Customer Discounts

EDIFICE offers different types of discounts that can be given to customers and are described below.  The system is also designed to allow discounts to be generated in different ways.  This allows your utility flexibility in offering discounts to different types of customers or to only offer discounts to certain customers and not others.

There are 4 types of customer discounts, but it's important to note that an individual customer can only be assigned 1 type of discount.

1.  None - The customer is not eligible for a discount and a discount is not calculated.

2.  Term - The customer discount is calculated and prints on the bill, but must be taken at the time of payment if the payment date is prior to the billing run discount date.

3.  Cumulative Term - The customer discount is calculated and printed on bills and is taken at the time of payment, regardless of the payment date.
Example:  senior citizen discount

4.  Trade - The customer discount is calculated and taken at the time of billing, reducing the amount due on the customer's bill.
Tip:  For printed instructions, see Setting Up Trade Discounts Instructions.

Directions:

To see directions for...

• Setting up Customer Term and Cumulative Term Discounts, click More.

   

  Discounts can be generated in 2 ways:

  • Generate individual customer discounts with transaction codes, which allows you to provide different discount rates for different types of billing transactions or to only discount certain types of charges.  

  • Generate discounts for all eligible customers using a single, universal discount rate for a service.

  When each of the pieces outlined below are in place, term and cumulative term discounts will be generated for eligible customers.

   

  1.  Setup for generating customer discounts by transaction code

  Use this method to calculate discounts for only some billing transactions.

  a.  Add the discount rate to the transaction codes.  
  For each eligible billing transaction code, set the discount multiplier field to be the percentage of the charge that should be returned to the customer if the payment is received by the discount date (term).  In this example, the discount multiplier is set to 0.10000, so 10% is being refunded.  If needed, you can also set the discount type and discount step 1 cap, to influence how the discount is calculated.

  

   

  b.  Include transaction codes that are set to calculate a discount in the appropriate billing transaction profile.

  Make sure the transaction codes that are set to calculate a discount are included in the appropriate billing transaction profiles used by eligible customers.

  

   

  c.  Create the payment discount transaction code and set the following fields:

  1.  Enter a rate code of DISC.

  2.  Enter DISCOUNT or similar for the description.

  3.  Set the transaction type to Cash Entry.

  4.  Set the cash code to Term Discount.

  

   

  d.  Make sure the payment discount transaction code is included on the appropriate cash transaction profile or multi-cash profile.

   

    

   

  e.  Set the eligible customers to receive a term or cumulative term discount.

  • Use either the Edit Customer Service wizard or use the Services view of the Enhanced Inquiry.
  • Set the customer's discount code to Term or Cumulative Term.
  • Do this for each service to be discounted.

   

  2.  Setup for generating customer discounts using a single discount rate for all eligible customers

  Use this method to apply the same discount to all billing transaction codes for eligible customers.

  a.  Set the discount rate for the service.  Go to Service Setting Maintenance and for the desired services add the discount percentage in the discount rate field.  If needed, the discount type can be changed and a discount step 1 cap can be set, to influence how the discount is calculated.

  

   

  b.  Set the eligible customers to receive a term or cumulative term discount.

  2. Use either the Edit Customer Service wizard or use the Services view of the Enhanced Inquiry.

  3. Set the customer's discount code to Term or Cumulative Term.

  4. Do this for each service to be discounted.

  c.  Create the payment discount transaction code and make sure it's included on the appropriate cash transaction profile or multi-cash profile.  See step c above for directions.

   

• Setting up for Trade Discounts for Customers, click More.

   

  Setting Up Trade Discounts

  When each of the pieces below are in place, trade discounts will be generated at the time of billing.  Note that if a customer is being billed manually, the charges must be committed before the trade discount can be entered.  

   

  1.  Create a discount transaction code during Transaction Code Maintenance and assign the following fields:

  • Transaction Type:  Select Bill Entry.

  • Debit/Credit:  Select Credit.

  • Calculation Type:  Select 2-Flat.

  • Billing Code:  Select Trade Discount.

  • Age Category:  Select Charge.

  • Age:  Select Current.

  • Reversal Age:  Select Current.

  2.  Set the company record for discounts.  

  1. Assign the trade transaction code field to be the transaction code set up above.

  2. The allow credit trade discount option should only be set to Y, if the discount is limited to customers with a credit balance at the time of billing.

  3.  Set transaction codes that are eligible for trade discount to calculate.

  1. For each eligible transaction code, set the Discount Multiplier field to be the percentage of the charge that should be returned to the customer at the time of billing.  For example, if the discount multiplier is set to 0.10000, then you are refunding 10%.

  4.  Set the appropriate customers to receive a trade discount.

  2. Use either the Edit Customer Service wizard or use the Services view of the Enhanced Inquiry.

  3. Set the customer's Discount Code to Trade.

   

  Applying a Trade Discount during Manual Bill Entry

  Here is an example of how the trade discount works when a bill is entered manually.  For those customers whose account has been set to be eligible for a trade discount, the S System connection shown in the connections area of the Bill Entry screen is used to automatically generate the trade discount as seen below.  The system will prompt for this entry after the normal billing transactions for the customer's connections are committed.  Simply tab through the fields for the detail line and click Add to List.  Then, click Commit to complete the discount transaction for the customer.  

   

  

   

   

  Billing Journal with Trade Discount Example

   

  

   

• How Discounts Work, click More.

   

  1.  During Bill Entry During the Billing Run window of Bill Entry, enter a discount date, which is used as an if paid by date for customers with a term discount. If the transaction code holds a discount multiplier, a discount amount is calculated for the billing transaction.  Or, if the service holds the discount rate, this rate is used to calculate the discount amount for each detail line in Bill Entry. Note:  Here is how the different types of discounts are processed during billing: For customers with a discount set to None, no discount amount is calculated. For customers with a term or cumulative term discount, the discount amount is calculated at this time but not subtracted from the billing transaction amount. For customers with a Trade discount, the system generates a trade discount billing transaction line, which is a credit included on the customer's statement.

  2.  During the Billing Post For customers with a term or cumulative term discount, the calculated discount amount updates the customer's discount amount and the billing run discount date updates the customer's discount date field. For customers with a trade discount, the discount-billing transaction credit is applied to the customer's current balance.

  When Payments are Received during Cash Receipts Entry 1.  When you enter a payment for a customer who is eligible a discount: If the customer has a term discount and the discount date is on or before the cash date, the discount amount is applied like a payment to the customer balance. If the customer has a cumulative term discount, they receive the discount regardless of the discount date. Notes: In addition, if the customer is a budget customer and the Application Options Record Budget Disc Active field is set to Yes, they will receive the discount automatically.   If the customer is a budget customer and the Application Option Record Budget Disc Active is set to No, they will not receive a discount automatically. Tip:  You can edit the payment transaction and include or exclude the customer's discount amount as needed. If the Application Options Record Allow Forced Discount is set to Yes but the discount date has passed, then you can choose to manually enter a discount for the customer with a term discount.   2.  When the Cash Receipts Post is run, if the customer is coded to receive a term or cumulative term discount, the customer's current charges and their total balance are reduced by the discount amount. Tip:  For customers with a trade discount, discount amounts are applied to their total balance during the Billing Post.