IN THIS ARTICLE:
Learn about using the "Prevent Duplicate Charges" option when running the Class Tuition Charges task and the different available detection periods.
You can view more information about the "Prevent Duplicate Charges" option below:
How does the "Prevent Duplicate Charges" option work?
When using Class Tuition Charges to bill class tuition, the option to "Prevent Duplicate Charges" is enabled by default. It is essential to understand how duplicate charges are detected if you plan to use this feature.
Duplicate charges are detected using Charge Categories. Whenever you create a charge in iClassPro, you assign it to a Charge Category which acts as a label for the type of charge you are creating.
For example, most businesses who use monthly billing would create a Charge Category to charge tuition each month, such as "August Tuition." Any tuition fees that are processed for August enrollments would be assigned that Charge Category, both when creating charges manually and from the Class Tuition Charges task under Transactions. (If desired, you can also use the Auto Charge Scheduler to assign this Charge Category via the Customer Portal.)
Other non-tuition charges would be processed under separate Charge Categories such as "Registration Fees," "Meet Fees," "Uniforms," or "Merchandise."
When you run the Class Tuition Charges task, you choose the time period the software uses to look for the duplicate charges on family ledgers by adjusting the "Within the Past" drop down menu. This detection period will tell the software to search family ledgers for that length of history to find any charges connected to the same enrollment(s) being billed which used the same Charge Category that is selected for the new charges. Enrollments with charges that match that description are then automatically de-selected from the preview with a note that a "duplicate charge was detected". To bill the enrollment anyway, the box next to the enrollment must be manually selected before processing charges.
If you do not wish to use the Detect Duplicate Charges feature, simply deselect the "Prevent Duplicate Transactions" option.
How do the different detection periods work?
There are several periods to choose from to tell the program how to detect duplicate charges. A description of each option is provided below:
All Previous by Enrollment and Charge Category
This option will search the family's ledger for any charges created with that Charge Category and tied specifically to the active enrollments at any point in the past. (This is the default option. It is recommended if using unique Charge Categories every year, such as "January 2020 Tuition", "January 2021 Tuition", etc.)
All Previous by Charge Category Only
Searches the entire family ledger history and all enrollments for that family using that charge category. This means that the Charge Category may be used on an unrelated charge, but will still not be replicated. (This option is best used for one-time use Charge Categories.)
1 Year
Searches for charges in family ledgers for the last 365 days using the Charge Category specified in your preview. (Similar to the default option, but imposes a one year window for the charge date. If a charge exists, but is more than a year old, the system will deem the student eligible to be charged again.)
6 Months
Searches the last six months of charges using the Charge Category specified in your preview. (Recommended for Monthly billing, especially if using the same Charge Categories every year, such as "01 January Tuition", "02 February Tuition", etc.)
1 Month
Searches family ledgers for the last 30 days for any charges using the Charge Category specified in your preview, which is connected to active enrollments during this billing period.