Bill a User Wizard

The Bill a User wizard is used to issue a bill to a user. Patrons can accrue bills for library services or overdue items. Bills can be created automatically if defined in the user configuration library policies or created manually. The Bill a User wizard guides you through the process of issuing a bill to a user.

To create a bill

Click the Bill a User wizard.

Do one of the following:

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In the User ID box, scan the user’s ID.

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Type the user ID in the User ID box, and click Get User Information.

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If the Current button is available, click the button to select the last user record that was displayed, modified, or added.

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Use the User Search helper to locate the user record. If a list of users displays, select the user you want, and click Bill User.

Under Enter Item & Bill Information:

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In the Reason for Bill list, select a bill reason specified by your library’s Bill Reason policies.

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In the Amount box, type an amount (for example, $1.75 or $.50).

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In the Item ID box, scan the item ID if the bill is associated with an item.

Note: If you want to use an RFID pad device to scan items, be sure to scan them one at a time so you can perform the appropriate action for each item. If you place more than one item on the RFID pad at a time, the RFID pad scans all the items in rapid succession, and WorkFlows only displays the information for the last item scanned.

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In the Note box, type a note for the bill record, if desired.

Note: This box only displays if you configured the Note column under Individual Bills and Payments to display using the Show bill note property in the Bill a User Wizard Properties.

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In the Payment Type list, select the payment type, if needed. The items in the Payment Type list are based on the Payment Type policies defined by your library.

Click Pay Now to pay the bill in full now, or click Bill User to pay the bill later.

If you clicked Pay Now, and if you are making a payment using BLUEcloud Commerce via a card reader device, a dialog displays containing the subtotal and the following message:

Waiting for card swipe...

Swipe the card. If the card swipe is successful, this dialog disappears and the payment completes.

Additionally, if you select an item or group of items in the bills list and right-click, a circulation menu opens. From this menu, you can perform a variety of circulation tasks. See Right-click Menus.

At the end of this transaction, select one of these options:

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Bill Another User to continue

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Close to exit this wizard

Important Considerations When Using this Wizard

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If the user is blocked, an alert window will display. If your site uses the User Groups feature and this user’s responsibility level is LINKED, then this user will inherit the delinquency status of the worst-case user in the group. If a user in the same group is delinquent, blocked, or barred an alert window will appear.

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When a user record is located, information from the user record displays under User Information. User Information displays only if the Configure Display of User Status Header attribute in the Global Configuration wizard is set to Display User Status Header in Circulation wizards.

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It may be possible to find a user by a previous user ID, if configured in policies. Go to the FAQs: Searching User Records topic.

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You can manage the display of the Tax and Note columns under Individual Bills and Payments from the Bill a User wizard properties using the Show bill tax and Show bill note properties respectively.

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To sort items in the bills list in ascending or descending order, click the column heading of the column you want to sort.

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Click the glossary links to display more detailed information.

Note: While the display of the Tax and Note columns are configurable in the Bill a User wizard properties, the Tax and Note fields and anything they may contain always display in bill glossaries, regardless of how you have set these properties.

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A bill can be paid from the user’s credit account by selecting the CREDITACCT payment type and clicking Pay Now. This will cause the newly created bill to be immediately paid with funds from the user’s credit account.

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If the user’s credit account exists but is closed, bills cannot be paid automatically from the credit account. Pay the bills using a form of payment other than CREDITACCT.

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The tax amount calculated from the Subtotal and added to the Amount Owed is controlled by the Circulation Tax policy specified in the bill's Bill Reason policy. For more information, see Bill Reason Wizard.