When Current Balance Differs From Payoff Balance
For some service agreements, payoff balance and current balance differ (or in colloquial speech - the amount the customer thinks they owe differs from what they would owe if they wanted to pay off their account).
Let's run through an example of a customer on a budget to illustrate a classic service agreement where these two balances are not the same. The values in the payoff balance and current balance columns reflect the amount due after the financial transaction has been applied:
Date |
Financial Transaction |
Payoff Balance |
Current Balance |
1-Jan-99 |
Bill: $125, Budget $150 |
125 |
150 |
15-Jan-99 |
Payment: $150 |
-25 |
0 |
2-Feb-99 |
Bill: $175, Budget $150 |
150 |
150 |
14-Feb-99 |
Payment: $150 |
0 |
0 |
3-Mar-99 |
Bill: $200, Budget $150 |
200 |
150 |
15-Mar-99 |
Payment: $150 |
50 |
0 |
The following table describes the various types of service agreements where these balances may differ.
Type Of Service Agreement |
What Payoff Balance Holds |
What Current Balance Holds |
Deposit |
Payoff balance holds the amount of deposit you are holding on behalf of the customer's debt. This amount is showed as a credit (with a negative sign) because you truly owe the customer this money. |
Current balance holds the amount the customer owes for a deposit. |
Charitable contribution |
N/A - charitable contribution service agreements never have a payoff balance. |
Current balance holds the amount the customer owes for a charitable contribution. |
Payment arrangements |
Payoff balance holds the total amount of delinquent debt that remains unpaid. When a payment arrangement is started, you transfer the payoff balance from the utility service agreement to the payment arrangement service agreement. Each billing period, the customer pays down this balance. |
Current balance holds the amount the customer owes in respect of the billed payment arrangement amounts. |
Service agreements on a budget plan |
Payoff balance holds the actual amount owed (actual bills minus payments). |
Current balance holds the amount the customer owes in respect of the billed budget amount. |