Assigning parents or other contacts as bill payers for the pupil can be carried out from the Contact Details screen. This is accessed via Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details, or the Family/Home panel of the pupil or application record (Focus | Admission | Application).

1. To assign the parent as the main bill payer, highlight their name in the Family/Home section and then click the Open button to display the Edit Contact dialog.
2. NOTE: Only one payer can be set as main.
3. In the Relationship Details panel, select the Bill Payer check box and the E-Mail Bills check box (if appropriate).
4. Enter the Pupil Reference, Payment Type, Fees Status (Main Billing or Secondary), Bill Payer Reference, Billing Name.
5. Click the Save button.

Yes. A bill payer for a pupil can be one of their existing contacts or it can be a company, sponsor or agency. Like any other bill payer, they can be linked to multiple pupils.

1. Add the company, sponsor or agency as a Bill Payer.
2. Assign the bill payer to the pupil or applicant via either the Bill Payer Details or the Fees Details page.
3. Option 1: Assigning a pupil via the Financial Details panel on the Bill Payer page:
4. a.  The Financial Details panel is where pupils are assigned to the bill payer. Click the New button, search for and then select the correct pupil.
5. b.  Complete the financial responsibility information.
6. Option 2: Assigning the payer via the Financial Details panel on the Fees Details page:
7. a.  The Financial Details panel is where bill payers are assigned to the pupil. Click the New button, search for and then select the correct bill payer.
8. b.  Complete the financial responsibility information.
9. Click the Save button.

Please refer to the Changing a Bill Payer Quick Reference Sheet, which is available from the SIMS Documentation Centre.

For more detailed instructions, please refer to the Changing a Bill Payer Quick Reference Sheet, which is available from the SIMS Documentation Centre.

1. Select Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details to display the Pupil (or Student) Details page.
2. Search for and select the relevant pupil.
3. Click the Fees Details link on the Links panel.
4. In the Financial Details panel, open the relevant bill payer (or add them if they are not already present) and click the Open button.
5. In the Financial Responsibility panel, amend the Fees % Breakdown and/or Extras % Breakdown as necessary.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you save the pupil's Fees Details, the total fees and extras percentages must equal 100%.

1. Select Focus | Person | Bill Payer to display the Bill Payer Details page.
2. Search for and select the relevant bill payer. Alternatively, from the Pupil Details page, click the Fees Details link.
3. In the Financial Details panel, open the relevant pupil (or bill payer, depending on which menu route you have taken) to display the Edit Pupil Financial Relationship dialog.
4. Select the appropriate Payment Type from the drop-down list, e.g. Monthly Direct Debit.
5. Select First from the Payment Indicator drop-down list.
6. Select the Bank Account from the drop-down list or, if no bank details are present, click the Bank Details button and add the details.
7. Click the OK button.
8. Click the Save button.

1. Select Focus | Fees Billing | Instalments | Direct Debit to display the Maintain Direct Debit Schedule browser.
2. Search for and select the relevant schedule, or click the New button to create a new schedule.
3. Enter an appropriate Description.
4. Select the Payment Type from the drop-down list.
5. Enter the Number of Instalments.
6. Enter the Start Date of the first instalment.
7. Select whether the instalments are calculated from Fees, Extras or Fees and Extras by making the appropriate selection from the Bill Content drop-down list.
8. Indicate whether the instalments are based on:
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10.  
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15. by selecting the appropriate option from the Instalments For drop-down list.
16. If appropriate, enter a Handling Change.
17. In the Instalment Arrangements panel, click the New button, search for and select the payer from the list of all payers with the payment type assigned to the schedule. The payers selected will be listed, together with their total instalment amount.
18. From this screen you can produce:

• Next Bill
• Next Bill and Outstanding Balance
• Last Bill
• Outstanding Balance
• Annual

• a list of Instalments by Date or Payer
• Schedule Letter
• Direct Debit Mandate
• AUDDIS File to send to the BACS.
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The AUDDIS file is a replacement to the paper copy and is sent to the bank via BACS. Once received electronically by the bank, the account can be used for collection of payments in five working days.

BACS operates on a minimum three day cycle:

• Day one is when the file is submitted.
• Day two is when the file is processed by BACS. This is known as the processing date and is always the working day before the payment (or collection) date.
• The payment is debited or credited to the bill payers bank account at the beginning of day three, which is the payment (or collection) date.

SIMS produces a standard BACS and AUDDIS file that is compliant with BACS Standard 18.

A number of companies supply software for BACS. Capita offers a BACS Bureau service that is a cost-effective, time-saving solution for managing day-to-day financial transactions.

A recent audit classed Capita as 'excellent'. Our Cirencester-based team was judged in five key areas: computer operation, security, systems support, BACS processing and financial information. This outstanding rating reflects our commitment to providing the very best service to our customers.

BACS is a United Kingdom format.

In SIMS, you can define the IBAN and BIC code on the bank account details for a bill payer. You can then export the necessary details from the reporting engine to comply with your bank's requirements.

Yes. Our advice is to have a different bill template for the Direct Debits. You will need to add the instalment values to the template.

No. Email bills, copy bills, reprint bills, statements and receipts all work without InTouch. You can use either a cloud-based email account or email that uses an SMTP server at your school.

Yes. The emailing functionality works with either cloud-based email accounts (such as Gmail or Office 365) or email that uses an SMTP server at your school.

No. Bills can be produced at any time, either as Interim Bills (one-off) or Termly Bills.

Month End:

• This closes the lowest open period in Fees.
• It clears the Control Account Month to Date figure.

Term End:

• This clears the Control Account Term to Date figures.
• It also clears the VAT Term to Date figures.
• It moves any Current Transactions to History.
• If you choose to display transaction details on a bill, only transactions that have been entered after a Term End will appear on the bill.
• It can produce a Historical Bill Audit on the old term.
• Any new charges entered are associated with the new term.
• The date you run the Term End/Year End will default to period 1. The old period 1 date will transfer into period 2, and so on.
• The Period End date on the Aged Debtors report rolls forward.

Year End:

• This routine clears the Control Account Term to Date and Year to Date figures.
• It also clears the VAT account Term to Date and Year to Date figures.
• It moves any Current Transactions to History.
• If you choose to display transaction details on a bill, only transactions that have been entered after a Term End will appear on the bill.
• It can produce a Historical Bill Audit on the old term.
• Any new charges entered are associated with the new term.
• The date you run the Term End/Year End will default to period 1. The old period 1 date will transfer into period 2, and so on.
• The Period End date on the Aged Debtors report rolls forward.
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The Term End process should be carried out before you start to transfer your termly main bills because this clears the Term to Date figures on the Control Account. If you choose to display transaction details on a bill, only transactions that have been entered after a Term End will appear on the next bill. The Naming of the Term should be the name of  the next bill run you will be doing (for example, in December you will be transferring the Spring Bills and the next term would be Summer).

Yes. The charge code definition is very flexible. The calculation method can be:

• Fixed Amount
• Variable Amount
• Fixed Percentage
• Variable Percentage.

When you set up either a fixed or variable percentage charge code, you can specify the charges on which it is based. The amount calculated is based on the charges specified that have been applied to the pupil/student’s next bill.

The amount calculates automatically when applying the percentage charge code or one of the charges on which it is based.

Yes. You can define a number of sibling discount calculations. For example, teaching or non-teaching. You will need to apply the appropriate charge code to the pupils.

Deposits, registration fees and advanced payments can be entered by your Registrar from the Fees Details page, which is accessed via Focus | Admissions | Application. Alternatively, it can be accessed via Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details.

In SIMS, the registration fees are classed as non-refundable and deposits are refundable based on the school's policy. Advanced payments are also refundable.

Any details entered in the Registration Details panel will not update your General Ledger or get posted onto the bills.

Deposits can be refunded manually or via Focus | Fees Billing | Charging | Apply Refund. This enables the deposit to be refunded on the bill, up to the total held in the Registration panel.

• Schools manage refunds in various ways:
• Many schools refund the deposit on the pupil’s final bill.
• Other schools refund deposits after the pupil has left.

Some schools refund deposits on the pupil’s first bill or apply a partial refund when the bill payer gets into financial difficulty.

The decision regarding how refunds are managed is determined by the school.

A charge batch is generated as a normal batch. This can be amended or deleted through the other Fees routines.

When the bill is transferred, the deposit refund is generated automatically in the Registration Details panel, and the General Ledger and Control Account are updated.

Only deposit refunds generated from the Apply Refunds routine updates the Registration Details panel. If deposits are entered on Apply Charges, then when the bill is transferred, this will not update the deposit balance in the Registration Details panel.

Similar to deposits, advanced payments can be entered by your Registrar from the Fees Details page, which is accessed via Focus | Admissions | Application or via Focus | Pupil (or Student) | Pupil (or Student) Details.

NOTE: Details entered on this page do not update your General Ledger. The General Ledger will need to be updated separately.

Deposits can be refunded via Focus | Fees Billing | Charging | Apply Refund.

Advanced payments can be refunded in a number of ways and, again, this is up to the school to define but can be Fees less Credits (exclude any Extras), Bill Value, Bill Value plus any outstanding balance or the Whole Advanced Payment balance.

A batch is generated as a normal batch. This can be amended or deleted through the standard Fees routines.

When the bill is transferred, the advanced payment refund is generated automatically in the Registration Details panel and the General Ledger and Control Account are updated.

The Academic Year Roll-over is the creation of the new academic year, including the promotion of the pupils and classes. We provide detailed documents in this area (Independent Junior/Preparatory School End of Year Procedures and Independent Senior School End of Year Procedures). These documents are available from the SIMS Documentation Centre.

The Financial Year Roll-over refers to your Financial year. This would normally be September to August (in line with your academic year) but a school’s financial year may be different, e.g. January to December, April to March, August to July, etc.

This can be achieved. If the registration, year group or house are already displayed on your bill template, when you print or email the bill, you can move the group membership date forward to the start of the next academic year. The school will need to have first run the promotion routines

SIMS produces the bills in batches of 200 and the printer settings are refreshed for every 200 bills. Therefore, you need to check the Adobe setting.

If you open a document in Adobe Reader, the settings in the print option should be:

• Size Options: Actual size
• Click the Multiple and Booklet buttons in turn and ensure that Auto Rotate check box is selected.
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Have you selected the Interim Bill check box in Focus | Fees Billing | Process Bills?

Yes. In Focus | Person | Bill Payer, select the Single Bill per Payer check box. If you also select the Company check box, this enables you to filter your aged debtors and other payer-based reports by company.

When printing or emailing your bill, remember to select the Single Bill Per Payer Only check box.

Yes, in a similar way to a company:

1. Select the Single Bill per Payer check box in Focus | Person | Bill Payer.
2. When printing or emailing your bill, remember to select the Single Bill Per Payer Only check box.
3.