then select Allocate.

    You can also allocate a payment while making the payment.

  2. In the Allocate Payment dialog box, click the Advanced View icon.

  3. (Optional) In Search, enter text to find bills, bill units, services, or items.

  4. Click the bill, bill unit, or item that you want to allocate a payment to.

    The amount available for allocation is automatically applied to the balances.

    Tip:

    Press Shift+click to contiguously select and enter amounts in Allocate cells.

  5. (Optional) Click an allocation cell and enter a specific amount to allocate.

  6. (Optional) Continue allocating funds to other bills.

  7. (Optional) Click Payment Details for more information about a payment.

  8. Click Save.

Allocate Payment Dialog Box

Use the Allocate Payment dialog box to allocate a payment to one or more bills. There are two views for allocating payments:

View Description

Simple view

Includes the headings Bill ID, Due Date, Balance, and Allocate.

In this view, you can sort the columns.

Advanced view

Includes the above headings and Name, Bill Unit, Service, and Item. In this view, you can:

  • Filter the list of bills using any value that appears in the table.

  • Allocate payments to specific items.

Reversing a Payment

Payment reversals are necessary when a payment is recorded in Billing Care, but the payment is not deposited. For example, you could record a check payment for a check that does not clear. To reopen the bill so the payment can be made again, you reverse the payment. Reversing the payment enables Billing Care to treat the payment as if it never happened.

To permanently reverse a previously applied payment:

  1. Click the Bills tab.

  2. Click Switch Bills and select the bill containing the payment to reverse.

  3. Click Actions, and then select Reverse Payment.

    The Reverse Payment dialog box appears.

  4. Set the effective date for the payment reversal. The effective date cannot be set in the future.

  5. Select a reason for the payment reversal.

  6. (Optional) Enter notes for the payment reversal.

  7. Click Reverse Payment.

    Note:

    You can also reverse payments from the Payments Details dialog box (see "Payment Details Dialog Box" for more information).