Fee Automation

 

General

 

On the ‘Other, Invoicing’ menu, there are options of ‘Invoices’ (which shows all invoices) and ‘Scheme Invoices’ (which shows invoices for the selected scheme).

The invoices may be filtered depending on whether they have been paid or whether the invoice is a draft.

 

Both screens have buttons for ‘New Annual invoice’ and ‘New Interim invoice’.

 

When these buttons are clicked, Omni will work out the invoice values automatically using the scheme data stored in Omni and the standard fee rates. These values can be accepted or overriden.

 

The details can be merged into a Word document.

 

The invoice details are initially stored as a ‘draft’ invoice. Once you are happy with the contents of the invoice, you can finalise the invoice (by unticking the ‘Draft’ box).

 

Annual invoice

 

The Annual Invoice will calculate values for both Regular Fees and Event Fees and time cost (if Omni Work is used):

 

                Regular fees are the Establishment Fee, the Annual Fee, Pension Withdrawal Fees and VAT Monitoring fees. 

Event fees are Property Purchase, Transfer In and BCE

 

Regular fees relate to the future and event fees cover the period since the previous invoice.

 

Interim invoice

 

The Interim Invoice will omit the Regular Fees (and is intended for billing ‘extras’ since the previous invoice).  

 

Dates

 

1.     The Billing Dates (‘Billed From’ / ‘Billed To’) define the period for which the annual fees are calculated.

2.     For an annual invoice, the ‘Billed From’ date is the day after the ‘Billed To’ date of the previous annual invoice, which ensures continuity of invoices.

3.     For an interim invoice the ‘Billed From’ date is the day after the later of:

·         The ‘Billed From’ date of the previous annual invoice

·         The ‘Billed To’ date of any previous interim invoice

4.     The ‘Billed To’ date of an annual invoice will be the next anniversary of the ‘Billed From’ date in the future (ensures the invoice is for at least 12 months and is up to date).

5.     The ‘Billed To’ date of an interim invoice will be today’s date.

6.     Dates can be amended manually, and upon doing so, the invoice will be automatically re-calculated.

 

Annual Fee:

 

The period for the Annual Fee will be from the ‘Billed From’ date to the ‘Billed To’ date of this invoice.  This period will be apportioned to a standard calendar year and applied at the rate held in the Fee settings for the scheme’s service level.

 

E.g.         Service Level: Simplified (Rate: £350 per year).

                Period: 01/06/2007 to 01/01/2009 = 580 days = 1.586 years

                Fee: 350*1.58 = 555.21

 

Pension Withdrawal Fee:

 

A pensioner is determined by their member status (being ‘Pensioner’ or ‘Spouse receiving pension’).  The period for pension withdrawal fees will be the same as that of the Annual Fee.  The fee will be applied at the rate held in the Fee settings for the Billed From date.

 

When a pension starts, an invoice (interim or annual) should always be issued to cover the fee for the BCE plus the first pensioner fee. The pensioner fee will be for the period between the date pension started and the Biiled To date of the current annual invoice. 

 

Changing Year End

 

If the scheme year end changes, an Annual Invoice should always be generated. The Billed To date should be amended to the new year end (the Billed From date should remain in line with the Billed To date of the previous invoice). For instance, if the year end was previously 30th September and on 31st March 2008 it was changed to 31st March, the invoice would be issued in April 2008 and cover the period 30/09/2008 to 31st March 2009. The next invoice would then be standard.

 

Transfer-In Fees:

 

For an interim invoice, the period for transactions will be the invoice period.  For an annual invoice, the period will be from the last date transactions were invoiced up to (i.e. the later of the ‘Billed To’ date of the last interim invoice or the ‘Billed From Date’ of the last annual invoice).

 

For each transfer-in, a fee will be levied at the flat rate held in the Fee settings applicable on the transfer date.

 

Member Events:

 

The period will be the same as for the Transfer-In Fees.  Any BCE during the period will be charged at the rate in the Fee settings applicable at that BCE date. The rate can be different for the first or subsequent BCEs.

 

Property Purchase:

 

The period will be the same as for the Transfer Fees.  Any bank transaction present within the period with the description of ‘Property Purchase’ will be charged at the flat property purchase rate held in the Fee settings for that date.

 

Property Administration:

 

The period for Property Administration will be the same as for the Annual fees unless the Property was bought / sold during the period. If no fee is set for the individual property then the current default will be used and applied from the rate held in the Fee settings.

 

If a fee for that property was set in the property screen, this will be increased using the increases for all subsequent years in the Fee Settings. 

 

VAT Monitoring

 

If the scheme has any property that is registered for VAT a flat fee will be charged for VAT monitoring. This is charged once per scheme and not per property.

 

Time Cost + Extras:

 

The period will be the same as for the Transfer Fees.  Any time within the period will be costed using the time cost rates set within OmniWork (a fixed fee will take priority over the hourly rate).

 

Manual Items

 

Additional items that do not fit directly into the pre-defined categories may be added as ‘Manual items’.  Along with the value, a description may be entered and these will be reflected on the invoice after merging.

 

Extra Items

 

1.     The invoice will recognise the administrator and display their initials (as long as the user is set up on the Staff screen).

2.     The invoice will initially be a ‘draft’ invoice – this will not have an invoice number until finalised.

3.     The draft status of an invoice will be reflected on the invoice after merging.

4.     When a draft is finalised, the invoice will be assigned the next available invoice number.

5.     Upon de-selecting draft you will be asked if you wish to mark all the time cost items as billed – this will update the records in the OmniWork program.

 

VAT

 

VAT is automatically calculated and added to all fees (with the exception of disbursements). 

 

Merging

 

If a merged invoice is not correct, the data should be amended In Omni and the invoice re-merged – this ensures that any invoices sent out always reflect what is actually stored in Omni. 

 

N.B. changing data in the Word document will not be stored in Omni.

 

Rates

 

Your fee menu should be stored on the Rates screen.

 

Workings

 

There is a workings button on the invoice which allows you to see how/why Omni calculated each of the fees it applies.  These workings are not updated if the user amends the amounts – the user can amend the workings if required. The workings are replaced if the Bille From or the Billed To date is changed – any user amendments to the workings will be lost. 

 

Warnings

 

In order to correctly pick up all chargeable events, all the scheme’s transactions should be both posted and imported.  If there are any transactions yet to be posted / imported, with an effective date during the transaction period, Omni will add a warning message to the workings.

 

Reviving Invoices

 

Once an invoice has been finalised, Omni prevents the data being amended because the invoice will have been issued to the client. However, there may be occasions where the invoice has been finalised in error. The Revive button allows the user to convert a finalised invoice back to draft. The invoice can then be amended and finalised again in the normal way.

 

When a finalised invoice is revived, a record is kept of the invoice details as they applied before being revived so that any changes can be tracked. The menu option ‘Other, Invoicing, Revised Invoices’ shows a list of all invoices that have been revived, which can be sent to Excel.

 

Resetting Invoice Numbers

 

Invoice numbers are generated sequentially. If you want to reset the invoice number sequence, e.g. at the start of a new year, enter the invoice in the normal way (which will generate a number on the old sequence) and then use the Settings screen to amend the number to start the new sequence. Subsequent invoices entered in the normal way will follow the reset sequence.

 

Date Paid

 

When a date is entered in the Date Paid field (for the first time) and the OK button is clicked, Omni may create a bank transaction, depending on the setting on the ‘Invoices’ tab. If the date is later amended, no action is taken.

 

The bank transaction is created in the ‘main’ bank account for that scheme as follows:

·         The Effective Date is stored in the Date Due field of the bank transaction

·         The Payment Category is ‘Fees’ and the Description is ‘Admin Fees’.

·         the VAT element is only stored if the scheme is registered for VAT

·         The Comments field shows the invoice number.

·         The transaction is either Expected, New or Posted, depending on the global setting.

·         No action is taken if a Fees transaction already exists for that date.

 

Process

 

In summary, the intended process is:

 

1.     Run the XL invoicing report monthly.  This will show those schemes where the previous billing period has expired.  Any chargeable events (such as a Property Purchase) will also trigger the scheme to appear on this report.

2.     Create an invoice for the scheme.

3.     View the invoice workings.

4.     Check it is correct and if not change the underlying data

5.     Repeat steps 2 to 4 until invoice is correct.

6.     Once the invoice is correct remove the ‘draft’ flag and merge to a Word document.