​Introduction

A Recurring Payments template can be used to set up a schedule of payments to pay, for example, different vendors on the same date, or to make scheduled payments such as utilities, rent, etc. The template can also be used to add fiscal codes and/or distribute payments from different fund sources.

When the Template is created, the Transaction Code for each line item is required. Additional fiscal coding can be entered, but it is not required.

• Generally, the template payment should be 1) scheduled, and then 2) the Fiscal Coder should enter or update fiscal coding on the Distribute screen. You can edit the template if you intend to change fiscal coding that will affect all future payments.

Recurring Payments does not automatically send transactions to STARS on scheduled dates. Rather, users must log on to Payment Services on a regular basis, select Recurring Payments, and view the Schedule screen to see what is scheduled or needs to be scheduled.

The general process for a Recurring Payment includes:

• Create a template that includes the line items of the vendors and amounts to be paid.
• Schedule the payment.
• Authorize the payment.
• Add or update fiscal coding.
• Approve a payment.

Each agency will develop their own business processes to implement these steps.

Create a Template "Header"

1. From the Payment Services menu, select Recurring Payments.

2. Click the Template tab.

3. Click Create New Template.

Figure 1 - Create a new template

4. Make sure the Active check box is checked. Otherwise the template will not be seen on the Schedule screen.

5. Enter a 14 character name for your template in the Name/Group field. Do not use special characters or symbols, including &,',“,<,and \.

6. Enter a 30 character description in the Template Description field. Do not use special characters or symbols, including &,',“,<,and \.

7. Enter or select from the calendar the date range for the template. This is how long the template will be used. For example, a lease template may extend for three years.

8. From the Frequency menu, select Run once, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly to specify when the recurring payment will occur. A "Run Date" will become the Payment Date when a payment is scheduled. This is the date the transaction gets sent to STARS. The final Approver can change that Payment Date on the Approval screen.

9. Select the detailed frequency (e.g., every month, every other month) based on whether the recurrence is daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

Figure 2 -Recurring payment

10. Enter an eight character document number in the Document # field.

11. Enter a 30 character description in the Recurring Description field. Do not use special characters or symbols, including &,',“,<,and \.)

12. Click Save & Continue (to save the template and continue with entering fiscal coding and the distribution of payments).

• Click Save & Clear (to save the template and start over with a new template screen).
• Click Clear to clear the template without saving and start over with a new template screen.

Add Rows and Enter Fiscal Codes

Each row must have a Transaction Code in order to save the template. All other coding can be added or changed when the payment is scheduled and fiscal coding is entered.

A template can be changed for certain reasons (changing vendors or make changes if the vendor increases their price), but month to month fiscal coding should be changed on the Distribute screen.

1. Click Add Row. A template grid with fiscal code fields will be displayed. You can add multiple rows for different vendors and/or different amounts paid from different fund sources. For example, you could Add Row for each vendor for electric, water, and gas utilities. Do not exceed 20 transaction rows of a document, fiscal coding distribution, or a template.

Figure 3 – Add Row

2. To see more fiscal code fields than what is displayed by default, check the Show Detail check box.

3. Enter the vendor number (Vendor No), if known. Or you can search for a vendor name or number:

• Place the cursor in the Vendor No field and press F3 on the keyboard.
• Enter any combination of search criteria – name (will search for vendor name or business name), city, vendor number, etc. You can enter a partial names or numbers or use the wild card symbol (%).
• Click Find.
• By default, the Agency Vendors check box is checked – this will limit the search to those vendors recently used in Payment Services by your agency only. If you don’t find a vendor, uncheck this and click Find again.
• Click Select next to a vendor number and the vendor number will be automatically entered.

4. Enter other fiscal codes as needed – Account, Invoice Number, Invoice Description, Amount. (The Invoice Description(s) will be copied to the Distribute screen and will be printed on warrants or EFTs to vendors. Do not use special characters or symbols, including &,',“,<,and \.)

• When paying U.S. Bank P-Card payments, the Invoice Description must begin with the agency’s unique 16-digit account number. The remaining 14 characters in the Invoice Description can be descriptive information.

5. Enter a transaction code in the TC field. Press TAB or click into another field, and other fiscal code fields required by the TC will be highlighted (these do not have to be completed when creating the template, but must be completed when the payment is scheduled).

Figure 4 - Required fields highlighted

• For a TC that requires an encumbrance number, the encumbrance number must be entered in the Ref Doc field, or you can use the look up to find a reference document number.
• On the STARS Transaction Code Decision Table, a Transaction Code may show that:
• If the TC Ref Doc indicator is blank or 'N', the Ref Doc will not look up other codes from the Document File because there shouldn't be a document there.
• If the TC Ref Doc indicator is 'I' or 'R', the Ref Doc will look up other codes on the Document File and enter those in Payment Services. Not all codes will be validated.

6. Enter the remainder of the fiscal coding as needed. You can search for a fiscal code in a field designated with an asterisk, or manually enter it and it will be validated:

To search for a fiscal code:

• Place the cursor in a designated field and press F3.
• In the look up dialog box, enter any combination of search criteria (PCA, Index, Description, or whatever is applicable). You can enter just the first few numbers or letters or use the wildcard (%).
• Click Find.
• Click the fiscal code you want to use.

To manually enter and validate:

• Enter a fiscal code in a designated field.
• Press TAB or click into another field. If the fiscal code is invalid, an error message will be displayed then or when you save the template.

7. If needed, check the Show Detail check box to display more fiscal code fields.

8. To add more rows, either click Add Row again to add a new row without any fiscal coding

• Click Dup next to the row you have just entered. This will duplicate the fiscal coding of that row onto a new row.

9. Click Save & Continue (to save the template and keep it on the screen) or Save & Clear (to save the template and clear the screen to enter a new template).

• Click Clear to clear all of the line items created without saving and start over with new items.
• Click Delete Template if you decide the template is incorrect after saving it. (You may need to click Clear to clear the line items from the grid after deleting the template.)

The template is ready to be scheduled on the Schedule screen.