Bill Processing

EnergyCAP Online now enables users with an internet browser to access the bill entry functionality formerly available only through the Work Flow Manager in the EnergyCAP installed client software. For smaller organizations, and for large organizations with bill entry responsibilities allocated throughout the enterprise, EnergyCAP Online offers additional convenience, simplicity and flexibilty.

NOTE: Users of the EnergyCAP Enterprise installed client to whom bill keying is an integral part of workflow will notice many limitations in the initial (2.3) software release. Most importantly, not all of the bill headers are exposed. However, remote users with simple bill entry needs may benefit from ECO’s bill entry functionality. With each coming release, bill entry will be enhanced to meet the needs of our growing base of online-only customers.

To enter bills via EnergyCAP Online:

1. Log in to EnergyCAP Online via your usual procedure.
2. Click the Bill Processing drop-down link from the Main Menu:
   
   
   
   The Bill-Processing window Bill Entry tab will be displayed.
3. Click the Enter Bills option from the left navigation pane to display the list of bills in the current open batch for the logged-in user. If editing an historical bill, click the appropriate Bill Lists subdirectory. 
   
   EnergyCAP Online is designed to handle all bill entry using batch mode. When entering new bills, all bills in the current batch will be displayed in the presentment pane, along with batch control totals (bill count and total amount).
1. If batch mode is ON in the EnergyCAP installed client and a batch is not open for the user, EnergyCAP Online will create a new batch. The batch naming convention is a concatenation of userID and the date of the batch.
2. If batch mode is ON in the EnergyCAP installed client and a batch is open, EnergyCAP will add any new bills to the existing batch.
3. If batch mode is OFF in the EnergyCAP installed client, and a batch WITH TODAY'S DATE is open, EnergyCAP will add any new bills to the existing batch. All bills in the current batch will be displayed.
4. If batch mode is OFF in the EnergyCAP installed client, and a batch WITH ANY PREVIOUS DATE is open, EnergyCAP will close that batch and open a new batch.
4. Click the Add Bill button. The Bill Entry window will appear.
   
5. Enter all or a portion of the account Code, account Display, account Street, account City, or vendor Code in the field provided. As this information is entered, EnergyCAP Online will search the database for text string matches to the data. Matches will be dynamically displayed.
6. Click the desired account from the match list. the Bill Entry window will be pre-populated with appropriate information based on the selected account.
   NOTE: The bill Start Date is taken from the previous bill End Date.
7. Input the remaining required information.
1. Start Date: Enter the first day of the billing period. For all date fields, either type the date in MMDDYYYY format or click the calendar icon to click/select the date from the popup calendar.
2. End Date: Enter the last day of the billing period.
3. Days: Enter the number of days in the billing period (Calculated from Start/End Dates. If a different number is entered when Start/End dates are present, EnergyCAP recalculates the End Date based on the number of days entered for the Billing Period.)
4. Billing Period. Use the up/down arrow keys to adjust if necessary. The default billing month/year is the mid-point between Start and End Dates.
5. Pay Amount: Enter amount due.
6. Due Date: Enter the due date for the bill.
7. Statement Date: Enter the statement date from the bill.
8. Additional fields will vary depending on work flow options and/or bill template design.
8. Click the Save Bill button. If a balance remains (Remaining Balance window will open), select the appropriate category for each additional expense. Then click OK .
9. If desired, click the Verify button.
   
   Each bill can be compared with up to 24 months of data on a cost, use, and unit cost basis for quick visual verification that this is a reasonable bill. Demand for electric meters can also be compared with previous values.

Other Bill Entry Options:

The (default) Audits view displays the results of the Quick Audits that are automatically run during bill entry. Click the audit icon to display audit results.

The Account Memo functionality is the same as the installed client version of EnergyCAP Enterprise. Click the Account Memo icon to view and edit the Account Memo.

Bill Flags in EnergyCAP Online are referred to as Bill Messages in the installed client. Click the Bill Problem Flags icon to view/add Bill Problem Flags and comments. Flagged bills can then be set as “fixed” at a future date. Flags and comments will appear in various reports, and on the ECO- generated PDF of each bill.

Deleting or Editing a Bill in EnergyCAP Online

Bills may now be edited or deleted from all bill lists by users with appropriate permissions.To delete or EDIT a historical bill in EnergyCAP Online, it is necesary to locate it in the Bill Lists.

Bills with Problem Flags: Click this list to display bills that have associated problem flags (previously referred to as Bill Messages in the installed client). Any bill in the list will, when edited, display the problem flags associated with the bill. Users with appropriate permissions can clear bill problem flags at a later date.

Custom Filter – All Bills: Click this list to display a bill search window that includes filters for Created By (user that created the bill), account (dynamically searches Account and Meter information, including Account Code/Display/Street/City/Vendor and Meter Serial Number/Account/Commodity/Vendor), and billing period (select date range). Previous search filter settings are saved and will be displayed by default the next time the Custom Filters Bill List is selected.

1. Log in to EnergyCAP Online via your usual procedure.
2. Click the Bill Processing drop-down link from the main menu. The Bill-Processing window will be displayed.
3. Click the desired Bill List to display existing bills.
4. Locate the bill to be deleted/edited in the bill list.
   
   NOTES:
   Bill lists are sorted by date from most current End Date to earliest. To re-sort the list by any of the column headers, just click the header. Click again on the header to reverse the sort.
   Columns can be resized if desired. Move the mouse to the border of the column header until the mouse pointer changes shape. Then click and drag to resize the column.
   
   
   The order of the columns in the bill lists may also be changed. Just click the column header of the column to be moved, and drag it to the desired location.
   
5. To delete a bill, click the red "x" in the adjacent column and then click Yes at the confirmation prompt. To edit a bill, click the pencil icon to open the bill in Edit mode.
   
   
6. Make necessary edits and click the Save Bill button.