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Create Finance Charges

Create Finance Charges​

From the DockMaster menu, select Accounts Receivable > Charges Menu > Generate Finance Charges

Purpose: To generate finance charge invoices based on the age and due date of a customer’s invoices. All open invoices with a due date prior to the last grace due date are totaled; any credits or payments made within 30 days after the grace date (inclusive of the grace date) are totaled; if the difference between these two figures is a positive amount, a finance charge will be generated.

If the total customer account balance is zero, no finance charges will be generated, even though individual invoice may still be open.

The dollar amount of the finance charge is based on the percentage rate, finance flat charge, and the minimum finance charge amount as established in the Accounts Receivable Parameters. If the finance charge rate was overridden in the Customer File, the rate entered will override any rate maintained in the A/R Parameters screen.

Notes: You can exclude a specific customer from getting finance charges by disabling the Finance Charge box in the Customer File.

Finance charge invoices will only be selected when the Finance Surcharge function is enabled in the Accounts Receivable Parameters.

Prerequisites: Review the Accounts Receivable Parameters to establish the prerequisites for finance charge calculations.

  • Last Grace Due Date - Enter the Last Grace Due Date for invoices; this is a REQUIRED field. All open invoices with a due date prior to this date are totaled. Any credits or payments made within 30 days after the grace date (inclusive of the grace date) are totaled. If the difference between these two figures is a positive amount, a finance charge will be calculated. All open invoices with a DUE DATE later than the date entered are excluded from the finance charge calculation.
  • Effective Date - Enter the Effective Date for the finance charge invoices or press Enter to default to the current date. This is also the accounting date to record the finance charge income on your General Ledger if installed.
  • Area to Charge - Click the down arrow to select the specific Charge Area you would like to generate finance charges for or accept ALL areas as the default. The valid areas include:

Dockage/Storage Reservations

Electric Work Orders

Late Fee Ship’s Store

Miscellaneous

  • Customer Number - Enter one or multiple Customer Numbers or leave the prompt blank to include ALL customers. Type a name preceded by a backslash "" to access a cross-reference list.
  • Customer List Name - Enter a Customer List Name or bypass this prompt. This list should be created with the Report Generator. If you are not sure how to create a list, refer to Save-List in Report Generator.
  • Location Code- Select a specific Location you would like to post charges to. If you want to post to all locations, then leave the grid blank. To select a Location Code from a list, click in the Location Code field in the grid. Click on the List F6 from the Command Panel or press the F6 key to see a listing of valid location codes.
  • Click the Process Charges button to create the finance charge invoices.

Completing the Finance Charge Process

The following steps should be performed after generating finance charge invoices:

  1. Print an edit listing through the Charges Edit Listing program to review and verify the amounts calculated on the finance charge invoices.
  2. Select the Miscellaneous Charges Entry program to modify or delete individual finance charge invoices.
  3. Reprint the Charges Edit Listing to review any changes or proceed to the next step if no changes were made.
  4. Select Post Charges to post the finance charge invoices to the individual customer accounts.