Fund/Cash Accounting

Fund Accounting / Cash Accounting

This article explains how to use Transaction Subtypes and the Payment Allocation Report to track revenue and payments by fund (e.g., Water, Sewer) for cash accounting and fund accounting purposes.

Overview

Transaction subtypes let you categorize charges and credits by fund or general ledger (GL) code. When payments are applied to transactions, the system tracks how much was allocated to each subtype. The Payment Allocation Report summarizes this breakdown, giving you visibility into how payments were distributed across your funds.

1. Create Transaction Subtypes in Settings

1. Go to Settings → Charges/Credits → Sub-types tab.
2. Click Add to create a new subtype.
3. Configure each subtype:
   • Label: A descriptive name (e.g., "Water Usage", "Sewer Usage", "Water Late Fee", "Sewer Late Fee").
   • Transaction Type: Usage Charge, Fee, Credit, etc.
   • Amount Type: Flat or Percent (for percentage-based fees like late fees).
   • General Ledger (GL) Code: Optional. Used for allocation reporting—if set, the GL code is used as the allocation category; otherwise, the label is used.
   • For percentage-based fees (e.g., late fees): Set Apply Percentage To (Past Due Balance, Account Balance, Last Bill Balance, or Service Balance).
   • If using Service Balance: Select which services (Water, Sewer, etc.) the fee applies to.

Tip: For fund accounting, create separate subtypes per fund—e.g., "Water Late Fee" and "Sewer Late Fee"—each with its own GL code or distinct label.

2. Assign Subtypes When Creating Charges

You can assign subtypes in two places:

Rate Structures

When configuring rate structures, each tier in the rate table can have a transaction subtype. Usage charges generated during billing will inherit the subtype from the tier.

1. Go to Settings → Rate Structures (or the rate structure for a specific service).
2. Edit the tier rates and assign the appropriate subtype to each tier (e.g., Water Usage for water tiers, Sewer Usage for sewer tiers).

Add Charge / Credit Drawer

When manually adding charges or credits:

1. Open the Add Charge or Add Credit drawer (from an account, delinquency, or other context).
2. Select the Transaction Type and Subtype.
3. Enter the amount or percentage details.
4. Submit to create the transaction with the selected subtype.

3. Payment Allocation Report

The Payment Allocation Report shows how each payment was allocated across transaction subtypes.

• Allocation Map: For each payment, the report shows how much was applied to each category (subtype label or GL code).
• Allocation Summary by Type: A summary section totals amounts by allocation type (e.g., Water Usage, Sewer Usage, Water Late Fee, Sewer Late Fee).

This breakdown is based on the transactions being paid and the subtype assigned to each transaction. When a payment is applied using the payment waterfall (oldest bills first), the system records which subtype each dollar went to.

4. Breaking Down a Late Fee by Fund (Water vs. Sewer)

To get late fees broken down by fund (e.g., Water vs. Sewer) in the Payment Allocation Report:

Step 1: Configure the Late Fee to Be by Service

1. Create separate late fee subtypes for each fund:
   • "Water Late Fee" (or "Late Fee - Water")
   • "Sewer Late Fee" (or "Late Fee - Sewer")
2. For each subtype:
   • Set Apply Percentage To = Service Balance.
   • Set Apply Percentage To (services) = only that service (e.g., Water only for Water Late Fee, Sewer only for Sewer Late Fee).
   • Assign a distinct GL Code or label for reporting.

Step 2: Add Late Fees Per Service During Delinquency

When adding late fees in bulk from the Delinquency page:

1. Select the delinquent accounts and choose Add Fee.
2. Add the Water Late Fee first: select the Water Late Fee subtype, set the percentage, and submit.
3. Add the Sewer Late Fee next: select the Sewer Late Fee subtype, set the percentage, and submit.

Each run creates separate transactions with different subtypes. You can override the subtype in the Add Charge drawer—the default comes from the delinquency rule’s fee, but you can change it to the appropriate fund-specific subtype.

Step 3: View the Breakdown in the Payment Allocation Report

Because there are multiple late fee transactions with different subtypes (Water vs. Sewer), the Payment Allocation Report will show the allocation breakdown by late fee type—e.g., how much of each payment went to Water Late Fee vs. Sewer Late Fee.

Summary