PAC - Parent Banking Information
Important!
Direct Banking has been replaced by a Parent Lounge Payment Schedules facility.
Parent Lounge Payment Schedules is a self-serve solution for parents that includes tokenisation of their card and bank details and automatic processing of instalments including back end receipting and reconciliation.
Direct Banking is not available when Parent Lounge Payment Schedules has been enabled.
The level of user access to this program should be carefully considered as the information that is maintained should be kept secure. Although certain bank account and credit card information is stored in an encrypted form in the database, it is strongly advised that the EDIT permission for this program is carefully considered to ensure access to sensitive credit card numbers is protected.
For more information about using the new facility that has replaced this module see:
Important!
Direct Banking has been replaced by a Parent Lounge Payment Schedules facility.
Parent Lounge Payment Schedules is a self-serve solution for parents that includes tokenisation of their card and bank details and automatic processing of instalments including back end receipting and reconciliation.
Direct Banking is not available when Parent Lounge Payment Schedules has been enabled.
The level of user access to this program should be carefully considered as the information that is maintained should be kept secure. Although certain bank account and credit card information is stored in an encrypted form in the database, it is strongly advised that the EDIT permission for this program is carefully considered to ensure access to sensitive credit card numbers is protected.
For more information about using the new facility that has replaced this module see:
Parent Banking Information Overview
This is a multi-purpose program that can be used to:
- Search for and list existing parent direct banking arrangements.
- Edit or delete direct banking arrangements for a parent.
- Upload changes for direct banking arrangements from a
.csvfile for existing parents. - Add new direct banking arrangements for a parent.
The TASS.web direct banking sub-system is used to record banking arrangement details for parents who elect to have periodic payments made directly from their account (or credit card in certain circumstances).
The system supports multiple banking arrangements for the one parent account.
Once the direct banking arrangements have been set up, to process a direct banking run:
- Use program Finance > Parent Accounts > Direct Banking > Generate Banking File. This generates a file for your direct banking run in the ABA (Australian Banking Association) format.
- Upload and process the file into one of the major banks' desktop banking products.
- Use program Finance > Parent Accounts > Direct Banking > Generate Fee Receipts.
The final step for a direct banking run is to use a program that will automatically create receipt transactions for all parent accounts within a nominated direct banking run.
Adding New Direct Banking Arrangements for a Parent
To add a new direct banking arrangement for a parent, click on the 'New' icon at the top of the screen to display a blank 'Parent Direct Banking Details' screen.
Parent Direct Banking Screen
Fields that require further explanation:
| Parent Direct Banking Details | |
|---|---|
Parent | Nominate the parent code for this direct banking arrangement. Select the 'Lookup' (Binoculars) icon to search for a valid parent account code in the database. |
Account Balance | This field displays the current account balance for the Parent Account. Account Balance = last statement balance plus any subsequent charges minus any payments made minus any credits issued. |
Arrangement Number | The system supports multiple banking arrangements for the one parent account. If you are entering a second or subsequent arrangement, a warning will be displayed and this field will automatically increment when you save the record. |
Bank Account | Check this radio button if this parent's direct banking arrangement is to a debit bank account. When this option is selected, the 'Account Name', 'Account BSB' and 'Account Code' fields in the Bank Account Details section below must be entered. |
Credit Card | Check this radio button if this parent's direct banking arrangement is to a credit card account. When this option is selected, the 'Card Number', 'Cardholder Name', 'Expiry (mm/yy)' and 'Card Type' fields in the Credit Card Details section below must be entered. Important! Ensure that this arrangement has been set up before using this option. This is bank/clearinghouse dependent. |
Bank Account Details | |
Account Name | Enter the parent's bank account name (maximum 35 characters). Important! The data entered in this field is automatically encrypted within the database. |
Account BSB | Enter the parent's bank account BSB Code. It must be entered in the format 'NNN-NNN' |
Account Code | Enter the parent's bank account number (maximum 9 digits). Important! The data entered in this field is automatically encrypted within the database. |
| Credit Card Details | |
|---|---|
Card Number | Enter the parent's credit card number (maximum 20 digits). In view mode, the card number in this field will be hidden so that only the last 4 digits will be visible. Important! The data entered in this field is automatically encrypted within the database. |
Cardholder Name | Enter the cardholder name of the parent's credit card (maximum 35 characters). Important! The data entered in this field is automatically encrypted within the database. |
Expiry (mm/yy) | Enter the expiry details of the parent's credit card. It must be in the format 'MM/YY'. Important! The data entered in this field is automatically encrypted within the database. |
Card Type | Card Types are school definable and are set up using Finance > Parent Accounts > Setup Information > Direct Banking Parameters. |
Direct Debit Details | |
Agreement Date | The system requires the entry of the agreement date with each parent for establishing a direct debit arrangement. |
Direct Debit Balance | This is the amount that the system will attempt to process each time a direct banking run is prepared for the cycle in which this parent is setup. |
Remaining Payments | When a direct banking arrangement is entered for a parent you can nominate the number of times the direct debit is to occur. The system will keep a track of how many a parent has left to go. Once the number remaining is zero it will stop including the parent on the relevant direct banking run. |
Cycle | Direct banking cycles are school definable and are set up using Finance > Parent Accounts > Setup Information > Direct Banking Parameters. |
Do you want this parent account to go into credit? | If this is not ticked the direct banking run will only take the figure up to the total of the parent's account balance, e.g. Direct Debit Balance is $500 but the Account Balance is only $250, then the figure used will be $250. Tick this checkbox if you do want the account to go into credit (reverse of the example above). |
Click the 'Save' button to accept the parent direct banking details or the 'Cancel' button to return to the previous screen without committing the record to the TASS.web database.
Viewing, Editing or Deleting an Existing Direct Banking Arrangement for a Parent
This search screen provides the facility to search for existing parent direct banking arrangements in the database using various search fields.
Searchable areas include account details (bank or credit card), cycle, credit indicator, parent code, parent name, parent surname, parent type, parent status, direct debit amount, number of payments left and the date that the parent entered into the direct banking arrangement with the school.
| Fields that require further explanation | |
|---|---|
Include Bank Account | This will filter the search to only include parents with direct banking arrangements against debit bank accounts. |
Include Credit Card | This will filter the search to only include parents with direct banking arrangements against credit card accounts. |
Cycle | Direct banking cycles are school definable and are set up using Finance > Parent Accounts > Setup Information > Parent Accounts Setup. Use this as a filter to display all parents who have direct banking details for a particular cycle, e.g. Monthly. |
Direct Debit Amount from/to | This allows you to filter based on the dollar value of the direct debit, e.g. $2,000 to $3,000. |
Remaining Payments from/to | When a direct banking arrangement is entered for a parent you can nominate the number of times the direct debit is to occur. The system will keep a track of how many a parent has left to go. Once the number remaining is zero it will stop including the parent on the relevant direct banking run. Use this field as a filter to identify all parents with a certain number of payments remaining. |
Arrangement Date From/To | The system requires the entry of the agreement date with each parent for establishing a direct debit arrangement. Use this field as a filter to identify all parents with agreement dates within a certain range. |
Click the 'GO' button to initiate the search and produce the 'Parent Direct Banking List'.
Click 'View' or 'Edit' to display the 'Parent Direct Banking Details' or 'Delete' to remove this parent's details.
In the 'Parent Direct Banking Details' screen, 'view' or 'edit' mode also include a 'Receipt Distributions' section (that is not available in 'add' mode).
For more information on 'Receipt Distributions', refer to Finance > Parent Accounts > Direct Banking > Receipt Distributions.
Upload Parent Banking Information Changes
An alternative to manually keying changes to 'Parent Direct Banking Details' is to use the 'Upload' button at the top of the 'Parent Banking Information' screen.
Data from a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet that has been saved as a .csv file can be uploaded.
It may be useful to run program Finance > Parent Accounts > Listings & Reports > Parent Transactions Report to prepare your upload file.
- Generate the report using the 'Only Parents with Direct Banking Arrangements' option and filter by 'Cycle' (if required).
- On the 'Print Tab' select the 'Direct Banking fields' from the 'Additional Fields' list and select the 'Export to Excel' option.
Important!
For the upload to be successful, the spreadsheet must conform to the following specifications:
Be saved in comma-delimited (CSV) format.
Contain the following columns.
Column | Field Name | Field Type/Size | Field Description |
|---|---|---|---|
A | Parent Code | Must match the code structure deployed by your school | Mandatory. It must be a valid 'Parent Code' for a parent with a direct banking record. |
B | Parent Name | Char(35) | Optional. This field does not upload. It is used to assist with the identification of the parent. |
C | Arrangement Number | Smallint | 'Arrangement Number' |
D | Cycle | Char(1) | Mandatory. This must be a valid direct banking cycle as set up using program Finance > Parent Accounts > Setup Information > Direct Banking Parameters. |
E | Direct Debit Amount | Must be an amount greater than or equal to 0.00 | Mandatory. This is the amount that the system will attempt to process each time a direct banking run is prepared for the cycle in which this parent is set up. |
F | Remaining Payments | Must be a whole number greater than or equal to zero. | Mandatory. When a direct banking arrangement is entered for a parent you can nominate the number of times the direct debit is to occur. The system will keep a track of how many a parent has left to go. Once the number remaining is zero it will stop including the parent on the relevant direct banking run. |
G | Credit Indicator | Y/N | Mandatory. 'N' if the direct banking run will only take an amount up to the total of the parent's account balance. For example, Direct Debit amount is $500 but the Account Balance is only $250, then the figure used will be $250. 'Y' if the account is to go into credit. |
After you click the 'Upload' button, the 'Upload Parent Direct Banking Details' screen will be displayed.
Use the 'Browse' button to locate the .csv file that you intend to upload.
Click the 'GO' button.
The system will validate the file to ensure that it meets the format described above.
If validation is unsuccessful, the program will produce an exception report. You will need to address the issues in the .csv file and re-import the data.
If validation is successful, the program will update the Direct Banking records and produce a report detailing the number of records updated.
The report will show the OLD values and NEW updated values. This provides a valuable audit trail of the changes made.