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SECTION 4, 5: PROSPECTS/STUDENTS - Ledger Basics 2
Periods
If you are entering a cash payment, you do not need to select a pay period. This is only necessary when entering a financial aid posting. Pay periods are defined by each individual institution, and can be setup per your own rules and guidelines. Periods are defined when you setup each course in the Administration menu: Course page. Periods are used to determine which pay period monies or disbursements have been received in. This assists the institution in the monitoring and tracking of ledgers and monies as well as document compliance with federal regulations.
Pay periods will depend on the number of hours in a program, as well as the options available per federal regulations. If you are unsure about what your pay period definitions should be, you may want to contact your company administrator or corporate office. Payment periods are not defined by SMART.
Disbursement and Post Dates
These two dates may be the same or could be different, depending on your internal procedures. If they are different, and they are in two different months, it could affect your earned unearned tuition. In general, the disbursement date is the date the funds were disbursed or deposited. The post date is generally the date that the funds were actually posted to the ledger. These dates cannot be changed once they have been saved,so be sure it is correct the first time. Communicate with your institution’s financial advisor regarding the rules and regulations for the standards and procedures for Disbursement Date and Post Date. Use federal regulations as a guide for ensuring that deposits are posted within the appropriate time frame. Review information thoroughly before saving. SMART is not liable for incorrect entries.
Type Codes
ADJB (-only) – This is used for adjusting charges only, not for posting payments. ADJB is used as a negative entry for student overage/credit balance checks to zero out the credit balance, for adjusting posting errors to create a record, or to add a charge for non-contract items. Examples of using ADJB are provided below.
CARD (+ or -) – This is used as a positive entry for credit card payments.
CASH (+ or -) – This is used for cash, money orders, and checks. It may also be used for agencies, scholarships, state grants, Sallie Mae Career Training loans, other alternative loans, or collections (if paid by money order or check). To refund monies that were posted as cash, use a negative cash amount.
CNCL (+ or -) – This is used as a positive entry for drops to cancel the unearned portion of their tuition, kit, and books. Make sure you complete separate entries for these; taking care that the cancellations to kit and books are allocated to kit and books and not to tuition. CNCL is also used as a positive entry to cancel tuition for a payment period or academic year already charged on the financial tab, and then again as a negative entry to add it back in when the student reaches the next payment period or academic year and needs to be charged for it. However, make sure that when you use it for this purpose you allocate the amount to OTHER only and not to Tuition, Equip-Tools-Kit, Books, or Fees; if posted to something aside from Other; it will adversely affect your earnings reports. For example, using CNCL for Inst Scholarships will adversely affect the value per hour.
DISB (+ only) – This is used as a positive entry for Title IV funds only. This would include Pell, FDLPS, FDLPU, FSEOG, PLUSD, PERKINS, and FWS.
MISC (+ or -) – This can be used for items such as over contract payments, payment transfer of balances from one ledger to another for transfer course/program changes, and for the same things you would use CASH for. Use it to post payments for charges that were posted as ADJB. Remember it is a payment function, so if you use it as a negative, it will increase the balance. This will affect the total amount paid to the contract on reports. Examples of using MISC are provided below.
REFD (- only) – This is used as a negative entry for refunds of Title IV funds to the U.S. Department of Education or lenders only.
WOFF (+ or -) – This is used when there is a negative or positive balance of less than $1.00 on an account, the student has graduated, and all payments have been accounted for. It may also be used to write off bad debt. Your accountant can advise you about this.
Programs
SMART has provided a basic list of programs for your use. Schools can add their own custom programs to meet the needs of their school. When adding a program, do not select any of the boxes; these are for the use of the SMART programming team only. Programs are used as descriptors on the student’s ledger. Schools will often create programs for any miscellaneous charges that need to be posted to the ledger and are not part of the student’s original contract. For example: Over contract fees, termination fees, interest payments, registration/application fees, unearned tuition, unearned kits and books, etc.
Program Summary reports can be found under the Ledger reports and will show funding associated with each program listed in SMART (both original programs and those created by the school). These reports can be pulled for the cumulative period, a date range, a fiscal year, or prior month. If your school is receiving Title IV funding, you will need to check the Title IV Eligible box on the Fin Aid page for each student who is eligible for these funds. You will then see all the Title IV programs as options to post to on the student’s ledger. Only the programs created by SMART will report on the 1098-Ts. Use SMART’s programs for Agencies, Scholarships, and Grants when posting these kinds of funds to ensure the accuracy of 1098-Ts.
Tips: SMART recommends posting FSEOG funds with a Type Code of DISB allocated to, for example, Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition. We have added a program called SEOG MATCH. This program has been developed to represent the institutional match/contribution required of the school for FSEOG funds. We recommend posting with a Type Code of CASH (or MISC) allocated to, for example, Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition. This program will be included on the 1098-Ts beginning January 2016 for funds posted in 2015 to Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition under the program SEOG MATCH. These programs will be included in annual reports such as the FISAP and IPEDS.
Selecting the Year
ADJB – Post to the current calendar year.
CASH/CARD – Post to the current calendar year (unless being used for scholarships, agencies, or grants and then apply to correct award year).
CNCL – Post to the calendar year that the student’s start date falls in.
DISB – Post by the FA Award Year that they apply to (the last two digits i.e. 15 for 14/15).
MISC – Post to the current calendar year.
REFD – Post to the year and program that the original FA award was posted to.
WOFF – Post to the current calendar year.
Allocating Funds (Bottom Half of the Screen)
The following allocation types will update the student’s contract balance:
Fees – This should reflect your standard contract charges for all students like registration/application fees, lab fees, or a required State ID card fee.
Books – Use this if you separate your books out from the rest of the kit or supplies.
Equip-Tools-Kit – This should reflect your contract charges and be for equipment, tools, or kit only.
Tuition – This should reflect your contract charges and be for tuition only.
Other – This is used when the fees, kit, books, and tuition have been fully paid. For example: Use for credit balances/overages. Items allocated to Other will not be included on the 1098-T.
The following allocation types will not update the student’s contract balance:
Misc – Use this when posting non-contractual items that do not affect the contract balance and financial reports. This does not update the contract balance. However, it will affect the Miscellaneous Charges Balance amount in the upper portion of the ledger as well as the final consolidation information section that appears on the last page of the printed ledger.
OvrContrct Fee – Use this in conjunction with ADJB type for posting charges and payments to over-contract. This does not update the balance. However, it will affect the penalty amount in the upper portion of the ledger, Over Contract Penalty Balance, and the final data section that appears on the last page of the printed ledger.
Student – This does not update the balance, and should be used as a second entry after adjustment for credit balances paid to the student.
If you are entering a cash payment, you do not need to select a pay period. This is only necessary when entering a financial aid posting. Pay periods are defined by each individual institution, and can be setup per your own rules and guidelines. Periods are defined when you setup each course in the Administration menu: Course page. Periods are used to determine which pay period monies or disbursements have been received in. This assists the institution in the monitoring and tracking of ledgers and monies as well as document compliance with federal regulations.
Pay periods will depend on the number of hours in a program, as well as the options available per federal regulations. If you are unsure about what your pay period definitions should be, you may want to contact your company administrator or corporate office. Payment periods are not defined by SMART.
Disbursement and Post Dates
These two dates may be the same or could be different, depending on your internal procedures. If they are different, and they are in two different months, it could affect your earned unearned tuition. In general, the disbursement date is the date the funds were disbursed or deposited. The post date is generally the date that the funds were actually posted to the ledger. These dates cannot be changed once they have been saved,so be sure it is correct the first time. Communicate with your institution’s financial advisor regarding the rules and regulations for the standards and procedures for Disbursement Date and Post Date. Use federal regulations as a guide for ensuring that deposits are posted within the appropriate time frame. Review information thoroughly before saving. SMART is not liable for incorrect entries.
Type Codes
ADJB (-only) – This is used for adjusting charges only, not for posting payments. ADJB is used as a negative entry for student overage/credit balance checks to zero out the credit balance, for adjusting posting errors to create a record, or to add a charge for non-contract items. Examples of using ADJB are provided below.
CARD (+ or -) – This is used as a positive entry for credit card payments.
CASH (+ or -) – This is used for cash, money orders, and checks. It may also be used for agencies, scholarships, state grants, Sallie Mae Career Training loans, other alternative loans, or collections (if paid by money order or check). To refund monies that were posted as cash, use a negative cash amount.
CNCL (+ or -) – This is used as a positive entry for drops to cancel the unearned portion of their tuition, kit, and books. Make sure you complete separate entries for these; taking care that the cancellations to kit and books are allocated to kit and books and not to tuition. CNCL is also used as a positive entry to cancel tuition for a payment period or academic year already charged on the financial tab, and then again as a negative entry to add it back in when the student reaches the next payment period or academic year and needs to be charged for it. However, make sure that when you use it for this purpose you allocate the amount to OTHER only and not to Tuition, Equip-Tools-Kit, Books, or Fees; if posted to something aside from Other; it will adversely affect your earnings reports. For example, using CNCL for Inst Scholarships will adversely affect the value per hour.
DISB (+ only) – This is used as a positive entry for Title IV funds only. This would include Pell, FDLPS, FDLPU, FSEOG, PLUSD, PERKINS, and FWS.
MISC (+ or -) – This can be used for items such as over contract payments, payment transfer of balances from one ledger to another for transfer course/program changes, and for the same things you would use CASH for. Use it to post payments for charges that were posted as ADJB. Remember it is a payment function, so if you use it as a negative, it will increase the balance. This will affect the total amount paid to the contract on reports. Examples of using MISC are provided below.
REFD (- only) – This is used as a negative entry for refunds of Title IV funds to the U.S. Department of Education or lenders only.
WOFF (+ or -) – This is used when there is a negative or positive balance of less than $1.00 on an account, the student has graduated, and all payments have been accounted for. It may also be used to write off bad debt. Your accountant can advise you about this.
Programs
SMART has provided a basic list of programs for your use. Schools can add their own custom programs to meet the needs of their school. When adding a program, do not select any of the boxes; these are for the use of the SMART programming team only. Programs are used as descriptors on the student’s ledger. Schools will often create programs for any miscellaneous charges that need to be posted to the ledger and are not part of the student’s original contract. For example: Over contract fees, termination fees, interest payments, registration/application fees, unearned tuition, unearned kits and books, etc.
Program Summary reports can be found under the Ledger reports and will show funding associated with each program listed in SMART (both original programs and those created by the school). These reports can be pulled for the cumulative period, a date range, a fiscal year, or prior month. If your school is receiving Title IV funding, you will need to check the Title IV Eligible box on the Fin Aid page for each student who is eligible for these funds. You will then see all the Title IV programs as options to post to on the student’s ledger. Only the programs created by SMART will report on the 1098-Ts. Use SMART’s programs for Agencies, Scholarships, and Grants when posting these kinds of funds to ensure the accuracy of 1098-Ts.
Tips: SMART recommends posting FSEOG funds with a Type Code of DISB allocated to, for example, Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition. We have added a program called SEOG MATCH. This program has been developed to represent the institutional match/contribution required of the school for FSEOG funds. We recommend posting with a Type Code of CASH (or MISC) allocated to, for example, Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition. This program will be included on the 1098-Ts beginning January 2016 for funds posted in 2015 to Fees, Kit, Books, or Tuition under the program SEOG MATCH. These programs will be included in annual reports such as the FISAP and IPEDS.
Selecting the Year
ADJB – Post to the current calendar year.
CASH/CARD – Post to the current calendar year (unless being used for scholarships, agencies, or grants and then apply to correct award year).
CNCL – Post to the calendar year that the student’s start date falls in.
DISB – Post by the FA Award Year that they apply to (the last two digits i.e. 15 for 14/15).
MISC – Post to the current calendar year.
REFD – Post to the year and program that the original FA award was posted to.
WOFF – Post to the current calendar year.
Allocating Funds (Bottom Half of the Screen)
The following allocation types will update the student’s contract balance:
Fees – This should reflect your standard contract charges for all students like registration/application fees, lab fees, or a required State ID card fee.
Books – Use this if you separate your books out from the rest of the kit or supplies.
Equip-Tools-Kit – This should reflect your contract charges and be for equipment, tools, or kit only.
Tuition – This should reflect your contract charges and be for tuition only.
Other – This is used when the fees, kit, books, and tuition have been fully paid. For example: Use for credit balances/overages. Items allocated to Other will not be included on the 1098-T.
The following allocation types will not update the student’s contract balance:
Misc – Use this when posting non-contractual items that do not affect the contract balance and financial reports. This does not update the contract balance. However, it will affect the Miscellaneous Charges Balance amount in the upper portion of the ledger as well as the final consolidation information section that appears on the last page of the printed ledger.
OvrContrct Fee – Use this in conjunction with ADJB type for posting charges and payments to over-contract. This does not update the balance. However, it will affect the penalty amount in the upper portion of the ledger, Over Contract Penalty Balance, and the final data section that appears on the last page of the printed ledger.
Student – This does not update the balance, and should be used as a second entry after adjustment for credit balances paid to the student.
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