Defining billing products

1. From the Staff site, go to Membership > Billing products.
2. In the Billing products window, click Add new billing product.
3. Select a product Type. The product type is a system-maintained code that allows iMIS Billing to manage the relationships among files and other modules that are affected by billing:
• Chapter Membership Fees (CHAPT) – Use this code for separate chapter membership dues. Chapter products are created when a new chapter is defined with Standard pricing.
• Membership Fees (DUES) – Use this code for all normal membership billing-fee items. This code normally is used for standard non-optional fee line items that are cross-referenced when creating or editing a Customer type.
• Miscellaneous Items (MISC) – Reserved for miscellaneous charges. Normally, special pricing rules dictate the conditions for charging for a miscellaneous item. For example, special pricing rules that are based on the Join Date.
• Sections and Specialty Groups (SEC) – Use this code for optional add-on section memberships such as professional specialty groups. Generally, this type would not be defined at the Customer type level, because SEC normally represents groups that are joined only by request. After a customer has subscribed to this product type, iMIS enables you to automatically bill for initial billing and renewals through cycle definition rules.
• Journals and Other Subscriptions (SUB) – Use this code for optional subscriptions such as journals and magazines. This product type would not be defined within the Customer type, because SUB items are optional. After a customer has subscribed to this product type, iMIS enables you to automatically bill for initial billing and renewals through cycle definition rules.
• Voluntary Contributions (VOL) – Use this code for non-mandatory contributions such as PACs or foundations. VOL typically will be cross-referenced when creating or editing a Customer type; however, open items of this product type will not appear on Reminder Notices unless non-voluntary items within the same cycle still have open balances. Voluntary contributions are editable; customers can edit the Amount of voluntary contributions before going to the cart.
4. Enter a Code that identifies the product. The code entered should not contain any spaces or special characters other than an underscore ( _ ), and should contain no more than 15 alphanumeric characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9.

This code is used in the Billing Codes field on the Customer types page (go to Settings > Contacts > Customer types).

A billing product Code must not be named the same as a Product Type, such as DUES or SUB, for example. The product will not be displayed when the Use to display itemized web renewals option on a billing cycle is selected.

Note: Product codes that end in _Credit can bill and retain negative or credit balances. For example, the code AVAIL_CREDIT can be used to apply overpayments to offset next year's dues.

5. Enter a descriptive Name for the billing product. This name will display on the customer's bill and on other windows.
6. (optional for CHAPT product types) Enter information in the Group fields. The Group fields are only available while creating a billing product if the Chapters Group labels have already been defined (go to Settings > Contacts > System options). For more information, see System options.
7. (optional) Enter a detailed description in the Description field.
8. (optional for CHAPT product types) Enter any relevant notes in the Notes field.
9. (optional) Configure Pricing options:

   Note: The Pricing options are only available to Staff users who are assigned the Dues: 5 - Table Maintenance level assignment or greater. See Module authorization levels for more information.

   • Define a Standard price for non-members, and a Discount price for members. These prices must be written in standard currency format.
   • Billing products are typically listed with other billing products, for example, memberships, subscriptions, or voluntary contributions. The Pay priority value determines the order in which the billing products are displayed and paid for. The higher the priority number, the lower the priority. A product with a Pay priority of 1 will always come first.
   • Enter a Term span in months if you want to override the Standard billing interval. This indicates the number of months for which the chapter will be renewed when payment is received. See Configuring billing options for more information.
   • Select a Prorate rule. See Membership settings for more information.

   Note: The Prorate rule options that appear depend on the default prorating options defined in the Membership settings window. If Do not prorate is enabled, the Prorate rule options will not appear.

10. (optional) Configure Accounting options:

Note: The Accounting options are only available to Staff users who are assigned the Dues: 5 - Table Maintenance level assignment or greater. See Module authorization levels for more information.

• Select the Financial entity to which the billing fee will be deposited. If this is a Charitable item, select a charitable financial entity. If the Financial entity field is left blank, the default financial entity will be used.
• Enable Charitable item if the billing fee is to be recognized as a gift.
  • Enter a Fair market value. This value defines the value of the benefit (if any) that a donor is receiving in exchange for purchasing the Charitable item with which the Fair market value is associated.
• Select the Income and Deferred general ledger accounts to associate with this chapter product. Begin typing to populate the field. These accounts are defined in the GL_ACCOUNT general lookup table. See General lookup tables for more information.

Note: The Deferred drop-down requires a Deferred Income license. Contact ASI for more information.

• Click Save & Exit.

Do the following to define special pricing:

1. In the Advanced Accounting Console, go to Finance > Options > Set up tables > Products.
2. Select a value from the Current Products list to which special pricing will apply (for example, DUES-BASIC).
3. Click Special Prices to open the Special Pricing window. The product code selected from the Set up products window automatically displays in the Product field on the Special Pricing window.
4. Click New. The Base Amount field displays.

Note: To modify an existing rule, select the rule and click Edit.

5. Define a special pricing rule by entering the Type, Description, and Base Amount. Other options might also be selected such as Flat Amount, Exact Match, and so forth.

Note: Some pricing rules require a basic understanding of SQL and user-defined fields. See a SQL manual for information about entering SQL commands.

6. Click Save.

Billing categories are optional subcategories of a customer type which define membership fee amounts when the customer type is not specific enough for an association's needs. Do the following to create a new billing category:

1. From the Staff site, go to Settings > Utilities > General lookup tables.
2. From General tables, select CATEGORY, or create the CATEGORY table.
3. Select Add new row.
4. Enter the billing Code.
5. Enter a Description that will help identify the billing code.
6. Click Save & Continue.
7. Continue adding billing categories, then click Close.