Release 18 April 23, 2010 · laws, rules, or regulations. Each organiza tion should seek legal, accounting and other si milar professional services from competent providers of the

Ellucian’s ColleagueRelease Highlights:

AR Billing Update

Release 18April 23, 2010

For corrections and clarifications to this manual, see AnswerNet page 7756.

Banner®, Colleague®, PowerCAMPUS®, Luminis® and Datatel® are trademarks of Ellucian or its affiliates and are registered in the U.S. and other countries. Ellucian, Advance, DegreeWorks, fsaATLAS, Course Signals, SmartCall, Recruiter, MOX, ILP, and WCMS are trademarks of Ellucian or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Contains confidential and proprietary information of Ellucian and its subsidiaries. Use of these materials is limited to Ellucian licensees, and is subject to the terms and conditions of one or more written license agreements between Ellucian and the licensee in question.

In preparing and providing this publication, Ellucian is not rendering legal, accounting, or other similar professional services. Ellucian makes no claims that an institution's use of this publication or the software for which it is provided will insure compliance with applicable federal or state laws, rules, or regulations. Each organization should seek legal, accounting and other similar professional services from competent providers of the organization’s own choosing.

Prepared by: Ellucian4375 Fair Lakes CourtFairfax, Virginia 22033United States of America

Table of Contents

5 Introduction5 In This Chapter6 About This Release6 Tuition Charges6 Term Charges7 Rule-Based Charges7 Other Billing Issues8 About These Release Highlights8 Who Should Read These Highlights?8 What These Highlights Cover8 Documentation for This Release9 How These Highlights Are Organized

10 Where to Find More Information11 Typographical Conventions12 Important Notices12 Alerts12 Notes12 Technical Tips

13 Installation and Administration13 In This Chapter14 Installation Instructions14 AR Billing Software Update Numbers15 Related Software Update15 Installation Details16 New Associations and Fields18 Modified Forms and Processes18 Modified Subroutines19 Implementation Instructions

21 Software Enhancements and Changes21 In This Chapter22 Tuition Refunds23 Calculating Tuition Refunds24 Example of a Tuition Refund29 Term Charge Refunds29 Refunding Deleted Classes30 Rule-Based Charge Refunds30 Refunding Net Zero Rule-Based Charges30 Calculating Forfeitures for Rule-Based Charges

Release Highlights: AR Billing Update, April 23, 2010 3© 2010 Datatel, Inc.

Table of Contents

30 Determining Status Dates for Dropped or Withdrawn Sections

31 Other Billing Issues31 Refunding Sections with Waived Tuition Charges31 Refunding Sections with Overrides31 Refunding Sections with Zero Billing Credits32 Counting Section Meeting Times for Refunds32 Rounding Errors for Refund and Forfeiture Amounts32 Refunding Table-Billed and Section-Billed Sections33 Billing Schedule-Type Tuition Charges and Credits33 Displaying Credit Amounts for Term Charges33 Generating Reg/Room/Meal Billing (BILL) Error Reports34 Resolved AnswerNet Change Requests

4 Release Highlights: AR Billing Update, April 23, 2010© 2010 Datatel, Inc.

Introduction

In This Chapter This chapter provides a brief overview of the AR Billing Update software updates.

Table 1 lists the topics covered in this chapter.

Topic Page

About This Release 6

About These Release Highlights 8

Table 1: Topics in This Chapter

ALERT! The AR Billing Update significantly changes the method of calculating refunds for tuition, term, and rule-based charges. Before installing these software updates, thoroughly read this document to understand how these changes will affect your registration refunds. Datatel strongly recommends that you test these updates extensively in your TEST environment before loading them into your LIVE environment.


Introduction

About This ReleaseThe AR Billing Update software updates resolve numerous issues related to how registration billing refunds are calculated, as outlined below.

Tuition Charges

Colleague has been modified to proportionately allocate tuition refund and forfeiture amounts to the course sections and AR codes to which the tuition charges were originally billed.

Previously, Colleague would sometimes allocate tuition refund amounts to course sections and AR codes that should not have been refunded. Similarly, Colleague would sometimes allocate tuition refunds to the correct course sections and AR codes, but with incorrect refund amounts.

See “Tuition Refunds” on page 22 for information.

Term Charges

Colleague has been modified to correctly refund term charges when classes are Deleted.

See “Term Charge Refunds” on page 29 for information.


About This Release

Rule-Based Charges

Colleague has been modified to correctly calculate refund and forfeiture amounts for rule-based charges and credits.

Previously, Colleague would not always calculate forfeiture amounts on rule-based charges and credits if they netted to zero, nor on the difference if a rule-based amount decreased from the amount previously billed. Additionally, Colleague would not always use the correct refund date when calculating refunds for dropped or withdrawn course sections.

See “Rule-Based Charge Refunds” on page 30 for information.

Other Billing Issues

Colleague has also been modified to resolve additional billing issues, as listed below:

Incorrect tuition refunds for sections with offsetting charges and credits that netted to zero.

Incorrect refund policies when dropping sections with overrides.

Incorrect tuition refunds for sections with zero billing credits.

Incorrect refunds for refund formulas that count section meeting times, including when no section calendar had been generated.

Incorrect rounding for refund and forfeiture amounts.

Incorrect refunds when table-billed and section-billed course sections are dropped at the same time.

Incorrect billing and refunds for schedule type tuition charges and credits.

Incorrect credit amounts displayed for term charges on the Registration Billing Summary (RGBS) form.

Batch error reports generated by the Reg/Room/Meal Billing (BILL) process.

See “Other Billing Issues” on page 31 for information.


Introduction

About These Release Highlights

Who Should Read These Highlights?

These highlights are written for System Administrators responsible for installing software updates, and for Business Office personnel responsible for setting up and administering registration billing and refunds.

What These Highlights Cover

These Release Highlights describe any information you need to know in order to properly install and implement the AR Billing Update software updates. These highlights also describe the changes that have been made to the software in this release.

Documentation for This Release

The AR Billing Update software updates are accompanied by these Release Highlights and the updated manuals:

Getting Started with Colleague Student

Using Accounts Receivable & Cash Receipts

Please see AnswerNet page 7756 for any last-minute changes or post-release updates to this Release Highlights document. Add yourself to the “addme” list for that page to be informed of any future updates to Release Highlights: AR Billing Update.



How These Highlights Are Organized

The “Introduction” chapter, which you are reading now, describes the purpose and benefits of these software updates and provides information about these Release Highlights and how they are organized.

The “Installation and Administration” chapter provides instructions for system administrators who are installing the software, and lists the new or modified files and forms.

The “Software Enhancements and Changes” chapter provides information for office managers and end users to understand how Colleague now calculates registration billing refunds, and explains how other billing issues were resolved with these software updates. This chapter also provides a list of AnswerNet change requests that have been resolved with these software updates.


Introduction

Where to Find More Information

These Release Highlights provide information about what has changed from the previous version of the software. Table 2 lists additional sources of information about setting up and processing registration billing refunds in Colleague Student.

Table 2: Other Sources of Registration Billing Refunds Information

Type of Information Reference

Last-minute updates and additional information about this manual.

AnswerNet Page 7756.

Detailed information about forms and fields.

Online help.

In-person instruction for using Colleague.

Training classes offered by Datatel.

In-person Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts instruction.

Various Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts service offerings provided by Datatel.

Procedures for setting up Colleague Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts.

The Getting Started with Colleague Student manual.

Procedures for performing functions within the Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts modules.

The Using Accounts Receivable & Cash Receipts manual.

Performing basic functions (such as accessing forms, entering data, and accessing online help) using each of the Datatel interfaces.

The Guide to User Interfaces.



Typographical Conventions

The following presentation conventions are used in this book to help you identify important information quickly and easily.

Table 3 illustrates the typographical styles used in this book, and explains their significance.

Table 3: Typographical Conventions Used in This Manual

Style Type of Information Examples

bold Items that you can select, such as menu items, buttons, or other options that appear on the screen.

On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.

Select 100% from the drop-down list box for the Zoom field.

Click Cancel to return to the previous form.

bold Cou-rier

Text that you must type exactly as shown. Type the following at the operating system prompt:

cd /deptdir/mydir

Specific entries that you make in a field, typically by typing one or more of the let-ters in the entry.

In the Update Mode field, enter Yes.

(Note that to enter “Yes” in a field, you normally need to type just the letter Y.)

italic Text that can vary, depending on the spe-cific item or record involved. Note that the text might also be italic courier if it is part of a message displayed on your screen, or italic bold courier if it is something that you must type, substitut-ing your own value for the italicized word or words.

Type dictname_SQL, where dictname is the name of the dictionary.

If the system displays the message PersonID Not Found, proceed to Step 4 to create a new Person record.


Introduction

Important Notices

Particularly important information is emphasized in the following types of notices.

Alerts

Alerts call attention to critical information for users. For example, Alerts are used to warn you of situations where data loss or corruption could occur if certain actions are performed incorrectly. An example is shown below.

Notes

Notes provide special additional information that you might want to know, or that might help you perform a task. An example is shown below.

Technical Tips

Technical tips provide details that might help system administrators or power users. Examples include explanations of behind-the-scenes processing, lists of file names, and names of validation code tables. An example is shown below.

ALERT! Be extremely cautious not to delete the VOC; this will cause serious damage to your data.

Note: Colleague uses the Account Type information to determine the default path prompts.

Technical Tip: The stylesheet print server will create a temporary file in the printdata directory (within the stylesheet print server directory) to hold a print job. This file will then be parsed into 2MB files in order to be sent to the printer. Be aware that the initial file may become very large, depending on the size of the print job. Make sure you have ample available drive space when using stylesheet printing.


Installation and Administration

In This Chapter This chapter provides installation and implementation instructions for these software updates. It also lists the new fields and updated processes included in these updates.


Topic Page

Installation Instructions 14

Implementation Instructions 19


ALERT! The AR Billing Update software updates significantly change the method of calculating refunds for tuition, term, and rule-based charges. Before installing these software updates, thoroughly read this document to understand how these changes will affect your registration refunds. Datatel strongly recommends that you test these updates extensively in your TEST environment before loading them into your LIVE environment.



Installation Instructions

AR Billing Software Update Numbers

Table 5 contains the software update numbers for the AR Billing Update software updates.

ALERT! These AR Billing Updates resolve many long-standing issues with registration refunds for tuition, term, and rule-based charges. Datatel strongly recommends that you test these two software updates extensively before installing them in your LIVE environment to ensure that you understand how the refunding changes will affect your business practices.

Table 5: AR Billing Update Software Update Numbers

Software Update Description

SU45747.89-1805 Colleague database and software updates

SU50866.48-1805 Supplemental Colleague software updates

ALERT! YOU MUST LOAD SU50866.48 IMMEDIATELY AFTER LOADING SU45747.89. The 50866.48 software update resolves some issues that were introduced with the 45747.89 software update. Datatel recommends that you thoroughly review the Release Summary for SU50866.48 to understand the changes delivered with that software update.

ALERT! If you have not yet loaded the AR 2010-1 Software Update (SU47724.56), you will need to load that software update before loading the 50866.48 software update. If you have not yet loaded the AR Billing Update (45747.89) into your LIVE environment, Datatel recommends that you do not load that update or related SU50866.48 until you have first loaded the AR-2010 Software Update (SU47724.56). If you have already loaded the AR Billing Update (45747.89) into your LIVE environment, Datatel strongly recommends that you load SU50866.48 (after testing allows), even if that means also loading the AR 2010-1 Software Update (SU47724.56). See “Related Software Update” on page 15 for information.



Related Software Update

When the AR Billing Update (SU45747.89) was originally released on February 12, 2010, it included changes to the REG.AR.POSTINGS file. This file was subsequently included on the AR 2010-1 Software Update (SU47724.56), released on March 11, 2010.

If you have already loaded the AR 2010-1 Software Update (47724.56) into your LIVE environment, you can immediately load the 50866.48 software update after testing allows.

However, if you have not yet loaded the AR 2010-1 Software Update (47724.56), you must first load that before you can load the 50866.48 software update.

Installation Details

Pre-Install Instructions

There are no pre-install instructions for these software updates.

Post-Install Instructions

There are no post-install instructions for these software updates.

Note: The AR 2010-1 Software Update (47724.56) primarily contains modifications to AR reporting processes, and is considered to be a low-risk software update which should not require extensive testing.

Note: For Canadian clients, the AR 2010-1 Software Update introduces an issue with entering dates on the Aged AR Balance (AGBL) form. See AnswerNet page 51235.15 for details.



New Associations and Fields

Table 6 lists the new associations and fields delivered with this software update.

Table 6: New Associations and Fields

File Association Field

REG.AR.POSTINGS RGAR.TBT.CHARGES RGAR.TBT.CHARGES.ID

RGAR.TBT.ENTRIES

RGAR.TBT.AR.CODES

RGAR.TBT.CHARGE.AMTS

RGAR.TBT.CR.AMTS

RGAR.TRT.CHARGES RGAR.TRT.CHARGES.ID

RGAR.TRT.ENTRIES

RGAR.TRT.AR.CODES

RGAR.TRT.CHARGE.AMTS

RGAR.TRT.CR.AMTS

RGAR.TRT.FRFT.AR.CODES

RGAR.TRT.DROP.REFUND.FMLS

RGAR.TRT.WDRW.REFUND.FMLS

RGAR.TERM.RULE.DETAILS RGAR.TRD.RULES

RGAR.TRD.AR.CODES

RGAR.TRD.AMTS

RGAR.TRD.BASE.REFUND.AMTS

RGAR.TRD.FRFT.AMTS

RGAR.TRD.REFUND.FMLS



REG.AR.POSTING.ITEMS RGARI.TBT.CHARGES RGARI.TBT.CHARGES.ID

RGARI.TBT.ENTRIES

RGARI.TBT.AR.CODES

RGARI.TBT.CHARGE.AMTS

RGAR.TBT.CR.AMTS

RGARI.TRT.CHARGES RGARI.TRT.CHARGES.ID

RGARI.TRT.ENTRIES

RGARI.TRT.AR.CODES

RGARI.TBT.CHARGE.AMTS

RGARI.TRT.CR.AMTS

RGARI.TRT.REF.BASE.AMTS

RGARI.TRT.FRFT.AR.CODES

RGARI.TRT.DROP.REF.FMLS

RGARI.TRT.WDRW.REF.FMLS

Table 6: New Associations and Fields (cont’d)

File Association Field



Modified Forms and Processes

Table 7 lists the modified forms and processes delivered with this software update.

Modified Subroutines

Table 8 lists the modified subroutines delivered with this software update.

Table 7: New and Modified Forms and Processes

Form Name Mnemonic Process ID Status

Colleague Student

Registration Term Rate Tables

RTRT ARP038 Modified(online help only)

Batch Registration/Room/Meal Plan Billing

BILL ARF002 Modified

Table 8: Modified Subroutines

Insert/Subroutine Description Status

S.CALC.GROUP.REG.BILL Calculate registration billing for a group Modified

S.CALC.REFUND.AMT Calculate refund amount Modified

S.CALC.RGAR.TOTAL Calculate registration AR posting total Modified

S.CALC.RGAR.TOTALS Calculate registration AR posting totals Modified


Implementation Instructions

Implementation InstructionsThere are no implementation instructions for this software update.

After loading this software update, registration billing will function as described in “Software Enhancements and Changes” beginning on page 21.




Software Enhancements and Changes

In This ChapterThis chapter describes the issues that have been resolved with this software update. This information is intended for the Business Office managers and staff who administer registration billing and refunds.


Topic Page

Tuition Refunds 22

Term Charge Refunds 29

Rule-Based Charge Refunds 30

Other Billing Issues 31

Resolved AnswerNet Change Requests 34


ALERT! The AR Billing Updates significantly change the method of calculating refunds for tuition, term, and rule-based charges. Before installing these software updates, thoroughly read this document to understand how these changes will affect your registration refunds. Datatel strongly recommends that you test these updates extensively in your TEST environment before loading them into your LIVE environment.



Tuition RefundsPrior to this software update, a refund for tuition and term charges was divided among the dropped course sections based on the number of billing credits for each section. Then, each section’s amount was subdivided among the AR codes that made up the section’s original charge. These amounts then became the base refund amount, against which the refund policies were evaluated.

Although the total refund amount was correct under this approach, the allocation of amounts to each AR code could have been incorrect due to the following factors:

This approach assumed that each billing credit incurred the same amount of tuition as every other billing credit.

Not every AR code should necessarily be refunded. For example, if the prior billing incurred a fixed charge, some of that charge was allocated to each section using an AR code. If the student dropped a class but the fixed charge still applied, then none of the fixed charge should have been refunded. However, this method would result in the fixed charge’s AR code being refunded.

The new method of calculating refunds avoids these issues by comparing the actual charges incurred by the prior and current billings. If a particular charge decreases or is no longer billed at all, only then are the funds associated with that charge refunded, and only to the AR code associated with that charge. Additionally, the refunds go only to those dropped sections that incurred that charge on the prior billing.


Tuition Refunds

Calculating Tuition Refunds

Colleague now calculates tuition refunds using the following steps:

1. Determine the tuition difference between the prior and the current billing. This is the actual refund amount.

2. Determine which charges from the prior billing have decreased on the current billing, and by how much. This is the calculated refund amount. Colleague ignores any charges that have increased, because they are not important to this process.

3. Proportionally allocate the actual refund amount to the decreased calculated charges.

4. Examine each of the decreased charges. For each one, determine the list of dropped sections that incurred the charge on the prior billing, and the amount of the charge.

5. For each decreased charge, proportionately allocate the amount given to the charge in Step 3 to each of its dropped sections identified in Step 4.

6. Each dropped section will now have one or more amounts assigned to it. Each amount represents the section’s portion of a decreased charge, which in turn is a portion of the actual refund amount. The refund policy is applied to these amounts. Any forfeiture is recorded against the AR code associated to that charge (or to the forfeiture AR code if one was defined).

The end result is that the actual tuition refund amount will now be proportionally allocated to each dropped charge, and then further allocated to each section based on how much the section incurred that charge.

See “Example of a Tuition Refund” on page 24 for a detailed explanation of how Colleague calculates tuition refunds and forfeiture amounts.



Example of a Tuition Refund

This section includes a detailed example of how Colleague now calculates tuition refunds.

There are four classes: Class A, B, C, and D. Each class has three billing credits.

The tuition rate table has the following charges:

From 0 to 6 billing credits (inclusive), charge $300 per billing credit to AR code AR1.

For more than 6 billing credits, charge a fixed rate of $2000 to AR code AR2.

Evaluate a rule. For every section that passes the rule, charge $500 to AR code AR1.

For the initial billing, the student registers for all four classes, with Class C passing the rule.

1. There are 12 billing credits, so CHRG2 applies, charging the student $2000 against AR code AR2.

2. Because Class C passes the rule, the student incurs CHRG3 for an additional $500 against AR1.

3. Each charge is prorated at the section level.

ClassesBilling Credits

Class A 3

Class B 3

Class C 3

Class D 3

Tuition Rate TableCharge Billing Credits Amount AR Code

CHRG1 0 to 6 Credits $300 (per credit)

AR1

CHRG2 Over 6 Credits $2000 AR2

CHRG3 Rule Passed $500 AR1


Tuition Refunds

After the initial billing, the total tuition of $2500 is allocated by charge, section, and AR code, as follows:

The student subsequently drops Class C and Class D, and new tuition is calculated as follows:

1. Because there are now only 6 billing credits, CHRG1 applies, charging the student $1800 against AR code AR1.

2. Because there are only 6 billing credits, CHRG2 no longer applies.

3. Because the student dropped Class C, CHRG3 no longer applies.

After the second billing, the total new tuition of $1800 is allocated by charge, section, and AR code, as follows:

Charge AR Code Amount

CHRG3 AR1 500

CHRG2 AR2 2000

Class Charge AR Code Amount

A CHRG2 AR2 500

B CHRG2 AR2 500

C CHRG3 AR1 500

C CHRG2 AR2 500

D CHRG2 AR2 500

2500

Charge AR Code Amount

CHRG1 AR1 1800

Class Charge AR Code Amount

A CHRG1 AR1 900

B CHRG1 AR1 900

1800



Colleague then uses the new method of calculating refunds, as follows:

1. Colleague determines that the initial tuition was $2500, but the new tuition amount is $1800. The actual tuition difference is $700, which needs to be allocated to the appropriate AR codes.

2. Colleague compares each charge on the prior billing with the charges on the current billing. If a charge increased its amount, Colleague ignores it. If a charge decreased or is no longer billed at all, then Colleague determines how much of the refund amount should be allocated to it. Comparing the prior and current charges, Colleague determines that CHRG1 increased by $1800, CHRG2 decreased by $2000, and CHRG3 decreased by $500. Because CHRG1 increased, it does not receive any of the refund.

3. Because CHRG2 and CHRG3 decreased, Colleague needs to split the refund amount between them. In Step 1, Colleague determined the amount of actual refund is $700. That amount needs to be split between CHRG2 and CHRG3, which experienced a total decrease of $2500. Colleague splits the $700 proportionally between these two charges, resulting in $560 allocated to CHRG2 and $140 to CHRG3.

ChargePrior

AmountCurrent Amount

Difference

CHRG1 0 1800 Not Applicable (increase)

CHRG2 2000 0 2000

CHRG3 500 0 500

ChargePrior

AmountNew

AmountDifference Refund

CHRG1 0 1800 Not Applicable (increase)

Not Applicable (increase)

CHRG2 2000 0 2000 560

CHRG3 500 0 500 140

2500 700


Tuition Refunds

Colleague evaluates refunds to determine whether the student should forfeit any money, and also determines how to allocate each charge’s refund amount to the sections that incurred that charge. After Colleague has allocated every charge’s refund to every section that incurred that charge, the section’s base refund amount is determined. Colleague then evaluates the refund policies for each section using that section’s characteristics to determine the amount of any forfeiture. Colleague records forfeiture as a charge, by AR code, against each dropped section, as continues in the steps below.

4. To determine the amount of each charge’s refund that should be allocated to each section, Colleague looks at the amounts from the prior billing. Class C and Class D both charged $500 to CHRG2 for a total of $1000. Additionally, Class C charged $500 to CHRG3, for a total CHRG3 amount of $500.

5. Colleague then allocates CHRG2’s refund amount to its sections, and does the same for CHRG3. CHRG2 received a refund amount of $560. This amount is split evenly between Class C and Class D, so each receives a base refund of $280 for CHRG2. Class C receives a further base refund amount of $140 for CHRG3 because it is the only section that charged against CHRG3 and so gets CHRG3’s full refund.

Class CHRG2 CHRG3

C 500 500

D 500 0

1000 500

Class CHRG2 CHRG3Base

Refund

C 280 140 420

D 280 0 280

560 140 700



6. Now that each section has a base refund amount, broken out by charge, Colleague applies the refund policy. Forfeited amounts are charged for each section, broken out by AR code (Colleague determines the AR code from the charge and the tuition rate table). In this example, the actual percentage of the base refund amount that would be forfeited is not important—the point is that the base refund amount for Class C is $420, split between $280 for CHRG2 and $140 for CHRG3. The base refund amount for Class D is $280, allocated entirely to CHRG2.

Contrast this with how Colleague used to calculate refunds below. First, the $700 would be split evenly between Class C and Class D because each has 3 billing credits. Then, it would split the $350 for each class proportionally between its AR codes. This would result in the $350 for Class C split evenly between CHRG2 and CHRG3, while the $350 for Class D would be allocated entirely to CHRG2.


Refund

C 280 140 420

D 280 0 280

560 140 700


Refund

C 175 175 350

D 350 0 350

525 175 700


Term Charge Refunds

Term Charge RefundsColleague has been modified to resolve issues related to refunding term charges, as described in this section.

Refunding Deleted Classes

If Dropped and Deleted sections were processed together, the Deleted section would not always receive a full refund of term and tuition charges, as it should have.

Colleague has been modified to give Deleted sections a full refund.



Rule-Based Charge RefundsColleague has been modified to resolve issues related to refunding rule-based charges, as described in this section.

Refunding Net Zero Rule-Based Charges

When a student had offsetting rule-based charges and credits so that rules-based charges netted to $0, Colleague did not always detect that the charges should be refunded.

Dropped sections that net to zero are now always refunded.

Calculating Forfeitures for Rule-Based Charges

When a rule-based charge used a calculation to determine the charge amount, and when the amount decreased from the prior billing, no forfeiture was calculated.

Colleague now evaluates forfeiture on the difference whenever a rule-based charge decreases from the prior billing.

Determining Status Dates for Dropped or Withdrawn Sections

Colleague would use the oldest status date of all non-active classes as the refund date when computing the refund for rule-based charges. Sometimes the oldest date belonged to a Deleted section, which was incorrect.

Colleague now only looks at Dropped or Withdrawn sections when determining the oldest status date.



Other Billing IssuesColleague has been modified to resolve issues related to registration billing, as described in this section.

Refunding Sections with Waived Tuition Charges

When a section had offsetting tuition charges and credits so that the course had a net $0 charge, Colleague did not always detect that the section should be refunded.


Refunding Sections with Overrides

When billing overrides were entered for a section on the Section Billing Override (SCBO) form, the refund policies were not applied to the overrides if the class was dropped during a refund period.

Colleague now applies the tuition refund policies to Additional Charges entered on the Section Billing Override (SCBO) form. Forfeited amounts are charged to the same AR code as that of the original charge.

Refunding Sections with Zero Billing Credits

Sometimes, rounding errors led to refunds of a few leftover pennies being assigned to classes of zero billing credits that didn't incur charges in the first place. Rounding errors resulted in “leftover” amounts that were allocated to the last class in the list of dropped classes.

Now the list is sorted by billing credits so zero credit sections come first, and Colleague no longer assigns refunds to classes that never incurred charges.



Counting Section Meeting Times for Refunds

When clients set the Count Section Meeting field on the Refund Formula (REFF) form to “Yes,” Colleague did not evaluate the class for a refund if it was dropped before it started.

Colleague now evaluates the Days Before Start section for the refund formula in such situations.

Additionally, if a refund formula had the Count Section Meeting field on the REFF form set to “Yes,” and a section that had no calendar generated was dropped, Colleague computed the refund incorrectly because it did not know how many meetings had elapsed.

If Colleague cannot locate a schedule, it now assumes the number of meetings to be the number of elapsed days.

Rounding Errors for Refund and Forfeiture Amounts

Rounding often resulted in amounts that were off by several pennies.

Refunding processes have been revised to minimize the number and type of aritmethic operations, producing more accurate results.

Refunding Table-Billed and Section-Billed Sections

If section-billed and table-billed sections were dropped at the same time, refunds of table-based charges were split over all dropped classes, even if a class was section-billed. This caused some of the refund attributable to the table-based classes to be allocated to the section-billed classes, which should not happen.

Table-based refunds are now allocated only to table-billed sections, with Colleague correctly allocating the refund between table-billed and section-billed classes.



Billing Schedule-Type Tuition Charges and Credits

If a billing entry was set up as a credit on the Tuition Rate Tables (TRTB) form, and the billing entry was assigned different schedule types and different rates on the Reg Billing Rates (RGBR) form, the rates associated with the schedule types were always treated as charges and never as credits.

Colleague now treats the schedule type amounts as charges or credits in the same way as the main charge is treated.

Displaying Credit Amounts for Term Charges

The Billing Period Amount shown on the bottom of Registration Billing Summary (RGBS) form, and the Registration Term Charges displayed on Registration Billing Period Summary (RBPS) form were sometimes off by a penny when the amount was a credit.

These forms now display credit amounts correctly.

Generating Reg/Room/Meal Billing (BILL) Error Reports

Clients reported that when the Batch Reg/Room/Meal Billing (BILL) process was run, a batch error report was generated even when there was no error to report.

Colleague now generates an error report only when errors are encountered.



Resolved AnswerNet Change RequestsThis section provides an explanation of the issues resolved with the AR Billing Update software update, released under the following update number:

SU45747.89-1805

AnswerNet document numbers are provided as a reference point for each issue.

Table 10: Resolved Activities for the AR Billing Update Software Update

Document Number

Issue Resolution

Tuition Refunds See “Tuition Refunds” on page 22 for detailed information.

156.914 Tuition Rate Table Refunds can allocate forfeit.

Tuition refund amounts were first prorated among dropped courses by credit hour, and then prorated among each course's AR Code charges. However, every hour of every course doesn't necessarily have the same cost.

Refunds are now allocated by course and AR Code in propor-tion to that charge's portion of the total refunded amount.

184.461 AR TRTB billing not forfeiting amounts to the correct AR codes.

Tuition refund amounts were first prorated among dropped courses by credit hour, and then prorated among each course's AR Code charges. Sometimes a course's AR code should not receive a refund because the AR code's charge did not change from the prior billing.

Refunds are now allocated only to AR codes that decrease from the prior billing.

210.865 AR TRTB Incorrect refunds when same AR code used but different monetary value per class.



3607.11 AR TRTB forfeiture is distributed evenly regardless of initial charge.




Resolved AnswerNet Change Requests

15006.04 AR: Registration Billing - Amounts on Tables.

Tuition refund amounts were first prorated among dropped courses by credit hour, and then prorated among each course's AR Code charges. Sometimes a course's AR code should not receive a refund because the AR code's charge did not change from the prior bill-ing.

Refunds are now allocated only to AR codes that decrease from the prior billing.

Term Charge Refunds See “Tuition Refunds” on page 22 for detailed information.

210.864 RTRT: term fees not refunding correctly if multiple classes dropped with X and D.

If Dropped and Deleted sections were processed together, the Deleted section would not always receive a full refund of term and tuition charges, as it should.

Colleague now gives Deleted sections a full refund.

Rule-Base Charge Refunds See “Rule-Based Charge Refunds” on page 30 for detailed information.

3035.52 RTRT: Rule Based Charges refund 100% when Waiver Dollar Limit in effect.

When a student had offsetting rule-based charges and credits so that rules-related charges netted to $0, Col-league did not always detect that the charges should be refunded.


26839.44 RTRT - Rule-Based Charge with Calculated Amount Field does not refund correctly.

Clients reported that when a rule-based charge used a calculation to determine the charge amount, and when the amount decreased from the prior billing, no forfeiture was calculated.

Colleague now evaluates forfei-ture on the difference whenever a rule-based charge decreases from the prior billing.

39339.44 Deleted “X” sections are being calculated under the dropped refund policy.

Clients reported that Colleague would use the oldest status date of all non-active classes when computing the refund for rule-based charges. Sometimes the oldest date belonged to a Deleted section, which is incorrect.

Colleague now only looks at Dropped or Withdrawn sections when determining the oldest sta-tus date.

Table 10: Resolved Activities for the AR Billing Update Software Update(cont’d)

Document Number

Issue Resolution



Other Billing Issues See “Other Billing Issues” on page 31 for detailed information.

6952.25 AR TRTB waived fees do not refund properly.

When a section had offsetting charges and credits so that the course had a net $0 charge, Colleague did not always detect that the section should be refunded.


18503.19 Waiver Codes Occasionally Not Applied with Overrides.

When overrides were entered for a section, the refund policies were not applied to the overrides if the class was dropped during a refund period.

Colleague now correctly applies the refund policies to override amounts.

196.250 Problem with rounding of tuition charges.

Sometimes, rounding errors led to refunds of a few left-over pennies being assigned to classes of zero billing hours that didn't incur charges in the first place.

Colleague no longer assigns refunds to classes that never incurred charges.

2395.96 Incorrect refunds for days before start if count section meeting times = YES.

When clients set the Count Section Meeting Times field on the Refund Formula (REFF) form to “Yes,” refunds were not evaluated if a class was dropped before it started.

Colleague now evaluates the Days Before Start section of the REFF form in such situations.

9547.15 AR: refunds incorrect if “Count Section Meeting = “Y” but no “actual” meetings.

If the refund policy's associated refund formula has the Count Section Meeting field on the Refund Formula (REFF) form set to “Yes,” and a section that has no calendar is dropped, Colleague computed the refund incorrectly because it didn't know how many meetings had elapsed.

If Colleague can't locate a sched-ule, it now assumes the number of meetings to be the number of elapsed days.

184.856 Tuition forfeiture off by several cents.

Clients reported that rounding often resulted in amounts that were off by several pennies.

Rounding has been revised to produce more accurate results.

184.984 Rounding error on refunding dropped courses.

Clients reported that rounding often resulted in amounts that were off by several pennies.

Rounding has been revised to produce more accurate results.


Document Number

Issue Resolution


Resolved AnswerNet Change Requests

3314.63 Incorrect Refund Amt - Dropping Section and Table Base Section.

If section-billed and table-billed sections were dropped at the same time, some of the refund attributable to the table-based classes would be allocated to the section-billed classes, which should not happen.

Colleague now correctly allo-cates the refund between table-billed and section-billed classes.

46480.74 BILL and Batch Error Report Generation.

Clients reported that when the Batch Reg/Room/Meal Billing (BILL) form was run, a batch error report was generated even when there was no error to report.

Colleague now generates an error report only when errors are encountered.

210.106 TRTB is not working as expected for credits.

If a billing entry is set up as a credit on the TRTB form, and the billing entry is assigned different schedule types and different rates on the RGBR form, the rates associated with the schedule types are always treated as charges, and never as credits.

Colleague now treats the sched-ule type amounts as charges or credits in the same way as the main charge is treated.

7878.96 AR: RGBS and RBPS off by .01

The Billing Period Amount shown on the bottom of the RGBS form, and the Registration Term Charges displayed on the RBPS form were sometimes off by a penny when the amount was a credit.

Colleague now displays credit amounts correctly.


Document Number

Issue Resolution




Documents

Release 18 April 23, 2010 · laws, rules, or regulations. Each organiza tion should seek legal, accounting and other si milar professional services from competent providers of the