If your association handles annual administrative fees in the system, this document outlines the steps for updating and posting fees and generating review annual administrative fee invoices.
Posting the review annual administrative fee involves more than one routine.
The overall review annual administrative fee process involves two separate and distinct procedures.
• Posting the annual administrative fee
• Printing/Emailing the annual administrative fee invoice
Users sometime confuse the terms “invoicing” and “posting” in the system. Here’s the difference.
Posting refers to updating data to tables in the system. Invoicing, on the other hand, refers to the process of generating and sending invoices to firms.
Posting annual administrative fees adds a fee record to the Review Journal table, reflecting the amount the firm owes for the new year’s annual administrative fee. After the fee records are added, the system adjusts each firm’s balance in the Review Ledger table to include the new year’s amount.
Review annual administrative fee
process
The actual posting of the annual administrative fee is handled in the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine. However, to ensure the posted data is valid, follow the outlined review annual administrative fee process steps below in order listed.
1. Review process used for fee calculation
There are various ways that associations calculate a firm’s annual administrative fee. In this document these scenarios will be referenced as noted below.
Rates Table – A billing class is assigned to each review firm. The annual administrative fee amount to be posted for each billing class is tracked in the review rates table.
UDF’s – Various review UDF’s track information about the firm which relate to the annual administrative fee amount to be posted. Note: The actual amount(s) associated to the UDF values and annual administrative fee amount posted are hard coded in the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine. The review rates table has no effect in this scenario.
Custom – For associations where neither of the above scenarios work, custom logic for calculating the annual administrative fee amount to post is hard coded in the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine. This custom logic may reference the review rates table, review UDF’s, or rely entirely on hard coded logic and amounts.
With this in mind, you must consider several things before proceeding with posting fees.
• Has there been a change in how annual administrative is calculated ?
• Have the values stored (billing class and/or UDF’s) changed in any way that will affect the logic used to determine each firm’s fee amount ?
• Have billing classes changed in any way (if using Rates Table or Custom scenarios) ?
• Have the amounts related to any part of the fee changed (If using UDF’s or Custom scenarios) ?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, contact CDS support for an update to the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine. Note: Do not go beyond step 6 below until the updated Post Fees to All Active Firms routine has been loaded.
2. Review the review rates table
If your association uses the Rates Table or Custom scenario (utilizing the rates table), select Review–Routines–Special Routines–Rates Table Maintenance. Review the classes and fee. Update the amounts as needed.
3. Check status
Review and update Status on review firms on the Firms Review tab as needed. The Post Fees to All Active Firms routine only posts fees to a review firm with a Status of Active.
4. Review billing class assignment
If your association uses the Rates Table or Custom scenario (utilizing the rates table), review and update Billing Class on review firms on the Firms Review tab as needed.
5. Check UDF’s
If your association uses the UDF’s or Custom scenario (referencing UDF’s), review and update the review UDF’s on the Firms Review tab as needed.
6. Print the review error report
Select Review–Reports–Financial–Error Report. This report compares the summary figures stored in the Review Ledger table against the detailed financial transactions stored in the Review Journal table and lists any discrepancies.
Note: If the system finds any discrepancies, you must correct them before proceeding further. Contact CDS Support.
7. Avoid performing changes to data on the firm’s that will affect the amount posted
Avoid making changes on the firm review tab that will affect the amount posted from this point forward until the review annual administrative fee process is complete, unless the change is needed to correct a problem on the record.
8. Print the projected dues revenue report
If your association uses the Rates Table scenario, select Review–Reports–Financial–Projected Fee Revenue. This report analyzes what your annual administrative fee revenues would be if you posted the annual administrative fee using the current billing classes and review rates.
Note: This report will not give correct data for associations using the UDF’s or Custom scenarios.
There are two reasons to run this report:
• To identify discrepancies, such as an unexpected number of firms in a particular class, or incorrect annual administrative fee amounts.
• To compare the amounts on the report to the amount of the actual posting to ensure that the posting was calculated correctly.
9. Notify staff
From this point forward, until the annual administrative fee process is complete, no one should enter any data to the Review module, including:
• Posting any fees (using Review Fee Posting or Post Fees to All Active Firms).
• Making review adjustments using Review Payment/Adjustment.
• Receiving and/or posting review payments (cash or credit).
• Issuing review refunds (using either the Refund Credit Balances or Refund a Specific Payment routine).
Otherwise, the balances before and after posting may not match.
All other regular operations in other modules may continue.
10. Print the receivables aged report
Before running the receivables aged report, you need to close any outstanding cash receipts batches containing review payments. Also, make sure any pending credit card review payments or refunds have been processed to and from the bank. If there are any review refund vouchers waiting to be paid you will want to cut those checks now.
Select Review–Reports–Financial–Receivables Aged. Leave all report defaults as they appear. The report will show anyone who has a balance due in review, or has a credit balance. Review the report for any discrepancies.
Any discrepancies found should be corrected before continuing.
If you don’t find any discrepancies, save the report to be used in step 15 below for comparing after the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine is run.
11. Set the new review year
• Select File-System Preferences.
• Select Review on the left of the window.
• Update the Current Review Year.
• Click OK to save and exit.
12. Change the current accounting period
Note: You can skip this step if the transaction date you are going to use in step 13 below is within the current accounting period.
This step relates to the transaction date you will use in
step 13 below when you run the Post
Fees to All Active
Firms routine. The Review module in the accounting calendar must be set to
the month of the transaction date you will be using. You may want the
transaction date to be the date that the payment is due. Once that transaction
date has passed any outstanding annual administrative fee balances are then
considered past due. Most associations post the annual administrative fee at
least a month in advance of when it is actually due. For example, if your annual
administrative fees are due on May 1st and you post the fees on
February 15th, you have to move the accounting calendar forward on
the Review module from February to May prior to posting the fees so you can use
a transaction date of May 1st in the Post Fees to All Active
Firms routine.
Select Utilities-Routines-Accounting Setup-Update Accounting Calendar or Select Current Periods. Change the Current Period Selections for Review to the applicable month. Revenue from the annual administrative fee will be posted to the general ledger in the selected accounting period, assuming you are using the systems month-end G/L Journal Entries procedures.
Note: You will need to set the month for the Review module back to the current period once the annual administrative fees are posted, see step 16 below.
13. Post annual administrative fees
• Select Review-Routines-Special Routines-Post Fees to All Active Firms.
• Verify that the Peer Review Year is correct.
• Update the Transaction Date as needed.
Note: This should be the date that payment for that year’s fee is due.
• When you are ready to begin the posting routine, click OK.
The time required to run the routine will vary depending on network speed and the number of records to be posted. The Post Review Fees for All Firms window appears when the routine completes.
14. Print the posting summary report
Select Review – Reports – Financial – Transaction Summary. Enter the transaction date used in the Post Fees to All Active Firms routine in step 13 above as the beginning and ending dates for the report. The report will print summary totals per firm.
If you want a detailed listing of the firms with posting you can run Review – Reports – Financial – Transaction Details.
If your association uses the Rates Table scenario, and you ran the projected review revenue report in step 8 above, you should compare the totals on the Transaction Summary report to the totals in the previously printed projected fee revenue report. If there is any variation, check if any review related transactions were added into the system during the posting process that may have caused the discrepancy. If you cannot find the reason the totals do not match, do not proceed further, and contact CDS support.
15. Print a new aged receivable report
Select Review–Reports–Financial–Receivables Aged. Verify that the “date through” in step 1 of the report wizard is the transaction date used in the Post Fees to All Active Firms Routine in step 13 above.
16. Re-set the current accounting period
If the accounting period for the Review module was set forward in step 12 above, it should now be set back to the current period.
17. Release the system for use
Assuming you found no errors, the annual administrative fee posting process is now complete. Other staff may now begin processing transactions to the Review module.
18. Generate annual administrative fee invoices
Select Review–Reports–Financial–Invoice Annual Administrative Fee. This routine allows you to print and/or email the annual administrative fee invoices or export the invoice data for a mailing house.