Processing a Payment for an Invoice

HawkSoft enables you to apply payments received from customers to your open invoices, and then create a printable receipt on the client. As part of this process, HawkSoft will calculate the customer balance and record this payment on the Trust Accounting Report.

For steps on processing a direct bill payment to a carrier on behalf of a customer, see Creating a Direct Bill Customer Receipt.

For steps on applying payments to NSF invoices, see Processing a Payment for an NSF Invoice.

For steps on creating a receipt for an advanced payment on a direct bill invoice, see Advanced Premium Receipts.

To process a payment

1. Retrieve the client, and then select the policy with the invoice to be paid.
2. Click Action, and then select one item in each of the first three lists to describe what prompted this transaction.

3. Select Trust Accounting > Create Payment.

   The New Payment dialog opens.

   If the client has any open invoices or unapplied payments, the Apply Accounting Items dialog opens.

4. Apply any existing invoices or payments as needed.

   To apply existing accounting items

   1. Conditional: If you see the Select Invoices to Pay dialog, check the box next to the invoice(s) you want to apply this payment to.

      You can alter the Apply Amount to change how much of the payment will be applied to each invoice.

      OR

      If you do not want to apply this payment to an invoice now, click the Skip button.

   2. Conditional: If you see the Select Credits to Apply dialog, check the box next to any unapplied credit(s) you want to use in this payment.

      You can alter the Apply Amount to change how much of the unapplied payment will be applied alongside the payment you are processing.

      OR

      If you do not want to apply any unapplied credits now, click the Skip button.

   3. When you are finished applying invoices and payments, click the Finish button.

   Each applied invoice or payment will show on the receipt.

5. Conditional: If your agency splits fees on payments with agents, type along the appropriate agent name or initials into the Search Agents field.

   The Search Agents only appears if your agency administrator enabled Show Agent Field on New Payment when configuring Trust Accounting Settings.

6. Optional: Click the Show Details button to view additional details for the line items on this invoice, such as the description and payee information.

7. Add payment information to the Payment Items section.

   To add a payment method and amount

   1. Select a Pay Method from the drop-down list.

      You can add any number of payments to the receipt. Each time you fill in all of the Pay Method rows, an additional row will become available.

   2. Conditional: enter the Check or Reference number (such as the last 4 digits of the credit card number, if this is a debit/credit payment).

   3. Confirm the Amount Tendered is the amount the insured is paying.

      If the Amount Tendered is incorrect, modify the amount as needed.

      If the Amount Tendered more than the amount due, skip to the appropriate section below: Conditional: If there is an overpayment, select an option from the Overpayment drop-down..
      
      If the Amount Tendered is less than the amount due, the partial payment will be applied to the invoice(s), but the invoice will remain open until the balance is paid in full.

8. Optional: Enter a message in the Printed Comment field to appear on the generated customer receipt.

9. Conditional: If there is an overpayment, select an option from the Overpayment drop-down.

   • Change - Select this option if the customer paid in cash, and you are refunding the customer in cash. HawkSoft will create a Changepayment method for the balance.

     Credit Client - Select this option to leave the overpaid amount as credit on the customer's balance, which can be applied to a different invoice or payment in the future . HawkSoft will create a Client Credit invoice item.

     Insured Refund - Select this option if you are refunding the overpaid amount to the customer via check. HawkSoft will create an Insured Refund invoice item. When this receipt is exported to QuickBooks, HawkSoft will queue up a customer check to print.

10. Optional: Enter any Internal Notes about this payment as needed.

11. Click Save Payment and Exit when the Payment dialog is complete.

    OR

    Click Save Payment and Start Another to enter another payment into HawkSoft.

    A Create Payment Saved dialog box opens with details about the payment.

12. Click Close Window.

13. Click Finish.

    The Finalize Log dialog opens.

14. Optional: Add client tags and Tasks, as needed.

15. Add log comments and create a Task as needed, and then click Save Log.

The payment is now documented on the client, the Trust Accounting Report, and the receipt is attached to the Attachments tab of the selected policy. You can print or email a copy of the receipt for the customer.

To view trust accounting transactions on this client, select the Trust Accounting tab from any policy tab or from the Client tab. This will show all invoices, receipts, and credit memos. HawkSoft will show which invoices or payments have an open balance, and will show the customer's net balance. Optionally, you can enable the Show only Open Items slider.

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