How And When Are Automatic Payments Created?

Automatic payments can be created in several ways:

  • The system creates automatic payments for bills linked to accounts with an active auto pay option (note, the system uses the account's autopay option that's effective on the bill's due date). When the system does this is dependent on the value of the Autopay Creation Option on the installation record:
    • If you've set this option to Create At Bill Completion, the automatic payment is created when the account's bill is completed. The payment is distributed and frozen at the same time. This means that the account's balance is almost always zero (or in credit if they have a deposit). You will see the automatic payments in the payment list immediately after the bill is completed (rather than waiting until the automatic payment's extraction date).
    • If you've set this option to Create On Extract Date, the automatic payment is NOT created when the bill is completed. Rather,
  • At bill completion time, the bill is stamped with the automatic payment's extract date and amount. The date is the automatic payment source's extraction date (refer to Automatic Payment Dates for more information on how this date is calculated).
  • The automatic payment background process ( APAYCRET) creates the automatic payment on the extract date stamped on the bill. If the supplied Auto Pay Creation algorithm (APAY-CREATE) is used and is configured to override the automatic payment amount based on the account’s current balance, the algorithm can either adjust the auto pay amount (if the balance is less than the original auto pay amount) or skip automatic payment creation (if the balance is zero or a credit). Refer to the algorithm type description for more details.
  • The automatic payment is NOT distributed and frozen when the automatic payment is initially created. A separate background process ( APAYDSFR) distributes and freezes the automatic payment on the automatic payment GL distribution date (refer to Automatic Payment Dates for more information on how this date is calculated). This means that the customer's balance increases when the bill is completed and is only reduced when the automatic payment is marked for interface to the general ledger.

    Note that it is possible for automatic payments to be distributed and frozen after being extracted and interfaced to a financial institution. Please refer to Downloading Automatic Payments and Interfacing Them To The GL and The Nightly Processes.

    An algorithm plugged in on the Installation Record calculates the payment amount whether the automatic payment is created at bill completion time or on the extract date. Please refer to APAM-DFLT for more information about how the algorithm that is supplied with the base package calculates this amount.

Note:

With balance forward accounting, automatic payments are not just for new charges. The base package algorithm includes prior balances when it creates a customer's first automatic payment. For example, if a customer has an existing balance of $100 and then signs up for automatic payment, their next bill will cause an automatic payment of $100 plus any new charges to be created (assuming the $100 remains unpaid at the time the next bill is completed). Refer to Open Item Versus Balance Forward Accounting for information about balance forward accounting.

  • If a customer with a pay plan indicates that the payment method is via "autopay", a background process ( PPAPAY) creates an automatic payment on the scheduled payment dates. Please note, if the Autopay Creation Option on the installation record is set to Create On Extract Date, the automatic payment is NOT distributed and frozen when the automatic payment is initially created. Rather, a separate background process ( APAYDSFR) distributes and freezes the automatic payment on the automatic payment GL distribution date (refer to Automatic Payment Dates for more information on how this date is calculated). Refer to The Big Picture Of Pay Plans for more information about pay plans.
  • If a customer with an account that is set up for automatic payment has a Non-Billed Budget that is not excluded from automatic payment, a background process ( NBBAPAY) creates an automatic payment on the scheduled payment dates. Please note, if the Autopay Creation Option on the installation record is set to Create On Extract Date, the automatic payment is NOT distributed and frozen when the automatic payment is initially created. Rather, a separate background process ( APAYDSFR) distributes and freezes the automatic payment on the automatic payment GL distribution date (refer to Automatic Payment Dates for more information on how this date is calculated). Refer to What is a Non-Billed Budget for more information about Non-Billed Budgets.
  • A user can create an automatic payment by simply adding a payment tender with a tender type that indicates it is for automatic payment purposes. This would be a rather unusual thing to do, but you might do this if you want to immediately debit a customer's bank account after a large adjustment is added to the system (e.g., if they suddenly owe you a lot of money and you don't want to wait until the next bill to collect it). Automatic payments created by this method must be distributed and frozen before they can be extracted.

  • When a checking or savings account is used for the first-time on a self-service automatic payment enrollment, self-service one time payment or self-service payment option management, a payment event, payment tender and auto pay stagning records are created for prenotification purposes. Refer to Web Debit Account Validation for more details.

Note:

An algorithm is used to create automatic payments. The logic used to create automatic payments is plugged in on the Installation Record. This algorithm is not called when a user manually creates an automatic payment (by adding a payment tender with a tender type that indicates that it is for automatic payment purposes) and when the automatic payment is for prenotification purposes.

When an automatic payment is first created, it gets marked with a distribution date. The distribution date is the date on which the automatic payment's FT's GL details can be interfaced to the general ledger (via the standard GL interface). The distribution date is determined as follows:

  • Every automatic payment references an auto-pay source.
  • Every auto-pay source references an auto-pay route type.
  • Every auto-pay route type contains an algorithm that is responsible for calculating the GL Distribution (Posting) date. On the GL distribution date, the automatic payment will be interfaced to the general ledger.