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Setting Policies

There are many policy options in the Tenant Accounts Receivable (TAR) program, and they can be used to customize WinTen² programs to better match an HA’s work processes.

2.

Double-click on the policy you want to work with; or, highlight the policy in the table and click to open the Maintain Policies screen.

TAR policies can be divided into 9 categories:

• NSF
• Payments
• Receipts
• EPF
• Late Fees
• Lease
• Cash Drawers
• General Ledger
• Miscellaneous

Policy Summaries

NSF

NSF Transaction Description for RecTrans and Register Payments

Value: User-specific

• In the value field, enter your own unique description that will be used for NSF transactions for RecTrans and Register payments.

NSF Fee Description for RecTrans and Register

Value: User-specific

• In the value field, enter your own unique description that will be used for NSF fees for RecTrans and Register payments.

Payments

Payment Type for “Only Accept Cash” Customers

Value: Automatic Withdrawal, Cash, Cashier’s Check, Check, Electronic Funds Transfer, or Money Order

This policy affects the default payment type, for “Only Accept Cash” customers, used during the Take Payment Wizard.

• What you select as the value will be the default payment type for customers who are classified as “only accept cash.”
• You can specify a customer as “only accept cash” on the Customer Information tab of the Maintain Customer Information screen.

Restricting Payments to Current Lease

Value: True or False

This policy allows your agency to apply payments to only the accounts attached to a tenant's current lease. Current lease accounts have account numbers that contain the unit number in which the tenant is currently living.

• If you set this policy to True, only accounts with a balance that are tied to the current lease may have a payment applied.
• If this policy is set to False, no restrictions are placed on what accounts can have a payment applied.

Note: If you want to apply payments to any other account/any account NOT attached to the current lease (without a unit number or with a different unit number from the unit in which the tenant is currently living), you must manually select it. When the policy is set to True, a new checkbox appears in the Take Payment Wizard: “Only take payment on current lease accounts.” By default, this checkbox will be checked, but unchecking the checkbox allows the user to override the current policy during the payment process for a particular customer.

Post Payments with Deposits

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will post payments to General Ledger at the time the deposit is made.
• If this policy is set to False, the program will not post payments with deposits, and the other side of the payment will post when posting to GL or when closing a month.

Default Payment Type for Payment Wizard

Value: Automatic Withdrawal, Cash, Cashier’s Check, Check, Electronic Funds Transfer, or Money Order

• What you select as the value will be the default payment type used in the Take Payment Wizard.

Default the Pre-Payment Flag During the Payment Wizard

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, when the amount paid is more than the amount owed, the create pre-payment checkbox in the Take Payment Wizard will default to checked, and a pre-payment will automatically be created.

Note: If your HA always keeps the overpayment, set this policy to True. If your HA always gives the change, set this policy to False.

Manually Apply Payments (Do not have system auto apply)

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, you will always have to manually apply all payments.
• If you set this policy to False, the system will auto-apply all payments.

Pre-payments and Due Now Balance - Auto Re-apply Without Asking Every Time

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will automatically re-apply pre-payments/adjustments that are applied to future transactions to current transactions without asking every time.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will always ask first whether or not to re-apply pre-payments/adjustments that are applied to future transactions to current transactions.

Receipts

Preview Receipt Before Printing During Payment Wizard

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to False, a receipt will automatically be printed, without a preview first, after finishing the Take Payment Wizard.

Default the Payment Wizard to Print Receipt

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, a receipt will automatically be printed, for every payment taken, after finishing the Take Payment Wizard.

Receipts - Show Future Transactions on the Receipt

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will show future transactions on receipts.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will show the transactions only up to the payment date on receipts.

Include the Receivables Transaction on Receipts/Statements

Your receipts and statements for accounts other than accounts receivable may not balance correctly if the tenant also has receivables transaction(s) attached to their lease. To avoid this, you have the ability to exclude receivables transactions on your receipts and statements with this policy setting.

• If you set this policy to True, the program will list the receivables transactions, and the security deposit account receipt/statement will show a correct balance.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will not list the receivables transactions, and the receipt/statement will also show a correct balance..

Note: This is for account types other than Accounts Receivable.

EPF

Electronic Payment File - Deposit Cash Drawer Automatically

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the cash drawer will automatically deposit after processing an electronic payment file (EPF).

Late Fees

Late Fees - Apply Late Fees with the Variable Date

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will use a date with the first of the following month for the transaction date.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will use a date of the day after what is in the policy setting.

Late Fees - Always Apply Late Fee to Previous Month for Which a Late Fee Was Not Applied

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will apply a late fee to the prior month if late fees for the account were not generated.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will not apply late fees to a prior month, no matter what.

Lease

Allow New Lease When Tenant is in ORC

Value: True or False

• If the tenant exists in ORC and this policy is set to False, a new lease cannot be added from Tenant Account Receivables; it must be added from ORC. (Does not allow new lease.)
• If this policy is set to True, a new lease can be added, but ORC will not be updated. (Allows new lease.)

Note: This policy should be set to True if your HA has non-subsidized leases.

Allow Lease to Terminate When Tenant is in ORC

Value: True or False

• If the tenant exists in ORC, and this policy is set to False, a lease cannot be terminated from TAR; it must be terminated from ORC. (Does not allow a lease terminate.)
• If this policy is set to True, it can be terminated from TAR, but ORC will not be updated. (Allows a lease to terminate.) In vary rare circumstances will this policy be set to True.

Separate TAR Accounts for Every Lease

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to False, the program will NOT create new accounts for a new lease. Note: If the development is changed, a new set of accounts will be automatically created.

Cash Drawers

Allow Balance of Cash Drawer if Drawer is Out of Balance

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will allow a cash drawer to be balanced if the drawer is out of balance.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will not allow a cash drawer to be balanced.

Allow Deposit of Cash Drawer if Deposit is Out of Balance

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will allow a cash drawer to be deposited if the deposit is out of balance.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will not allow a cash drawer to be deposited.

Deposit Wizard, Default Cash Drawer to Select all Cash Drawers

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, all cash drawer sessions will be selected, as the default, on step 2 of the Make Deposit Wizard.
• If you set this policy to False, a specific cash drawer session will not be selected on step 2 of the Make Deposit Wizard.

Allow One Person to Access Multiple Cash Drawers

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will allow a user to access multiple cash drawers.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will allow a user access to only one cash drawer.

Note: All cash drawers must be closed before this policy can be changed.

Allow One Cash Drawer for Multiple People

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will allow multiple people to work with one cash drawer.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will allow only one cash drawer per person.

Note: All cash drawers must be closed before this policy can be changed.

General Ledger

Auto Accept GL Batches Created from TAR

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the General Ledger program will automatically accept GL batches created in the TAR program.

Post Receivables Transactions to General Ledger

• If you set this policy to True, the program will automatically post Receivables transactions to General Ledger.

Note: Since closed months do not post, make sure to close months that you don’t want to post FIRST.

Miscellaneous

What Date Should Be Used for the Beginning Balance?

This date is displayed on the Account Details and Account Summary tabs to determine the beginning balance. This is NOT used for reports or statements.

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the date used for a tenant’s beginning balance will be the end of the last month.
• If you set this policy to False, the date used for a tenant’s beginning balance will be the last closing date.

What Date Should Be Used for the Ending Balance?

This date is displayed on the Account Details and Account Summary tabs to determine the ending balance. This is NOT used for reports or statements.

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the date used for a tenant’s ending balance will be the end of the current month.
• If you set this policy to False, the date used for a tenant’s ending balance will be the system date.

View the Total Amount Due on the Customer Browse Screen

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the Browse Customers screen will display “total due now” for each customer.
• If you set this policy to False, the Browse Customers screen will not display the “total due now,” and the searching speed will be greatly increased.

Set the Transaction Detail for the Account Detail Screen

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the Account Detail tab of the Maintain Customer Information screen will display transactions in detail (displays transaction type, beginning balance, charges, payments, transfers, and ending balance).
• If you set this policy to False, the Account Detail tab of the Maintain Customer Information screen will display transaction summaries only(displaysdate, transaction type, description, and amount).

Allow User to Modify the URP Refund Check Before They Are Posted

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program allows the user to edit the URP refunds before they are posted to GL. When set to True, a new step is added to the Generate URP Refunds Wizard that allows you to view customers who are eligible for a refund. On the additional step you are also allowed you to change the amount to be refunded, or exclude them from a refund completely.

Allow Lease Terminate When Tenant is in ORC

This policy allows you to set up whether or not lease terminations should be completed in Tenant Accounts Receivable (TAR), or only in Occupancy and Rent Calculation (ORC). If you have tenant records that also exist in ORC, you can set the program to only allow lease terminations in ORC and a lease cannot be terminated from Receivables.

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, a lease can be terminated in TAR (but ORC will NOT be updated).
• If you set this policy to False, a lease cannot be terminated in TAR.

Office Security - Use Office Security

This policy is used to limit the viewing of the Browse Tenant Leases screen, as well as limiting the developments available in reports used for developments, processes by developments, and cash drawers (payments).

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, the program will use “office security.” This links developments to offices, and then links employees to offices.

Unit Activity Paint Date

Value: User-specific

• From the value drop-down list, select the date for when a unit should be painted.

Statements - Only Print the Month Being Billed?

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, when printing statements, the program will only print the transactions for the month being billed and not the current month.
• If you set this policy to False, the program will print the transactions for both the month being billed and the current month also.

URP - Select a Vendor for the URP Invoices/Checks

Value: User-specific

• From the value drop-down list, select the vendor who should be the vendor used for URP invoices/checks. Note: If the HA’s URP checks go to the tenant, the value should be blank.

Allow Zero Rent

Value: True or False

• If you set this policy to True, a recurring charge in the amount of “0” will post to customer accounts whose leases had their rent equal to “0.”

Default Payables Vendor Type for Refund Checks

Value: User-specific

• When a customer is not already a vendor in Accounts Payable and a check request is created, the program will create a vendor for the tenant, and the new vendor record will have an assigned vendor type. From the value drop-down list, select the default Accounts Payable vendor type for refund checks.

Set Number of Months That Can Be Open at One Time

If there are a large number of open months in Tenant Accounts Receivable, and if certifications are re-opened in Occupancy and Rent Calculation, there is a high risk that numbers posted to General Ledger can change unexpectedly.Therefore, there is a limit on the number of months the system can be open (the default setting is 3 months open).

Value: User-specific

• From the value drop-down list, select the number of months that can remain open in TAR. Tenmast recommends allowing 3 months to stay open, but no more than 6 months.

Description Used for Re-open Certifications (Lease Undo)

Value: User-specific

• From the value field, enter the description you’d like to use for a re-opened certification (formerly known as “Lease Undo”). For example, Lease Reversal, Lease Undo, Re-open Lease Adjustment.