Summary / TL:DR: This article will help you understand the invoices and payments screen in Advantage.

This is a review of the Customer A/R Screen. This screen displays all monetary transactions associated with orders and modifications. There is a condensed view of this screen from the Customer Activity screen that displays transactions as they relate to the selected term. The Invoices & Payments is used generally for identifying transactions and for complicated transaction details. For more on the Invoices & Payments from the Customer Activity screen, go here. This screen is accessed through the Invoices/Payments icon.

1 Recommended Display
2 Screen Size Orientation
3 Searching in Invoices & Payments
4 Preferences
5 Tabs
- 5.1 Details
- 5.2 Direct Debit
- 5.3 CC Transactions
- 5.4 Payment Origins
6 Identifying Transactions
- 6.1 Regular Transactions
- 6.2 Hard Decline Transactions
- 6.3 Soft Decline Transactions
- 6.4 Refund Transactions
7 Wrap up

Recommended Display

These are the recommended customized columns for this screen. There are more columns available.

Trans. Date	Date of the transaction.
Trans. Nbr	Order number of debit number of the transaction.
Applied to	The order number or debit number the transaction was applied to.
Source	The system name the transaction is associated with. CIR = Circulation or Subscription PRO = Product CEM = Conference AMB = Agreement ARP = Accounts Receivable/Payable RFD = Refund
Billing Org. Office	The affiliate associated with the transaction.
Trans. Type	The type of transaction. I = Invoiced P = Paid B = Billed C = Credit W = Writeoff
Installment Billing Code	Displays the Installment Billing Code Code used as a method of deferring a customer's payment of an invoice over a period of time.The invoice amount is divided among several bills, making it easier for the customer to pay--and presumably order.
Transaction Status Description	The status of the transaction.
Total Amt.	The amount debited/credited.
Remaining Amt.	The amount remaining that has not been paid/credited.
Source Reference	For subscriptions and AMB items, the publication code or item number associated with the transaction.
Currency	The currency the order was billed in.
Payment Code	The type of credit card used for the transaction.
Payment Nbr	The credit card number used for the transaction. This field is masked to only display the last 4 digits. If the payment is by check, the check number will display here.
Credit or Debit	Shows if the transaction was a debit or credit.
Posted	Displays if the transaction has been posted.
Debit Paid	Displays a Y if the debit is fully paid. N if not fully paid.
Debit Sequence Number	Displays the sequences associated with installment billing.
Due Date	The date the payment is due. This is primarily used for when payments are spread out with installment billing.
Payment Type	The type of payment used. CC = Credit Card. CK = Check.

Screen Size Orientation

The Invoices & Payments screen allows for uses to click and drag the screen as needed for display.

Searching in Invoices & Payments

Invoices & Payments is a Hide and Seek screen - meaning that once you perform a search, the screen will have a top and bottom display and if you click Search on the screen, the search options will display again.

Preferences

Preferences and defaults can be set for the bottom half of the screen. Click Preferences in the lower left corner of the screen and the Tab Options dialog box will appear. You can deselect unnecessary tabs. It is recommended to uncheck DD Transactions, Invoiced Issues and Page Numbers for US affiliates. Click OK to save changes, note that the changes will not be made until you log out and back in to Advantage. These tabs can be re-added at any time using the Preferences button.

It is also recommended to select CC Transactions as the default tab for display. Navigate to the CC Transactions tab on the bottom half of the screen, note you must have a customer selected, and check the box to Set as default tab.

Once preferences and defaults are set, it will always be defaulted at this screen until you change it.

Tabs

Several tabs are used on the Customer A/R screen. These are detailed below:

Details

Displays the details associated with the currently selected order.

Invoice	The invoice number associated with the order.
Sequence	Identifies the position of a single application record within a set of application records.
Credit Voucher	A unique identification number assigned to the credit by the system.
Credit Amount	Shows if there is a credit on the account.

Direct Debit

Displays the direct debit details associated with the currently selected order.

Control Group Date	The date the control group was created.
Order Control Group ID	The group ID associated with the order.
Credit Voucher	Shows whether a credit voucher is available on the order.
Direct Debit Rec Type	The type of Direct Debit record.
DD Trans Status	The status of the direct debit transaction.
Transaction Status Description	Full details of the direct debit transaction.
Direct Debit ID	The direct debit ID associated with the order.

CC Transactions

Displays a history of the credit card transactions associated with an order.

Payment Origins

Displays the payment origin information associated with a payment or refund transaction.

Order Number	Order number associated with the transaction.
Voucher Number	The debit number the transaction was applied to.
Card Transaction Type Description	Type of transaction. Auth = Authorization Purc = Purchase, this is the debit transaction or credit to refund transaction
Card Transaction Type Description	Description of the card transaction type. Authorization = pre-authorization associated with the transaction. This is either done at the time the order is placed or when the order enters Advantage. Debit Transaction = the debit transaction, or charge. Credit to Refund = the refund transaction.
Status Icon	Displays icon for status of the transaction. Success Hard Decline Waiting for Response or Waiting to Send (either new or after soft decline)
Transaction Status Description	Displays the description of the transaction status.
Credit Card Type Description	Credit card type used for transaction. VI = Visa MC = Mastercard AX = American Express DI = Discover
Credit Card Number	Displays last 4 digits of the credit card used for the transaction.
Control Group Date	Date of the control group from when the transaction was made.
Order Control Group ID	Identifies the control group the transaction was performed in.
Cr Card Account	Identifies the credit card processor used for the transaction. For domestic, this is Litle/Vantiv.
Descriptor 1	Shows the descriptor the customer should see on their statement.
Descriptor 2	Shows the phone number the customer should see on their statement.

Identifying Transactions

Regular Transactions

Each regular transaction will generate two lines in Invoices & Payments - one for the invoice (debit to customer), the second for the payment (credit to us). To associate the transactions, the Trans. Nbr and Applied To will crisscross. The Auth in itself is an approval that money is available and will be held/reserved. The Purchase is the actual charge or settlement. The information about the status of the transaction will display on the credit line under Transaction Status Description:

Hard Decline Transactions

Hard Declines occur when a payment has been declined by the credit card company. Declined Payment Transactions will initially display with three lines in Invoices & Payments - one for the invoice (debit to customer), the second for the debit and the third for the reversal. When a payment has been hard declined, the subscription will be in Billing Suspend status with a payment status of Billed.

If the customer does not pay the invoice within 45-60 days, the invoice will be written off in a Non-Pay Cancellation generated by the system which will reflect as a fourth line in Invoices & Payments. Note that the Applied to for all related lines will match up with the invoice Trans. Nbr.

Soft Decline Transactions

Soft Declines occur when the credit card company sends a response back that is not considered a hard decline. For example, if the credit card company sends back that the account has been closed with the bank, that would result in a hard decline. If there are insufficient funds, it is possible that the credit card can go into soft decline so that we attempt to recharge the customer's card another day.

In the case of a soft decline, the subscription with be in a Billing Suspended status with a payment status of Paid. From Invoices & Payments, there will only be two lines like a regular transaction, however the Transaction Status Description will be Waiting for auth/bill response or Request Outbound.

The Next Date to Request Auth/Bill displays the date the credit card will next be attempted to be charged. The Number of Attempts So Far will display how many times the card has been attempted to be charged. Generally we will attempt a card up to 3 times. If the last attempt is not accepted, the transaction is then hard declined and the subscription will change status to billing suspended, there will be a third line added to display the reversal and the invoice will now be reopened to be paid.

Refund Transactions

Refund Transaction will also create two lines in Invoices & Payments. One for the credit created, the second for the debit to the customer. These transactions can be identified with the source RFD for the debit transaction. The C Trans Type is the cancel or credit that was created and the and the D is the debit to the customer for the refund.

Status of the refund can be determined in the CC transactions tab at the bottom half of the screen. For more on refund status, go here.

Advantage Support

Understanding the Customer A/R screen