Lesson #11 - Collect Payments - Individual

The eleventh lesson in this Learning Series, Supervisors and Managers, is designed to get you familiar with collecting payments from a single family.  You may wish to review the articles listed below before beginning.

• Work With All Families - View, Search, and Mass Actions
• Search for People in your Database
• The Family Record (Transactions Tab)
• Make Sale/Post Fees to a Family from the Family Record

In Jackrabbit, a Payment is considered a credit on a family account. A payment reduces the family balance. Payments should always be applied (linked) to specific fees. Fees that are not linked to a payment show a pink date paid field on a family's Transactions page. A full explanation of fee linking is provided in Jackrabbit Accounting (Linking Fees and Payments).

An individual payment can be posted to a family by selecting one of these options:

• The Payment/Credit button, located at the top of every family record. 
• From the All Families page using the row menu. 

Both of these options open the Payment Transaction Entry page. When opened, this page displays all of the fees that a family still owes (that have a pink date paid on their Transactions tab). Those fees may be partially paid or completely unpaid.

Record an Individual Payment

Follow these steps to enter an individual payment for a family.

1. Locate the correct Family record.
   • Use the Families (menu) > All Families
     • Use the column search to find the family.
     • Select the row menufor the family > click Accept Payment/Post Credit to open the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry page.
   • Use the Find a family... global search at the top of the page to open the Family record.
     • Click the Payment/Credit button to open the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry page.
       
       
       
2. The Transaction Type defaults to Payment. This should only be changed for non-monetary payments, for example, a gift certificate. See Post a Non-Monetary Credit for more information. 
   • If your organization uses Transaction Subtypes you can opt to assign a Subtype to the payment.
   • If the customer is paying with cash or check choose a Method from the drop-down list. For ePayments (credit card/bank draft) the Method is determined by the type of card or account used.

3. Enter a Note (optional).
4. Enter a Chk# if applicable.
5. The Payment field will default to the family's account balance. Update the amount if the family is not paying the full balance.
6. Apply the payment to the fees being paid using one of these options:
   • Click the Apply Amt column next to a fee to apply the payment to specific fees. Edit the amount if not paying the entire fee. The Applied Amount and Unapplied Amount will update for each fee selected.
   • Click the Apply to Newest Fees First to apply the payment starting with the newest fees and working backward until the payment amount is fully applied.
   • Click the Apply to Oldest Fees First (within last 12 months) to apply the payment starting from the oldest fees within one year and working forward until the payment amount is fully applied.
   • Click the Apply to Oldest Fees First to apply the payment to the oldest fees first (including those beyond 1 year) and work forward until the payment amount is fully applied.
7. Select one of the four button options to complete the payment according to the family's method of payment:
   • Save Payment to enter the payment on the family's Transactions tab. This is generally used for check and cash payments.
   • Save & Make Another Payment to save the payment and add another payment for the same family.
   • Use Card/Acct on File to create an ePayment (credit card or bank account draft) using the card/bank account information stored on the family record. See Process a Single Credit Card and Process a Single Bank Account Draft for more information on processing ePayments.
   • Use New Card to manually enter a credit card # or use a card swiper to initiate a credit card ePayment. See Process a Single Credit Card for more information.

In order to process ePayments in Jackrabbit you must have a gateway and merchant account with one of our Payment Partners. If you are not set up for ePayments, you will receive an error message when you attempt to submit the transaction that states you have not activated this feature. See ePayments category for details on contacting a Payment Partner and setting up ePayments functionality.

To accommodate different workflows, an individual ePayment can be generated in several ways.

The Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window can be opened:

• From the Family record with the Payment/Credit button. 
• From All Families, using the row action Accept Payment/Post Credit. 
• With the Save Fee & Pay Now button in the Make Sale/Post Fees window (Transactions menu > Post Transactions) after selecting a family and posting a fee.
• Using the Family Search criteria in Process ePayments (Transactions menu).

When processing individual ePayments in Jackrabbit, you can use a credit card or bank account the family has already saved on their account (Billing Info tab of Family record), or you can enter a different credit card number with the option to use it only once or to save it to the account (when you allow multiple cards per family).

Once in the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window, there are three options. 

Expand the sections below to step through each option.

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Use Card/Acct on File Button (Process a Saved Credit Card or Bank Account)

In order to process a credit card or draft a bank account that a family has saved to their Billing Info tab:

• ePayments must be activated for your database and your database must be connected to a gateway account. See Contact an ePayment Partner.
• The family must have an ePayment Method saved on the Billing Info tab in their Family record.
• The family must have credit card or bank account details saved on the Billing Info tab in their Family record. Learn more in the Manage Credit Cards & Bank Accounts in the Family Record section.
• If you are processing a bank account ePayment, the Home or Primary Phone field on the Family record > Summary tab must contain a phone number.

To process the ePayment:

1. Open the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window from the Family record, from All Families, or from Make Sale/Post Fees.
   
   
2. Enter the payment details.
   • The Trans Date (transaction date) defaults to the current date (today's date). You can change this if needed.
   • The Transaction Type defaults to Payment (Credit) and should not be changed. 
   • Optionally, add a Subtype.
   • It is not necessary to enter a Method of payment. This will be auto-assigned based on the payment method used, e.g., Visa, Mastercard, or Bank Account.
     
     
3. Enter an amount in the Payment field.
   
   
4. Apply the payment to the unpaid fees displayed.
   • To apply the payment to the oldest fees first, click  Apply Payment to Oldest Fees First. 
   • To apply the payment to specific fees, click the field in the Apply Amt column for the specific fee to be paid. When you click the field, Jackrabbit will pre-fill the amount, however, this can be edited to a different amount when applicable.
     
     
5. Click the Use Card/Acct on File button to open the Post ePayment window.
   • If there is one card on file per family, that card will be processed. If you allow multiple cards on file per family, the Primary Card will be selected, but you can change to another card on file.
   • If you want to change the subject and header text for the approved payment email notification, select the Edit the Approved Email Subject and Header Text checkbox. Selecting this checkbox opens a field that allows you to make changes. The edits apply to this transaction only.
     
     
6. Click Submit ePayment. Jackrabbit transmits the request to your merchant processor and returns an approved or declined message. A new pop-up window displays the approved or declined details. This information is recorded to the Family record, on the Transactions tab, and the family balance is updated accordingly. Click OK to close the window and return to the Family record.
   Note: Because they don't process in real-time, bank account transactions are always initially approved. They can take up to 7-10 days to complete 'settlement' and can be declined during this time. Be sure to confirm a bank account transaction with your bank records. For more information, see Reconcile Bank Drafts with Bank Statements.

Use New Card Button (Process an Unsaved Credit Card)

With the Use New Card button, you can process an ePayment to a credit card that has not been previously saved to the family's account.

1. Open the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window from the Family record, from All Families, or from Make Sale/Post Fees.
   
   
2. Enter the payment details.
   • The Trans Date (transaction date) defaults to the current date (today's date). You can change this if needed.
   • The Transaction Type defaults to Payment (Credit) and should not be changed. 
   • Optionally, add a Subtype.
   • It is not necessary to enter a Method of payment. This will be auto-assigned based on the payment method used, e.g., Visa, Mastercard, or Bank Account.
     
     
3. Enter an amount in the Payment field.
   
   
4. Apply the payment to the unpaid fees displayed.
   • To apply the payment to the oldest fees first, click  Apply Payment to Oldest Fees First. 
   • To apply the payment to specific fees, click the field in the Apply Amt column for the specific fee to be paid. When you click the field, Jackrabbit will pre-fill the amount; however, this can be edited to a different amount when applicable.
     
     
5. Click the Use New Card button.
   
   
6. In the Enter/Swipe Credit Cardwindow:
   • Enter the credit card information manually, or if your ePayment gateway supports it, use a credit card swiper (not EMV). Note: If you are located in Canada and enter the card information manually, the CVV code will be required for the one-time transaction. This code is not saved in your database.
   • Enter the Card Billing Address and an Email Address. The Zip Code is a required field.
   • If you do not want to send a receipt to the Billing Contact Email, check the appropriate box.
   • Choose one of the Card Save Options (see below).

Jackrabbit Pay™️ Clients may have a slightly different experience, e.g., an additional step or a different field label. If you need assistance, contact our dedicated ePayments Team directly at payinfo@jackrabbittech.com.

7. Click Submit ePayment. Jackrabbit transmits the request to your merchant processor and returns an approved or declined message. A new pop-up window displays the approved or declined details. This information is recorded to the Family record, on the Transactions tab, and the family balance is updated accordingly. Click OK to close the window

Card Save Options

When you want to add a new card to use for ePayment, it will depend on how many cards are already on the account and the ePayment settings. You can set the ePayment settings to allow a max of 3 credit cards per family/account.

No Card on File These options are presented when there are no cards on file: Do not save card now; one-time use only Save as Primary Card
One or Multiple Cards on File These options are presented when multiple cards on file is set to No*: Do Not save card now; one-time use only Save and Replace Primary Card (delete existing primary card) *Gear (menu) > Settings > ePayments > Credit Card & Bank Account Settings > Manage Settings > Cards Accepted (left menu).
One or Multiple Cards on File These options are presented when multiple cards on file is set to Yes*: Do Not save card now; one-time use only Save as Secondary Card Save & Replace Primary Card (delete existing primary card) Save as Primary Card (former Primary card becomes a secondary card on file) *Gear (menu) > Settings > ePayments > Credit Card & Bank Account Settings > Manage Settings > Cards Accepted (left menu).
Three Cards (maximum) on File These options are presented when a maximum of 3 cards are saved on the account: Do Not save card now; one-time use only Save & Replace Primary Card (delete existing primary card)

Save & Split Payment (Split a credit card payment with another payment method)

Use the Save & Make Another Payment button to split a payment between an ePayment method and another payment method.

1. Open the Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window from the Family record, from All Families, or from Make Sale/Post Fees.
   
   
2. Enter the details of the cash or check portion of the split payment.
   • The Trans Date (transaction date) defaults to the current date (today's date). You can change this if needed.
   • The Transaction Type defaults to Payment (Credit) and should not be changed. 
   • Optionally, add a Subtype.
   • Add the Method of payment.
     
     
3. Click the Save & Make Another Payment button. The payment details are recorded to the Family record, on the Transactions tab, and the family balance is updated accordingly.
   
   
4. When the Payment/Credit Transaction window reopens, click the Use Card/Acct on File button or the Use New Card button to complete the 2nd part of the payment.

Example:

The family owes $180 and wants to pay $100 in cash and the remaining $80 with a credit card they have on file.  

• Click the Payment/Credit button.
• Change the Method to Cash.
• Change the Payment to $100.00.
• Click the Apply Amt field for the fees to be paid.
• Click Save & Make Another Payment.

• The Payment/Credit Transaction Entry window re-opens with a balance of $80.00.
• Click either the Use Card/Acct on File or the Use New Card button to process the $80 as an ePayment through the gateway.

What is Fee Linking and Why Does it Matter?

The process of linking payments and credits to fees is the foundation of Jackrabbit's revenue reporting. 

What does this mean? 

Let's break it down:

• Jackrabbit uses Category 1 to organize your revenue (payments).  Think of Category 1s as buckets that payments are dropped into for classification. Learn more about Class Categories - Category 1, 2, and 3.
  
  
• The Category 1 value is assigned to, i.e., lives on, the fee transaction.
  
  
• When a payment is made, you'll decide what fee the payment is for and apply it to that fee; this is called linking. When you link a payment to a fee, it's as if you've dropped the payment into that fee's Category 1 bucket, and the payment takes on that Category 1 for the purposes of revenue reporting. 

Why does it matter?

Ensuring that all payments and credits are applied to fees, with the exception of prepayments, keeps your revenue reports and customer statements accurate and dependable.

Benefits of accurate revenue reports:

• Forecast future income with confidence using your revenue reports.
• Analyze revenue reports to show the growth of your business.
• Collect unpaid fees with ease when your families can easily see which fees are unpaid through the Parent Portal.

What is next?

Now that you understand what fee linking is and why it's so important, you'll need to know how to link a payment to a fee and how to find and fix unlinked transactions.

Learn more about:

• How a payment is linked to a fee
• How to locate and correct unlinked transactions

An unapplied credit is a credit transaction that is not linked to a fee.

There are many reasons why you should ensure that unapplied credits are reviewed regularly:

• Payments that have not been applied cannot be categorized in your revenue reports and will appear as "Unapplied Payments".
• Fees that were paid but were not correctly linked to the payment will appear as unpaid. This can lead to errors when collecting from your customers. 
• Unapplied credits can result in the wrong amount being processed during an ePayments batch.

There are several ways to locate and apply unapplied credits, this article covers how to locate unapplied credits from within a Family record.

From the Transactions tab of the Family record, you can review an individual family's account to locate any credits that have not been applied to fees. 

If there are any unapplied credits on the family's account, the View Unapplied Credits & Unpaid Fees button is highlighted (in green) to allow you to quickly identify all unapplied credits and apply them to unpaid fees. The unapplied credits are also highlighted (in green) in the family's transaction listing.

Let's step through how to apply the credit to the unpaid fees in the example shown above.

The family has a balance of $235 but the total of unpaid fees is $300 and the View Unapplied Credits & Unpaid Fees button is highlighted.

1. Click View Unapplied Credits & Unpaid Fees.
   • The report shows that there is an unapplied credit from 9/15/2019  in the amount of $65 that is available to link to an unpaid fee.
     
     
2.  Click the Pencil next to the unapplied credit.
   
   
3. Click ReApply Payment.
   • Locate one of the unpaid fees and click in the Apply Amt field.
     
4.  Click Save Payment.

The report now shows only the 3 unpaid fees totaling $235 which is the balance on the family's account.

To record the refund of a cash or check payment:

1. Be sure you are viewing the correct family's Transactions tab and locate the payment you want to refund. (You may need to click View Transaction History.)
2. Click the R icon on the payment line.
3. Change the Post Date if necessary and indicate how you plan to refund the money using the Refund Method drop-down list.
4. Optionally, add a Refund Check # and/or Note.
5. For a partial refund check the fees to be refunded and edit the Refund Amt field if you're not refunding the entire fee. Click Check All Rows if issuing a full refund.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Are Fees Still Due? window select Due or Not Due for each fee being refunded.
   
   Examples:
   Due - A family accidentally pays a fee that is not due for another 3 months. They would like a refund and will pay the fee when it is due; the fee would be marked as due.
   
   Not Due - A student drops a class for medical reasons and is eligible for a refund. The fee will not be paid at a later date; the fee would be marked as not due.
   Note: If a payment has not been linked to fees (is unapplied) it cannot be marked as still due. An example would be an account overpayment. Because the payment was for more than the total of the fees owing, there will be an unapplied credit on the account. The unapplied credit cannot be marked as due.
   
8. Click Submit Refund.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are still owing at a later date (you marked them Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund Overpayment transaction is added to the account and is linked to the original payment.
• The account balance is increased by the amount refunded.
• The previously paid fees are now highlighted as being unpaid.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are not owing at a later date (you marked them Not Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund - xxx (where x is the type of fee refunded) transaction is added to the account and is linked to both the original payment and the refunded fee.
• A Refund Adjustment transaction is added to the account for the refunded amount and is linked to the refund transaction(s). The account balance is unchanged.
• The previously paid fees remain showing as paid.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q.  Why can't I see the column that the R icon is supposed to be in?

A.  In order to see the R icon column and refund payments, you need the Post a Refund user permission checked for your user ID. User permissions are updated under the Gear (icon) > Settings >  Users & Permissions User IDs (left menu) and select a user under Manage Users.

Q.  I have permission to post refunds, but there is no R icon next to a payment. Why?

A.  If a payment has already been fully refunded, the R icon is no longer visible.

Q.  Why is the Refund button still available if I'm supposed to use the R icon?

A.  As we transition to the new way of handling refunds, we left the Refund button in place, however, it now opens with a list of the family's last 20 payments.

If you can catch an error before your transactions are batched out from your gateway account (daily) and sent to your merchant processor for settlement, you will be able to void the transaction as opposed to having to refund it. The benefit with this is that no charge will hit your client's credit card. See Set a Settlement Schedule in ePayment Settings for more information on batch settlement schedules.

In some cases the card issuing bank may place a hold on funds when the credit card is charged. A void does NOT remove that hold, it simply stops the charge from processing. The hold typically will drop off after a couple of days.

1. Be sure you are viewing the correct family's Transactions tab, and locate the payment that you want to void. (You may need to click View Transaction History.)
2. Click the R icon on the payment line.
3. If the payment has not yet settled with the merchant processor, the Void Transaction pop-up box will open and you'll notice two options.
   
   

• Click Void & Change Payment Amount to $0 to unlink the payment from the fee(s) and change the payment amount to $0. Using this option allows you to maintain a record of the payment being voided. This will change the payment amount to $0 and add a note regarding the payment change. The balance will also be adjusted so that the family owes the voided amount. Check Send void receipt to send a receipt of the voided transaction to the email associated with the credit card.

• Click Void & Delete Payment if you want to completely delete the payment line from the family's transactions. This will completely remove the payment from the family's transaction history. The balance will also be adjusted so that the family owes the voided amount. Check Send void receipt to send a receipt of the voided transaction to the email associated with the credit card.

When the R is clicked on a credit card payment to initiate a refund a query is sent to the gateway. If the payment has settled with the merchant processor the Refund Transaction window will open. If the payment has not yet settled with the processor the Void Transaction window will open instead. See Void a Credit Card Payment that Hasn't Settled with the Processor.

Follow these steps to generate a refund and record it on the family's account:

1. Be sure you are viewing the correct family's Transactions tab, and locate the payment that you want to refund. (You may need to click View Transaction History.)
2. Click the R on the payment line.
3. If the transaction has settled with the processor the Refund Transaction window will open.
4. Because the original payment was a credit card ePayment, the Post Date and Refund Method are not editable.
5. If you will be refunding the payment by a different method than the original card used, click Refund by Different Payment Method. See Refund a Settled Credit Card Payment with a Different Payment Method.
6. Optionally, add a Note.
7. Check which fee(s) to refund and change the Refund Amt field if you are refunding a partial amount.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Are Fees Still Due? window select Due or Not Due for each fee being refunded.
   Examples:
   Due - A family accidentally pays a fee that is not due for another 3 months. They would like a refund and will pay the fee when it is due; the fee would be marked as due.
   Not Due - A student drops a class for medical reasons and is eligible for a refund. The fee will not be paid at a later date; the fee would be marked as not due.
    Note: If a payment has not been linked to fees (is unapplied) it cannot be marked as still due. An example would be an account overpayment. Because the payment was for more than the total of the fees owing, there will be an unapplied credit on the account. The unapplied credit cannot be marked as due.
10. Submit Refund.
11. The Refund Request is transmitted to your ePayments gateway and applied to the family's credit card.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are still owing at a later date (you marked them Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund Overpayment transaction is added to the account and is linked to the original payment.
• The account balance is increased by the amount refunded.
• The previously paid fees are now highlighted as being unpaid.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are not owing at a later date (you marked them Not Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund - xxx (where x is the type of fee refunded) transaction is added to the account and is linked to the original payment and the refunded fee.
• A Refund Adjustment transaction is added to the account for the refunded amount and is linked to the refund transaction(s).
• The account balance is unchanged.
• The previously paid fees remain showing as paid.

Refunding a payment that was originally made with a credit card, by any means other than back to the same exact card, is against Visa/MC regulations and is not recommended by Jackrabbit. 

We do realize, however, there are circumstances where it may be necessary to refund the family with a different payment method other than the credit card originally used, eg. the credit card was canceled. For these circumstances, we offer the option to Refund by Different Payment Method.

1. Locate the payment you want to refund in the family's Transactions tab (you may need to click View Transaction History).
2. Click the R on the payment line.
   • If the Void Transaction pop-up box displays, refer to How to Void a Credit Card Payment that Hasn't Settled with the Processor. 
   • If the Refund Transaction pop-up box displays proceed to Step 4.
   • Because the original payment was a credit card ePayment, the Post Date and Refund Method are not editable.
3. Click the Refund by Different Payment Method button.
   • A window opens warning that changing to refund by a different method will NOT process the refund to the credit card. It will only record a refund transaction in Jackrabbit. 
   • Opt to go back and refund to the credit card by clicking the Refund ePayment to Credit Card button and follow the directions in Refund a Credit Card Payment That Has Settled. To continue to only record the refund, click the Record Refund in Jackrabbit Only button.
   • The Post Date and Refund Method are now editable for you to complete for the method to be used. You can't refund to a credit card other than the original card used, however, you are able to refund with a check or cash. Note: Switching the Refund Method to a different credit card will NOT place the refund onto that card it is simply recording the refund transaction (that must be done outside of Jackrabbit) to the family's account.
4. Add a Note if applicable.
5. Check which fee(s) to refund and change the Refund Amt field if you are refunding a partial amount.
6. Select Due or Not Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window for each fee being refunded.
   • Examples:
     Due - A family accidentally pays a fee that is not due for another 3 months. They would like a refund and will pay the fee when it is due; the fee would be marked as due.
     Not Due - A student drops a class for medical reasons and is eligible for a refund. The fee will not be paid at a later date; the fee would be marked as not due.
     Note: If payment has not been linked to fees (is unapplied) it cannot be marked as still due. An example would be an account overpayment. Because the payment was for more than the total of the fees owing, there will be an unapplied credit on the account. The unapplied credit cannot be marked as due.
7. Click Submit Refund.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are still owing at a later date (you marked them Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund Overpayment transaction is added to the account and is linked to the original payment.
• The account balance is increased by the amount refunded.
• The previously paid fees are now highlighted as being unpaid.

If the fees that had been paid by the refunded payment are not owing at a later date (you marked them Not Due in the Are Fees Still Due? window):

• A Refund - xxx (where x is the type of fee refunded) transaction is added to the account and is linked to the original payment and the refunded fee.
• A Refund Adjustment transaction is added to the account for the refunded amount and is linked to the refund transaction(s)
• The account balance is unchanged.
• The previously paid fees remain showing as paid.

The Deposit Slip is like your go-to cheat sheet for tracking all incoming payments, neatly sorted by how people pay.

Get to this report from the Reports menu > Find Reports > Transactions/Financials (left menu) > Recommended tab.

• Reconcile your bank accounts using this report with easy cross-referencing for ePayments.
• Generate a deposit slip to include with your bank deposits for cash and check payments.
• Run the report by Jackrabbit User to settle your cash drawer each shift.

When you have worked through all of the articles outlined in the lesson, select the Take the Quiz button to be taken to the Lesson #11 Quiz where you can test your understanding of the concepts in this lesson.  You will be asked to enter an email address for quiz results to be sent. The quiz includes a Review question.

Quiz #11 - Collect Payment from an Individual Family

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