Enrolment Bonds require a slightly different approach from other charges since taking a bond creates an obligation to refund the bond if the account is in good order when the child leaves the service. Of course you are entitled to retain any other amounts owing but any remainder must be returned to the parent.

That is referred to as a liability in accounting terms. You need to keep separate track of your liabilities because you will have to pay them back.

Setting up Enrolment bond fee codes

For most services it is sufficient to set up one miscellaneous fee code for the enrolment bond, another for the enrolment bond refund , and third for general refunds.

You do this from the Account > Setup Org > Misc Fee Codes screen. When setting up the refund code do make sure the amount is negative to account for it being a refund amount. Set the default amount for general refunds to $0.00 since this amount can change from case to case.

Applying an enrolment bond charge to an account

After the setup is done correctly applying an enrolment bond charge is just like applying any other charge to a parent account. Go to the Balance tab on the parents profile and click Add Misc Fee.

Select the code you have created for the bond , set the date and add a note if required. Click SAVE to confirm the charge. This applies the bond charge to the account. When the parent pays the bond either directly to the service or via the integrated payments gateway it will net off the charge.

Refunding an enrolment bond on exit

Refunding an enrolment bond is a two step process because the parent may still owe you some amount at account exit and you are entitled to recover that amount from the bond. Any remaining funds must then be returned to the parent.

STEP 1 - Cancelling the liability

Process a MISC FEE to the parent account using the BOND REFUND code set up at the beginning. This cancels the liability and credits the bond back to the parents account. Depending on the parent’s balance before the bond refund the parent may still owe you money (which you will need to recover separately), the account may now be in balance (nothing more to do) or the parent’s account may now be in credit (in which case you need to refund the amount in credit - it may not be the same aount as the bond).

STEP 2 - Refunding the Parent Account

Whether you refund the parent in cash, cheque or funds transfer; you need to record the actual amount that changes hands. You do this by applying a MISC FEE to the parent’s account for the amount of the refund.