Introduction
Gnosis has three record types that either directly manage gifts or commitments to pay gifts:
- Invoices
- Subscriptions (Used for pledges and paid memberships)
- Overpayments
- Contributions
Each of these record types has a different purpose in Gnosis and this article provides an overview of when to use them.
Invoices
Invoices in Gnosis are a means to record that a payment is due on or by a specific date in the near future. For example, if someone promises to pay for something in the next month or two, raising an invoice is an excellent way to track if the promised payment has been received. Certain other areas in Gnosis automatically generate invoices - such as event registrations for fundraisers. In that case, the invoices are often raised and paid at the same time while some may be paid for at a later date.
Pledge/Subscription Records
If someone promises to pay an amount over a period of time, you could raise an invoice and add multiple line items with different dates on each line item, however, this does not offer the flexibility of scheduling automated payments and easily tracking when each installment is due. For this purpose, we have the Subscription record type.
Subscription records exist for three purposes:
- To manage the raising of invoices at scheduled intervals when promised payments are due
- To easily track how much of a total committed has been received or how many of a number of committed installments have been received.
- To manage the process of billing credit cards at agreed intervals
Fundamentally, the purpose of the subscription record is to manage the invoicing process and provide a single point of reference for how much of a single commitment over a period of time has been paid.
So, in summary, a Pledge/Subscription record by its-self is not a record of payment or request for payment, rather, it is an instrument for managing multiple invoices that represent the amount of a total commitment and progress on paying that commitment
When to Use Subscriptions or Just Invoices.
If you think that a specific promised amount will be trackable easily via a single invoice, then there is no need to raise a subscription to manage it. If however the payment is to be paid over an extended period and will be paid in periodic installments of about the same amount, then a subscription may make the process of managing the commitment easier seeing it will raise invoices when each installment is due.
Contributions
The term "Contributions" in Gnosis refers to gifts that are received without needing to be tracked as to whether a commitment to pay has been met. If a commitment to pay is being tracked via an invoice (either raised manually or via a subscription) but the payment has been received and logged in as a contribution, you can easily apply that gift to an open invoice by choosing the "Convert to Invoice Payment" option available at the end of the contribution line on the contributions tab.
Contributions Tab and the Contribution Batch Entry Screen
On a person's Contributions Tab and in all queries and reporting, all Contribution Gifts and Invoice Gifts show up together in one place. This is done for convenience so that you do not need to switch between the Contributions and Invoices areas to see all gift history.
The Contribution Batch Entry screen, however, deals with only entries of Contribution-type gifts, not with invoice-type gifts. Gifts recorded on Invoices will show on the invoice tab, contributions tab, and in reports such as in the batch management center report, but invoices will not show up as line items in the Contribution Batch Entry screen.
Note: Open invoices and Subscriptions/Pledges/Memberships also show up on the Contribution Batch Entry Screen when you select a new person or organization to receive a gift. This is done so that you can see if a received payment should, in fact, be directed to pay a subscription or invoice instead of being receipted as a simple contribution.
Overpayments
It is possible you may receive payments greater than the amount due on an invoice (single or subscription invoices). Below are possible scenarios and recommendations based on the intent of the donor on how they want the additional amount to be handled:
Scenario A
Donor overpays on a single invoice/pledged amount and wishes the additional funds to be allocated as a general donation OR additional funds to the initial pledge/campaign.
Scenario B
Donor overpays an invoice which is part of a subscription/recurring pledge and wishes for additional funds to be allocated as a general donation OR one-time additional funds to the initial pledge/campaign.
Scenario C
Donor overpays an invoice which is part of a subscription/recurring pledge and wishes for additional funds to be applied to future invoice(s) within the subscription.
Scenarios A and B Resolution
- Complete the invoice payment by entering the full payment amount. Note a Cash Balance will be created in the person's profile; the overpayment will be placed into Unallocated Cash.
- Create a new contribution entry (see below) for the overpayment amount:
- Select the payment type of Unallocated Cash to use the Cash Balance created in the above invoice.
- Based on the donor's intent apply the necessary income codes: A) general donation income codes or B) using the same income codes as the subscription to make it additional subscription income.
Scenario C Resolution
- Complete the existing subscription invoice by entering the full payment amount. Note a Cash Balance will be created in the person's profile; the overpayment will be placed into Unallocated Cash.
- Raise a new invoice within the subscription and apply a payment with payment type = Unallocated Cash to use the Cash Balance created in the initial invoice.
- If the overpayment is intended to complete all remaining subscription payments, follow this process to raise and pay each individual invoice using via the Unallocated Cash balance until the cash balance has been exhausted.
For additional guidance on how to properly process invoice overpayments contact Support@Connect4.net.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.