AUT Agent Commissions v0.3

AUT University – Agent Commissions – March 2013

AUT Agent Commissions

March 2013

Document Version:Date of Issue:

0.321th March 2013

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DOCUMENT HISTORY.................................................................................................................................................................... 2

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................................ 2

CONFIRMATION OUTPUT EXAMPLE DOCUMENT........................................................................................................................... 5

ONLINE VIEW – AGENCY UI........................................................................................................................................................... 7

COMMISSION PAYMENT APPROVAL (AGENT ONLINE)................................................................................................................... 7

POTENTIAL COMMISSION PAYMENTS (AGENT ONLINE)................................................................................................................. 8

AGENT COMMISSION – PROPOSED PROCESS FLOW (PART 1)..........................................................................................................................9AGENT COMMISSION – PROPOSED PROCESS FLOW (PART 2)........................................................................................................................10

ARION GEN3 VIEW (STAFF USER INTERFACE)............................................................................................................................... 11

AGENT SET-UP & COMMISSION RULES (ARION GEN3 CLIENT)......................................................................................................11

AGENT COMMISSION MAINTENANCE (ARION GEN3 CLIENT)....................................................................................................... 13

AGENT COMMISSION SUMMARY & CONFIRMATION (ARION GEN3 CLIENT).................................................................................14

AGENT COMMISSION AUTHORISATION (FINANCE) (ARION GEN3 CLIENT)....................................................................................15

AGENT CONFIRMATION COMMISSION MAINTENANCE (ARION GEN3 CLIENT).............................................................................16

RECOMMENDATIONS – OTHER CONSIDERATIONS....................................................................................................................... 17

REPORTING................................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Document History

Version Date Author Comments0.1 27 February 2013 Felix Haslimeier Initial document0.2 5 March 2013 Felix Haslimeier Update document flow, Visio maps

incorporating David H’s review input;Added ability for AUT staff to approve commissions and Finance Authorisation screen.

0.3 21 March 2013 Felix Haslimeier Minor changes to the Agent Online screens; added functions to Agent screen and reject option for Finance.

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to summarise the initial discussion points from a meeting between the International Centre, Finance and Arion Solutions in 2012.

The Agent Commissions process is currently a standalone process. Arion does not cater for the calculation, authorisation and confirmation of agency commissions.

This document outlines a concept for Agent Commissions for AUT.

Design Summary

The following is a suggested design for creating a commission ‘Confirmation’ output (a report in the first instance) to Finance forming the basis for a commission self-billing invoice OR authorisation for commission payment.

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The design calls for the creation of a set of [commission] tables in Arion and the creation of new Arion processes and application views, in both Arion Gen3 client and Agent Online. Whilst transactions are treated like financial transactions, no financial entries are created in Arion.

The proposed design provides the ability for both AUT staff and Agents to view the status and details within Arion and Agent Online throughout the while commission life cycle

The key components are:- New ‘Commission Rules’ tab on ‘Agent Details’ screen in Arion Gen3 client for set-up and maintenance

of the agency specific commission payment rules;- Creation of an ‘Agent Commission Maintenance’ screen in Arion Gen3 client to support maintenance of

unapproved system calculated commission at (agency) student invoice level;- Creation of an ‘Agent Commission Summary & Commission Confirmation’ screen in Arion Gen3 client

to provide a helicopter view of agency commission and the functionality to create a ‘Confirmation’;- Creation of an ‘Agent Confirmation Maintenance’ screen in Arion Gen3 client to support Confirmation

Adjustments and Confirmation Reprints;- Creation of an ‘Commission Payment Approval’ screen in Agent Online for the agent to review,

approve and request commission payment for eligible student invoices;- Creation of a ‘Commission Pipeline’ screen to provide the agent with a tool to view and manage the

commission pipeline;- Creation of a ‘Commission Payment Request’ output to trigger approved commission payment process

through AUT Finance.

The suggested design does not interfere with the current Agent Online functionality and commission process as it is adding additional functionality to both, Agent Online and the Gen 3 client.

The security model for Agent Online is based on the current Agent Employee Type and it’s proposed that new functionality is only made available to User Type ‘Agency Admin’ (but not ‘Agent Employee’).

Recommendations and reporting considerations are included at the end of the document.

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To support the new process, the creation of the following, new tables is proposed:

Commission Rules TableField Name Description Field Characteristics Example DataRuleCode Commission Rule ACommPerc Commission % 5.00%StartDate Commission Rule Start Date 25/11/2012EndDate Commission Rule End Date 25/11/2012ChangeByID Updated By User ChangeByID 352426ChangeDate Record Change Date RecordTimeStamp 25/11/2012 10:12

Paid TableField Name Description Field Characteristics Example DataAgent Agent AUT0115CTContactID Student CTContactID (1249611)FNTrxID Invoice Number FN_Trx.FNTrxID 1022177147Paid Amount Paid Amount 10.50

Confirmation TableField Name Description Field Characteristics Example DataConfirmationNo Confirmation Number 000000101Type Transaction Type CON (confirmation) OR ADJ (adjustment)FNTrxID Invoice Number FN_Trx.FNTrxID 1022177147Commission Commission Amount 10.50SentStatus Sent Status (output file created and sent to Finance) Y/NAgent Agent AUT0115Adjustment Amount Adjustment Amount 10.50 or -10.50

Adjustment TableField Name Description Field Characteristics Example DataAgent Agent AUT0115Adjustment Amount Adjustment Amount 10.50 or -10.50

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Confirmation Output Example Document

Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT)

Confirmation No: 100012

Date [today]

Please pay:Agency: 230997 / AUT0115IEF – International Education FundPO Box 4012Shortland StreetAuckland 1140New Zealand

Approved: International Centre

Michael Ware March 5 th 2013 . Authorised Date

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The output of the commission approval, submission and authorisation process is an ‘Authorised Commission Transaction’ (ACT) form. An ACT can be a debit OR a credit.

A copy is sent to the Agent and Finance (Accounts Payable) at time of creation.

Whilst the Confirmation Number (‘Commission Payment Request’/CPR) is created when agent approved invoices are batched by the International Centre, the ACT is the confirmation that the commission payment has entered the Accounts Payables cycle.

The Agent is in control of when eligible agent commissions are approved at a student invoice level. The International Centre controls the approving and batching of invoices into Commission

Payment Requests (CPRs). Finance authorise CPRs and release the resulting ‘Authorised Commission Transaction’ (ACT) into

the Accounts Payable cycle

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Online View – Agency UI

Commission Payment Approval (Agent Online)

Agency Commission Payment Approval Screen:Approved agency employees (Type: Agency Admin only) can access the new ‘Agency Commission Payment Approval’ screen in Agent Online:

This Agent Online screen will provide a list of all student invoices (where the student is linked to the agency) - with an invoice ‘Commission Status’ of either -

‘Not Yet Approved’ – not yet reviewed by the agent or ‘Rejected’ – currently with AUT International Centre for review

eligible1 for confirmation of correctly calculated commission.

At invoice level, the agent can approve OR reject the calculated commission for processing.

Agency Admin staff have the ability to query any lines by rejecting the calculated commission. For a rejected invoice commission line, a reason must be provided in the ‘Reason’ field. The ‘Reason’ field is mandatory.

This will update the invoice’s ‘Commission Status’. The update may trigger a notification to the AUT staff dealing with this agency’s commissions to action. This will be achieved via Alerts set against the invoice commission status for a specific agent or range of agents.

Changes are saved and once a record has been ‘Approved’ the record falls off this list.

1 eligible = the invoice available for commission calculations based on the agent’s ‘Commission Rules’ and the University’s ‘Student Confirmation’ rules.

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Potential Commission Payments (Agent Online)

Agent Commission Pipeline:Approved agency employees (Type: Agency Admin only) can access the new ‘Agent Commission Pipeline’ screen in Agent Online:

The screen will provide a full list of all current (confirmed) and potential future commission amounts (pipeline).

It will also provide the agent with a view of ‘YTD Commission’ (authorised commission/current calendar year) and ‘Total Commission’ (total commissions authorised since the implementation of the Agent Commission module).

This screen is VIEW only and can be filtered to exclude approved invoices/commission amounts – identified by a ‘Commission Status’ of:

- Authorised/With Accounts Payable (by Finance – CPR or ACT document printed by finance and copy sent to agent)

- Submitted/In Progress (processed by IC, awaiting finance authorisation for payment)- Approved (by agent, awaiting processing by IC)

All other lines show potential commissions due to the agent upon student invoice becoming eligible and/OR student invoices being paid.

Consider any other filters for this page as well – i.e. current year only?

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Agent Commission – Proposed Process flow (Part 1)

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Agent Commission – Proposed Process flow (Part 2)

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Arion Gen3 View (Staff User Interface)Agent Set-Up & Commission Rules (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Set-UpThe current Agency Detail section of the Agency Details tab will have two additional tick-boxes added:

- Commission Functionality Enabled for Agent? (available online)- Commission Approval Available to AUT Staff? (available through Gen3 client)

In order for the functionality described in this document become available to the agent via Agent Online, the ‘Commission Functionality Enabled’ flag must be ticked.

Further, these two fields will provide the functionality to support a soft implementation of the Agency Commission functionality. If the functionality has not been enabled for the agent, AUT staff could be enabled to approve agency commissions via the Arion Gen 3 client, effectively using the new process to replace the current, manual commission process.

Commission Rule Section:The Commission Rate is based on Commission ‘Start Date’ and ‘End Date’ and commission is paid to the agent on:

- Invoice (Rule A) or- Payment Receipt (Rule B) – *confirmation of ‘Payment in Full’ rule required- No commission (Rule C) – Default?

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Agents can only have ONE active rule at any given time. Future commission rules can be loaded but cannot take effect until after the end date of the previous rule. This new screen sits within the Agency Details section in Gen3.

New: for set-up of new Agent RuleOpen: for maintenance of the current rule (i.e. extend ‘End Date’) or future rulesDelete: for deletion of future rules only

‘Start Date’ cannot be changed to earlier than today and ‘End Date’ cannot be extended AFTER it has expired.

The ‘Commission Rule’ default is ‘No Commission’. If no rate rule exists for the current period, the ‘No Commission’ rule will be applied.

All changes are recorded with ‘User Name’ and ‘Date/time’.

Agency Administrator access level rights are required to maintain this table – to be confirmed

Commission Rules Table:

This table will be populated through the Agent Module, Commission Rule screen in Gen3 – as shown above.

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Agent Commission Maintenance (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Maintenance:

This new screen will allow AUT staff to review and maintain unapproved agency-linked student invoices eligible for commission payment.

AUT staff can set-up alerts against (their) agents to be notified when a commission calculation has been rejected by the agent and/or commissions have been approved by the agent. A new query will need to be created to support the Alert creation.

Only the ‘New Commission’, ‘Reason’ and ‘Status’ fields are maintainable. ‘Reason’ field is mandatory if the ‘New Commission’ field has been updated. When saved, ‘User ID’ and ‘Changed Date’ are added by the system.

Rejected invoices that are updated by AUT staff will reset the status to Unapproved. These invoices will be visible to the agent via the new ‘Agency Commission Payment Approval’ screen on Agent Online.

This screen will also allow AUT staff to approve Commissions on the behalf of the agent (change Status from ‘Not Yet Approved’ to ‘Approved’) provided the ‘Commission Approval Available to AUT Staff?’ flag is set on the Agency Details screen. An update ‘Reason’ will be required for this action.

Agency Administrator access level rights are required.

Functionality to support multiple updates to a single invoice is required and transaction/audit history will need to be kept.

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Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation :

This screen will provide AUT staff with a full 360degree view of the agency’s commission related status and transactions – broken into 3 distinct areas:

1. Submitted and Authorised Commissions (CPR/ACT)2. Approved Commissions3. Pipeline

1. Submitted and Authorised CommissionsSubmitted and Authorised Commissions area presents – grouped by CPR numbers – IC ‘Submitted’ and Finance ‘Authorised’ commission payments. It also provides staff with a ‘YTD’ and ‘Total Commission’ total amounts for the agent.

A reprint function is available for ‘Authorised’ ACTs.No print function for ‘Submitted’ CPRs will be available.

2. Approved CommissionsThis area provides AUT staff (IC) with the tool to submit approved commission payments. This creates a Confirmation Number (CPR/ACT) and moves it to Finance (please refer to ‘Agent Commission Payment Authorisation’ screen) for Authorisation.

3. Agency PipelineThis area provides AUT staff (IC) with a View Only of potential future agency commissions

Arion Gen 3 client access levels/rights to be confirmed.

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Agent Commission Authorisation (Finance) (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Payment Authorisation:

This new screen will allow AUT Finance staff to authorise a submitted CPR/ACT for payment.

The authorisation will create an output in form of a CPR/ACT. The form will be dated and signed by the Finance Manager automatically and may be printed for AUT’s Accounts Payable department (or automated email to be set-up).

A copy will also be sent by email to the agency (using the agency’s Contact Media ‘Personal Email’ address in Arion).

Finance have the ability to reject a payment. Should this occur, the CPR is reversed and the Submitted invoices are moved back to status ‘Approved’.

The Detail button will provide invoice level detail of the highlighted Confirmation No.

Arion will provide Radio button functionality for 'Authorise Confirmation' and 'Reject?' allowing for the following combinations:

Authorise Confirmation Reject? = Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) = Reversal of Commission Payment Request (CPR) = Hold/Not yet processed

Once a confirmation has been authorised or rejected, it will fall off this screen.

For an Authorisation Reprint, please refer to point 1 under ‘Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation’.

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Agent Confirmation Commission Maintenance (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Confirmation Commission Maintenance:

This screen will allow AUT staff to amend submitted and authorised (and potentially paid out) Confirmation records (collection of approved student enrolment invoices).

It will also allow for transfers commissions between agents.

The ‘New Agent’ field is defaulted by ‘Current Agent’ but can be overwritten with a new agent code when a transfer is required.

The output of an adjustment is a NEW Confirmation record (Status: Submitted).

Agency Administrator access level rights are required.

Confirmation Table:

Recommendations – other considerations

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- Functionality to update and track multiple changes to commission amounts (including related ‘Reason’) a single student invoice may be required

Reporting

No additional reporting requirements have been proposed.

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Documents

AUT Agent Commissions v0.3