Summary

The Letters process is used to generate customized, Microsoft Word-based form letters for a filtered range of BT accounts. These letters can serve a variety of purposes, such as notifying customers of changes to business tax rates or requesting updated business information.

Customers associated with the BT account will only receive a letter if the Notification toggle is checked on the Business Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Business> General tab> Notification toggle). Any contacts attached to the business that also have the Notification toggle checked will receive a letter as well (BT> Maintenance> Business> Contact tab> select a contact> Notification toggle).

Once a letter is generated, the letter details will be recorded on the BT account record (BT> Maintenance> Business> History tab). Follow this process to generate a BT Letters batch.

Step by Step

1     Create a batch.

• Select the Letters palette in BT> Letters. This will expand the Letters palette and display the steps in the batch process.
• Select New from the Letters batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
  • If there are open batches in the Letters 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 used for reference only. The transaction date of the billing is set up in the Generate step and the fiscal period the transactions are posted to is determined by the Journal Entry Date entered when creating the GL Distribution Report (BT> Letters> GL Distribution).
• 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  .
• You can delete batches by selecting a batch and pressing DELETE.

2     Generate Letter by Form.

• Open the Generate Forms window (BT> Letters> Forms).
• Check the Tax Type toggles for each of the tax types you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Tax Types will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple tax types. You may decide to process a new Letters batch for each group of similar tax types. This can help prevent overlapping records and redundant letters.
  • You can use the Select All and Deselect All drop-down menus to select or deselect all of the tax type toggles.
  • Tax types are used to group taxes together into logical associations such as Payroll or Gross Receipts.
  • Tax types are created and maintained on the Tax Type Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Tax Type).
• Check the Business Type toggles for each of the business types you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Business Types will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple business types.
  • Business Types are created and maintained on the Business Type Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Business Type).
• Check the Status toggles for each of the statuses you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Statuses will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple statuses.
  • Statuses are user-defined codes used to describe the current state of a business. For example, a business that is currently open and conducting business could be listed as Active while a business going through bankruptcy proceedings could be listed as Bankrupt.
  • Statuses are created and maintained on the Status Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Status).
• Check the Organization toggles for each of the organizations you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Organizations will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple organizations.
  • Organizations are user-defined codes used to describe the organizational structure of a business. A few examples of organization types would be Corporation, Sole Proprietorship or LLC Partnership.
  • Organizations are created and maintained on the Organization Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Organization).
• Specify a Letter Transaction Date for the Letters batch.
  • This date will be associated with the Letters line item on the Business Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Business> Select a business> History tab).
• Select a Form to Print from the drop-down menu.
  • The selected form will provide the letters format and determine what information is included on the generated letters.
  • Forms are created and maintained on the Form Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Forms).
• Enter a Description for the Letters batch. This description will display in the letters line item on the History tab of the Business Maintenance window.
  • The description can be up to 60 characters long.
• Complete the optional Filters, Tran Filters and Business tabs.
  • The Filters tab is used to filter the included accounts by batch number.
    • Enter a Batch number or click the field label to select a batch from a list.
    • Use the Business Start and Business Close fields to specify start and close date ranges for the batch.
  • The Tran Filters tab is used to filter the included accounts by transaction type.
    • Select a Tran Type from the drop-down menu.
      • Your selection in the Tran Type field will determine which of the date range and return fields will be enabled below.
  • The Business tab is used to add specific businesses to the batch.
    • Click the Create icon to choose a business from the Business Selection window. Highlight the business you would like to add to the batch and click the Confirm icon to return to the Generate Letters window.
    • The Business tab overrides all other filters. If you use the business tab to add businesses to the batch, only those businesses will be included.
• Click the Confirm icon to generate the letters immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Confirm icon to schedule the letters to generate at a later time.

3     Generate Letters by Infraction.

• Open the Generate Infractions window (BT> Letters> Infractions).
• Check the Tax Type toggles for each of the tax types you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Tax Types will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple tax types. You may decide to process a new Letters batch for each group of similar tax types. This can help prevent overlapping records and redundant letters.
  • You can use the Select All and Deselect All drop-down menus to select or deselect all of the tax type toggles.
  • Tax types are used to group taxes together into logical associations such as Payroll or Gross Receipts.
  • Tax types are created and maintained on the Tax Type Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Tax Type).
• Check the Status toggles for each of the statuses you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Statuses will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple statuses.
  • Statuses are user-defined codes used to describe the current state of a business. For example, a business that is currently open and conducting business could be listed as Active while a business going through bankruptcy proceedings could be listed as Bankrupt.
  • Statuses are created and maintained on the Status Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Status).
• Specify a Letter Transaction Date for the Letters batch.
  • This date will be associated with the Letters line item on the Business Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Business> Select a business> History tab).
• Enter a Description for the Letters batch. This description will display in the letters line item on the History tab of the Business Maintenance window.
  • The description can be up to 60 characters long.
• Enter a date range in the Tran Date From and Tran Date To fields to filter the transactions included in the batch by transaction date.
• Click the Batch field label to filter the included accounts by a specific batch. This will open the Batch Selection window and allow you to select a batch from a list of displayed Cash Receipts and Redistribute process batches.
  • The Batch Process field will populate with the process where the selected batch originated.
• The Infraction Type sub-tab is used to select specific infraction types to include in the Letters process.
  • Click the Create icon to choose an infraction type from the Infraction Type Selection window. Highlight the infraction type you would like to add to the batch and click the Confirm icon to return to the Generate Infractions window.
  • Infraction types are used to track infractions against filed tax returns.
  • Multiple infractions can be added to a Letters batch.
  • Only open infractions will be pulled into the letters process.
  • If a form is not already assigned to the selected infraction type, you will need to select one in the Form column.
  • Infractions are created and maintained on the Infractions Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Infraction).
• Click the Confirm icon to generate the letters immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Confirm icon to schedule the letters to generate at a later time.

4     Generate Letters by Unreceived Filings. 

• Open the Unreceived Filings window (BT> Letters> Unreceived Filings).
• Check the Tax Type toggles for each of the tax types you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Tax Types will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple tax types. You may decide to process a new Letters batch for each group of similar tax types. This can help prevent overlapping records and redundant letters.
  • You can use the Select All and Deselect All drop-down menus to select or deselect all of the tax type toggles.
  • Tax types are used to group taxes together into logical associations such as Payroll or Gross Receipts.
  • Tax types are created and maintained on the Tax Type Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Tax Type).
• Check the Status toggles for each of the statuses you would like to include in the Letters batch. All Statuses will be checked by default. Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple statuses.
  • Statuses are user-defined codes used to describe the current state of a business. For example, a business that is currently open and conducting business could be listed as Active while a business going through bankruptcy proceedings could be listed as Bankrupt.
  • Statuses are created and maintained on the Status Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Status).
• Specify a Letter Transaction Date for the Letters batch.
  • This date will be associated with the Letters line item on the Business Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Business> Select a business> History tab).
• Select a Form to Print from the drop-down menu.
  • The selected form will provide the letters format and determine what information is included on the generated letters.
  • Forms are created and maintained on the Form Maintenance window (BT> Maintenance> Forms).
• Enter a Description for the Letters batch. This description will display in the letters line item on the History tab of the Business Maintenance window.
  • The description can be up to 60 characters long.
• The Schedule drop-down menu is used to filter the accounts included in the Letters batch by the schedule attached to the tax type, the override of that schedule as specified on the individual account, or both.
• Select a Date Type to use when filtering the accounts included in the Letters batch.
  • If you select Due Date, Extension Date or Period End Date, enter a date range in the Date From and Date To fields.
  • If you select Period/Year, enter a date range in the Period From, Year From, Period To and Year To fields.
• The Create Date From and Create Date To fields are used to filter the accounts included in the batch by the date that the business was created.
• The Business section is used to add specific business records to the batch.
  • Click the Create icon to open the Business Selection window.
  • Select a business and click the Confirm icon to add the selected business to the batch.
• Click the Confirm icon to generate the letters immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Confirm icon to schedule the letters to generate at a later time.

5      Edit and print the Letters.