WA Refunds

Taxpayers are sometimes entitled to refunds, based on bill adjustments and/or overpayment credits that exceed variance limits. You must be able to track the refunding process from the moment a refund is generated to the moment the refund check clears the bank.

Refund payments may include some or all of the following stages:

1. Refund generation for individuals or for a group.
2. Refund credit application, to apply all or part of an overpayment credit towards an existing payment due.
3. Refund review, to review the basic descriptive details of the refund.
4. Refund voiding, to void a refund that is in process.
5. Refund receipt printing.
6. Refund report generation, including two different reports summarizing refunds due and refunds paid.

This application provides all the tools necessary to manage and oversee the complete refund process. Users initiate the generate refunds process from the Tax Due panel of the property view using either of the following methods:

• Selecting tax statements (or individual bills of tax statements), special assessments or fee bills with a credit balance caused by one or more adjustments to the item(s), and then clicking Refund.
• Clicking Refund for an overpayment credit on the property.

Users can invoke the Generate Refunds – in Mass Wizard to generate a refund for an account based on credit balances across multiple properties.

Purpose

Use this configuration option to specify one of the following due dates to calculate penalty and interest for refund processing:

• The tax due item’s current effective due date (the False setting)
• The tax due item’s due date from the time the payment was made (the True Setting)

Procedure

1. In PACS.ADMIN, choose Tools > System Configuration.

   

2. Select the System category. Then expand the Refund Calculation Process node.
3. For the Use Original Due Date setting, select one of the following options:
   • False – The current effective due date is used to recalculate delinquent penalty and interest.
   • True – The delinquent penalty and interest is recalculated as of the original due date from the time of payment.

   Note For either of the options, if interest begin dates are configured, then the configured begin date is used.

Purpose

Use this procedure to:

• Create refund information based on bill adjustments and overpayment credits that exceed variance limits.
• Track the refunding process through accounting management, from the time the refund was generated until the refund check cleared.

Note The refund receipt number corresponds to the payment ID of the payment that caused the refund. If multiple refunds are included in one receipt, only the latest transaction date and the amount of the last payment that triggered the refund appear on the receipt.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user rights are required:
  • Receipting > Refund > Generate Refund
  • Receipting > Refund > Move to Refund Cart
  • Receipting > Post Overpayment Credit (if required)
  • Receipting > Refund > Override Refund Interest (if required)
• To edit the value of a refund type, the user right Change Refund Type must be assigned to your user ID.
• Refund types have been set up in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Code File Maintenance > Collections >Refund Type).

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, open a property. Then open the Tax Due panel.
2. In the Statement Amounts section, select an item and click Refund.

   

   Note This functionality is used for bill adjustments where the new amount due is <$0.00, meaning that the bill was paid in full and then an adjustment occurred where the base amount was reduced. Otherwise, the Refund option will be disabled.

3. In the Refund Cart, select the statements to be refunded. To remove an item from the cart, select the items and click Remove.
4. For each statement, select the refund type.
5. If you need to override the interest, select the Override check box and enter the new amount in the Interest cell. For example:

   

6. Do one or more of the following in the Options section:
   • To select a batch for this processing, click Change Batch. The Select Batch dialog box appears. Select a batch and click Select.

     Note It may be advantageous to make it a practice to track processes within separate batches ( for example, for refunds, escrow, and bill modifications). Also, if you have selected a batch prior to generating a refund (perhaps in a separate posting activity), this batch will auto-populate in the refund cart. You have the option to accept that batch, select a different batch, or create a new batch from the Change Batch dialog box.

   • In the Check Number field, enter the check number.
   • To print a refund receipt after the refund is generated, select Print Receipt.
   • To print a letter after the refund is generated, select Print Letter and choose a letter from the Print Letter drop-down list.
   • To set the refund recipient, do one of the following in the Refund To section:
     • To set the refund recipient to the taxpayer, select Taxpayer and choose the taxpayer from the Taxpayer drop-down list.
     • To set the refund recipient to the payer, select Paid By and choose the payer from the Paid By drop-down list.
     • To search for a taxpayer, select Find Taxpayer and click Search. The Account Search dialog box is displayed where you can specify the account for which to issue the refund.
     • To set the refund recipient to a mortgage company, select Mortgage Company and choose a mortgage company from the Mortgage Company drop-down list.
     • To set the refund recipient to an agent, select Agent and choose an agent from the Agent drop-down list.
7. Click Generate Refund to complete the transaction.

Purpose

Use this procedure to generate refunds specified with the following options:

• All property owners or a selected subset of either property owners or payers.
• Credits generated within a date range.
• Credits that occurred within a specified number of business days.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user rights must be assigned to your user ID:
  • Receipting > Refund > Generate Refund
  • Receipting > Post Overpayment Credit (if required)
  • Receipting > Refund > Override Refund Interest (if required)
• To edit the value of a refund type, the user right Change Refund Type must be assigned to your user ID.
• Refund types have been set up in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Code File Maintenance > Collections >Refund Type).
• Business days have been specified in the Holiday Schedule settings in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Calendar Maintenance).
• To filter overpayments in the report based on Ready for Refund status, Require Ready for Refund is set enabled. From PACS.ADMIN, choose Tools > System Configuration > Refund Calculation Process > Require Ready for Refund, set to True.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Activities > Posting > Generate Refunds – in Mass.
2. In the Generate Refunds – In Mass Refund Selection Criteria dialog box, generate a list of available credit balances on bills by using at least one of the following selection criteria:
   • To include specific payers or owners in the selection criteria, do the following:
   1. Select Paid By / Owner Selection Criteria.

      

   2. Do one of the following:
      • Select the Include Paid By(s) option to include specified payers in the selection criteria. Click Add to open the Paid By Search dialog box where you can search according to any text and then select payers. Click Remove to remove payers from the list.
      • Select the Include Owners option to include specified owners in the search criteria. Click Add to open the Owner Search dialog box where you can search according to any text and then select owners. Click Remove to remove owners from the list.
   • In the Credit Balance Types to Include section, select credit types from the following options as needed:
     • Adjustment Credit Balance
     • Overpayment Credit Balance
       • Ready for Refund

         Yes includes only overpayment credits marked Ready for Refund in the Overpayment Credit(s) grid in the Escrow/Overpayment Credits panel; No excludes those marked Ready for Refund; All (default selection) includes all overpayment credits.

         Note This option applies to Overpayment Credit Balance, and only displays when Require Ready for Refund configuration setting is enabled in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > System Configuration > System > Refund Calculation Process).

   • To include a date range in the selection criteria, select Select credits generated within a date range. Then, in the Begin Date and End Date drop-down lists, enter a date range for which properties that currently have a credit and had an adjustment or overpayment credit within the specified date range will be included in the selection criteria.

     

     Note If the end date is not supplied, today’s date is used. If the start date is left blank with the end date populated, the system will search for the date of the first transaction processed in the system.

   • To include credits with payments older than a specified number of business days, do the following:

     a. Select Select credits with payment older than business days.

     

     b. In the Business Days drop-down list, select the number of business days. The search will include only those bills with credit balances that were received prior to the specified number of days.

3. Click Next.
4. In the Generate Refunds – In Mass Process Refund dialog box, either use the check boxes to select individual credits, or use the following buttons to select or clear multiple credits:

   

5. If you need to override the interest, select the Override check box and enter the new amount in the Interest cell.

   

6. To apply the credit balance, including interest, to the taxes due on the properties associated with the credits you selected, click Apply Credits to Taxes Due and, when prompted, select a batch.

   Note If you choose the Apply Credit to Taxes Due option, the system applies the credits to the taxes and then refreshes the grids with any remaining refund amounts. When applying the credits, the system creates payment records with the comment Adjustment Refund Credit Balance Applied. Remaining credits that are more than the variance become overpayment credits.

7. Select whether you want to generate a single refund or a multiple refund:

   

8. If you selected Generate multiple refunds, proceed to the next step. If you selected Generate single refund, complete the following fields in the Generate Refunds – In Mass Refund dialog box:
   1. To set the options for the refund, do one or more of the following in the Options section:
      • To select a batch for this processing, click Change Batch. The Select Batch dialog box appears. Select a batch and click Select.
      • In the Check Number field, enter the check number.
      • To print a refund receipt after the refund is generated, select Print Receipt.
      • To print a letter after the refund is generated, select Print Letter and choose a letter from the Print Letter drop-down list.
   2. To set the refund recipient, do one of the following in the Refund To section:
      • To set the refund recipient to the taxpayer, select Taxpayer and choose the taxpayer from the Taxpayer drop-down list.
      • To set the refund recipient to the payer, select Paid By and choose the payer from the Paid By drop-down list.
      • To search for a taxpayer, select Find Taxpayer and click Search. The Account Search dialog is displayed where you can specify the account for which to issue the refund.
      • To set the refund recipient to a mortgage company, select Mortgage Company and choose a mortgage company from the Mortgage Company drop-down list.
      • To set the refund recipient to an agent, select Agent and choose an agent from the Agent drop-down list.
   3. Click Finish to complete the transaction.
9. If you selected Generate multiple refunds, complete the following fields in the Generate Refunds – In Mass Refund dialog box:
   1. To set the options for the refund record, do one or more of the following in the Options section of the Process Refund window:
      • To select a batch for this processing, click Change Batch. Select a batch from the Select Batch dialog box and click Select.
      • In the Beginning Check Number field, enter the first check number. For each refund generated, the check number will be incremented by one.
      • To print a refund receipt after the refund is generated, select Print Receipt.
      • To print a letter after the refund is generated, select Print Letter.
   2. To set the refund recipient for each property, choose one of the following in the Refund To section:
      • Current Taxpayer on Property
      • Taxpayer on Property at Time of Last Payment
      • Payor of Last Payment on Property
   3. Click Finish to complete the transaction.

Purpose

Use this procedure to apply an overpayment credit when a taxpayer submits more than what is due, above the variance set in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Set System Wide Variance). This activity applies the overpayment credit to existing amounts due on a property, and refunds any remainder.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, one or more of the following user rights must be assigned to your user ID:
  • Receipting > Apply Overpayment Credit
  • Receipting > Refund > Change Overpayment Status Credit
  • Receipting > Refund > Post Partial Payment When Applying Credit (if a partial payment is required)
  • Receipting > Post Overpayment Credit
• To require a check prior to refunding overpayment credits, Require Ready for Refund is set enabled. From PACS.ADMIN, choose Tools > System Configuration > Refund Calculation Process > Require Ready for Refund, set to True.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, open a property. Then open the Escrow/Overpayment Credits panel.
2. In the Overpayment Credits section of the panel, click Apply.

   

   Note When processing overpayment credits, only one credit can be applied or refunded at a time. All toolstrip buttons except Add are disabled when more than one row is selected.

3. In the Apply Overpayment Credit dialog box, in the Select Credit to Apply section, select a single overpayment credit to apply to a property.

   

4. To use the posting date on which the overpayment credit was generated to determine the amount of penalties and interest due on the delinquent items, rather than the current system posting date, select Use Overpayment Credit Date as Posting Date.
5. To specify additional property records to which the overpayment credit should be applied, do the following:

   

   1. In the Property List – to apply credit to section, click Add.
   2. In the Property Search Wizard window, search for a property and select it.
6. If the selected property has bills that are part of a payout agreement, and you want to select one or more of the unpaid installments of the payout agreement(s) listed for the property, do the following:
   1. Click View Payout Bills.
   2. In the Select Payout Agreement Bills window, select one or more installments and click OK.

      Note The Selected Total field contains the sum of the balance due for the selected rows.

7. Click Next.
8. In the Payment Cart dialog box, review the items that are included.
9. Click Next.
10. In the Apply Overpayment Credit dialog box, if you would like a description to print on the refund receipt, enter a description in the Comment pane.

    

11. To print a receipt, select Print Receipt.and select either the Summary or Detail option.
12. Click Finish.

Next Steps

• To view the overpayment credit, on the Escrow/Overpayment Credits panel, click View Applied Payment.
• To view the original overpayment, on the Escrow/Overpayment Credits panel, click View Source Payment.

  

Purpose

Use this procedure to view basic information about a refund, such as the batch it is associated with, the refund amount, the account to which the refund was paid, as well as a table that sorts the source of the refund according to the statement, ID, year, and refund type.

Note that PACS 9.0 includes a refund paid search feature (Search > Refund Paid) that can be used to find refunds that have already been refunded. This search feature includes voided refunds and supports receipt reprinting.

Prerequisites

Before reviewing a refund, a refund must first be generated. For more information, see Generating Refunds.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, open a property. Then open the Payment History panel.
2. In the Refund(s) section, select the refund or refunds to review and then click Details.
3. In the Refund Detail dialog box, review the following fields:
   • Batch – The batch used for processing.
   • Operator
   • Status – The status of the refund; one of the following values:
     • Generated – The status of a refund before its batch is closed and the refund is submitted to the Accounts Payable/General Ledger interface.
     • Invoiced – The status of a refund that has been submitted to the Accounts Payable/General Ledger interface.
     • Issued – The status of a refund that has been remitted to the receiver of the refund.
     • Cleared – The status of a refund that has cleared the bank.

       Note If the application has access to the Accounts Payable/General Ledger interface, the Status drop-down list is read-only. If the application does not have access to an Accounts Payable/General Ledger interface, you can change the Status drop-down list to Issued or Cleared.

   • Check #

     The refund check number.

   • Refund Date

     The date of the refund.

   • Refund ID
   • Refunded To

     The refund recipient.

4. Review the following fields in the Refund Distribution section:
   • Statement
   • Property ID
   • Tax Year
   • Levy/Agency/Fee Type
   • Refund Type – The refund type for each item included in the refund.
     • If the source of the refund is Overpayment Credit, this field is read-only and the value is the refund type code for overpayment credits.
     • If the source of the refund is Adjustment Credit, then you may change the refund type code to another that has the exact same interest rate if the refund is still in the initial Generated state.
   • Amount
   • Interest
   • Total
5. Review the Selected Refund Amount and Total Refund Amount.
6. To close the dialog box, click OK.

Purpose

Use this procedure to void a refund.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Receipting > Refund > Void Refund

Procedure

1. Open a property. Then open the Payment History panel.
2. In the Refund(s) section, select the refund to be voided.
3. From the Refund Detail dialog box, click Void Refund.

Purpose

Use this procedure to print and reprint a refund receipt.

Procedure

1. Open a property. Then open the Payment History panel.
2. In the Refund(s) section, select the refund to be printed.
3. From the Refund Detail dialog box, click Reprint Receipt.

Note The refund receipt number corresponds to the payment ID of the payment that caused the refund. If multiple refunds are included in one receipt, only the latest transaction date and the amount of the last payment that triggered the refund appear on the receipt.

Purpose

Use this report to view adjustment credits and overpayment credits, either in detail or in summary format.

Prerequisites

• To filter overpayments iin the report based on Ready for Refund status, Require Ready for Refund is set enabled. From PACS.ADMIN, choose Tools > System Configuration > Refund Calculation Process > Require Ready for Refund, set to True.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Reports > Refunds > Refunds Due Report.
2. Complete the following options as required, in the Criteria section of the Print Refunds Due dialog box:

   

   • To include a Payment Source, choose a payment source code from the Payment Source drop-down list.
   • To include a specific property ID, enter an ID in the Property ID field.
   • To include a specific account ID, enter an ID in the Account ID field.
3. Select at least one of the following Credit Balance Types to Include:
   • Adjustment Credits
   • Property Overpayment Credits
   • Account Overpayment Credits
     • Ready for Refunds

       Yes includes only overpayment credits marked Ready for Refund in the Overpayment Credit(s) grid in the Escrow/Overpayment Credits panel; No excludes those marked Ready for Refund; All (default selection) includes all overpayment credits.

       Note This option applies to Property Overpayment Credits and/or Account Overpayment Credits, and only displays when Require Ready for Refund configuration setting is enabled in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > System Configuration > System > Refund Calculation Process).

4. In the Credit Balance Amount Range field, enter either a Minimum Amount, or a Maximum Amount, or both.
5. To enter a payment/adjustment date range, choose a date in the Start Date and End Date drop-down lists in the Payment/Adjustment Date Range section.
6. To set the output type, select one of the following in the Output Type (mutually Exclusive) section:
   • To create a detailed report, select either Sort By Property/Owner or Sort by Levy/Agency/Fee Type.
   • To create a summary report, select either Group By Property/Owner or Group by Levy/Agency/Fee Type.
7. To set the output settings, do the following in the Output Settings section:
   • In the Format drop-down list, select the report output format.
   • In the Filename field, enter the report file name.
   • In the Description field, enter a report description.
8. Click Preview to preview the report. Click Post to generate the report.

Purpose

Use this report to view refunds generated, invoiced, issued or mailed against credit balances on accounts in either detail or summary format.

When using this report for monthly balancing, you must use the same date range used for the Fiscal MTD Recap report, the Fiscal YTD Recap report, and the Fiscal YTD Summary report.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Reports > Refunds > Refunds Paid Report.
2. In the Selection Criteria section of the Refunds Paid dialog box, to include one or more property, account, or tax district/levy IDs, click , select the IDs, and click OK.
3. Select at least one of the options in the Refund Type section.
4. Select at least one of the options in the Refund Status section.
5. To include a refund date range, choose a start date and/or end date in the Refund Date drop-down lists.
6. To include a balance date range, choose a start date and/or end date in the Balance Date drop-down lists.
7. To include a check number range, enter a starting check number and/or an ending check number in the Check Number Range fields.
8. To include a refund amount range, enter a minimum amount and/or maximum amount in the Refund Amount fields.
9. To set the report type, select one of the following in the Report Type section:
   • To create a detailed report, select one of the following:
     • Sort By Check # – The report will be sorted according to check number.
     • Sort By Property – The report will be sorted according to property.
     • Sort By Owner – The report will be sorted according to owner.
     • Sort by Levy/Agency/Fee Type – The report will be sorted according to levy/agency/fee type.
   • To create a summary report, select one of the following:
     • Group By Check # – The summary report will include only check details.
     • Group By Property – The summary report will include only property details.
     • Group By Owner – The summary report will include only owner details.
     • Group by Levy/Agency/Fee Type – The summary report will include only levy/agency/fee type details.
10. In the Output Settings section, do the following:
    • In the Format drop-down list, select the report output format.
    • In the Filename field, enter the report file name.
    • In the Description field, enter a report description.
11. Click Preview to preview the report. Click Post to generate the report and create a PACS inbox item from which you can view the report.