Direct Debit Run
If you’ve enable prenotes in your direct debit setup, the run will also validate prenote bank accounts.
You can enter selection parameters such as the bill type or the billing cycle, and you can indicate whether you want to create an ACH file during the run. If you don’t create the ACH file, Infor Public Sector will only create the payment batch and the payments, so you can review this information before creating the ACH file.
- For prenote accounts, the process uses an SQL query to select accounts from the IDENTITYBANK table where the DIRECTDEBITSTATUS column is set to P (Prenote). For each prenote account, the DIRECTDEBITSTATUS is set to to A (Active) and the PRENOTEDDRUNKEY is set to the key of the current run.
- The process queries for bill types that are eligible for payment by
direct debit. For each bill type, the process selects bills where the extract date
is after the direct debit effective date for the associated account. Qualifying
bills are grouped and processed by extract date.
Depending on the direct debit setup, the process can debit just the principal amount or the total bill amount, including past due balances. In addition, if the Refresh amount to consider new billed transactions check box is selected in Direct Debit Setup, then the debited amount will also include any transactions that have been applied to the account since the bill was created, such as payments or adjustments.
Considering new billed transactions will also include new charges from the next bill, so this option might result in the customer being debited for charges that aren't due yet. If you only want to include new charges that are currently due, you can select Refresh amount to balance due as of the extract through date instead.
If an account is on a direct debit cycle plan and has a final bill, the system will also apply any credits and refresh the bill amount before debiting the final bill.
- If the Process Direct Debit Schedules parameter is selected, the process then queries for any accounts that are on direct debit schedules. On a direct debit schedule, the account pays a fixed amount at a regular interval, rather than paying the bill amount when a bill comes due. The process will debit any accounts whose next extract dates are on or before the extract through date of the direct debit run.
- For each extract date, create a payment batch for the direct debit
payments.Note: By default the payment batches created by a direct debit run are marked as ready to post. If you do not want them to be marked as ready to post, change the IsReadyToPost setting in the Billing configuration to False.
- Create a payment for each bill.
- If you’re creating an ACH file, the process uses the ACH format file and the output file location specified in the direct debit setup.
Setup
This table describes the Configuration Editor settings that affect this task:
| Configuration and path | Comments |
|---|---|
| BatchProcessing/TASKS/Task: DirectDebitRun/Threads | Sets the number of asynchronous threads the Batch Manager will use for the
Direct Debit Run process. The default number of threads for all multithreaded processes is set in the BatchManager configuration’s Number of Task Threads attribute. You only need to specify a different value here if you want to override the default. |
| BILLING/BATCHMANAGER/Create Direct Debit Run Inputs | The IsReadyToPost input value
indicates whether the payment batches created for direct debit runs
will be marked as ready to post. The CommitNumber input value sets the commit number for all direct debit runs. The commit number determines the number of payments processed in each thread. Note: You can enter any number, but there are
limitations at the database level. Oracle databases have a limit
of 1,000 records, and SQL Server databases have a limit of 2,000
records. Entering a larger number will cause
errors.
|
This table describes the Infor Public Sector setup forms that are used to configure this task:
| Setup form | Comments |
|---|---|
| Direct Debit Setup | Defines direct debit setup information, such as minimum and maximum direct debit amounts and the location of the ACH format file. Also indicates which bill types are eligible for payment by direct debit. The setup for a specific bill type can override some of the values in the default direct debit setup. |
| Feature Switches | The Direct Debit feature must be active. |
This table lists the database tables that store setup information for this task:
| Table | Comments |
|---|---|
| BILLING.ACCOUNTDIRECTDEBIT | Stores direct debit information for individual billing accounts, such as the direct debit cycle, the effective date, and a link to the banking information in the IDENTITYBANK table. |
| BILLING.ACCOUNTDIRECTDEBITHISTORY | Stores historical direct debit information for billing accounts. |
| BILLING.BILLTYPEDIRECTDEBITSETUP | Stores direct debit setup information for specific bill types. |
| BILLING.DIRECTDEBITSETUP | Stores direct debit setup information, as defined in the Direct Debit Setup form. |
| RESOURCES.IDENTITYBANK | Stores information on contacts’ bank accounts, such as the routing number and account number. |
Invocation
You can use the Batch Manager form or the Billing Calendar to schedule direct debit runs, and you can also use the Create Direct Debit Run form to create a new run by hand.
This table describes each parameter for this task:
| Form | Console | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Run # | BillRunKey (int) | Bill run to use as a selection parameter. |
| Bill Type | BillType (int) | Bill type to use as a selection parameter. |
| Billing Cycle | BillingCycle (string) | Billing cycle to use as a billing parameter. |
| Extract Through Date | ExtractDate (DateTime) | Latest extract date of the bills you want to include in the direct debit run. |
| Generate File | GenerateFile (bool) | Indicates whether you want to create the ACH file. If you don’t generate the ACH file, the run will only create payment batches and payments. |
| Process Direct Debit Schedules | IncludeDebitSchedule (bool) | Indicates whether the direct debit run will include payments for accounts that use direct debit schedules. |
Monitoring
If the direct debit run is successful, you should see a series of log entries similar to these in the Billing Batch Process log:
- Utility DirectDebit run process started...
- Utility DirectDebit run process ended.
- DD Run process, is starting the generator.
- [#] Extract Date batches for DD Run: [run key]
- [#] Prenote Accounts for DD Run: [run key]
- DD started processing Extract Date: [date]
- Direct Debit Run process, finished calling the generator.
- Direct Debit Run process, is stopping the generator.
In the BILLING.DIRECTDEBITRUN table, the PROCESSINGFLAG column is set to Y at the beginning of a run, and set back to N when the run is finished.
In addition, the DIRECTDEBITRUNACTIVITY table is updated at several points in the run to indicate progress. Each record in this table specifies an activity that was completed, the time the activity started, and the time it stopped. The activity type is indicated by one of these numeric codes:
- 1: Initialization
- 2: Rerun
- 3: Prenote Bank Accounts
- 4: Direct Debit Bills
- 5: Create ACH File
Common errors
This table lists some common errors that this task may return:
| Error message | Comments |
|---|---|
| Total Amount to be direct debited from Account # [account #] for Bill Type: [bill type] exceeds the maximum allowed debitable amount for the same Bill Type on the same Account. See the Direct Debit Setup | Maximum and minimum direct debit amounts are defined in Direct Debit Setup, which you can open from the Billing Setup page in Infor Public Sector. |
| Bill Key [key] has Bill Type User exception in the set up | The direct debit run was unable to process the specified bill due to a user-defined exception. |
| Total Amount to be direct debited on Account [account #] exceeds the maximum allowed debitable amount from the same Bank Account. See the Direct Debit Set Up. | Maximum and minimum direct debit amounts are defined in Direct Debit Setup, which you can open from the Billing Setup page in Infor Public Sector. |
| Total Amount to be direct debited on Account [account #] is less than the required minimum debitable amount from the same Bank Account. See the Direct Debit Set Up. | Maximum and minimum direct debit amounts are defined in Direct Debit Setup, which you can open from the Billing Setup page in Infor Public Sector. |
User exceptions
The Direct Debit Run is one of four batch processes (in addition to Bill Run Schedule, Penalty Run, and Post Payments Run) for which you can define your own custom exceptions. Each custom exception you define uses a formula to determine when Infor Public Sector will return the exception. For direct debit runs, there are two user exception severity levels:
- Level 1: Do not process the account.
- Level 2: Process the account but add an exception record.
Data output
This table lists the database tables in which this task adds or updates records:
| Table | Comments |
|---|---|
| BILLING.BILL | Updates the DIRECTDEBITRUNKEY and EXTRACTDATE columns. |
| BILLING.DEBITSCHEDULE | Stores information on accounts with direct debit schedules that were debited during direct debit runs. |
| BILLING.DIRECTDEBITRUN | Stores information on the Direct Debit run, including the parameters used, run key, and statistics such as the number of accounts processed and the number of ACH entries. |
| BILLING.DIRECTDEBITRUNACTIVITY | 0 (None), 1 (Initialization), 2 (ReRun), 3 (PreNoteBankAccounts), 4 (DirectDebitBills), 5 (CreateACHFile) |
| BILLING.PAYBATCH | Stores the payment batches created in the direct debit run. |
| BILLING.PAYBATCHSRC | Infor Public Sector uses the batch source code “DD” to identify payment batches added through the direct debit process. If this code doesn’t already exist in the PAYBATCHSRC table, the direct debit run will add it. |
| BILLING.PAYMENT | Stores the payments created in the direct debit run. |
| BILLING.PAYSRC | Infor Public Sector uses the source code “DD” to identify payments added through the direct debit process. If this code doesn’t already exist in the PAYSRC table, the direct debit run will add it. |
This table lists the Infor Public Sector forms that you can use to review the results of this task:
| Form | Comments |
|---|---|
| Manage Account page | Used to review payment information for a selected account. |
| Lookup Direct Debit Run | Standard Infor Public Sector lookup used to search for direct debit runs. |
| Direct Debit Run InfoViewer | Shows information on a selected direct debit run. You can also rerun direct debit or recreate the ACH file. |
| Lookup Payment Batches | Standard Infor Public Sector lookup used to search for direct payment batches. |
| Payment Batch InfoViewer | Shows information on a selected payment batch. |
| Lookup Payments | Standard Infor Public Sector lookup used to search for direct payments. |
| Payment InfoViewer | Shows information on a selected payment. |