Viewing Bill Account Alerts

1. Add a bill message by clicking the Bill Mesage icon  . The New Message window will open.

   NOTE: Once a bill message has been created, it has the potential of creating an audit trail, and cannot be deleted!

2. You can either:

   • Select a pre-defined message

   • Select and edit a pre-defined message

   • Create a message

3. To select a predefined message:

   1. Select the Pre-defined check box.

   2. Select the appropriate message.

4. To edit a pre-defined message:

   1. Select the Pre-defined check box.

   2. Select the appropriate message.

   3. Select the User defined check box.

   4. If applicable, in the Key field edit the message key.

   5. If applicable, select a new severity level from the drop-down list.

   6. In the Message field, edit the message. You are limited to 255 characters.

5. To create a message:

   1. Select the User defined check box.

   2. In the Key field, type a message key.

   3. Select a severity level from the drop-down list.

   4. In the Message field, enter the text to be displayed. You are limited to 255 characters.

6. After making your selections, click OK. The New Message window closes.

1. View bill messages by clicking the View Message icon  . The Bill Messages window will open.

   • Messages are listed by audit severity, key, message, and status. You can sort the lists by clicking a column heading. Sort the lists in reverse order by clicking the column heading once more.

2. Print the messages by clicking the Print icon  . The message list will be printed using your default printer.

3. Exit the Bill Messages window by clicking Close.

Account Alerts are account-based bill messages that are accessible from the Bill Entry window in EnergyCAP. Account Alerts are valuable for several reasons:

• They can be limited to time parameters set by the user.
• By their presence they can 'trigger' EnergyCAP audits (depending on the audits run and the audit severity settings determined by the user)
• They are highly visible messages that will appear in a popup window each time an editable window for the account is opened when the user's computer clock date falls within the Alert parameters.

NOTE: Account alerts are triggered during manual bill entry in EnergyCAP. They will not be triggered during bill import processes.

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO:

QUESTION: My real estate department has informed me that we are selling building #505 on December 1 and will no longer be responsible for the utility bills after that date. There are two electric accounts, a gas account and two water accounts. How can this EnergyCAP feature help me?

ANSWER: Set up a Bill Account Alert for each of the accounts associated with the building. The message text could be “Do not pay for services provided after December 1—Building Sold” The Begin Date for the Alert could be set for December 1. No End Date would be required. This is the date that the Alert would begin displaying from the Edit/Create bill windows. The initial severity level could be fairly low (PASS) to ensure that final utility bills and payment data could be recorded in EnergyCAP. After the final bills had been processed, the severity level could be increased to a “Fail” status, preventing further entry of billing data for that meter. Alternatively, you could set two Alerts; the first with a Begin Date of 12/1/08 (“Pass” status) and the second with a Begin Date of 1/1/09 (“Fail” status) and appropriate Alert messages.

Adding an Account Alert

To add an Account Alert:

1. Navigate to the Account Manager (Accounting/Accounts) and select the desired account.
2. Right-click the account and select Properties from the popup menu. The Account Properties window will open.
3. Click the Alerts tab. Current Alerts will be displayed in the Alerts: text box.
4. Click the "+" button to add a new Alert. Then double-click in any of the cells (Severity, Begin date, End Date, and/or Message) to input desired information. Click the drop-down arrows to reveal pre-existing options (including a calendar selection feature for Begin/End Date) or input information using the computer keyboard.
   
   
   
   NOTE: Click the minus button to remove the currently-selected Alert from the list.
5. When done, click OK to save the Alert(s) and close the Account Properties window.

For information on creating an Account Alert for multiple accounts, see: Modifying an Account.

Bill Account Alert FAQs:

How do I edit an alert?

ANSWER: You can modify Alerts at any time in a manner similar to the way you created them. From the Alerts tab, instead of clicking the “+” icon to create a NEW Alert, position your cursor in the field(s) you want to change in the Alert you want to change. Then update the values and click OK to save the Alert and close the Account Properties window.

What user permissions do I need to create, edit or delete an alert?

ANSWER: You will need View/Modify/Delete/Create access to the Account Properties window (Application/Accounts from the Permissions tab in User Properties).

Can I create, edit or delete an Alert from the Bill Entry screen?

ANSWER: Yes, by clicking on the Account Code link (highlighted in blue).The Account Code link will open the Account Properties window for the account; alerts can be created/modified from the Alerts tab in Account Properties.

1. View the account alerts by clicking the Account Alert icon  . The Account Alerts window will open.

   • Account alerts are listed by severity and message. Sort the lists by any column heading by clicking on the heading. Reverse the sort order by clicking the column heading again.

2. Close the Account Alerts window by clicking the Close button or the X in the upper right-hand corner of the Account Alerts window.

Account Memos are account-associated messages that can be viewed, edited and retrieved from the Bill Entry window as well as the Account Properties window in EnergyCAP.

Since Account Memos are associated with the ACCOUNT rather than the bill, and because the messages are not associated with a particular timeframe, Account Memos are useful for adding 'informal' account-related information that can and should be seen and edited by both bill entry and supervisory personnel.

Adding an Account Memo from the Bill Entry window

1. To add an Account Memo from the Bill Entry window, click the Account Memo icon  . The Account Memo window will open.
   
   NOTE: A zero to the right of the icon indicates no pre-existing memo is available for that account. A "1" indicates that a memo is present..
2. Click the Edit button to add the timestamp and render the window editable.
3. Input the desired Account Memo information.
4. Click Save to save the Memo and close the Account Memo window. Or click Cancel to exit the Account Memo window without saving the changes.

Adding/Editing an Account Memo from the Account Properties window

1. To add an Account Memo from the Account Properties window, first select the account from the Acccounting Tree View and right-click to select Properties from the popup menu options. The Account Properties window will open.
2. Click the Memo tab to display any existing memos.
3. Click the Edit Memo button to render the Memo: window editable
4. Input the desired Account Memo information.
5. Click OK to save the Memo and close the Account Memo window. Or click Cancel to exit the Account Memo window without saving the changes.

Viewing and Editing an Account Memo

1. View the account memos from the Bill Entry window for the associated account by clicking the Account Memo icon  . The Account Memo window will open.

2. Edit the Account memo by clicking the Edit button.

3. Close the Account Memo window by clicking the Close button or the X in the upper right-hand corner of the Account Memo window.

Bill Entry Notes are meter-based one-line annotations that can be added to the Bill Entry grid via Meter Properties. They will appear on the Bill tab for all current or historical bills for the account associated with the meter. Bill Entry Notes are a good way to provide meter-specific information that might be valuable for bill entry personnel or Energy Managers to know when viewing utility bills.

Adding a Bill Entry Note

To add a Bill Entry Note:

1. Navigate to the Facility Manager (Setup > Facilities) and select the meter with which the Note will be associated.
2. Right-click the meter and select Properties from the popup menu. The Meter Properties window will open.
3. Click the Bill Entry Note tab.
4. Input the desired note in the Bill Entry Note field and then click OK. The Bill Entry Note will be saved and the Properties window will close.

Viewing a Bill Entry Note

Bill Entry Notes are viewable from the Bill Entry grid for all current or historical bills associated with the meter with which the Note is associated.

To view a Bill Entry Note:

There are many ways to view a bill with which a Bill Entry Note has been associated. One way is to navigate to the Account Manager (Accounting>Accounts) and select the account with which the meter with the note has been associated. Then click the Bills tab and double-click any of the historical bills associated with the account. The Bill Entry Note will be displayed in the Bill Entry grid.

The Bill Entry windows (Create Bill/View Bill/Edit Bill) provide an icon for creating a new Bill Issue 'on the fly' using the Cost Avoidance Issue Tracker. See the Issue Tracker topic in Cost Avoidance for more information on this energy management tool.