Transaction Type

Transaction types give you the ability to categorize transactions for accounting and reporting. Through the Transaction Type form you set options to control calculations, breakdown payments, assign a specific operator and a sales person, designate a contact plan to run, and set the commission rate. You may view and modify existing transaction types in Collect! and create your own new ones. By setting up transaction types for the way you do business, you can automate many basic aspects of posting and processing your transactions.

Transaction Type

The Transaction Type form displays many settings that can be used to manage posting financial transactions to your accounts.

Predefined Transaction Types

Collect! provides many pre-defined transaction types in the Demonstration database for basic types of transactions you may expect to handle. You can copy any of these to the Masterdb database.

Transaction types are divided into groups of 100. The actual "centenary" markers are used as a header for the group. Although these markers have no settings, you can reference the description when building reports. This a handy way to provide a title for a group of transactions on your reports.

The following list contains all the transaction types provided for you by Collect!. Each one of these transaction types has its own settings. These are set in the Transaction Type for that specific Code, (e.g. 102, 303 etc.) You can modify these if you need to or add your own, depending on your business needs. You should seriously consider how your business operates before making any changes to the existing system.

100 PAYMENTS AND SYSTEM

101 Check Payment
102 Cash Payment
103 Payment Out of Court
104 Money Order Payment
105 Returned NSF Check
106 Payment of Agency NSF Fee
107 Check Payment Taken By Phone
108 Debtor Over Payment
109 Credit Card Payment
110 ACH Payment
111 Direct Payment to Client
120 Attorney Fee Payment
122 Court Cost Payment
150 Down Payment
151 Payment Plan Payment
160 Monthly Billing Amount
193 Payment Plan Initial Discount
194 Judgment Principal - don't modify
195 Judgment Interest - don't modify
196 Original Principal - don't modify
197 Original Interest - don't modify

200 LEGAL FEES

201 Court Cost Charge
202 Attorney Fees Charge
294 Judgement Legal Costs - don't modify

300 FEES

301 NSF Charge Due Agency
302 Closing Fee
303 Locate Fee
305 ACH Convenience Fee Reversal
307 ACH Convenience Fee
309 Credit Card Convenience Fee
310 Service Charge
320 Payment Plan Late Fee
340 Daily Storage Fee
350 Payment Plan Service Charge
351 Late Fee - don't modify
394 Judgement Court Costs - don't modify
397 Client Fee - don't modify
398 Debtor Fee - don't modify
399 Collection Fee - don't modify

400 INTEREST

401 Interest Adjustment
402 Accrued Compound Interest
495 Additional Judgement Interest
499 Total Accrued Interest - don't modify

500 ADJUSTMENTS

501 Adjustment by Client
502 Adjustment by Court Order
503 Adjust Judgement Principal
599 Adjustment through Upgrade - don't modify

600 INTERNAL EXPENSES

601 Agency Internal Expenditure

Code

This field shows the Code for this Transaction Type. The Code identifies the type of transaction you are posting. Whenever you post transactions, you pick the Code from the list of Transaction Types and all the settings for that type are copied into the Transaction form.

These codes are organized in groups of 100 with the "centenary codes", i.e. 100, 200, 300 etc. reserved as titles for the group.

- 100 PRINCIPAL
- 101-199 Principal and Interest

- 200 LEGAL
- 201-299 Legal Expenses

- 300 OTHER
- 301-399 Other Expenses

- 400 INTEREST
- 401-499 Interest Adjustments

- 500 ADJUSTMENTS
- 501-599 Other Adjustments

- 600 INTERNAL EXPENSES
- 601-699 Agency Internal Expenses

Please note that you should leave codes 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 as titles for each group. This conveniently divides your types and Collect! uses these in trust reports as column headings. Use codes 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601 as the starting codes for transaction types you want to list in each group. You can also create your own groups and codes and then create reports to reference transactions posted with these codes.

Please note that Collect! uses the following transaction types internally so they should not be deleted or modified.

194 Judgment Principal
195 Original Judgment Interest
196 Original Principal
197 Original Interest
351 Late Fee
397 Client Fee
398 Debtor Fee
399 Fee for Agency Commission

Description

This is a brief description of the Transaction Type. For codes 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500, the Description should be the title you want to see in your Trust Account Report for the section that lists transactions in each group.

Copy Description To Transaction

Switch this ON with a check mark so that whenever you post a transaction of this Transaction Type, the Description will automatically be copied to the transaction's Description field.

Financial Type

The Financial Type setting determines the financial category of each transaction. Financial types can be Payment, Principal, Interest, Fee, Legal, Misc, Other, Adjustment, or Internal. The dotted radio button in this column sets the transaction's financial type. This is very important for processing money amounts when a transaction is posted. The money amount of the transaction will be allotted to the financial area you choose here, that is, Payment, Principal, Interest, Fee, Legal, Misc, Other, Adjustment or Internal.

Payment

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as a Payment. Transactions will be posted as payments to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Paid field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Principal

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as Principal. Transactions will be posted as principal to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Principal field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Interest

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as Interest. Transactions will be posted as interest to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Interest field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Debtor's total interest is Original Interest plus any Accrued Interest minus any positive transactions posted to the debtor's Interest account.

Fee

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as a Fee. Transactions will be posted as fees to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Fees field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Fees = all transactions posted to the debtor's Fee account.

To charge a fee, post the amount as a debit to the debtor's Fee account. To post a debtor payment to cover a fee, post the amount as a credit to the debtor's Fee account.

Legal

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as a Legal Fee. Transactions will be posted as legal fees to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Legal Fees field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Misc

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as Miscellaneous. Transactions will be posted as miscellaneous transactions to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Miscellaneous field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Other

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as an Other type. Transactions will be posted in the Other category on the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Other Charges field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Adjustment

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as an Adjustment. Transactions will be posted as adjustments to the debtor's account and will be totaled in the Adjustments field on the Debtor screen as well as being calculated in financial statements and reports.

Adjustments = all transactions posted to the debtor's Adjustment account.

Posting a credit to the account reduces the debtor's Owing. A debit increases the debtor's Owing.

Internal

Place a dot in this radio button to flag this Transaction Type as Internal. Transactions will be posted to the debtor's account for tracking purposes. However, the amount will not affect either the Debtor's totals or the Client's Commission or Return.

The Internal transaction type is used for tracking internal agency expenses connected with a particular account. These expenses are borne entirely by the agency and do not affect either the Debtor or Client financials in any way.

Enter Amount On Posting

If you place a dot in this radio button, when each transaction is posted, the user must fill in the amount of the transaction.

Payment Breakdown

This function enables you to post payments broken down into to Fees, Interest, Principal, Legal, Misc and Other. Place a dot in this radio button to select this option.

When you enable Payment Breakdown, additional fields become visible where you can select the order that you want to use for distributing the payment amount. By default, Collect! posts to Fees, then Interest, and finally to Principal. You can change this order and optionally add additional breakdown order for Legal, Misc and Other financial types. Please refer to the section below on Payment Breakdown and Compound Interest for further details.

WARNING: This is the only type that can use the multi-rate settings with commission. Enter Amount on Posting, Use Dollar Amounts, and the Percentage Of types will only use Rate 1 for the commission amount.

Use Dollar Amounts

When you place a dot in the radio button to select this option, four additional fields appear, labeled To agency, Direct, Commission and Tax. In the appropriate field, enter the dollar amount of the transaction (as a number from 1 to 100.). When the user posts a transaction of this Transaction Type, the dollar amount will automatically be copied to the correct field on the transaction.

Remember that a positive amount is a credit to the account!

Percent Of Principal

When you place a dot in the radio button to select this option, four additional fields appear, labeled To agency, Direct, Commission and Tax. In the appropriate field, enter the Percent of Principal of the transaction (as a number from 1 to 100.) When the user posts a transaction of this Transaction Type, Collect! will calculate the correct percentage and the amount will automatically be copied to the correct field on the transaction.

Remember that a positive percent is a credit to the account!

Percent Of Owing

When you place a dot in the radio button to select this option, four additional fields appear, labeled To agency, Direct, Commission and Tax. In the appropriate field, enter the Percent of Owing of the transaction (as a number from 1 to 100.) When the user posts a transaction of this Transaction Type, Collect! will calculate the correct percentage and the amount will automatically be copied to the correct field on the transaction.

Remember that a positive percent is a credit to the account!

Percent Of Interest

When you place a dot in the radio button to select this option, four additional fields appear, labeled To agency, Direct, Commission and Tax. In the appropriate field, enter the Percent of Interest of the transaction (as a number from 1 to 100.) When the user posts a transaction of this Transaction Type, Collect! will calculate the correct percent of any Accrued Interest and the amount will automatically be copied to the correct field on the transaction.

Remember that a positive percent is a credit to the account!

For example, we created a 499 Transaction Type with Account Interest, 'Percent of interest' turned on, and -100 in the To Us field. This takes any current Accrued Interest on the account and posts it as a transaction.

Combining this with the Edit Contact Event to roll forward the 'Calculate interest from date' in the Financial Detail form, you can create interesting and very powerful automation effects. For an example, please refer to Help topic, Accrued Interest - Tracking Month by Month.

Percent Of Payment

When you place a dot in the radio button to select this option, four additional fields appear, labeled To agency, Direct, Commission and Tax. In the appropriate field, enter the Percent of Payment of the transaction (as a number from 1 to 100.) When the user posts a transaction of this Transaction Type, Collect! will calculate the correct percentage based on the value in the Payment Amount field in the Debtor's Financial Details and the amount will automatically be copied to the correct field on the transaction.

Remember that a positive percent is a credit to the account!

Payment Order

These fields are visible only when you have selected "Payment breakdown." These fields allow you to choose the order in which Collect! will apply the payment amount to the debtor's account when a transaction of this Transaction Type is posted. Select the down arrow to view a pick list where you can choose Fees, Interest, Principal, Legal, Misc or Other. You can also select a blank [-] from the pick list to limit your breakdown to fewer than the six financial type categories.

1

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the first category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account.

2

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the second category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account. Select a blank [-] to limit your breakdown to your first choice.

3

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the third category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account. Select a blank [-] to limit your breakdown to your first two choices.

4

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the fourth category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account. Select a blank [-] to limit your breakdown to your first three choices.

5

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the fifth category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account. Select a blank [-] to limit your breakdown to your first four choices.

6

Select the down arrow next to this field to choose the sixth category to pay off when applying payments of this Transaction Type to the debtor's account. Select a blank [-] to limit your breakdown to your first five choices.

Dollar Amounts

You can enter amounts in this area when you select "Use dollar amounts." Enter the actual dollar amount in the appropriate field. Collect! will use this amount whenever you post a transaction of this type.

Remember that a positive dollar amount is a credit to the debtor's account.

To Agency

You can enter amounts in this field when you have chosen to enter an actual dollar amount or percent for this Transaction Type. Enter an amount or percent that will automatically be copied to the To Agency field when creating a transaction of this Transaction Type.

Direct

You can enter amounts in this field when you have chosen to enter an actual dollar amount or percent for this Transaction Type. Enter an amount or percent that will automatically be copied to the Direct field when creating a transaction of this Transaction Type.

Commission

You can enter amounts in this field when you have chosen to enter an actual dollar amount or percent for this Transaction Type. Enter an amount or percent that will automatically be copied to the Commission field when creating a transaction of this Transaction Type.

The Commission tab contains many fields for setting commission rates if you want to set them at the Transaction Type level. Please see Commission and Tax Calculations below.

Tax

You can enter amounts in this field when you have chosen to enter an actual dollar amount or percent for this Transaction Type. Enter an amount or percent that will automatically be copied to the Tax field when creating a transaction of this Transaction Type.

The Tax tab contains many fields for setting tax rates if you want to set them at the Transaction Type level. Please see Commission and Tax Calculations below.

Processing

Several switches can be set to determine how you will handle the reporting aspects when transactions of this Transaction Type are posted.

Write To Notes

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to write a note to the debtor's Notes whenever a transaction of this type is posted.

Omit From Client Statement

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to exclude transactions of this type when the client statement is generated for each period. You can override this when a particular transaction is being posted, if needed.

Omit From Daily Cash Report

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to exclude transactions of this type when you print your Daily Cash report. You can override this when a particular transaction is being posted, if needed.

Use Confirmation Delay

Switch this ON to delay reporting transactions posted with this Transaction Type. This is useful for allowing time for a check to clear. The number of days delayed is taken from the Payment Posting Options form. Please refer to How to Use Confirmation Delay of Transactions for details.

Use Control File

Switch this ON with a check mark to tell Collect! to run a control file whenever a transaction is posted using this Transaction Type. When this switch is enabled, a "control file" field becomes visible where you can enter the name of the control file you want to use.

Collect! expects the control file to be in the {database}\control folder.

When enabled, Collect! will not perform any transaction breakdown for payments. It is assumed that all financial calculations are handled in the control file.

Control File

Enter the name of the control file you want Collect! to run whenever a transaction is posted using this Transaction. Collect! will add the ".ctf" extension.

The control file you enter here will be automatically entered into the "Control file" field whenever you create a transaction using this Transaction Type.

This field is only visible when the "Use control file" switch is enabled.

Collect! expects the control file to be in the {database}\control folder.

Display

Several switches can be set to determine what fields you display when posting a transaction of this Transaction Type and to automatically generate invoice and receipt numbers.

Invoice Number

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to automatically assign an Invoice Number to transactions of this type.

Invoice Numbers need these requirements:

1. This switch must be turned ON with a check mark.

2. The transaction must be posted as "Fees."

3. The amount posted must be a negative amount (debit) To Agency or Direct, or must be a positive (credit) Commission amount.

If these conditions are not met, Collect does not assign an Invoice Number even if the switch is ON.

The Invoice Number is determined by adding one to the highest numbered invoice already in Collect!. You can change an existing Invoice Number so that Collect! will start at a number of your choice.

Receipt Number

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to automatically assign a Receipt Number to transactions of this type.

Receipt Numbers need these requirements:

1. This switch must be turned ON with a check mark.

2. The transaction must be posted to the Payment account.

3. The amount posted must be a positive payment (credit) To Agency.

If these conditions are not met, Collect will not assign a Receipt Number even if the switch is ON.

You can also generate receipt numbers for payments to Commission if you switch ON "Generate on Commission Field."

The Receipt Number is determined by adding one to the highest numbered receipt already in Collect!. You can change an existing Receipt Number so that Collect! will start at a number of your choice.

Generate On Commission Field

Switch this ON with a check mark if you want Collect! to automatically assign a Receipt Number to transactions of this type.

Receipt Numbers will be generated if:

1. The "Receipt Number switch is also ON."

2. The transaction must be posted to the Payment account.

3. The transaction must be posted as a positive amount (credit) to Commission.

Hide To Us

Switch this ON with a check mark to hide the "To Us" field whenever this Transaction Type is selected.

Use this switch if you want to organize your transaction types according to Direct or To Us payments. This function simplifies work for the user, as they don't have to decide whether to post the transaction in the To Us or Direct field.

Switch ON both the "Hide To Us" and "Hide Direct" to force the User to post to Commission. This is useful, at times, for posting fees and prepayment amounts.

Hide Direct

Switch this ON with a check mark to hide the "Direct" field whenever this Transaction Type is selected.

Use this switch if you want to organize your transaction types according to Direct or To Us payments. This function simplifies work for the user, as they don't have to decide whether to post the transaction in the To Us or Direct field.

Switch ON both the "Hide To Us" and "Hide Direct" to force the User to post to Commission. This is useful, at times, for posting fees and prepayment amounts.

Commission And Tax Calculations

Several switches can be set to determine how you will handle calculations relating to transactions of this Transaction Type. You can set several rates and also apply the rates to different financial types.

Please refer to Help topic, Commission and Help topic, Tax for details.

Rates set in these areas are used when a transaction of this Transaction Type is posted. These rates override the debtor's Commission Rate or Rate Plan which would ordinarily be used to calculate commission for a payment.

Don't Calculate Commission

Switch this ON with a check mark to tell Collect! NOT to calculate commission whenever a transaction of this type is posted. You can override this when a transaction is being posted, if needed.

Don't Calculate Tax

Switch this ON with a check mark to tell Collect! NOT to calculate tax whenever a transaction of this type is posted. You can override this when a transaction is being posted, if needed.

Operator

Select the down arrow, or press F2, to view the list of Operators. A choice in this field forces the transaction to be posted to the Operator ID selected. This is useful for transactions that you don't want included in the standard Operator commission reports. For example, payments to pre-collect accounts should probably be assigned to either the system or to management, to avoid inclusion in any particular operator's Transaction Summary Reports.

Sales

Select the down arrow, or press F2, to view the list of Operators. A choice in this field forces the transaction to be posted to the Sales ID selected. This is useful for transactions that you don't want included in the standard Operator commission reports. For example, payments to pre-collect accounts should probably be assigned to either the system or to management, to avoid inclusion in any particular operator's Transaction Summary Reports.

Run Contact Plan

Select the down arrow, or press F2, to view the list of Contact Plans. Select a contact plan to run when a Transaction of this Type is posted. The contact plan displayed is this field will run automatically as the transaction is saved. This is useful for setting up custom contact schedules that depend on the type of payment or debit posted.

POST PAYMENT SEQUENCE

When you post payments with contact plans, the sequence of events is as follows.

1. A transaction record is created.

2. Debtor totals are recalculated.

3. The Transaction Type specific Contact Plan is run.

4. The default Payment Posting Contact Plan is run, if there is one set up in Payment Posting Options.

This plan is run BEFORE any Contact Plan you set up in the Payment Posting Options form. This is due to the fact that the transaction plan may do more processing like posting a reversal to split the payment across a group, which will alter the OWING amount.

Delete

This button is visible only on the list of all Transaction Types. Select this to delete the highlighted item from the list.

Edit

This button is visible only on the list of all Transaction Types. Select this to open and modify the highlighted Transaction Type.

New

This button is visible only on the list of all Transaction Types. Select this to open a new blank Transaction Type form.

Help

Select this button for help on the Transaction Type form and links to related topics.

Cancel

Select this button to ignore any changes you may have made and return to the previous form.

OK

Select this button to save any changes you have made and return to the previous form.

<<

Select this button to navigate to the previous record in the database.

>>

Selecting this button to navigate to the next record in the database.

Payment Breakdown And Compound Interest

When you use Compound Interest you MUST post the Original Principal amount as a Transaction Type 196. When posting payments, transaction types MUST have the Payment Breakdown option set so that Collect! can, by default deduct, fees first, then accrued interest, and finally principal. You may adjust this payment breakdown order when creating your Payment Breakdown transaction types. Please be sure you know what you are doing if you deviate from the default order, i.e. Fees, then Interest, then Principal.

Results of the payment disbursement will be reflected in several areas of the Financial Detail form accessed by selecting the Principal or Interest field on the Debtor form.

Selecting the Owing field will display the Debtor Financial Summary. Selecting the other financial fields will display the Debtor Transaction Summary.

Compound interest calculations produce a running balance of principal, interest, fees and adjustments. When using Compound Interest, you MUST post transactions using Payment Breakdown. Payment breakdown also works with Simple Interest as well as Compound Interest.