How To Create A New Commission Rate Plan

This document steps you through creating a Commission Rate Plan.

Requirements

- More than two incremental steps in your commission rate requirements
- Plan the incremental steps that you need to include in your plan
- Plan any optional MIN and MAX values that apply

Overview

Commission Rate plans allow you to quickly specify a sliding scale for the commission rate charged clients for funds collected from debtors. These plans are used when you have more than two percentages that you charge.

Only use the commission rate plan when you have more than two values to enter in your sliding scale. In order for a Commission Rate plan to work properly, all FROM and TO fields must be filled, including a RATE. Break down your rates in whatever way is necessary to ensure that each one of these fields is filled. The MIN and MAX values are optional.

ONLY NEEDED IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A MULTIPLE VARIABLE RATE SCALE

This is important as Collect! does quite a heavy number crunch when posting and using Commission Rate Plans. This means you would use valuable processor time when using commission rate plans on a network may slow some systems, thus slowing response time for the operators using the system.

Commission Rate Versus Rate Plan

If you elect to use a Commission Rate Plan, you should not use a fixed Commission Rate as well. Choose one or the other. When you choose a commission rate plan for a particular client, all new debtors that you enter for this client will be assigned the same commission rate plan.

When a debtor has a commission rate plan assigned, this is displayed automatically when you open the Financial Detail form by clicking in the Rate field on the Debtor form. The Rate field will display the applicable commission rate according to the plan.

With some plans, the Rate field on the Debtor form may remain empty. For instance, if the rate depends on the amount of the payment posted. Then the applicable rate will be displayed in the Transaction form when you post a transaction for a debtor payment.

You can override a commission rate plan by choosing a commission rate for this debtor. You can only use a plan OR a fixed rate, not both. You can also choose a different commission rate for a particular transaction.

Create A New Commission Rate Plan

1. Pull down the System menu. choose Financial Settings, Commission Rate Plans. A list of all Commission Rate Plans will be displayed.

2. Press F3 to create a new Commission Rate Plan. An empty Commission Rate Plan form is displayed.

3. Type in a Code for the rate plan. This is an alpha-numeric, three-character code. It will be displayed in the Commission and Charges form for the Debtor - accessed by clicking in the Rate field on the Debtor form. The applicable commission rate will usually be displayed on the Debtor form in the Rate field.

4. Click on down arrow by "Type" field and pick appropriate plan, for instance "Paid To Date". Press F1 for a description of each type of plan.

5. Type in a brief Description of the plan. This is displayed in the list of Commission Rate plans. Use a description that will allow the user to quickly identify the plan.

6. Complete remaining fields as needed. Press F1 for information about the plan's fields.

In order for a Commission Rate plan to work properly, all FROM and TO fields must be filled, including a RATE. Break down your rates in whatever way is necessary to ensure that each one of these fields is filled. The MIN and MAX values are optional.

7. Click " OK" or press F8 to save your new plan.

Choosing A Commission Rate Plan For A New Client

If this is a new client, from the Client form:

1. Pull down the Browse menu and choose Clients. A list of all Clients will be displayed.

2. Press F3 to open a new Client form.

3. Select the ADVANCED button to open the Client Settings form.

4. Click on the down arrow by "Rate Plan" field and pick the new Commission Rate Plan you just created.

Make sure that the Rate field is empty. You should use a Commission Rate Plan or a fixed Commission Rate, not both.

5. Ensure the remaining fields in the Client Settings form are set appropriately for this Client.

6. Press F8 or click OK to save the settings.

From this point on, any new debtors you enter under this client will be set up with this Commission Rate Plan. For debtors that were entered previously, you will need to go back and assign this new Commission Rate Plan to each debtor.

Debtors should not have a fixed Commission Rate and a Commission Rate Plan. You should choose one or the other.

See Also

- How To Setup Client Settings