eBECAS Financials

Index

Debits (payments out)

The purpose of this documentation is to provide assistance in entering fees that need to be paid to the College for students courses and services, by students and their agents, receipt, reconcile banking, schedule payments to homestay providers, insurance providers, airport transfer providers and agents for commissions. This section also provides information about student fees due and setting up part payments for student accounts.

Reports are available to calculate income to be recognised in a period, using different calculation methods. All Reports now have the option to be saved as a pdf file, for later reference or to be sent to external service providers e.g. accountants.

Offers and Enrolments

Equator IT has designed eBECAS so that an offer is a “maybe” and is completely flexible. It has no attached debtor account. An accepted offer which generates an enrolment is a “definite” and has financial consequences. As enrolment has invoices with fees for service, and student waiting for class placement. The enrolement invoices are includes in the debtors (accounts receivable) listings.

An offer does not have financial impacts; it is a tool for marketing and sales. An offer is a document detailing prices and services offered to students and agents. Within the system offers are totally flexible. Any detail within an offer can be changed, including fees, discounts, charges, courses, start date, and length.

An offer does not impact financials (you do not create an invoice or have fees due). An offer does not allow a student to be placed in a class, a offer for a student does not have a homestay place reserved, an offer for a student does not have a airport transfer booked, all only have prices listed. Offers are just a means of preparing and negotiating a potential contract. The offer does not become a contract for service until it is 'accepted'.

An enrolment is a contract for service and an invoice is generated at the time of conversion . Extra invoices can be added, but once an invoices is generated it cannot be deleted or changed in financial terms (the course dates can be adjusted).

An enrolment is generated from an accepted offer. For every enrolment, there is legal contact between the college and the student. All invoices are recorded within the students account and in the receivables ledger. Other financial transactions (payments, receipts, refunds) are also recorded within the enrolment (fees tab). A complete history must be kept, including who when where and why. The original contract and transactions must be transparent to the student, agent and users of eBECAS. There can be no short cuts when it comes to changes of course, length, agent, discounts, credits and debits of fees. All transactions must have an audit trail.

Invoices

Any invoice (accepted enrolment) generated in eBECAS is a contract and therefore needs to be treated like one. There can be no short cuts to documenting what is happening when it comes to changes of courses or altering fees due to be paid.

Pro forma invoices are generated initially as offers. When an offer is accepted the system generates an invoice for service (see Admissions - How do I enter an Offer). An invoice is a legally enforeable list of fees due to be paid. The date when the invoice was raised is automatically date and time stamped. This is the invoice date.

The date the invoice is due to be paid is separate from the invoice date. The due date can be displayed from the invoice display. (select invoice drop down). From the transaction display, the due date can be changed by selecting the invoice and right mouse clicking, where a change due date option is displayed.

The due date is generally set in the offer - scheduled payments, before acceptance and generating an enrolment. From the Fees - Transaction display, if before receipting or crediting any fees, a new payment schedule for all or part fees can be specified by selecting the Fees Schedule option, where a wizard is displayed that enables you to re-specify the fee payments.

Receipting

When entering a receipt it is important to remember that you are receipting exactly the money you have received. If you receive more or less money then what is invoiced this does not matter. What physical money you have received is the money that you receipt in eBECAS.

The menu option from the Fees left panel to choose is Receipt.

The Receipt wizard is displayed.

Receipt wizard is displayed. If you also use a manual receipt book, then the Reference No (number or text entry) can be entered. The receipt date automatically displays todays date, but can be selected and set to the appropriate date. The bank account the money is being receipted against can be selected.

One or more payments can be made. From the Payment Type drop-down select the type of payment: cash, cheque (or check), credit card, direct deposit, EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer point of sale reference), money order or telegraphic transfer. Enter any drawer or details and the amount of that deposit. As there can be multiple deposit types (for example cash and credit card) for the one receipt, make sure the receipt total is what agrees with what is received. I am making out a cash receipt for $2050.

The next screen in the wizard is displayed. As you can have multiple invoices, you need to choose the invoice you are receipting against.

Because we are not receipting the full amount you cannot just click the pay column, as the full outstanding amount will be filled in for you, you need to manually enter the amount being receipted against that invoice. In this instance it is the full $2050. Enter the pay amount as $ 2050

Select next, for the next screen in the wizard. We are now asked to identify the fees in the invoice this payment is for. If the invoice is paid in full, this screen is not displayed. The next button to complete the wizard is only displayed if the total selected / entered against the fee/s totals the receipt amount.

Press next, then Finish.

The Enrol Details - Fees tab now includes the receipt for $2050.

Credit expenses

A credit is a payment not received for an invoiced fee. The credit types in eBECAS are Discount fee, Write-off fee, Currency Fluctuation, Bank Charge, Credit - Agent fee.

Discount Fees

A discount can be applied as a percentage, or a fixed value. If a discount is applied to the tuition fee then the same discount percentage value should be applied to the agent fee. If the fee includes a gst portion, the gst value will be credited also. A discount is usually a reduction in the charged rate. To completely discount the fee, would be better identified as a write-off.

Updated fees showing Credit Discount of Homestay placement for $100

Write-off Fees

Writing off a fee, means that the fee will not be recovered, and will not be received and is no longer due for payment. You can only completely write off the fee, otherwise you should be using discounting for a partial write-off.

Updated fees showing Credit Write-off of Airport Transfer - One Way for $80

Currency Fluctuation and Bank Charges

In eBECAS as we receipt by fee, if there are fees that have not been paid completely through Currency fluctuation or bank charge, you can identify the fee as no longer needing to be paid or have any outstanding fees due. Usually you receipt the fees you have before entering the bank Charge or Currency Fluctuation. I will work an example where the outstanding student fees are $2426. The agent paid gross (all fees including agent commission) the amount received via direct deposit was $2411

The receipt amount is entered. Then press next.

You then specify the amount you are paying against which invoice (tehre can be multiple invoices to pay). The next button is only revealed when you tab to enter the data and the amount receipted agrees with the total paid against the invoices.

It is recommended to leave the outstanding fee to be against a non course fee (tuition and agent). in this example I left the outstanding $15 to be against the Hoemstay placement fee.

Press next and finish, to now display the Enrolment fees / account:

There is the $15 outstanding which we will no identify as a bank charge. Credit - Bank charge.

Then

The fee details now look like this, with no fees outstanding:

Credit Agent fee

In eBECAS the course cost is specified from the Main - Utilities - Courses. The course cost is always listed as the gross fee, what the student pays. An agent is usually paid commission on the course cost. Agent commissions are specified in the agent section. (Main - Agent - Agent Details - Commission). You can have different commission rates for agent by faculty, and as all courses belong to a faculty, the commission rate relates to the course faculty.

In the Enrolment Fee screen the course cost is always shown as two separate items: tuition fee and agent fee (commission) the course cost = tuition + agent fee.

In eBECAS we use Ms Word templates to generate pro-forma invoices. If a pro-forma invoice is sent to an agent, then the course cost is usually shown and the agent commission. You can have several pro-forma invoices setup depending on what the agent prefers to invoice gross or nett. Usually a pro-forma invoice is also sent for the the student to view, with the pro-forma invoice displaying only the total course cost with no agent fee displayed.

The display of the course fees in the Enrolment Fees screen showing separate tuition and agent fees has nothing to do with how the agent or student pays the account. Our experience is that while you may invoice nett, the agent could still pay gross. We encourage Colleges to wait until the tuition and / or agent fees are received before crediting the agent fee.

You can have one or many invoice templates for agents. The template displays the nett or gross fee, and has no relation to crediting the agent fee. Please do not credit the agent fee until you receive the tuition fee payment. The dates the tuition fee is paid should also be the date the agent fee is credited if paid nett.

Credit Agent fee gst

This option should not be used. In eBECAS, Agent commissions should include the agent invoiced gst amount for local agents that charge Colleges gst. This option is left for backward compatibility, but using this means the reporting of gst amounts for invoices and debits in period for local and non local agent fees, will not be correct.

To clarify, in the agent details, if the agent is local to Australia, then the agent should be marked such, and include their ABN number.

The commission rate should include the gst component. If the standard commission rate is 20% and the College agrees to pay the additional 10% gst on top of the commission, then the rate should be 22%. This is the percentage of the course cost you have agreed to pay or let the agent keep of the course cost. I suggest that this is made clear by having a separate local agent Microsoft Word template for local agents, and include a line that specifies to the agent that the gst is included, and needs to be forwarded to the tax office. It is unusual in that the agent is not providing an account, but you need to be aware of what gst you have paid. This is provided in the Invoice and Debits in period reports.

Debits - Payments out

In eBECAS we provide assistance for 2 basic types of payments out: those un-expected such as refunds and transfers, and those expected, such as Homestay scheduled payments to homestay providers, scheduled payments for Insurance, scheduled payments for homestay placement, scheduled payments for airport transfers and agent fee commission refunds where the agent pays gross.

The next section deals with expected, Scheduled payments. I will deal in this section with unexpected payments out of student accounts.

From the Enrolment - Fee Detail page, there is a button Debit. This starts a wizard with the options Transfers, Refund to Student and Pay Accommodation.

Transfers

A transfer is the transfer of the payments of fees for the same student, from one Enrolment to another Enrolment. If a course is shortened or cancelled, the fees have been receipted for the course, then the receipted fees can be transfered to another / different enrolment for the same student.

Make sure you have entered the new enrolment. Shorten or cancel the original enrolment from Details screen with the Extension / Change button. Go back to the Fee details, press Debit, and select Transfer.

The fees invoiced with the enrolment are displayed. You can select what fees and amount of those fees that you want to transfer. If the fees for an eigth week course are $285 per week, and if you are shortening the original course by 2 weeks, then you are transfering 2 x $285 = $570. It would be usual to transfer the agent commission as well, even if paid gross or net. As the agent fees for 8 weeks are $465, then 2 weeks is 2/8 = $114. The amount of Tuition fee to transfer is 2/8 of $1824 which is $456. ($456 + $114 = $570).

Select the enrolment the fees will be transferred to.

The fee details for the old enrolment where the fees are being debited from now look like this:

The fee details for the new enrolment where the fees have been credited to now look like this:

Refund to Student

A fee can be refunded to a student if the fee has been paid and the portion not already debited.

This option is designed to refund student fees, for any particular circumstance where this is required. In eBECAS we do not calculate this or tie the shortening of a course to a refund. It is purely at the College's descretion how much and what fees to refund.

This screen is designed to remind you what not to use this facilty for. Agent commissions when invoices are paid gross, should be paid via Scheduled Fees - Agent Commission. Similarly any Scheduled fee should be paid via the Scheduled fee area. Please see the next section - Scheduled Payments.

You can choose what fee and how much to refund.

Pay Accommodation

A homestay fee can be paid to a homestay provider. The portion not already debited can be paid at the rate of invoiced payment by week and day.

While this option is designed to make a payment to an accommodation provider, it is NOT recommended to be used for homestay payments, as homestay payments should be scheduled to be made to a homestay provider when placement is made. Using this area to make a homestay payment requires you to remember when this needs to be done. Using the Homestay Scheduled Payments, means you have scheduled the payments and the system reminds you when to make the next payment. This option is provided as an alternative the schedule payment options but is not recommended to make homestay payments.

Scheduled payments

There are several type of payments that can be scheduled. Agent commission for students who have started and the student account has been paid gross, payments for airport transfers one completed, homestay accommodation providers, homestay placement once placed, and payments for insurance. The major benefit of using scheduled payments, is that you do not need to remember when to make payment, the system reminds you.

To schedule payments to a homestay family for a placement see here.

Financial Reports

We have renamed the Earned Revenue Report to more closely reflect what the revenue is generated from. The report is now called Course Revenue Report, which separately lists both the tuition and agent fees earned in the period, from student enrolments current in the period.

We have added a new report Revenue by Start date Report, which lists fees as revenue if the student enrolment starts in the period and includes the ability to filter by fee type/s (tuition, Agent, Insurance, Accommodation Arrangement, Accommodation Payment, Airport Transfer and Other). The summary lists and totals by Company, Location, option e.g. faculty the by fee type and then the totals revenue for each fee

You can then use these reports to mix and match how you want to treat each fee. Of course the reports ( Course Revenue Report and Revenue by Start date) figures will change as the student enrolments change, either the start date or course length.

Financial Activity

This lists activity by period, and contains several reports rolled into one. The report lists invoices in period, receipts in period, transferred credits(transferred from one enrolment to another in), credit other (discounts, write-offs etc), Refunds to students, transfers out, and payments in period. In this report the period seperately relates to each column, and DOES NOT relate in any way to the period of the course or homestay etc, it is the date of the activity for that column. The date used for each column is the date something happened relating to the column (invoice raised, credit posted etc).

Each report has a summary and a detail option. The summary provides sorted totals, the details shows what student courses these figures are from for each column, i.e. if you ruan the report for June, and there was a invoice on June 4, it will list Joe Bloggs who is doin for example a course from July to September, for 12 weeks, the total invoiced in the period is $xxx.

You can also run other reports to provide more details for each column in the financial activity report e.g. Invoice in Period report.

Outstanding fees

Invoices due report

When an accepted offer is made, an invoice is posted for the fees for the course and any other service. The fees are automatically scheduled as due on start date. A payment schedule can also be made, where instead of fees being due on start date, part payment may be scheduled for any or all fees. This report lists Invoiced fees that have not been paid. You can list fees due by date, or outstanding based on start, current and finishing course enrolment dates (so not based on due date).

To list fees filtered by enrolment date (starters, current or finishers) please select the All due option. 1. the Invoiced and Due fees are listed by Company, Location, and grouped by Faculty, Course, Agent and Country, then by Fee Type and Fee. The detailed option provides details by student. A course filter can be selected (i.e. all courses or one course). A Fee type filter is provided, so you can select all or any combination of fee types to include in the report.

The option “detail with due date” is only exported to a Excel Merge for use with a pivot table.

Invoices in period

(Reports – Finance – Invoices in period)

The Invoice in period now includes the ability to filter by fee type/s (tuition, Agent, Insurance, Accommodation Arrangement, Accommodation Payment, Airport Transfer and Other). The summary lists and totals by Company, Location, option e.g. faculty the by fee type and then the totalled invoiced for each fee

Unearned Fees

The unearned report is what we understand is the Finanical position for student accounts for the courses and services each student has requested. Often colleges / accountants blur the boundaries and lump each separate service under an enrolment (a course of study). As is the nature of the industry often student change courses, start dates, homestays and other services. We have been increasing the options we provide to run this report.

The only students that appear on this report are students that are studying a course currently or in the future. Fees are earned depending on the type of fee. When fees are specified in eBECAS they can be either Course fees, Other fees, Homestay. Course cost is separated into tuition and agent and earned daily e.g. course $200 per week for 10 weeks, 20% commission $1600 tuition, $400 agent fee. Earning $1600 / 10 * 5 = $32 per day tuition, $8 per day agent fee.

The Unearned Fee report is the most complex report in BECAS. For a particular day, fees are calculated as Earned (revenue) or Unearned (held - trust). We provide several options to interpret how fees are to be calculated as earned. For the purposes of this report, if a student has completed their course, all fees have been earned and none remains Unearned (although there may be fees remaining as unpaid).

The primary filter is students course (enrolment) current, not started or current and not started.

The basis of the Unearned calculation is the fee type.

Course cost (tuition and agent fee) is earned daily for the period the students are in attendance. The fees are earned in a week for 5 days only, Monday to Friday.

Insurance fees are earned on start date, Accommodation arrangement fees are earned on start date, Airport transfer fees are earned on start date.

Other fees can be selected as earned on Invoice date or Start date.

Homestay fees can be selected as earned when paid to the homestay provider or earned weekly over the length of the course. This can be overruled if you schedule your homestay payments, where you can select the payments to earn all scheduled payments or only earn the portion which is the difference between what is collected from the student and paid to the homestay provider.

If you have any questions regarding how this works, please first look at the detailed with fee breakdown option, and trace a particular student for different days. This will enable you to look at the fees details in eBECAS and for different days check when what fee is treated as earned.

This report is grouped by Company and Location and can be selected as grouped by none, course, agent and country. The last page is a summary group for all fee types and fees totaled.

Note: If a student’s course start date or length changes after starting, revenue changes for that student.

Course Revenue

This was previously known as the Earned Revenue Report. We renamed this reprot to more closely reflect what the revenue is generated from. The report is now called Course Revenue Report, which only lists and calculates the tuition and agent fees earned in the period, from student enrolments current in the period. Thsi report calculates the number of days in the period for the student enrolment, and calculates the proportion of the original invoice less discounts and write-offs.

The course revenue report calculates revenue based on invoiced course cost only (tuition and agent fees) for a period. The calculation is based on the days the student is in attendance for the course in that period, and takes into account faculty and student (day and week) holidays.

The report groups by Company and Location, you can select to also group by either faculty, Course, Agent or Country. You can filter and select all faculties or a single faculty. You can filter and select all courses or a single course.

The summary report provides number of days earned in period, total booked days for all students current in period, total tuition and agent fees revenue, and agent and tuition fee discounts and write-offs, and gross revenue in period. The detailed report shows the above by student course enrolment.

Note: If a student’s course start date or length changes after starting, revenue changes for that student.

Income Recognition

This is a new "beta" report and will probably change. This report is designed to give repeatable results even when there are changes to student enrolments. Results are stored, and new values calculated from the previous period.

Initially enter a date period calculates revenue based on invoiced course cost only (tuition and agent fees) for a period. The calculation is based on the days the student is in attendance for the course in that period, and takes into account faculty and student (day and week) holidays.