Adding or editing an Account record

Menu 1.1, Menu 11.2

Use this option to add or edit the information for an account.

To add or edit an account record:

  1. From the Main menu, navigate to Data Entry > Account Update (menu 1.1).

  2. If The Collector System is in a preliminary Month-End process, the Preliminary Month End in Progress. Use Old or New Month? prompt displays. Do one of the following:
    • To create or change an account from the old month, click Old.
    • To create or change an account from the new month, click New.
    • To return to the Data Entry menu, click Cancel.
  3. If the Batch Number to Update window displays, select one of the following, and press Enter or click Ok:
    • Use Existing Batch
    • New Batch Number
    • Last Batch Number

    • Go to Account Prompt

      For more information, see Selecting batch options.

  4. At the Enter Account # prompt, do one of the following:

    For a full list of the commands available at this prompt, see Working the Account# prompt options.

    1. Do one of the following, and press Enter:
      1. To assign a new account number by The Collector System, type A.
      2. To enter a new account number assigned by your agency, type the number.
    2. At the "Account number" is Not on File - Is This a New Record (CR=Y, N) prompt, press Enter.

    We recommend that you let The Collector System assign a number to the new account.

    Type the account number, and press Enter.

    1. Type =, and press Enter.
    2. Proceed with Step 1 of Running account inquiries.
    1. Type = and the customer's name, and then press Enter.
    2. In Line#, Account# 'Q' = prompt of the Inquiry screen, type the line number for the account to display, and press Enter.

    Type F and the account number, and then press Enter.

    Type MSG, and press Enter. For more information, see Using messaging.

    1. Type CA, and press Enter.
    2. For more information, see Using the calculator.
    1. Type B, and press Enter.
    2. Proceed with the instructions in Selecting batch options.
    1. Type IM, and press Enter.
    2. Proceed with Step 2 of Changing the input mode for the Account Update screen.

    Type a period (.), and press Enter.

    1. Type a period (.) and an X, and then press Enter.
    2. At the OK to Clear Current List (CR=Y, N) prompt, press Enter.
    1. Type two periods (..), and press Enter.
    2. If you are creating a new list, proceed with Step 5 of Creating and executing a new list.

    Type a dash (-), and press Enter.

    Type L, and press Enter.

    Type L and a number between 2 and 15, and then press Enter.

    The number represents the account's order in the list of 15, starting with the most recent account opened. For example, to open the account that was opened nine accounts before the most recent account, type L9.

    1. Type L?, and press Enter.
    2. In the Last Worked window, select the account to open, and press Enter or click Ok.

    Type SH, and press Enter.

    This routine starts a new NT program shell that runs in a separate window. You can run any program in this window. This setting only applies if you are connected using client/server connection, not Telnet.

    Type /, and press Enter.

  5. Add or edit information in the Account Record screen. The following lists detail Closedthe fields on the screen and how to add or edit the information:

    If the account is part of a packet and you edit a field, The Collector System may prompt you to select which packet members to apply th change to. For more information, see Updating packet member information.

    The Collector System displays the new or existing account number for the account records.

    This field is view-only.

    Do one of the following, and press Enter:

    • To enter a client, type the client number.

    • To search for a client, see Running client inquiries.

      You can only edit this field when creating a new account.

    • To enter the customer's name, type the name, and press Enter.
    • To perform additional tasks, enter a command, and press Enter. For a list of tasks and their corresponding commands, see Using Name prompt options.

    Do one of the following:

    • To enter a U.S. address, type the street address or post office box number, and press Enter.

    • To enter or delete an international address, type /IA, and press Enter. For more information, see Using the Account Update screen.

      For international addresses, address information from the International Address window nulls any data that would normally exist in the City, St, and Zip fields.

      1. In the International Address window, on the first line, the name of the recipient displays. On the following lines, type the address, pressing Enter to move from one line to the next.
      2. On the last line, type the country in all capital letters, and press Enter.
      3. At the OK to File? prompt, do one of the following:
        • To save your changes, press Enter, or type Y, and press Enter.
        • To discard your changes, type N, and press Enter.
        • To re-enter the address, type DEL, and press Enter.

    For international addresses, this field is changed using the International Address window.

    1. To access the Address2 field, in the City field, type /, and press Enter.
    2. In the Address2 field, type an additional address for the account, such as a PO Box, and press Enter.

    For international addresses, this field is replaced by information from the International Address window.

    Type the city name, and press Enter.

    For international addresses, this field is replaced by information from the International Address window.

    Type the two character state abbreviation, and press Enter.

    For international addresses, this field is replaced by information from the International Address window.

    Type the zip code, and press Enter.

    Type the customer's phone number, and press Enter.

    1. In the DOB field, type /, and press Enter.
    2. In the Int field, type the interest rate that applies to this account, as a decimal (for example: .12 = 12%), and press Enter.

    3. In the Enter Interest Effective Date (/) field, type the date on which the new interest rate takes affect, and press Enter.

      The system automatically advances to the DOB field, as most often the standard client interest rate is used, so the system skips this field.

    This field displays the current number of notes associated with this account. The number increases or decreases as note lines are added or subtracted. You cannot edit this field.

    Do one of the following:

    • To enter the customer's date of birth, type the date, including year, and press Enter.
    • To enter the customer's age, type X and the customer's age, and then press Enter.
    • To access the notes, type an asterisk (*), and press Enter. For more information on notes, see Managing Account record notes.
    • To access the account Financial Profile, type F, and press Enter. For more information on the Financial Profile screen, see Viewing and changing Financial Profile window information.
    • To access messages, type MSG, and press Enter. For more information on messages, see Using messaging.

    To override the automatic desk assignment, type a desk number, and press Enter.

    Type the customer's social security number, and press Enter.

    You can enter social security numbers with or without hyphens, but your agency should use the same format consistently or the social security number inquiry will not work.

    Proceed to Step 7 of Adding or moving accounts in packets.

    Type additional information your agency would like to use to search for accounts, such as driver's license number, and press Enter.

    Type the number the client uses to identify this account within their organization, and press Enter.

    1. In the Assigned field, type /, and press Enter.
    2. In the Fwd Client field, do one of the following:
      • If this account was forwarded to your agency, type the name of the original client, and press Enter.
      • If your agency forwarded this account out, type the name of the agency to which the client was sent, and press Enter.

    Type the date the account was assigned to your agency, and press Enter.

    • If you enter any date other than today, the system displays the message, Warning: An assigned date other than today has been entered.
    • If you enter a future date, the system displays the message Date Assigned Is A Future Date ,to remind you to verify you are entering the date correctly.

    Type the last date any charges were added to the account, and press Enter.

    For a new account, this is the last date any client charges were added to the account before it was turned over to your agency. This may be referred to as the last service date by some clients.

    Type the last date a payment was received, and press Enter.

    For a new account, this is the last pay date prior to assignment. The Collector System uses this information to create an interest memo in the note lines. For The Collector System to automatically calculate and enter the interest, you must make an entry in the Last Chg or Last Pay fields. If there is a date in both fields, The Collector System uses the most recent date.

    Type the date of the first delinquency, and press Enter.

    This field is required for the account to be reported to a credit reporting agency, if it is later transferred to trust.

    This field displays the last date the client charged the account for any goods or services, or the last date the client received payment from the account. The most recent of the two dates displays.

    1. In the Patient field, type /, and press Enter.
    2. In the Intr Eff field, when entering a new account, type the date the interest began accruing on the account, and press Enter.

    Do one of the following:

    • Type the patient's name, and press Enter.
    • To enter the account name in this field, type N1, and press Enter.
    • To enter the second account name in this field, type N2, and press Enter.

    Your agency may have set up these fields for a variety of purposes. In each available field, type the appropriate information, and press Enter.

    This field displays the credit report applied to this account.

    In the Owing column, type the amount this account owes, and press Enter.

    In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the amount of the received payments that applies to the original assigned amount. This field is view-only.

    Do one of the following:

    • To manually enter interest, type the amount, and press Enter.
    • To have The Collector System compute the interest, leave the field blank, and press Enter.

    The Collector System only computes the interest when both of the following are true: The client has a set interest rate and there is a date in either of the Last Charge, Last Pay fields or the Intr Eff field.

    In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the amount of the received payments that apply to the interest. This field is view-only.

    This field displays the portion of the assigned amount that has been canceled, if any. This field is view-only.

    Type the amount the customer owes for attorney fees, if any, and press Enter.

    Typically this field is left blank when adding a new account. In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the amount of the collected payments that applies to the attorney fees. This field is view-only.

    Type the amount the customer owes for court fees, if any, and press Enter.

    Typically this field is left blank when adding a new account. In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the amount of the collected payments that applies to the court costs. This field is view-only.

    Type the amounts this account owes for miscellaneous fees determined by your agency, and press Enter. For detailed information on this field and distributing miscellaneous fees, see Displaying the Miscellaneous Amounts windows.

    In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the amount of the received payments that apply to the miscellaneous fees. This field is view-only.

    The Collector System automatically computes the value in this field. This field is view-only.

    In the Received column, The Collector System automatically calculates the total amount of the payments received by your agency. This field is view-only.

    The Collector System automatically computes the difference between what the account owes and what has been received. This field is view-only.

    The code that displays the status of the account. This field is not editable, but you can do the following:

    • To display the status code with its description, type /DS, and press Enter.
    • To display the previous status code assigned to the account, type /PS, and press Enter.
    • To display a description of the status, type /SD, and press Enter.

    If your agency charges a different commission rate for an individual account than what the client record specifies, do the following, and press Enter:

    • Type the commission as a percentage. For example, for a 20% commission, type .20.
    • Type the commission rate as a fraction. For example, for a 20% commission, type 1/5.
    • Type a commission code. For more information, see Menu 10.5.51 - Commission.
    • To select a financial category, type /C. For more information, see Configuring Fiscal field categories.

    If the account is on a payment plan, this field displays the current amount due.

  6. At the OK to File? prompt, do one of the following:

    • To save the information on the screen, press Enter.
    • To discard the information on the screen and exit without saving, type N, and press Enter.
    • To make changes to the screen, type /, and press Enter.
    • To place the account on a payment plan, type PP, and press Enter. For more information, see Using payment plans.