Overview of Billling in WorkFlows

There are three ways bills can be added to patrons' accounts in WorkFlows. Fines, fees, and bills can be created based on certain policies, manually through a wizard, or through a report.

User Profile

Circulation Rule

A circulation rule, which comprises part of a circulation map line, contains the billing structure for items when they become overdue.  The billing structure determines how much and at what interval fees are accrued for an overdue item. A patron account is not billed for an overdue item until an item is discharged or if the item is selected through the Process Long Overdue Items report and the option to bill patrons for accrued fines is enabled in this report. As part of the billing structure, you can also define a maximum fee which is the highest amount that may be billed for an overdue or recalled item (based on item type).

Hold Placement Fee

This fee will be charged to a patron's account whether or not the hold is filled. This is for any hold processing fees.

Bills Created Manually through WorkFlows wizards and helpers

Bills created through helpers or wizards are linked to a certain bill reason.  Some bill reasons are associated with items while others are not. A complete list of bill reasons and whether they are associated with an item can be found here: https://wyld.sirsi.net/map/Policies/BILLREASON.html The WYLD Office can created additional bill reasons.

The bill reasons available to use in WorkFlows are based on the customized policy list for your library. With customized policy lists, you can limit which user, circulation or cataloging policies are visible in WorkFlows. 

 Library staff can manually create bills as long as the user profile for their login has access to these wizards. Contact the WYLD Office is you do not have access to these wizards.

Billing a User wizard

With this wizard, you can manually bill a patron's account. That amount must be linked to a certain bill reason. You are required to enter an item barcode for those bill reasons associated with items.

Mark Item Lost wizard

Scanning an item in this wizard changes the current location of the item to LOST-CLAIM (which shadows the item in the online catalog), and there is an option to bill the user for the replacement cost of the item. For example, you may use this wizard if a patron comes into the library and reports an item is lost.  

In this wizard's properties, you can set a default so  the patron's account is automatically billed for the replacement cost of the item:

The amount that is billed for an item is based on the default price policies for the item library or the item price in the item's record. You can find your library's default price policies here: https://wyld.sirsi.net/map/ 

Default price policies are based upon item type and library. The policies in this wizard define the amount a patron is billed for a lost item (Assumed Lost report, Mark Item lost wizard). These policies can be set up so the default price is only applied when there isn't a price in the item record or it can set up so that the default price is always used regardless of the price in the item record.

Reports

Library staff can set up and run these reports as long as the user profile of their WorkFlows login has access to the reports.  Contact the WYLD Office if you do not have access. We highly recommend contacting the WYLD Office before setting up or modifying these reports. The library selected for these reports is based on the user library associated with the WorkFlows login being used.

Assumed Lost report 

This report automatically bills a patron for the cost of the item after that item has been overdue a certain number of days. This report also shadows the item from the catalog and changes the current location of the item to LOST-ASSUM. The item remains checked out to the patron’s account. This report also has an option to send bill notices to patrons.  This report is used when a library expects the patron to return or pay for the item. The bill is determined by that library's default price policies. If a library does not have a default price policy defined for the item selected by the report, the price in the item record is used. Default price policies can be used for those records that do not contain a price.

Process Long Overdue Items report

This report is used if a library does not expect an overdue item to be returned and wants to remove the item from the catalog. This report breaks the connection between the item and the bill, so the item can be deleted. An item cannot be removed from the catalog if there is a bill associated with it. 

This report discharges the item from the patron’s account, changes the current location of the item, shadows the item in the catalog, removes any lost bills for the item (removes the link between the bill and the item), and creates a note in the user recordwith brief title/copy information in the LOSTITEM extended information field 

With this report, there is an option to bill the patron for the replacement cost of the item, bill the patron for accrued fines, and/or add a processing fee.

More information the Mark item Lost wizard, the Assumed Lost Report, and the Process Long Overdue Items  report can be found here: https://wyldlibraries.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/61000285284