DTH Software

System Setup
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Assets.............................................................................................................3
Asset Classes................................................................................................3
Asset Bins....................................................................................................4
Chart of Accounts.............................................................................................5
Billing Cycles...................................................................................................7
Charge Types...................................................................................................8
Check/Cheque Books......................................................................................10
Collection Notice Setup....................................................................................11
Company Setup..............................................................................................14
Consumption Rate Setup.................................................................................15
Credit Note Type Setup....................................................................................17
Customer Class Setup.....................................................................................18
Customer Service Setup..................................................................................19
Deposit Type Setup.........................................................................................20
Deposit Interest Type Setup.............................................................................21
EFT...............................................................................................................22
Innovative Gateway.....................................................................................22
ACH/NACHA................................................................................................23
Equipment Class Setup....................................................................................24
Equipment Service Setup.................................................................................26
Error Message Setup.......................................................................................27
Label Setup....................................................................................................28
Organization..................................................................................................29
Division Setup.............................................................................................29
Department Setup.......................................................................................30
Penalty Setup.................................................................................................31
Permitted City Names......................................................................................32
Permitted Prov/States.....................................................................................33
Remit Addresses.............................................................................................34
Route Setup...................................................................................................35
Service Type Setup.........................................................................................36
Tax Schedule Setup.........................................................................................38
User Setup.....................................................................................................39
User Security.................................................................................................40
System Settings.............................................................................................41
General......................................................................................................41
Statements.................................................................................................42
Payments...................................................................................................43
Penalties....................................................................................................44
Collections..................................................................................................45
Addresses..................................................................................................46
Invoices.....................................................................................................47
Consumption..............................................................................................48
Call Records................................................................................................49
Zone Setup....................................................................................................50

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Assets

Asset Classes
Click Setup>>Assets>>Asset Classes to enter Asset Class Setup. In this screen you
can add or remove Asset Classes from the system.

To add a class, enter the ClassID, a description and click Save.

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Asset Bins
Assets can be assigned to Divisions, Departments, Employees or Bins. Bins generally
refer to physical storage locations like warehouses or storage units.

To access Asset Bins, click Setup>>Assets>>Asset Bins

To add a bin, enter a BinID, a description and click Save.

To view information on an existing bin, enter the BinID and tab off or use the Bin
Lookup button.

To delete a bin, select it and click Delete. You will prompted to confirm the deletion.

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Chart of Accounts
The first thing we need to set up in the system is the Chart of Accounts. We need to
do this first as many other setups depend on the information in the Chart Of
Accounts. In this manual we will use a very simple Chart of Accounts though you are
free to make it as complicated as you like.

To access the Chart of Accounts click Setup>>GL Accounts. To add an account, click
Add Account. At a minimum we need 1 Receivables account, 1 Revenue account, 1
Cash account and 1 Liability account.

Click Add Account and fill in all the fields and click Save. The Starting
Debit/Credit/Dates fields are normally only required if you are carrying a starting
balance over from a previous system.

Repeat this process for the Revenue, Cash and Liability accounts.

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Once you have entered you minimum account requirement you will see your account
list. Here you must select your default Cash account and default Unapplied Cash
account. Once you have done so, click Save.

You now have a basic Chart of Accounts that will allow you to continue with the rest
of your system setup.

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Billing Cycles
A billing cycle is simply a means of grouping customers for billing/reporting
purposes. Commonly used billing cycles would be MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, etc.
Alternatively you may bill by geographic region and therefore would name your
cycles as such. If you have only one billing cycle then we suggest using DEFAULT.

To access the Billing Cycle Setup click Setup>>Billing Cycles. Once you have entered
the CycleID and Cycle Description, click Save.

The CycleID can be a maximum of 15 alpha-numeric characters. You are free to

create as many cycles as you like. You can use the VCR buttons on the bottom of the
screen to browse through all the existing cycles.

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Charge Types
Charges types fall into two main categories, standard charges and recurring charges.
A standard charge is a charge that is manually put on an account as required. This
may be anything from an ACTIVATION FEE put on the account when the customer
signs up or fee for a product or service you offer.

To access Charge Type Setup click Setup>>Charge Types. Below is a standard setup
for an ACTIVATION FEE. The Charge Type can be up to 15 alpha-numeric characters
and the Charge Description up to 100 alpha-numeric characters. The Allow Override
dictates whether or not the system user can change the amount/taxes on the charge
when they are putting it on the account. If Allow Override is enabled then the system
user can change it at their discretion. If Allow Override is disabled then it cannot be
changed. If this charge type is eligible for penalty during penalty calculation then
enable it, otherwise leave as is. The Recurring option will be explained on the next
page.

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A recurring charge differs from a standard charge in that it is assigned to an account
and this charge is created on the account each time the account is billed. An example
of this would be a monthly fee. To make a charge type into a recurring charge you
simply enable the Recurring option. When you have done so, the On Charge
Deactivation group will be enabled. This group controls what happens when the
charge is removed from the account. Suppose you have a customer who closes their
account in the middle of the billing cycle. You will have the option to FULL CHARGE
their account, NO CHARGE the account or PRORATE CHARGE.

You also have the ability to setup individual multiplier values on each account. A
default multiplier value would be 1 but if you want to give a customer a 10%
discount, for example, you could give them a multiplier of 0.90. Taxes are also
affected by the multiplier.

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Check/Cheque Books
A Check/Cheque BookID is a reference in the system that dictates which accounts
funds are withdrawn from when a check/cheque is issued. This is required when a
credit balance is settled or when a deposit is refunded in the form of a check/cheque.

To access Check/Cheque Book Setup click Setup>>Check/Cheque Books. Enter the

Check/Cheque Book ID, the cash account the funds will be withdrawn from and the
description.

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Collection Notice Setup
In a perfect world all payments would be received on time and overdue receivables
would be a myth. Unfortunately this is not the case therefore we need the ability to
remind customers they have missed a payment and eventually to send the account
to Collections when friendly reminders go unheeded. The DTH system allows for up
to 255 levels of notices. We are going to demonstrate 3 levels. The first will be a
friendly reminder once the account is 15 days overdue, the second will be a warning
that the account is now 45 days overdue and that it will be sent to collections unless
the account is settled and the third notice will sent out after 90 days indicating that
the account has been sent to Collections. The content of all the notices are
completely customizable using Crystal Reports.

The setup below dictates that this is a first reminder and that it is the first in the
sequence of events that happens when an account becomes overdue. On a first
notice, the grace period is controlled in the System Settings under Collections Grace
Period. In this example, that value would be set to 15.

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The setup below dictates that a second reminder will be issued 30 days after the first
reminder. At this point the account is now 45 days overdue. Enabling Issue
Forgiveness Letter will instruct the system to print a letter addressed to the customer
should the payment be received before the account moves to the next notice level.

Selecting ‘Deactivate Account’ with also set the account’s status to ‘Collection
Disconnect’ upon posting of the collection notice batch.

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The setup below dictates that a bad debt notice will be issued to the customer 45
days after the second reminder. At this point the account is now 90 days overdue.
The entry in the Charge Type field instructs the system to add a BAD DEBT charge to
the account when this notice is issued.

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Company Setup
To access Company Setup click Setup>>Company Information. The information on
this screen printed on most of the reports in the system. It is for informational
purposes only.

Once you have entered the Company Information, click Save.

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Consumption Rate Setup
Consumption Rates determines the billing details for any consumption that it
measured against your Consumption equipment or your Metered equipment. The
example below shows a typical setup for water service.

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As you can see, the first rate detail is billed a flat service charge. The first 1000 units
are billed at the standard rate of $0.057 per unit and anything 1001 and above are
billed at a discounted rate of $0.037 per unit. There is also a time-based component
of $0.4729 per day. The days are measured by the billing period.

To access Consumption Rate Setup click Setup>>Consumption Rates.

To create a Consumption Rate enter the header information then fill in the detail
information and click Add Detail. You will need to enter the detail information for
each detail in your rate.

To remove a rate detail, right-click it in the Current Rate Details box and click Delete
Detail.

You also have the option to configure a Minimum Detail Dollar Amount and a custom
Detail Description for the Minimum Amount.

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Credit Note Type Setup
A credit note is a means of creating a non-cash payment on a customer account. This
is normally used to adjust an account balance, apply deposit interest, import
customers with a credit balance, etc. To access Credit Note Type Setup click
Setup>>Credit Note Types.

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Customer Class Setup
A customer class is a means of grouping customers for billing/reporting purposes.
Each customer must be assigned a class. Typical classes includes RESIDENTIAL,
COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, etc. You can also configure the customer class to
automatically create a deposit request on an account when a customer of that class
is created. The deposit interest can also be set up at this time.

The setup below shows the setup for a RESIDENTIAL customer class that will
automatically create a RESIDENTIAL deposit request upon account creation.

Note, the Deposit On Creation should be shut off during customer import otherwise
you will have both the deposit amount in the import file and the deposit type as per
this setup on the account after it is imported.

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Customer Service Setup
Customer service setup is used to configure service orders for customer or accounts.
This differs from Equipment Service setup in that in applies to the customer
him/herself as opposed to specific equipment on the account

The example below shows a service configuration for customer who request contact
to discuss alternate service options.

To access Deposit Type Setup click Setup>>Deposit Types. Enter the new deposit
type, amount, description, accounts and whether or not it is eligible for penalty then
click Save.

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Deposit Type Setup

To access Deposit Type Setup click Setup>>Deposit Types. Enter the new deposit
type, amount, description, accounts and whether or not it is eligible for penalty then
click Save.

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Deposit Interest Type Setup
A deposit interest type is assigned to a deposit and determines whether or not a
deposit receives interest and at what rate. The setup below shows a 6% annual
compound interest that is accrued on the account. The Apply Method can be set to
Create Credit Note if you prefer that the interest show up as a credit on the account
as opposed to simply being accrued on the deposit. You also have the option to
change the Calculated Against value to Original Amount as opposed to Original +
Accrued.

To access deposit interest type setup click Setup>>Deposit Interest Types. Once you
have entered all the necessary information, click Save.

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EFT

Innovative Gateway
Innovative Gateway is a credit card authorization service used to retrieve payments
from your customers automatically via the DTH system. In order to use the service
you will require a username and password issued by Innovative Gateway Solutions.

This username and password must be entered in Setup>>EFT>>Innovative

Gateway.

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ACH/NACHA
Automated Clearing House is North American standard for electronic funds transfer
or banking institutions. The process creates a file which is sent to your bank.

Name Length Description

Routing Number 8 This is the routing number of the ACH
Operator or receiving point. This is supplied
by your banking institution.
Origin 8 This is the routing number of the ACH
operator or sending point. This is supplied
by your banking institution.
Origin Name Max 23 This is the name of the ACH Operator or
sending point. Optional.
Company Name Max 16 Short name of your organization.
CompanyID Max 10 This is generally your Tax Identification
Number.
Trans. Desc Max 10 This field is used to describe the
transaction. Examples include ‘GAS BILL’,
‘INTERNET’.

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Equipment Class Setup
Each piece of equipment in the system must be assigned an equipment class. This
controls how the equipment is handled by the system. Equipment is broken into 3
main categories, Standard, Consumption and Metered.

Standard equipment is most any type of equipment that does not have associated
consumption or time of use. This may be equipment that you loan a customer or
have installed on site in order to provide your product or service.

Consumption equipment is equipment in which consumption is measured against. In

the example of home heating oil, the equipment would be the fuel tank. When the
tank is filled the tank serial number (or any other unique identifier) is recorded as
well as how many units were delivered. Once this is entered into the system in the
form of a consumption reading the consumption is calculated against consumption
rate and a consumption bill is produced. Below is an example of a standard
consumption equipment setup.

If a deposit type is specified, the deposit request will be automatically created on the
account when the equipment is assigned to it.

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Metered equipment is similar to consumption equipment but differs in that it is
normally permanently hooked up to the supply and uses a meter to monitor how
much supply is used. An example of this is the water meter the utility uses to
monitor how much water is consumed over a period. To calculate the water
consumed they simply compare the current reading on the meter to the previous
reading on the meter. The DTH system maintains a history of all meter readings so it
is only necessary to enter the current reading. The system will compare it to the
previous reading and calculate the net consumption. This creates a consumption
reading in the system which is then billed. The setup below shows a typical
residential water meter.

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Equipment Service Setup
When scheduling equipment service it is necessary to tell the technician what the
problem is. The example below would be a common equipment service specified if
the customer called and reported a pool of fluid below their fuel tank.

To access Equipment Service Setup click Setup>>Equipment Service.

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Error Message Setup
All errors message in the DTH system are completely customizable. The Error
Message Setup screen allows you to change the error messages to your preference.

To access the Error Message Setup click Setup>>Error Messages. To change a

message, highlight it, change the message value and click Save.

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Label Setup
Some of the screen labels in the system are customizable for flexibility or to
accommodate for regional differences in spelling.

To access Label Setup click Setup>>Labels. To change a label value, enter the new
value and click Save.

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Organization
Organization setup is used to group and track employee information. This
information is used for reporting purposes and asset management.

Division Setup

To access Division Setup click Setup>>Organization>>Division Setup.

To create a division; enter a DivisionID, a description and click Save.

To view an existing division; enter the DivisionID and tab off or use the lookup
button.

To delete a division; enter/select the DivisionID and click Delete. You will be
prompted for confirmation. Note; you cannot delete a division that has employees
assigned to it.

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Department Setup

To access Department Setup click Setup>>Organization>>Department Setup.

To create a department; enter a DepartmentID, select a Division, enter a description

and click Save.

To view an existing department; enter the DepartmentID and tab off or use the
lookup button.

To delete a department; enter/select the DepartmentID and click Delete. You will be
prompted for confirmation. Note; you cannot delete a department that has
employees assigned to it.

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Penalty Setup
Penalty Setup allows you to specify the conditions and amount you will penalize an
account for overdue charges. Each customer can be assigned its own penalty type.

To access Penalty Setup click Setup>>Penalty Types. The setup below specifies that
a 10% penalty will be charged on the outstanding balance of all overdue charges.
The Source Amount field allows you to determine whether the penalty is calculated
against the original charge amount, the original amount less tax or the outstanding
amount. The Min Source Amount allows you to specify that at least X.XX must
remain on an overdue charge for it to be penalized. The Min Penalty Amount allows
you to specify the minimum amount that the calculated penalty must be. If the
calculated penalty is below the specified amount then no penalty is applied. The
checkboxes on the right side of the screen allow you to select what types are charges
are included in the calculation and whether or not it will penalize an outstanding
charge more than once.

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Permitted City Names
Restricting city names is important to ensure accurate delivery of any items mailed
out to the customer. This is particularly important to maintain Address Accuracy for
postal discount.

To access Permitted City Names click Setup>>Permitted City Names.

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Permitted Prov/States
Restricting province or state names is important to ensure accurate delivery of any
items mailed out to the customer. This is particularly important to maintain Address
Accuracy for postal discount.

To access Permitted Prov/States Names click Setup>>Permitted Prov/States.

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Remit Addresses
A Remit Address controls what remit address is printed on any items sent out to the
customer. This is useful for companies who have multiple offices or use lockboxes. If
you have but one remit address then we suggest using a RemitID of DEFAULT.

To access Remit Address Setup click Setup>>Remit Addresses.

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Route Setup
Routes are a way of grouping installed equipment for reporting and
consumption/meter reading purposes.

To access Route Setup, click Setup>>Routes

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Service Type Setup
To access Service Type Setup, click Setup>>Service Types.

Service types are simply a means of identifying various billing components for
identification and reporting purposes. Service types can be associated to flat charges
and consumption/meter billing components.

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Tax Detail Setup
To access Tax Detail Setup click Setup>>Taxes>>Tax Details.

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Tax Schedule Setup
To access Tax Schedule Setup click Setup>>Taxes>>Tax Schedule Setup.

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User Setup
To create a user in the system you enter the new UserID and the password twice. To
control what areas of the system a user can go into you will need to go into User
Security. Note that only users with administrative rights on the server can create
other users.

To access User Setup click Setup>>Users.

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User Security
The User Security screen is used to control what areas of the application users are
allowed into. Simply select the user and enable whatever items the user requires
access to. We recommend limiting the ‘Setup’ menu to only those users to require
access to it on a regular basis.

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System Settings
To access System Setting click Setup>>System Settings.

General
The General tab contains settings controls the settings for the database system as
opposed to the application itself.

The Database Engine Type can be either MSDE or SQL. The MSDE is used for the
Standard Edition, SQL is used for the Enterprise Edition.

The Default Backup Folder controls which folder on the server that the backups will
be put into.

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Statements

The Statements tab controls settings particular to statements.

Statement Due X days after calculation controls when statements are due in relation
to when they are calculated. This controls only the default value and can be changed
during statement calculation.

The Must Use Auto-Generated BatchIDs determines whether or not users can enter
their own BatchIDs or whether or not they are system-generated.

Enter a global message to be printed on your statements. The statement template

must be configured to pick up this message.

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Payments

The Payments tab controls setting particular to payments.

The Apply Order controls the order in which payments are applied to outstanding
charges. The default is to apply to the oldest due date first. Alternatively you can
apply it do deposits first, penalties first or charges gone to Collections first.

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Penalties

The Penalties tab controls settings particular to penalties.

Default days due after calculation controls when penalties are due in relation to when
they are calculated. This controls only the default value and can be changed during
penalty calculation.

The Must Use Auto-Generated BatchIDs determines whether or not users can enter
their own BatchIDs or whether or not they are system-generated.

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Collections

The Collections tab controls settings particular to collections processing.

The Collections Forgiven On controls what payment amount needs to be received

before the account in removed from the collections process. The options available
include payment of overdue balance, payment of full account balance and payment
of all documents that are currently in the Collections module.

Grace Period Before Entering Collections determines how days an account can have
overdue charges before the Collections module assigns it to the first sequence in the
collections process.

The Must Use Auto-Generated BatchIDs determines whether or not users can enter
their own BatchIDs or whether they are system-generated.

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Addresses

The Addresses tab controls settings particular to addresses.

The Permitted Postal/Zip code formats controls what zip code formats are permitted
in the system. Any attempt to key-in or import any format not permitted will result in
an error.

Customers restricted to Permitted City Names dictates whether or not users can key-
in or import city names that are not on the Permitted City Names list.

Customers restricted to Permitted Prov/State Names dictates whether or not users

can key-in or import province or state names that are not on the Permitted
Prov/State Names list.

Default Customer Province/State controls whether or not a default province or state

value is used when an address in keyed-in or imported.

Default Customer Country controls whether or not a country value is used when an
address in keyed-in or imported.

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Invoices

Invoicing Updates Inventory controls whether or not the invoicing process updates
the inventory when an invoice is posted.

Invoices due X days after creation controls when invoices are due in relation to when
they are created. This controls only the default value and can be changed during
invoicing.

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Consumption

The Rollup Method determines whether or not each consumption/meter reading

receives its own bill during billing or if the consumption is rolled up into a single bill.

The Must Use Auto-Generated BatchIDs determines whether or not users can enter
their own BatchIDs or whether they are system-generated.

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Call Records

The Billing Charge Type determines which charge type setup is used when call
records are tallied and charged during Statement Processing.

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Zone Setup
Zones are a simple way of grouping customers for reporting or identification
purposes. To create a zone, enter a ZoneID, Zone Description and click Save.

To access Zone Setup, click Setup>>Zones.

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