HandiTrust 2015 Service fees
2. Highlight the firm to be edited, and click Edit. The “Firm Detail” window will open, displaying details of the highlighted firm.
3. Amend the “Firm Detail” window as required.
4. Click Save and then Close.
Delete a firm
You can only delete firms from the Firm database if no transactions have been associated with the firm.
1. If the firm has transactions recorded against it, delete those transactions first.
To delete transactions, from the View menu, click Transactions. Highlight the transaction to remove and then click Delete.
Note: If the "Transactions" window does not have a Delete button, your Ruling Body does not permit the deletion of transactions.
2. Once you have deleted all of the transactions association with the firm, you can delete the firm. To delete the firm:
From the View menu, click Firms. The “Firms” window will open.
Highlight the required firm and click Delete.
View a firm's details
To view a firm's details:
1. From the View menu, click Firms. The “Firms” window will open.
2. Highlight the firm to be viewed, and click
View.
The “Firm Detail” window will open, displaying the firm's full details.
Service fees
A service fee is an amount that you charge a client for services rendered.
For example, Ms Alpin receives an ATO Refund of $250. You have invoiced Ms Alpin for $150, and have received instructions that this amount is to be deducted from her ATO Refund. We refer to the $150 as a service fee.
When you charge a client a service fee, the following occurs:
1. The value of the service fee is transferred from the client's trust card to your firm's trust card.
At this stage, the balance of the trust bank account has not changed. You have simply transferred money from one trust card to another. (Both the client's trust card and the firm's trust card form part of the trust bank account).
2. You process a Firm Payment transaction to withdraw money from your firm's trust card.
When you withdraw funds from your firms trust card, money is removed from the trust bank account. Consequently, the balance of the trust bank account is reduced.
When you record a service fee in HandiTrust 2015, you can either
manually enter the value of the service fee; or
have HandiTrust 2015 automatically enter a default service fee.
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Chapter 5. Firm database HandiTrust 2015
Default service fees
Default service fees enable HandiTrust 2015 to automatically complete the service fee value as you process transactions. Using HandiTrust 2015, you can establish a default service fee for each firm in the Firms database.
You can create the following types of default service fees:
Flat-rate service fee.
You will use a flat-rate service fee when your firm generally invoices its clients the same amount.
Variable-rate service fee.
HandiTrust 2015 can use the value of the Balance field in the Client database as the service fee amount. This enables you to have a different service fee for each client, and have HandiTrust 2015 automatically enter the service fee.
Note: For each firm record in the Firms database, you can establish both a flat-rate and variable-rate service fee. The variable-rate service fee has priority. Consequently, where you have established both a flat-rate and a variable-rate service fee, HandiTrust 2015 will enter the flat-rate service fee only where the client's Balance field is zero. In all other circumstances,
HandiTrust 2015 would enter the variable-rate service fee.
To nominate a flat-rate service fee:
To establish a flat-rate service fee:
1. From the View menu, click Firms to open the “Firms” window.
2. Highlight the required firm and then click
Edit to open the “Firm Detail” window.
3. In the
Service Fee field, type the flat-rate service fee.
4. Click Save and then Close.
To nominate a variable-rate service fee:
To nominate a variable-rate service fee:
1. From the View menu, click Firms to open the “Firms” window.
2. Highlight the required firm and then click Edit to open the “Firm Detail” window.
3. Select the Use Client Balance check box.
4. Click Save and then Close.
Where does the service fee go?
Imagine that you entered an ATO Refund transaction to record the deposit of a $250 ATO
Refund into the trust bank account. Of this $250, your firm has charged $150 as a service fee.
After you enter the ATO refund, HandiTrust 2015 does not automatically create a cheque to pay your firm the $150. Instead, HandiTrust 2015 transfers the service fee amount from the client's trust card to the firm's trust card. The balance of the bank account will not alter because the funds are still in the bank account. The amount of the service fee simply moves from one card to another.
To withdraw the service fee amounts from the trust bank account, you must process a Firm
Payment transaction (see Chapter 10, "Entering Transactions"). HandiTrust 2015 will then create a payment, withdrawing money from the firm's card and decreasing the balance of the trust bank.
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