You may have come to run year end and found that you have unsettled epayments in credit or debit without understanding why.
What are unsettled epayments?
These are payments which are delayed in time between one financial period and another.
For example, ParentPay pay schools 7-14 days after parents have paid online, and these payments are settled to the school's designated bank account.
If a payment is made by a parent online or through PayPoint on the 28th August for a trip, the payment would not be deposited at the bank by ParentPay until after 31st August. If the school's financial year end is 31st August, the deposit to the bank is made in the new financial year although the money owed to the fund is in the previous financial year (the year that ended at 31st August). The money owed in this case appears as an unsettled epayment during the financial year ending 31st August and because it is money owed to the fund it would be in debit.
How do I prove my balance?
To prove your balance, you simply need to know what the parental payment totals are in the last 7 - 14 days leading up to the end of the financial year.
This is done the following way.
Identify the unsettled epayments value for the year
.Select Administration > Period End Closedown.
Enter your Date to for closedown.
Click Preview to view the Account Summary (Preview) for the period.
In section 2, you will see in the right hand column, the Unsettled ePayments value for the period.
Check the epayments value matches what is found in the Bank History for the year
Select Bank & Cash > Bank History.
Select the ParentPay Settlement Account in the Bank Account drop-down
Enter the Date From and Date To dates for the period.
Click Search to display the epayments for the period.
Add the Opening balance Credit and the Total Credit value for the year together and then deduct the Total Debit value.
This value should match the Unsettled ePayments value you found when previewing the Account Summary for the period.
Do I need to worry?
You only need to worry if the unsettled epayment total is larger or smaller than you would expect, following the guidance in proving your balance above.
If it is, then you should consider the following and see if you can identify why it is.
Switching bank accounts in ParentPay.
Entering adjustments in ParentPay and not cancelling those in Tali.
Re-mapping account codes in Tali.
Pulling through duplications from ParentPay to Tali which need removing manually.
Important! If you are concerned about the unsettled epayments and need help to sort this out, you can book a chargeable session with one of our specialists who will be able to help you. Please contact Pebble Support to organise this.