Settling budget billing variances

Settlement is the process of billing the account for the amount of the variance. In most cases the variance is settled automatically at the end of each plan year, but you can also settle the variance before the end of the plan year.

For example, Budget Billing Review might show that a plan is building up an unexpectedly large debit variance due to higher than normal water bills. This would require the customer to pay a particularly large settlement at the end of the year, so the agency might prefer to settle the variance now. The customer would then pay off the current amount over the rest of the year. The budgeted amount is also recalculated, so the customer’s monthly payments will increase, but the settlement at the end of the year will be smaller.

Settling the variance is a two-step process. The first step is the schedule the settlement, and the second is to bill the customer. When you settle variances from Review Budget Billing, Infor Public Sector shows a prompt asking if you want to settle the entire variance on the next bill, or distribute it over the remaining bills in the plan year. Infor Public Sector then adds one settlement record and one or more settlement schedules to each plan, depending on the option you select.

The actual billing is handled by the Bill Run Schedule task in the Batch Manager. When generating bills for a plan’s bill type, the task adds a one-off line item for each settlement schedule whose scheduled date falls within the billing period for the current bill run. The variance can be either positive (the amount billed is less than the actual charges) or negative (the amount billed is greater than the actual charges), so the line item can be either a debit or a credit.

Note: If the settlement is a credit, it will usually be applied to other charges for the same bill type when the account is reconciled. The credit can also be refunded or transferred, but in that case you must first move the credit from the settlement line item to the account. To move the credit, first adjust the settlement line item to 0. Then open the customer’s account and add an account-level credit adjustment for the same amount.
  1. Select Billing > Bill > Review Budget Billing.
  2. Look up the budget billing plans you want to settle.
  3. In the Budget Billing Accounts grid, select each plan whose variance you want to settle.
  4. Click the down arrow in the top right corner of the grid and select SETTLE.
  5. Click Yes.
  6. Select the correct option under Settlement Options. You can bill each variance as a single lump sum, or you can distribute the amount over the remaining months in the current plan year
  7. Click OK.