Learning Objectives

• Create a bill.
• View an existing bill.
• Make a partial and full payment on an existing bill.

In BLUEcloud Circulation, you can create a new bill, view a patron's unpaid bills from the Bills panel of their account, and record payments against one or more selected bills.

Creating a Bill

To create a bill:

1. From the patron record, click Bills under Navigation Options.
2. Choose New Bill. If the bill is associated with an item you must have the Item ID (barcode) of the item being billed for. This is a required field when billing for an item and there is no search or lookup built within the New Bill process. If the bill is not associated with an item, you do not have to provide an Item ID.
3. Select the Reason for Bill (required). If the Reason for Bill is associated with an item, an Item ID field will appear once you have selected the Reason for Bill.
4. Add the Amount (required).
5. Enter an Item ID (required) if that field is active.
6. Additionally, a note can be added to provide more information to library staff and the patron. 
7. Click Create when finished. 
8. Newly created bills will have a "New" icon displayed. 

Click the bill to find out further details and/or pay the bill. 

Note: Currently BLUEcloud Circulation does not have the ability to mark items lost so please continue to follow the procedure for marking an item lost and billing a user in Workflows.

Viewing a Bill

To view a patron's unpaid bills: 

1. Pull up the patron's record. If the patron has previously been billed, an alert will show allowing you to click View Bills or Close. Another option for viewing bills is to choose Bills from the Navigation Options side menu. 
2. Click a bill to view more information. 

Paying a Bill

 To pay a bill: 

1. Select a bill from the list. A side panel displays additional details for the selected bill.
2. Click the Pay button. 
3. Select a Payment Type from the drop-down list. This field is required.
4. In the Tendered box, type the payment amount. This field is required.
5. Choose Pay to record the payment.  The system displays a confirmation message with details of any outstanding amount still owed, or with details of any change due. 

Note: Payments recorded against an individual bill only apply to that bill. For example, if the amount tendered exceeds the amount owed for the selected bill, the user receives change but may still owe for other bills.

You can apply up to fifty payments for each bill. If you receive a message stating that partial payments are no longer accepted, you must type the amount owed in full for the final payment.

You have the option of printing or emailing a receipt once a payment has been made. Once you have made a successful payment, click Print to print a receipt or click Email to email the receipt to the email listed on the account.

If you do not have a receipt printer, don't worry! Once you click Print your browser window will open and will allow you to print a receipt. Below is a screenshot of what you can expect to see in Chrome. 

If a receipt is emailed, this is an example of what the receipt could look like.  

Now that you know how to create, view, and pay for a bill, practice your new bill skills by completing the following exercise:

1. Click New Bill to create a bill for a test user or your own user account. Remember to grab an Item ID (barcode) if you are creating a bill associated with an item. 
   1. Select a Bill Reason, enter the amount of the bill, provide a barcode if the bill is associated with an item, and add a note if you would like.
2. Select the bill and click the Pay button.
3. Select a Payment Type and enter either the whole dollar amount or a partial amount in the Tendered box.
4. Print a receipt and also try emailing a receipt (as long as you are using a test account or your own account. Don't email a student or staff member unless you mean to!)

Please remember that marking an item lost is not yet available for BLUEcloud Circulation. If you are looking to mark an item lost and bill for the item, please continue to do that in WorkFlows. Bills created in BLUEcloud should be for things like damaged items, and/or rental, process, copy, and supply fees. If you charge Overdue Fines those will continue to accumulate according to your library policies.

If you have any questions about viewing, creating, or paying bills, please contact your INFOhio Provider for help.