Processing Late Fees

WBAR uses a three step process to apply late fees to delinquent accounts. Late fees are created in a temporary collection file so that they can be previewed before being applied.

When you click on Process Late Fees in the Billing menu, WBAR will remind you to back up your data. Making a backup before adding late fees allows you to return the files to their original state if you need to.

With WBAR, late fees can be created using either a percentage, flat fee, or combination of the two. The default late fee information is entered at set up into the System Registry record. When you run the late fee creation form, the percentages and flat charges are pulled from the record. You are allowed to set new late fee parameters if you need to.

The form below shows late fee parameters that will charge a 10% penalty + a flat $1 penalty for water, a 10% penalty for sewer. Each penalty is calculated based on the unpaid amount due for each service. For example, if the customer owes 10 for water, the water portion of the penalty would be 10% of $10 plus the flat charge of $ 1, =  $ 2.00.

If you want the late fee to be based on the total outstanding amount, click on the radio button that says "Calculate Based on Open Balance."

If you want the late fee to be based only on the most recent charge, click on the radio button that says "Calculate based on Last Billed Amount".

You may use only a percentage, only a flat charge, or combination of both to produce the late fees. WBAR will track each service late fee in separate fields so that you can apply payments and make adjustments to any amount.

Click on the OK button to accept late fee parameters and the following screen will appear.

WBAR lets you calculate late fees for any range of accounts. You must select a starting and ending account number from the drop down list boxes. Click on the OK button WBAR will begin calculating the late fees.

When the fees have been calculated, you may view the report or print it out. The report will show the outstanding balance and the corresponding late fee for each service.

      Example

This report shows the amounts charged as penalty for water and sewer. The water late fee is based on 10% plus a flat $ 1 penalty charge.

$ 5.16 + $ 1.00 =     6.16 Water Penalty

The sewer penalty is based on 10%.

26.80 x 10% = 2.68

Print out the report for a permanent record of the late fees you are about to apply. At this point, no late fees have actually been applied to the customer accounts. You can make further adjustment, payments, etc. to the accounts and then recalculate late fees again, or proceed  to Browse the late fees.

Clicking Yes will open the browse table for late fees and allow you to change or remove pending late fees before they are applied.

Clicking No will take you to the Apply Late Fees form.

The Browse Late Fees form allows you to override or remove any of the late fees. If you change a late fee charge, click on the Retotal button to have WBAR show the total of the new late fees for each account. You may click on the Delete button if you want to remove a late charge. Clicking on the Show Report button will call the Late Fee preview report which you can view on screen or print out after you have made changes.

When you click on the Close button of the Browse Late Fees form, this screen will appear.

Click on the OK button to have WBAR apply the charges shown on the report.

When late fees are applied, WBAR adds the late charge to the late fee field in the customer record and makes a single entry in the customer's history file to show that a late fee was added.