Summary

The Refunds process is used to refund Cash Credits and/or Deposits back to customers. Committing a Refunds batch will create an uncommitted invoice in the Accounts Payable module.

Step by Step

1     Create a new Refunds batch.

• Select the Refunds palette in AR> Refunds. This will expand the Refunds palette and display the steps of the batch process.
• Select New from the Refunds batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
• If there are open batches in the Refunds process, you can create a new batch without affecting the open batches.
• Enter a Batch Month and Batch Year. These fields default to the current calendar period and are for reference only. The fiscal period of the transactions in the batch is determined by the Journal Entry Date entered during the Generate step.
• Click the Generate icon to populate the Batch Number field with the next available batch number. Batch numbers are limited to five digits and must be unique within the batch month of the batch year.
  • You can also manually create a new batch by entering a Batch Number and clicking the Save icon  .
• If you are not using the Project Management module, or you do not have it activated for use with Accounts Receivable, you will not see PM Distribution List option on your palette.
• You can delete batches by selecting a batch and pressing the DELETE key.

2     Generate the Refunds.

• Open the Generate Refunds window (AR> Refunds> Generate).
• Use the Settings section to filter the accounts that you would like to include in the Refunds batch. Once the refunds are generated, you will still be able to remove any unwanted accounts from the Refunds batch in the next step.
• Check the Billing Cycles toggles that contain the transactions you would like to refund.
• Check the Fee toggles you would like to include in the refunds batch.
  • Press CTRL+A to highlight all of the displayed fees and then press SPACE to check or uncheck all of the selected toggles.
• Select a Transaction Type from the drop-down menu.
  • Only Credit Cash and Deposit transactions can be refunded.
• Click the Age From drop-down menu to select either Transaction Date or Post Date. This will determine which date you will age from.
  • The Age From Date will default to today's date.
• The Minimum Age Days field is used to limit the accounts you would like to include in the batch by age days.
• The New Tran Date will default to the current date, but can be overridden. It is the date that will be associated with the refund adjustment to the customer’s account.
• Click the Create icon   to add specific accounts to the Accounts field.
  • Filter the displayed accounts and click the Confirm icon   when you have selected an account to include in the Refunds batch.
  • Selecting an account to include in the batch will override the filters above. If you add accounts to the Accounts section, only those accounts will be included in the batch.
• Click the Confirm icon when complete. This will close the Generate Refunds window.

3     Edit the Refund Credits and Deposits.

• Open the Edit Refunds window (AR> Refunds> Edit).
• The Edit Refunds window is used to edit the amounts refunded on included accounts and to remove unwanted accounts from the refunds batch.
  • Click the Expand button next to an account to display the refund details. The Amount column can be edited to create partial refunds.
  • Select an account and click the Delete icon to remove that account from the batch.
• Click the Save icon when complete. This will close the Edit Refunds window and return you to the refunds palette.

4     Print the Refunds Proof List.

• Open the Print Refunds Proof List window (AR> Refunds> Proof List).
• You have the choice of printing a Detail or Summary report.
  • The Summary report contains the Transaction Date, Customer Name, Account Number, Description, line item Total, and report Total.
  • The Detail Report includes everything included in the Summary report as well as the Fee Code for each line item being refunded, the Debit and Credit accounts for Refunds, and the account dollar amount. Each Refund is totaled and the report provides a grand total.
• Click the Print icon   to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs). 
• Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

5     Print the GL Distribution report.

• Open the Print GL Distribution window (AR> Refunds> GL Distribution).
• Enter the transaction date you want to appear in the General Ledger for this batch in the Journal Entry field. This date will determine the fiscal period in which the refunds are recorded. Remember, you generally do not want this batch to impact the General Ledger, so the debit and credit accounts on this report should generally be the same number. This process adjusts the credit or deposit off of the AR account applies it to the AP cash account.
• The report displays the Fund, Account, account Description, Debit Amount, Credit Amount, and Debit and Credit Totals by Fund and Report.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

6     Print the PM Distribution report.

• If you have checked PM Interface in the AR Utilities, you will have to print the PM Distribution List whether you have entered project management data or not. Generally, credit amounts and refunds do not affect Project Management, however deposits may affect the projects.
• Open the Print PM Distribution window (AR> Refunds> PM Distribution).
• Select the Report Type you would like to print.
  • The Summary Report displays the Task code, Fund, Account, Description, Debit Amount and Credit Amount. The report is sorted by PM Task Code, Fund and then Account Number. Totals are provided for the Debit and Credit Amounts.
  • The Detail Report includes everything from the Summary Report as well as Debit and Credit Totals for each instance of an Account Number within each Task and Fund.
• Click the Print icon to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

7     Commit the Refunds batch.

• The final step in the Refunds process is to commit the batch.
• Open the Commit Refunds window (AR> Refunds> Commit).
  • The Journal Entry date field will be populated with the date entered on the GL Distribution step. The journal entry date will determine the fiscal month and year that the journal entries will be posted to. Once the batch is committed, the information from the batch is sent to the Accounts Payable module as an uncommitted invoice, and a temporary vendor is created using the customer data.
  • The AP Settings section is used to specify the batch settings for the created invoice.
    • Click the AP Batch field label to select an existing uncommitted AP batch that the refunds invoice will be added to. If you would rather add the refunds invoice to the next available AP batch, click the Generate icon  .
• Click the Confirm icon to commit the batch.