FAQs: Credit User Accounts

The Credit User Account feature allows library patrons to pay bills, fines, privilege fees, and more from a credit or deposit account. This feature also allows library staff to manually issue refund credit for paid bills, such as reimbursing the user for a paid lost item bill when the item is returned to circulation. Funds can be manually withdrawn from a credit user account for various library-defined reasons.

Credit accounts are established using the new Credit User Account wizard, found on the Circulation toolbar. Libraries can define in policies the “rules” for paying bills with the user credit account, including the types of bills that can be paid with the account and the maximum credit amount allowed. As bills are paid from the account, library staff can review the user account balances and the credit transaction histories. Circulation wizards can be configured to automatically pay bills directly from these credit accounts. For example, as overdue fines are created, when items are checked in, the system will automatically pay these fines with credit account money, as long as the credit balance is more than the amount billed.

By using the Manual Refund helper in the Credit User Account wizard, library staff can manually add credits to user credit accounts for paid bills. This helper lists bills the selected user has already paid, and allows the library staff to select specific bills to refund. The refund amount is added to the user’s credit account balance. If a particular bill has already been refunded, the helper displays a message that the refund credit has already been applied to the user’s credit account. The message also shows the date, amount, credit reason, and the payment type in case the user questions the refund.

The Manual Withdrawal helper in the Credit User Account wizard allows library staff to withdraw funds from the user credit account for library-defined reasons other than refunding paid bills, or to close the credit account.

What policy configuration is required for using the Credit User Account feature?

The following policies support the new Credit User Account feature.

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Credit Reason Policy – Using the Credit Reason wizard in the Circulation Configuration group, SirsiDynix Symphony administrators can define Credit Reason policies. Each time a user account is credited, a credit reason is recorded with the transaction. This credit reason indicates the purpose of the credit, such as REFUND or AUTOPAY.

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Credit Rule Policy - Using the Credit Rule wizard in the Circulation Configuration group, SirsiDynix Symphony administrators can define Credit Rule policies. Credit Rule policies determine the basic rules regarding credit accounts. Credit rules are “mapped” to specific libraries and user profiles. These credit rules include bill reasons that can be paid by the credit account, bill reasons that can be automatically paid, as well as the maximum credit balance amount.

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Default Price Policy – Using the Automatic Refund attribute in the Default Price wizard, SirsiDynix Symphony administrators can allow automatic refunds to be added to a patron’s credit account for lost item bills that have already been paid by the time the item was found and returned to circulation.

Using the Deduct the Overdue Fine from Refund Amount attribute in the Default Price policy, the library can control whether or not the overdue fines that accrued for the lost item are deducted from the refund.

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Library Policy – Using the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute in the Library wizard, SirsiDynix Symphony administrators can determine which libraries library staff can deposit funds to or withdraw funds from patron credit accounts, issue refunds to patron credit accounts, and close patron credit accounts. This attribute determines whether the staff will have access to a select group of libraries or all libraries. This can be especially useful for multilibrary consortia sharing a single SirsiDynix Symphony system. Groups are defined in the Library Group wizard.

For more information, see the Credit Reason Wizard, Credit Rule Wizard, Default Price Wizard, and Library Wizard topics.

How do I create patron credit accounts?

Use the Credit User Account wizard to manually create a credit account for a patron by depositing funds, or add a credit to a patron’s account.

If the user does not have an existing credit account in the database, the wizard will display a message indicating an account has been created with a balance of $0.00 for the user. You can then continue to manually add credits to the user’s account.

Using this wizard, you can do the following.

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Type the deposit or credit amount.

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Indicate what the deposit or credit is for by selecting the Credit Reason policy.

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Indicate how the deposit or credit was made, including credit card, cash, debit, refund, and so forth.

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Refund a paid bill and apply a credit to the credit account, using the Manual Refund helper.

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Withdraw funds from the credit account or close the credit account, using the Manual Withdrawal helper.

The Credit User Account wizard contains properties that allow you to set defaults for payment type and credit reason. Only credit reasons of the type DEPOSIT appear for selection in the Credit Reason property list. Additionally, this wizard contains behavior properties for displaying credit transaction histories and printing receipts for these transactions. You can specify if you want the User Search helper, Manual Refund helper, and Manual Withdrawal helper to display, and set the property settings for each helper.

In the Credit User Account wizard, you can view the patron’s credit account balances by clicking the User glossary at the top of the wizard window.

How are credit user accounts used?

There are a number of different ways a credit user account can be used to make fine and bills payments, and to issue refunds. Many changes were made to the circulation wizards and the Assumed Lost report to support the Credit User Account Feature.

Bill a User Wizard

A bill can be paid with funds from the user’s credit account in the Bill User wizard by selecting the payment type of CREDITACCT and selecting the Pay Now button. The fine will be paid with money from the credit account. A withdrawal transaction will be issued against the user’s credit account for the bill amount. The credit transaction will contain the default credit reason configured in wizard properties.

If the user’s credit account exists but does not have enough funds to pay the bill in full or to make the specified payment, the following message displays, and the bill is not paid. The bill can be paid using another form of payment.

The credit account does not have sufficient funds.

If the user’s credit account exists but is closed, the following message displays, and the bill is not paid. The bill can be paid using another form of payment.

Patron credit account has been closed.

Checkout Wizard – If the patron has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay bills/fines with money from the credit account, bills created when using the Checkout wizard may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account. Credit Rule policies list the fines/bills configured to be automatically paid from the credit account.

Discharge/Checkin Wizard – If the patron has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay fines with money from the credit account, fines created when using the Discharge/Checkin wizard may be paid automatically at check in. If policies are configured to automatically issue a refund for lost items that have already been paid for, the Discharge/Checkin wizard can add a refund credit to the patron’s credit account when the lost item is checked in.

Display User Wizard – The Display User wizard displays credit account balance information on the Summary tab of the user record. The credit balance also displays in the User glossary. Additionally, a new Credit Account Transaction History helper is available for displaying credit account transactions.

Ephemeral Checkout Wizard – If the patron has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay bills/fines with money from the credit account, bills created when using the Ephemeral Checkout wizard may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account. Credit Rule policies list the fines/bills configured to be automatically paid from the credit account.

Mark Item Lost Wizard – If the patron has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay a lost item bill with money from the credit account, bills created using the Mark Item Lost wizard may be paid automatically.

Paying Bills Wizard – In the Pay Bill wizard, you can pay bills from the patron’s credit account using the CREDITACCT payment type. The payment will be allowed if the patron has funds in the credit account to cover the amount of the bill, and the bill reason is listed in the Credit Rule policy as a bill reason that can be paid from credit account.

When using the patron’s credit account to pay multiple bills, if an error occurs (for example, a bill has a bill reason that does not allow payment with a credit account), a message displays. The wizard continues to pay the bills that it can pay until all of the bills are examined.

The credit account does not have sufficient funds.

If the user’s credit account exists but is closed, the following message displays, and the bill is not paid. The bill can be paid using another form of payment.

Patron credit account has been closed.

Pay Bills Helper – Similar to the Pay Bill wizard, you can pay bills from the patron’s credit account using the CREDITACCT payment type. The payment will be allowed if the patron has funds in the credit account to cover the amount of the bill, and the bill reason is listed in the Credit Rule policy as a bill reason that can be paid from credit account.

The credit account does not have sufficient funds.

If the user’s credit account exists but is closed, the following message displays, and the bill is not paid. The bill can be paid using another form of payment.

Patron credit account has been closed.

Renew Item Wizard – If the user has a credit account and properties are configured to automatically pay bills/fines with money from the credit account, bills created during renewal may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account. Credit Rule policies list the fines/bills configured to be automatically paid from the credit account.

Renew Privilege Wizard – If the user has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay privilege fees with money from the credit account, fees created when renewing a user’s privilege may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account.

Renew Privilege Helper – When this helper is set to display in circulation wizards, if the user has a credit account and policies are configured to automatically pay privilege fees with money from the credit account, fees created when renewing a user’s privilege may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account.

Renew User Wizard – If the user has a credit account and properties are configured to automatically pay bills/fines with money from the credit account, bills created during renewal may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account. Credit Rule policies list the fines/bills configured to be automatically paid from the credit account.

Assumed Lost Report – If the user has a credit account and the report is configured to automatically pay lost item bills and processing fees with money from the credit account, bills created for items that are assumed to be lost and associated processing fees (if any) may be paid automatically with funds from the user’s credit account. Credit Rule policies list the bills configured to be automatically paid from the credit account.

Note: You can only select the payment type CREDITACCT on the Patron Credit tab of the Assumed Lost report. For more information, see the Assumed Lost report topic.

In the Assumed Lost report and wizards other than the Bill User wizard, the Pay Bills wizard, and the Pay Bills helper, any bills and processing fees that cannot be paid in full automatically are added to the user record.

In the wizards’ properties pages, if you select the payment type CREDITACCT, then only withdrawal credit reasons display for selection from the list. For more information, see the wizard topics.

How do I find a patron’s credit account balance?

When displaying a user record, you can click the User glossary at the top of the wizard window to display the patron’s credit account balance. The following wizards/helpers display the credit account balances.

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Bill User Wizard

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Checkout Wizard

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Credit User Account Wizard

Note: The user’s credit account balance displays in the Balance field below the User ID field, and in the Credit Balance field under Credit Transaction Account.

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Display User Wizard

Note: The user’s credit account balance displays on the Summary tab of the user record.

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Ephemeral Checkout Wizard

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Manual Refund Helper

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Manual Withdrawal Helper

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Pay Bill Wizard

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Pay Bills Helper

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Renew Privilege Helper

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Renew Privilege Wizard

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Renew User Wizard

How do I view a patron’s credit account transaction history?

You can view the patron’s credit account transaction history in the Credit User Account wizard using a wizard property, or by using the Credit Account Transaction History helper in the Display User wizard.

In the Credit User Account wizard properties, select the Display the Full Credit Account Transaction History check box on the Behavior tab. When you select this property, the Credit User Account wizard will display the complete credit transaction history for a user under Credit Transaction Account. This history includes deposits and withdrawals made to the credit account.

In the Display User wizard, the Credit Account Transaction History helper displays the transaction history for a credit user account. This history includes deposits and withdrawals made to the credit account. The transaction fields that display for each transaction include the following: Credit Reason, Payment Type, Amount, and Date Created.

The Credit Account Transaction History helper is only available when displaying a user record linked to a user credit account. Whether or not this helper appears in the Display User wizard is controlled by the wizard’s Helper properties.

If the specified user’s credit account is closed, you are prompted as to whether or not you want to reopen the credit account. If you reopen the credit account, the Credit User Account wizard or the Credit Account Transaction History helper continues and displays the credit transaction history for the user.

For more information about the Credit User Account wizard properties, see Credit User Account Wizard Properties.

For more information about the Credit Account Transaction History helper properties, see Credit Account Transaction History Helper.

How do I print patron credit account receipts?

When a patron account is credited, it is possible to print a receipt describing the transactions that occurred during the wizard session. A receipt can be printed each time the patron account is credited, or it can be printed at the end of the wizard session. To allow credit user account receipt printing, select the Print Patron Credit receipt behavior property in the Credit User Account wizard properties.

To configure the fields that appear in the receipt, click the Print Patron Credit Receipt button in the wizard properties, and select the fields for the header, receipt body, and footer. By default in the credit user account receipt, the receipt header contains information about the patron, such as name, user ID, station library, and the date the account was created. The receipt fields will include details about the credit transactions, including the credit account balance. The receipt footer contains the final balance on the account.

Receipt printer availability options on the Preference/Peripherals/Receipt Printer menu must be selected before printing credit user account receipts. For more information, see Defining Workstation Peripherals.

How do I manually issue a refund for paid bills?

The Manual Refund helper in the Credit User Account wizard is used to manually issue refunds for paid bills for users with credit accounts.

To issue a refund for a paid bill

Click the Credit User Account wizard, and locate the user to whom you want to issue a refund.

Click the Manual Refund helper.

Select the bill or bills you want to refund.

Click OK.

The selected bills are refunded, and the bill amounts are credited as a refund credit in the user’s credit account.

If the bill has already been refunded, a message displays and shows the credit reason, payment type, refund amount, and date refunded. This information can be useful if the patron questions the refund.

The Manual Refund helper check box must be selected on the Helpers tab of the Credit User Account wizard properties in order for the helper to display.

In the Manual Refund helper properties, select the default payment type and credit reason. The default payment type is NONE, which creates a refund credit without specifying the payment type. The default credit reason for manual refunds is AUTOREFUND.

How do I manually withdraw funds from a credit account?

The Manual Withdrawal helper in the Credit User Account wizard is used to manually withdraw funds from a user’s credit account for library-defined reasons other than paid bill refunds, or to close a credit account.

To manually withdraw funds

Click the Credit User Account wizard, and locate the user for whom you want to withdraw funds.

Click the Manual Withdrawal helper.

Specify the amount of money to be withdrawn from the credit account, the payment type, and the credit reason (the reason for the withdrawal).

Click Withdraw Funds.

Do one of the following.

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If the remaining credit account balance is greater than 0.00, a dialog box displays the current remaining account balance. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Credit User Account wizard.

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If the remaining credit account balance is 0.00, a dialog box displays and asks if you want to close the user’s credit account. Click Yes to close the account, or click No to keep the credit account open. After clicking Yes or No, you are returned to the Credit User Account wizard.

The Manual Withdrawal helper check box must be selected on the Helpers tab of the Credit User Account wizard properties in order for the helper to display.

In the Manual Withdrawal helper properties, select the default payment type and credit reason. The default payment type is CASH. The default credit reason for manual withdrawals is REFUND.

How do I close a credit account?

The Manual Withdrawal helper in the Credit User Account wizard can be used to close a user’s credit account.

To close a credit account

Click the Credit User Account wizard, and locate the user for whom you want to close the credit account.

Click the Manual Withdrawal helper.

Note the current balance in the user’s credit account, if any.

Do one of the following.

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If the user’s credit account balance is currently 0.00, click Close Account.

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If the user’s credit account balance is greater than 0.00, specify the current balance in the Amount field, and select the payment type and the credit reason (the reason for the withdrawal). Your library may define a credit reason specifically for account closures, such as CLOSEACCT. Click Withdraw Funds.

On the dialog box that displays the current balance as 0.00 and asks if you want to close the user’s credit account, click Yes to close the account.

Click OK to close the message that confirms the patron credit account has been closed.

If you close a user’s credit account, automatic refunds and automatic payments for reported lost items and assumed lost items will not be applied to the credit account until the account is reopened.

If you close a user’s credit account, automatic and manual payment of bills is denied. Use another form of payment, or use the Credit User Account wizard to reopen the user’s credit account.

If you close a user’s credit account, and the policies and Discharge/Checkin wizard are configured to automatically issue refunds when a paid lost item is checked in, a message displays and states that the user’s credit account had been closed. The message asks if you want to reopen the credit account. If you click Yes, the credit account is reopened and the lost item bill refund amount is deposited in the user’s; credit account.

The Manual Withdrawal helper check box must be selected on the Helpers tab of the Credit User Account wizard properties in order for the helper to display.

Why can’t I add funds to, withdraw funds from, or close a credit account at another library?

In a multilibrary system, the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute in each Library policy specifies the libraries or groups of libraries your library can access to deposit funds to or withdraw funds from patron credit accounts, issue refunds to patron credit accounts, and close patron credit accounts. If your library is not listed in the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute in a library’s Library policy, you cannot access patron credit accounts that are associated with that library.

For example, the Library policy for the Hunt Library contains the Chase Library and Hunt Library in the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute. If you are logged in at the Ketcher Library, you will be prevented from issuing a credit to a user whose credit account was created at the Hunt Library because the Ketcher Library is not part of patron credit maintenance library group for the Hunt Library.

The Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute is checked when you use wizards and helpers that can pay bills from or issue refund credit to patron credit accounts. The attribute is also checked when the Assume Lost report attempts to pay assumed lost item bills and processing fees automatically.

f your library wants to use patron credit accounts to pay bills at other libraries, SirsiDynix recommends setting up the Library policies to contain the same list of libraries in the Bill Maintenance Libraries attribute and the Patron Credit Maintenance Libraries attribute. Unexpected results can occur if the list of libraries in the two attributes are different.

For example, the Smith Library’s Library policy configuration includes the following:

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Bill maintenance libraries = SMITH, DOE, JONES

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Patron credit maintenance libraries = SMITH, DOE, JONES, WALKER

The Walker Library creates a credit account for one of its patrons. The Walker patron is billed by the Smith Library for an item she damaged, and asks the Walker librarian to pay the bill using funds from her patron credit account. Even though the Walker Library would be able to perform patron credit account transactions with the Smith Library, the Walker Library cannot pay the Smith Library bill with any form of payment because the Walker library is not in the Smith Library’s list of bill maintenance libraries.

Can the library deduct overdue fines from automatic refunds to patron credit accounts?

Yes. You can control whether or not overdue fines are deducted from automatic refunds by configuring an attribute in the Default Price policy named “Deduct the Overdue Fine from the Refund Amount.”

When the Deduct the Overdue Fine from Refund Amount attribute is configured, the refund amount returned to the patron’s credit account will be reduced by the overdue fine calculated according to the existing rules and conditions for the overdue fine. The overdue fine will appear on the user’s record as paid, and the payment type will be AUTOREFUND. This only applies to billable users who have patron credit accounts and when automatic refunds are configured.

The overdue fine would be calculated from the date due up to the item’s return date. When the refund is credited and the overdue fine deducted, the overdue fine will appear on the user’s record as paid.

If the overdue fine is greater than the refund amount, the overdue fine is still deducted from the refund, and the remaining fine is added to the user’s record.

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If the “leftovers” of overdue fine can be paid with funds from user’s credit account, then the bill is paid.

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If the “leftovers” of the overdue fine cannot be paid from user’s credit account, an alert is displayed, and bill amount is displayed in the Discharged Items list entry for the discharged item.

If the Deduct Overdue Fine from Refund attribute is not configured, SirsiDynix Symphony will create a credit refund for the full paid lost bill. The full payment amount is returned to the user’s credit account, and no overdue fine is created and/or paid.

Changes to WorkFlows Wizards

The following wizards were modified to accommodate deducting overdue fines from automatic refunds to user credit accounts.

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Discharge/Checkin Wizard — A new Deduct Overdue from Refund default property was added to this wizard. This property specifies the payment type to be used when a bill is automatically refunded, overdue fines are deducted, and the remaining amount is added to the user’s credit account. The default payment type for the Deduct Overdue from Refund property is AUTOREFUND.

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Checkin Bookdrop Items Wizard — When a paid/lost item is returned and the check in date has been back dated in the Checkin Bookdrop Items wizard, the overdue fine deducted from the credit refund is calculated using the due date and the back dated check in date.

The Fine Free Discharge/Checkin wizard has not been modified. When a paid/lost item is returned and the item is checked in using the Fine Free Discharge/Checkin wizard, the overdue fine is not deducted from the credit refund. No overdue fine is created and paid.

Automatic Refund and Overdue Fine Scenarios

The follow scenarios describe what happens when the system is configured to deduct the overdue fine from the refund amount for a paid lost bill.

Scenario 1:

Hazel Butternut has an item overdue. The item was due on 3/30/2009. According to library policies, this item is now assumed lost. Hazel has been billed the replacement cost of $10.00 for the item. So, she pays the $10.00 lost bill.

Hazel then finds the lost item and returns the item to the library on 6/16/2009. When the item is checked in, SirsiDynix Symphony checks the Default Price policy for the item/library combination and determines that an automatic refund of $10.00 should be applied to Hazel’s credit account. However, before the refund can be applied to her credit account, the system will deduct the accrued overdue fine.

The overdue fine is calculated from the date due to the check in date. The item was due on 3/30/2009 and returned on 6/16/2009 with an overdue fine of $.10 a day. The maximum overdue fine set in policies for the library is $3.00. The overdue item has reached the maximum overdue fine amount, so $3.00 is deducted from the original $10.00 refund, and a $7.00 refund is applied to Hazel's credit account. A $3.00 overdue fine for the item is created and paid with the AUTOREFUND payment type.

Scenario 2:

Paul Patron has an overdue item that was due on 5/30/2009. He cannot find the item, so he reports the item as lost. Paul is billed a $25.00 lost bill, which he pays.

Paul later finds the item and returns the item to the library for a refund on 6/16/2009. When the item is checked in, SirsiDynix Symphony checks the Default Price policy for the item/library combination and determines that an automatic refund of $25.00 should be applied to the Paul’s credit account. However, before the refund can be applied to his credit account, the system will deduct the accrued overdue fine.

The system calculates the overdue fine. The item was due on 5/30/2009 and returned on 6/16/2009 with an overdue fine of $.10 a day. The maximum overdue fine set in policies for the library is $3.00. The calculated overdue fine is $1.70. Before the refund is issued, $1.70 is deducted from the $25.00 refund amount, and a $23.30 refund is applied to Paul’s credit account. A $1.70 overdue fine for the item is created and paid with the AUTOREFUND payment type.