Configuring Commission Bank Accounts
The Commission Processing module allows the user to easily set up single or multiple bank accounts for the payment of travel agent commissions. Since properties are often dealing with a great number of different travel agents and sources, the most convenient way for them to pay commissions is to work with multiple bank accounts. International chains/properties may work with several different bank accounts: accounts for payment in the local currency and accounts for payment in foreign currencies.
Besides commission payment using checks (CHK payment method), some accounts may be designated for electronic funds transfer commission payments (EFT payment method); and yet others may be used for central payment (CENT payment method) of commissions generated at several properties. In the central payment case, a data transfer from each property provides the necessary information for the central bank to handle actual commission payment, in check or EFT form.
Travel agents and source profiles are each associated with bank accounts that handle commissions payment for that source/agent. (The bank account designated as the "default bank account" is used for paying commissions to agents and sources that do not have a bank account selected.).
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A separate bank account to handle commission processing in each currency. For example, a bank account for American Trust to handle US dollar payments and a bank account for Bank of Montreal to handle payments in Canadian dollars.
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Multiple bank accounts to handle payments in a single currency. For example, American Trust and Bank of America each have a bank account configured in US dollars.
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One bank account to process payments in multiple currencies. Set up multiple bank accounts for the same bank, with one bank account to handle payment in each currency. For example, if American Trust handles commission payments in US dollars and in Canadian dollars, set up two identical bank accounts, except for the currency. Although OPERA Cloud uses an internal numbering system to differentiate these bank accounts, it would be advisable to give each bank account a unique Bank Name (e.g., American Trust - USD, American Trust - CAD) to make it easy to identify the accounts when working in the Commissions module.
Each bank account can have a language associated with it. This language can be used to determine the language for check printing. Thus, bank account language and bank account currency may both play a part in determining how you configure bank accounts as well as which account is associated with a particular travel agent or source profile.
Adding Commission Bank Accounts
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From the Administration menu, select Financial, select Commission Management, and then select Bank Accounts.
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Click New and enter the following details:
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Bank Code: Unique code for this bank account.
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Branch Code: Code for the branch of the bank. Must be unique for each Bank Code.
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Bank Name: Name of the bank account.
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Branch Code: Code for the branch of the bank. Must be unique for each Bank Code.
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Bank Name: Name of the bank account.
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Routing Number: Bank routing number.
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Account Number: Account number held by your organization at the bank.
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Payment Method: Select the down arrow to choose the type of payment that is associated with this bank account. Options are:
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CHK: Commission payment by check.
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Format: Select the down arrow to choose the check format to be used to print checks for this bank account. Check formats are configured in Reports configuration (Application > Reports > Configure Reports) Select the Commission Check report group. Refer BI Publisher Stationery Editor.
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Next Check Number: Next available check number in the series of checks. This number will be automatically updated each time commissions payments are processed and checks are printed.
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Min. Processing Amt: Minimum amount of the commission for a travel agent/source before a commission payment is processed. This is useful if you want to make sure you do not produce a check every time a commission is due but only after a reasonable commission amount has been accumulated.
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Edit Check Number: Select this check box to allow users to change the check numbers for this account. Deselect this check box to prevent users from editing check numbers once they are assigned (this is the default).
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Check Stub Lines: The number entered here is the number of printable lines (top to bottom) on the check stub. The check stub is always displayed above the check. The number entered here should match the number set by the Maximum Records Per Page value you set when you customized the sample_checkusd.rep. The default maximum records per page for the sample_checkusd report is 18. For more information, see Customizing Reports.
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CENT-Centrally paid commissions: This selection is essentially the same as CHK, but is provided as a separate option that can be used with central reservation systems where commissions are paid from a central bank account.
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EFT- Electronic funds transfer: An export file is created by the commission payment process. The EFT file format is determined by the EFT Export Format OPERA Control . For more information, see About Commission EFT Export File Formats
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Currency: Select a currency from the list; the same currency can be select in more than one bank account. (Available when the Foreign Currency Codes OPERA Control is active).
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Language: Select a language for this bank account from the list. Your selection determines the language used to write amounts in words on checks when the Multi-language OPERA Control is active. If no language is selected here, OPERA Cloud defaults to the the base language for your property.
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Positive Pay Export: Available when the Positive Pay Check Export OPERA Control is active. Select this check box so the bank will have the option to use the Positive Pay Export functionality. The Positive Pay Export identifies to the bank all of the Travel Agent Commission checks that have been processed by OPERA Cloud and can be paid out to the agent by the bank. For more information, see Positive Pay Checks for details.
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Default: Select this check box if this bank account is to be the default in case no bank account is associated with the travel agent or source. A default bank account must be configured for a property and only one bank account can be selected as the default. An X appears in the X column for the default bank account.
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Default for Currency:When an active OXI Interface is present, this option provides the ability to configure a default bank account per currency/property and to link that bank account with the profile for commission processing when OXI inserts a commission code in an OPERA Cloud profile.
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Click Save.
Editing Commission Bank Accounts
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From the Administration menu, select Financial, select Commission Management, and then select Bank Accounts.
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Enter search criteria and click Search.
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Select the commission bank account, then click the vertical ellipsis Actions menu and select Edit.
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Update the details.
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Click Save.
Deleting Commission Bank Accounts
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From the Administration menu, select Financial, select Commission Management, and then select Bank Accounts.
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Enter search criteria and click Search.
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Select the commission bank account, then click the vertical ellipsis Actions menu and select Delete.
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Click Delete to confirm.
Parent topic: Commissions