Debtor Management Help and User Guide

Debtor Managememt Help and User Guide will take you through the features and settings for the Sicon Debtor Management module for Sage 200.

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Debtor Management Help and User Guide

Debtor Managememt Help and User Guide will take you through the features and settings for the Sicon Debtor Management module for Sage 200.

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Back to all user guides

Product overview

Help and User Guide maintained for Debtor Management 211.0.0 and upwards


The Sicon Debtor Management module makes direct debit collections, failed collections and much more, simpler, faster and more efficient for you and your customers.  Customer preferred payment method specified as default on the customers Sales Ledger Account or at transaction level during either Sales Order Entry, Sales Ledger Invoice Entry or Sicon Contract Line Level based on user Permissions. Instalments/Payment Information for each transaction can be seen within the Sales Ledger Transaction Enquiry.  Functionality includes the ability to change, amend payment method after the invoice has been raised and flag an instalment as failed with prompts to specify how to collect the failed instalment.


1. Pre-Requisites & Important Information

  • Sicon Debtor Management does not itself send the output file directly to the bank, it is saved (by the user as a csv file) and picked up from within the 3rdparty solution (such as BottomLine PTX or eCollect, or the relevant Banks own solution).
  • When Debtor Management is installed pre-existing outstanding Sales Invoices are not flagged as being ones to be included in a collection process, (if you wish to include these then you will need to ‘Add Payment details to Outstanding Sales invoices’ which is within Sicon Debtor Management\Payments\Outstanding Sales Invoices).

Prior to going live, during / post Install, training and testing ensure you allow sufficient time to:

Obtain from your customers their bank details, and approval for you to collect by direct debit. Once obtained they can either be added manually on to the customers sales ledger account or imported.

Configure CSV File Format (as specified by your bank/3rd party solution provider).

Review the Direct debit Collection Note Layout during testing and ask your business partner to amend/customise to suit your requirements, ensuring the standard layout is not copied over, but instead saved in a custom folder so it is not over written during any report package upgrades in the future.

Create a test company and test the whole process through to the point of generating a csv file to ensure you are happy before going live with the module.


2. Role Features & Menu Structure

Within Sage 200 System Administration enable relevant features for the relevant user groups.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 2 Image 1

Menu Structure, if the role logged in had all features enabled:

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 2 Image 2


3. Configuration & Settings


3.1. Licence Tab

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - Licence Tab

Sage 200 Site Number: The area where the system stores the systems site number, which is required in order to enable / licence the module

Licence Information: Annually when the modules licence is renewed, enter the new enable string provided here. If the company is on Sicon Release 18 or later of the Debtors Management Module and your internal i.t. system allows this will be automatic updated once the renewal invoice is received and allocated by the software vendor Sicon.


3.2. Settings Tab

The settings on this tab can be clarified by hovering over the blue i displayed to their right.

Payment Integration Options: 

Sales Ledger, Sales Order Processing and Sicon Contracts

Select which source modules you will be using to enter payment information against transactions i.e. Sales invoices, sales orders and/or Sicon Contract Module

Outstanding Payments:

Consolidate exported lines into one line per customer: With this option checked, then multiple invoices being collected in the same export for the same customer will be consolidated into a single entry for that customer within the CSV file. Without this being checked, each invoice transaction will be its own row.

Requires sending of instructions: With this option checked, then you will not be able to process any invoices for a customer for collection, unless they have had their instructions exported. If you do not need to export instructions to your collection software before the first collection, then you should untick this box.

Hide payment due date: This setting can be ticked if you don’t wish to see the Debtors payment due date on the Outstanding Payments screen. You will still be able to see the standard Sage due date; the Debtors due date is mostly relevant if you are collecting in instalments.

Include receipts when auto crediting: This setting relates to the Auto Allocate Credits button in the Outstanding Payments screen. It determines whether receipts should be included in the automatic allocation process, or only credit notes.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 3.2 Image 1

Collections:

Default Bank Account for Receipts – This is the back account that Sales Receipts are paid into when collecting instalments.

CSV File Options:

BACS Service User Number (SUN): Where you have been issued with a BACS Service User Number (SUN) and you have been instructed by your bank or solutions provide to include in the csv file format enter here.

Default Output Network File Path for CSV Files: Set your default Network Path to save the exported transactions/csv file. This must be a network path, not a local C:

Loqate API Key:

Only relevant to customers who are existing Loqate Bank validation customers

For further details on this 3rd party plug in visit https://www.loqate.com/en-gb/bank-verification/

When enabled, when adding customer bank details on to a sales ledger account, select the green tick to validate either the account no/sort code or the IBAN.

To Check the Account and Sort Code.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 3.2 Image 2

The system will then prompt you if you want to update the IBAN.

To check the IBAN

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 3.2 Image 3

If the results entered are not valid you will see the following message

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 3.2 Image 4


3.3. User Settings Tab

The user settings tab is used to configure permissions for each Sage user account using the Debtors System. Options can be selected for each check box in the grid, or alternatively one user can be selected and the options selected on the right hand of the screen to allow quicker configuration.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 3.3 Image 1

Important Notes

Update Users:  When you first start using the module, or when new Sage 200 users are added within Sage 200 ASM, use ‘Update Users’ to populate the table with all Sage users.

When used this will either ‘Create’ ‘Update ‘or ‘Remove’ Users based on their Access to the Sage 200 Company you are in configuring the module for use of.

Update Permissions: Must be clicked to update the permissions for the currently selected user when using the right-hand panel. So, tick the desired permissions on the right-hand side, then tick the users you want these permissions to apply to, and finally click the ‘Update Permissions’ button.

These settings are Sage 200 company specific, so if you are using the module in multiple Sage 200 companies this process needs to be actioned for each company.


4. Setting up CSV Format for Collection Export File

A pre-requisite to the system being used as required to generate the payment csv file for exporting.

Within the system we have some templates for you to use or to expand on depending on your banks requirements, or you can choose to create a new one from a blank template

NB: Sicon Debtor Management Module prepares the file for exporting to be used as part of your direct debit collections, the module does not send the output file directly to the bank.  The exported csv file is saved within the Sicon solution and would be manually imported into the 3rd party solution (such as BottomLine PTX or eCollect or the relevant Banks own solution).


4.1. Default CSV Formats

To create a new csv file format, click on the CSV Formats menu option within the Settings menu folder, select ‘New’, Give it a name, and if using one of the templates select from the list and click OK


4.2. CSV Field Options

CSV Schemas

CSV schemas can be used for CSV files that have different fields per row within the CSV file.

One example of this is the BACS Standard 18 format which has header and footer sections as well as data rows.

A CSV file will contain one or more Schemas; at minimum the CSV file format must contain one ‘Data’ type schema. This is added via the Add Schema button.

This will contain all columns required for each data row in the CSV file.

One or more Header / Footer schemas can also be added to specify columns for special rows that are inserted before or after the data records for specifying additional information such as Serial Numbers, BACS Service user numbers and dates.

Schema Types

  • Header / Footer – A row that has columns which are not directly related to the instalment data that is being exported
  • Data – A row with fields that is related to the instalment being exported

Example of a BACS Standard 18 output using multiple schemas

 

VOL10000090                              123456                                1

HDR1A123456S   12345600000900010001       19184 19184 000000

HDR2F0200000100                                   00

UHL1 19184999999    000000001 DAILY  009

1023170089423401811223312311231    00000009792Abbey Retail Ltd  ABBEY             HomeStyle Kitchens 19184

1023170089423401711223312311231    00000009792Abbey Retail Ltd  ABBEY             HomeStyle Kitchens 19184

EOF1A123456S   12345600000900010001       19184 19184 000000

EOF2F0200000100                                   00

UTL10000000019584000000000000000000020000000        0000002

CSV Field Options  

These options apply to adding new fields to an existing or new CSV File. When adding a new field, you must choose which schema the field is to be added to. As a reminder, at least a data schema must be added before you can add any fields to a new file format.

You can add additional columns/ fields to a new/existing import csv file format via the Add Column button.

  • Field – The field from which to take the data to put into the CSV file
    • Amount – The instalment amount
    • Amount in Pence – The instalment amount in pence
    • BACS Instruction Type – The BACS Instruction Type, generally just used in instruction files
    • BACS Service User Number – your BACS issued User Number
    • BACS Value Type – The BACS Value Type, generally 17 for regular collections
    • BIC / Swift Number – The customer BIC / Swift Number
    • Company Bank Account Name – The name of the Cash Book account to pay into
    • Company Bank Account Number – The account number of the Cash Book account to pay into
    • Company Bank Sort Code – The sort code of the Cash Book account to pay into
    • Company Name – The name of the current Sage 200 Company
    • Count of Credits – The total number of credits in the CSV file
    • Count of Debits – The total number of debits in the CSV file
    • Count of Debits and Credits – The total number of debits and credits in the CSV file
    • CSV Serial Number – a unique number that is generated each time a CSV file is generated for the particular CSV format
    • Current Date – The Current Date
    • Customer Account Name – The customer name
    • Customer Account Number – The customer account reference
    • Customer Bank Account Name – The customers bank account name
    • Customer Bank Account Number – The customers bank account number
    • Customer Bank Payment Reference – The reference to use for Customer Payments
    • Customer Bank Sort Code – The customers bank sort code
    • Expiration Date – The expiration date of the direct debit
    • Fixed Value – Used where you want to enter fixed text at that point of the CSV file
    • IBAN – The customers IBAN
    • Padding – A column that is padding only, used for fixed width CSV Files (See Note 2)
    • Processing Date – The date of processing
    • Sum of Credits – The sum of credits in the CSV file
    • Sum of Credits in Pence – The sum of the credits in pence in the CSV file
    • Sum of Debits – The sum of the debits in the CSV file
    • Sum of Debits in Pence – The sum of the debits in pence in the CSV file
    • Transaction Reference – The transaction reference
    • Username – the current Sage 200 username
  • Caption – The Field Caption (See Note 3)
  • Field Length – The maximum length of the field (When the data for the field exceeds the maximum length the data in the field will be truncated) (See Note 1)
  • Minimum Length – The minimum length of the field (when the data for the field is less than the minimum length, the padding character will be used to fill the remaining length)
  • Format String – This is a standard .net style format string to apply to the field. E.g. {0:n2} will show a number with two decimal places. This can be left blank to just use the field value. Format String: Only used when required as notified by 3rd party bank, or solution provider. When values are being formatted when exported to CSV the last thing that will happen to them is to be formatted using the format string. This will not be used most of the time but in the event, there are some special cases required for export a ‘.net’ format string can be entered to further customise the value e.g. {0:0.00} will format the value to a number with 2 decimal places
  • Padding Character – This is used for fields with a minimum length. See Minimum Length.
  • Mandatory – This is a mandatory field in the CSV File
  • Right Aligned – This is a right aligned field in the CSV file. Useful for amounts in fixed width files. It can be combined with a minimum length and padding character of 0.

Note 1: Length / Min Length Explained

These would normally be the same, but in the instance for example sort code, some bank formats require the dashes in the column, some do not.

So, for example we have set the length to be 8, therefore allowing the dashes to be included 10-45-68. For the minlength to be 6, so if a user entered 104568 the file would still be acceptable (Noting if your bank or 3rd party payment provider specifies the dashes should be included you would need to make both the length and Min Length 8).

Note 2: Padding Explained

Padding – for fields with a minimum length. If the min length is 8, and the value of the field is only 3 characters then the rest of the field will be filled with the padding character (either right or left padding depending on whether the field is right aligned)

This is useful for files like the Audis DDI file which is a fixed length file and each column is a certain number of characters.

The ‘Amount’ field is 11 characters long, if the amount is £100 then the field will be output to CSV as:

00000000100

If the padding character is ‘0’.

Note 3: Caption

The caption field is a non-mandatory field, and is used / or not used to determine the csv file column headings.

The options are

  • If populated, then the caption column will be populated with chosen text, and that text will be seen within the csv file as the column header.
  • If no caption used than the column header will be the name as the ‘field in question’.

5. Setting Customers Default Bank/Payment Details


5.1. Importing Customers Default Bank/Payment Details on to S/L Account

Customers Bank/Preferred payment method details can be imported after the module is first installed. The menu option ‘Import Sales Account Details’ can be found within the Settings menu folder.

To import, browse to the file to import and click the ‘Import’ button.

To generate a CSV template to prepare for import click the ‘Generate Template’ button to download the template.

The sales Account Details CSV Import screen

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - setting customer defaults

The standard Import template will look as follows:

Standard Sales Account Details CSV Import Template Example

MetaData, CustomerAccountReference, OverrideCustomerAccountReference, PaymentMethod, PaymentDayOfMonth, BankAccountNumber, BankAccountName, BankAccountSortCode, BankPaymentReference, OverrideBankCode, FirstDirectDebitGenerated, IBAN, BICSwift

Description, Customer Account Reference, Override Customer Account Reference, Payment Method, Payment Day of Month, Bank Account Number, Bank Account Name, Bank Account Sort Code, Bank Payment Reference, Override Bank Code, Customer has First Direct Debit Generated, International Bank Account Number, BIC / Swift Number

Mandatory, Yes,, Yes,,,,,,,,,

Acceptable Values,,,”Standard, MonthlyDirectDebit, QuarterlyDirectDebit, Cheque”,”1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28″,,,,,,”True, False”,,

Default Value,,,,1,,,,,,False,,

Sample Data,ABB001,,MonthlyDirectDebit,1,12345678,Abbey Retail Limited,11-22-33,ABBEY,,False,,

Sample Data,NOV001,,MonthlyDirectDebit,1,87654321,Noventa Casas (Sp),44-55-66,NOVENTA,,False,ES91 2100 0418 4502 0005 1332,

Sample Data,BET001,,StandardTerms,,,,,,,False,,

Any data in the first column of the CSV file will be ignored by the import, so data can be imported should be added after the last row, ensuring nothing is put into the first column.


5.2. Bank/Payment CSV Import Template Fields

The import template will contain the following rows:

  • MetaData – This row shows the column headings
  • Description – This row shows a description of what the column is used for
  • Mandatory – The row shows whether the column is mandatory or optional
  • Acceptable Values – This row will show any acceptable values for the field, if blank all values are acceptable.
  • Default Value – This row will show the default value that will be used if no value is provided

Sample Data – This row represents sample data and will be ignored on import


5.3. Manually Adding Default Bank/Payment Details on to S/L Account

Although payment details can be selected on individual Sales Invoices, Sales Orders and Sicon Contracts, default payment details are added to the Sales Ledger Account so these are automatically added to the document while its being processed.

You will need to ensure the Sage 200 User adding these manually has had their permissions set accordingly within settings.

The Payment information section of the Sicon tab on a Sales Ledger Account.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.3 Image 1

Payment Information Fields

  • Payment Method – The default payment method to use for the current customer
    • Standard Terms – The amount will be collected via standard Sage 200 features outside of the debtor system. You don’t need to select this, unless you are changing an existing direct debit customer back to standard terms, or just want to be able to store the customer bank details.
    • Monthly Direct Debit – The amount will be collected via monthly direct debit
    • Quarterly Direct Debit – The amount will be collected via quarterly direct debit
  • Bank Account Number – The customer bank account number
  • Bank Account Name – The customer bank account name
  • Bank Account Sort Code – The customer bank sort code
  • Bank Payment Reference – The reference to use for the bank payments
  • IBAN – The customer IBAN
  • BIC / Swift – The customer BIC / Swift number
  • Override Account Reference – Any preferred reference to use in place of the Customer Account Reference
  • Override Bank for Receipts – If a different bank is required for the receipts to be posted into this can be specified here, if not specified the default bank from Debtor System Settings will be used.
  • Payment Day of Month – This is the default payment day of the month for instalments. If not using instalments, and instead filtering the Outstanding Payments screen by either invoice or due date, then this can be disregarded.
  • Default Number of Payments – This is the default number of payments for Monthly Direct Debits. If not using instalments, then you need to ensure this is set to 1.
  • First Direct Debit Generated – This flag is set when the first direct debit has been exported for a customer

This feature (notification that it’s a customer first collection) is visible within the Direct Debit Collection process where relevant, and one time only.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.3 Image 2

  • BACS Instruction Sent – This flag is set after the BACS Instruction CSV file is exported for a customer. This is only required with the relevant setting enabled within Debtors settings.
  • BACS Cancellation Requested – This flag is set after the BACS Instruction Cancellation CSV file is exported for a customer

5.4. Adding payment details to existing Sales Invoices already on the system

As well as adding payment details to new Sales Invoices/Sales Orders, payment details can also be added to existing sales invoices that are outstanding on Sage 200 where there are no related details configured for those invoices. (Something you would need to consider doing when you first start using the module or moving over from Sicon Direct Debit Integration).

As standard when Debtor Management is installed all sales ledger account payment terms will be blank, not assuming a preferred payment method, as you probably would have already agreed with the customer payment terms for those already raised invoices

However, if you do agree with your customer(s) that they should pay their outstanding invoices by direct debit you can choose to flag them accordingly here

The Screen will first open with no transactions showing.

Alternatively, you could choose to select a single customer by using the filters at the top of the screen , or where you have present the default payment methods on the sales ledger accounts you can use the ‘Payment Method’ Filter’

To show all transactions simply hit display as we have done in our example below

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.4 Image 1

You can choose to select a single or multiple transaction and add custom payment details against individual transactions. Bear in mind that the below window will appear for each transaction separately, so selecting lots of transactions to have custom payment details will result in a lengthy process to set the customer details. If you wish to update lots of invoices, see the Add Customer Default Payment Details option below.

To use this method, select the transaction(s) in the list and click ‘Add Custom Payment Details’

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.4 Image 2

The top of the screen will show the Outstanding Value on the transaction, instalments will be created for the remaining amount on the invoice only.

If some of the fields are greyed out you will need to check user permissions within Debtor Management Settings, as it may be the user trying to add payment information only has permission to view certain fields or indeed see none. The Bank Payment Details section will always be greyed out, as these details are only maintained against the sales ledger account.

While it is possible that you can use this screen to update transactions against customer accounts who are not set for direct debit currently, this should be obvious as the Bank Account Number and Bank Account Sort Code fields would be empty. You will need to set these details on the customer account before exporting the payments in the Outstanding Payments screen.

Alternatively, where you have already set a customer’s default payment on their sales ledger account (in our example we had on I.M. Goode Designs the Payment Method of Monthly Direct Debit) you can select multiple transactions and select ‘Add Customer Default Payment Details.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.4 Image 4


5.5. Submit New Customer Bank details for Direct Debit Collection - 0N Instruction

When you first agree with a customer that they pay all or some transactions by direct debit, you may need to give your bank instructions to do so. If you also update the bank account details against a customer account, you will also need to resubmit these instructions. One of the panels displayed in the Dashboard shows a list of the customer accounts where this has not yet been done.

Some banks ask for up to 10 days, so please refer to them for clarification on this point, if you submit too late and try to include in a direct debit run to your 3rd party solution provider (such as Bottomline) they will reject the file and report back to you that ‘Instructions are not confirmed’.

There is a setting in Debtors Settings as to whether instructions are required, so this section is only relevant if this setting is enabled.

When you have added the customers bank details on to their account , then you should use the Sicon Debtor Management process ‘Submit Direct Debit Instructions’, a menu item in its own right found within the Instructions folder.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.5 Image 1

You can filter for one customer, or one payment method, or to display all new direct debit instructions select display

Only those accounts that have had bank details added to their sales ledger account, and have not yet had their instructions exported will be shown for export.

The customers default preferred payment method will show, this may be standard (no direct debit), but within debtor management payment methods can be set at transaction level.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 5.5 Image 2

Select the ones you wish to process through and create a csv file for [ there is the option to create a default csv file from a pre-loaded format ]

You will be promoted to confirm that you wish to export the New Instructions, once confirmed you would select your Bacs Instruction csv file.

You will then be prompted to save your file after which you would pick up in either your banking software or your 3rd party solution in order to send to the bank.


6. Entering Sales Invoices/Orders


6.1. Adding a New Sales Invoice + Payment Information

If enabled, payment details can be added directly onto a Sales invoice as it is entered into Sage 200 from within the Sales Ledger Menu or via a shortcut on the Customer List View, the payment information tab will appear.

Free Text Invoices are also supported in exactly the same way.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 6.1 Image 1

The default payment information will be automatically populated based on the information configured on the Sales Ledger account. Depending on user permissions the Payment Method can be changed before the invoice is saved.

Once the Sales Invoice has been saved, the ‘Payment Header’ and ‘instalments’ will be generated at a stage of ‘Awaiting Collection’.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 6.1 Image 2

These will be visible in Sales Ledger Transaction Enquiry and will be ready for processing in the Outstanding Payments Screen.

Users could choose to use the standard Sage functionality within this ‘Instalments Pane’ and right mouse click, send to excel.


6.2. Adding a New Sales Order + Customers Payment Information

Our Help & User Guide shows the module working with a Full Sales Order but Trade and Rapid also supported. Entering an invoice via the Invoicing module is also supported in the same way.

When a Sales Order is added payment details can also be added during Sales Order entry if enabled in settings. Payment details can be added and amended up to the point the Sales Order is ‘printed.’

The default payment information will be automatically populated based on the information configured on the Sales Ledger account.

In our example below the user entering the sales order has full user permissions in Debtors. If you do not want your users to see the customers bank account details this is possible by changing their permissions within Settings\User Settings.

Our screen shots are based on a Full Sales Order but Trade and Rapid also supported (as is the Invoicing module).

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 6.2 Image 1

If the User does have permission then the fields are editable as per our example below,

SOP Amend Payment Method: Change the Payment Method, options being Standard, Monthly Direct Debit or Quarterly Direct Debit

SOP Amend Payment Details: Change the number of instalments and what day of the month the instalments should be Due

The Bank Payment Details are displayed but not editable as these are just set against the customer account.

Note: Once the Sales Order has been printed the payment details can no longer be changed on this screen, see below for various actions /steps

Sales Order Process – Allowable Actions for Payment Information

  • Enter New Order – Payment details can be entered
  • Amend Order – Payment details can be amended
  • Despatch Order – Payment details can be amended
  • Print Invoice – The ‘Payment header’ is generated as this point and visible in transaction enquiry, payment details can no longer be edited on the order
  • Post Invoice – Instalments are generated at the point of posting and are visible under the payment header in transaction enquiry. Payment details can no longer be edited

6.3. Sicon Contract Line Level Payment Preferred Method Options

Debtor Management and Sicon Contract Integration

Where both modules are installed, by default when a Contract is added, at header level the customers sales ledger payment information will be pulled through. Depending on user permissions within the debtor management module settings, users will be able to either view only, amend, partially view, or partially amend certain payment details

Permissions relating to the Payment Information in Contracts is handled using the same user permissions set against sales orders in the Users Settings tab in Debtor Settings.

The Bank Payment Details are displayed but not editable as these are just set against the customer account.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 6.3 Image 1

When adding contract lines users can (based on permissions) change the payment method information per line to a different method overriding the contract header.

The Bank Payment Details are displayed but not editable as these are just set against the customer account.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 6.3 Image 2

When generating sales orders from within Contracts through to SOP, users can only generate / group sales orders to be invoiced where the contract line payment information is of the same type.

For example: If you have a contract line that is set to collect monthly by direct debit, and a contract line for same customer to be collected quarterly by direct debit, you would have to generate 2 individual sales orders and thereafter invoices, as you cannot have a single sales invoice containing different payment methods).


7. Customer Payment Information Enquiries


7.1. Sales Ledger Transaction Enquiry/Payment Information Tab

Existing payment details can be seen in the Sales Ledger transaction enquiry screen on the Payment Information tab.

Payment information on Sales Ledger Transaction Enquiry screen.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 7.1 Image 1

All previously generated payment information for the Sales account can be seen on the payment information tab.


7.2. Transaction Payment Header Status/Definition

The topmost list / Top Pane shows the ‘payment headers’ which represent a single invoice. The source column shows from which module the payment header was generated. E.g. Sales Ledger or Sales Order Processing.

  • Awaiting Processing – The Payment header has been created when a Sales order has been printed, but instalments have not yet been generated by posting the invoice
  • Live – The instalments have been generated as these instalments are now considered ‘live’
  • Completed – All instalments have been collected, credited or converted to another payment method

7.3. Transaction Instalments Status/Definition

The lower half of this pane shows the instalments that have been generated for the selected payment header. There are some additional columns on this list to show a memo and credit reason. The Memo column is used to display what has been done to rectify a failed payment, and the Credit Note Reason column is used to display the reason entered when recording a Credit Note for an instalment.

  • Awaiting Collection – This is the default status for an instalment, it has not yet been exported for collection
  • Collected – Successful collection of instalment
  • Exported – The instalment has been exported to CSV and is now ready for collection
  • Failed – The instalment has previously been exported for collection but the collection has been marked as failed during the collection routine
  • Credit* – The instalment has been credited

If an SOP Invoice is flagged as being collected over an agreed period of time for example monthly for 12 months, but whereby the service is suspended for 1 month, you can choose to credit one instalment

An example being: You have invoiced a customer for meals on wheels for the whole year, but the customer was in hospital for 1 month, and you have agreed to credit back one month

When Credit process is run, the system will enter automatically an internal credit note on to the customer’s ledger, part allocating against original Invoice. The system will use the original Invoice number as a reference followed by a -1 (For example original Invoice was number 5384, the credit note would be 5384-1)

The reason for the credit (entered when crediting) will be shown and the same nominal codes as the original Invoice will be used

Converted – The instalment has been converted to an alternate payment method. e.g. from Monthly Direct Debit to Standard Terms

  • Re-Presentation: If an instalment transaction remains with a status of exported for any reason (i.e. customer has not paid, or the Invoice is not allocated to a receipt), then during the next export routine for the next lot of collections the o/s exported transaction will show with a status of ‘Representation’

Note: If Sicon Projects is installed, the credit note will be posted to the same project as the original invoice.


8. Changing Payment Method on an Existing Transaction

There are two methods available to change payment methods on existing posted invoices. The first is via the Change Payment Method screen found within the Payments menu folder in the Debtors menu. The second is via the Amend Direct Debits button in the standard Sage Sales Ledger Customer Transaction Enquiry screen.


8.1. Change Payment Method Screen

Use this function to change the set payment method on an ‘awaiting collection invoice’, The screen can be found within the Payments menu folder in the Debtors menu.

The payment method can be changed for existing payment details that have already been generated where there is still an outstanding amount to be collected.

Note: You can only change between payment methods, you cannot retain the same payment method and simply change the dates to be collected. If you wish to do this, then this can be done via the Amend Direct Debits button in the standard Sage Sales Ledger Customer Transaction Enquiry screen (detailed in the next section).

It’s important to note that the change applies to all instalments scheduled and/or remaining against the relevant invoice, you cannot change a payment method for one instalment (if you wanted to change just one instalment you should flag the instalment as failed with a follow up action)

Where an invoice has been raised and posted to the ledger the relevant payment method set examples being:

Customer had originally said they wished to pay monthly direct debit over 3 months, but then ask and you agree to spread over 12 months

Where originally, they were going to pay by cheque/bacs but have cash flow issues and you have agreed they pay by direct debit quarterly

With this screen you are looking at an individual customer.

Show all transactions outstanding for one specific customer: Filter by customer which in turn shows all relevant invoices assigned to direct debit payment methods as example below

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.1 Image 1

The topmost list will show the currently live Payment Headers where the instalments are at a status of ‘Awaiting Collection’.

The filters at the top of this screen can be used to filter down the current live Payment Headers to make it easier to find the data you are looking for.

Filter by Order or Invoice Number:   or if they are only talking about 1 specific invoice (may be a high value one) you can filter by order number or SOP invoice number.

In the top payments panel once you have identified the invoice for which you wish to change the payment method, highlight it.

The instalments panel will show the instalments due, relating to the selected invoice from the top payments panel.

When ready to do so select your revised payment method from either:

Standard Terms:

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.1 Image 2

The Next Payment Date and Number of instalments are greyed out.

After you have clicked Save and accepted the prompt to change the current Payment Method, whilst looking at the Payment Information tab in the Customer Transaction Enquiry screen, the Payment Status will have changed to ‘Completed’ and the instalments will have a payment status of ‘Converted’.

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In other words, the value of the failed instalment will be due by manual methods / standard Sage terms i.e. Cheque or Bacs and once monies have been received would need to manually part allocate to the relevant invoice.

Changing from Monthly to Quarterly Direct Debit

In this screen shot originally Invoice 1110002 was set to Monthly Direct Debit over 12 months starting 01/12/2021.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.1 Image 4

In this example we have changed payment to quarterly Direct Debit, now starting 01/01/2022.

When selecting the relevant invoice from the top panel and after save you will see by the screen shot below the Instalments have converted to quarterly.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.1 Image 5

Whilst looking at the payment information tab on the customer’s transaction enquiry the previous Instalments are shown as ‘Converted’ and the new ‘4 Instalments are flagged as ‘Awaiting Collection’.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.1 Image 6


8.2. Amend Direct Debits

This button can be found at the bottom of the screen within the standard Sage Customer Transaction Enquiry screen.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.2 Image 1

Using this button enables you to manually update the instalments on an outstanding invoice. It can’t be used to change the Payment Method (i.e. from Monthly Direct Debit to Quarterly Direct Debit or Standard Terms) – this would need to be done using the Change Payment Method screen as outlined above.

These updates can include

  • Changing the number of instalments
  • Changing the dates of the instalments, resulting in different collection frequencies if desired.
  • Changing the collection amount on individual instalments, resulting in instalments for different amounts if desired.

When the Amend Direct Debits button is clicked, the following window will open.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.2 Image 2

The displayed Instalments relate to the invoice selected in the top half of the screen. You can use the Add button to add another instalment, and use the Delete button to remove an instalment. When you do either of these, you will need to correct the Net Amount on the instalments so that they agree with the Amount displayed in the top half of the screen (which will be the outstanding amount on the invoice).

You only need to amend the Net Amounts, as the Tax Amount and Gross Amount are then calculated from this. While your calculated Gross Amount total does not agree with the Amount in the top, then the totals will be highlighted in red. You can also edit the Due Date on individual instalments to any desired date.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 8.2 Image 3

So, in this screen you have the flexibility of changing the details on each instalment, allowing you to manually change the Due Dates and Net Amounts, and either increasing or decreasing the number of instalments. As long as the total equals the Outstanding Amount on the invoice in Sage, the instalments can be manually edited to no longer have the same values, or to be collected whenever you would like to collect them.


9. Processing Collection of Outstanding Payments Due

Any Instalments that are ‘Awaiting Collection’ will need to be exported to CSV before they can later be collected.

The Outstanding Payments screen can be used to see which Instalments are currently due and therefore this is the first screen users will go to prepare a csv file for exporting. This screen is the first menu option within the Payments menu folder.

The Days Overdue column will highlight based on how many days overdue the Instalment is; the darkest deep red represents the most overdue Instalments, whereas white Instalments are not overdue.

The processing date is mandatory, and this is the date that you will be collecting from the customers bank account, and will be printed on the Collection Notice

This screen shows you all the instalments due (based on due date entered) and based on the criteria set either at account and/or sales order level.

Important Note: Sicon Debtor Management creates instalments, each with an instalment due date, so when a payment method of direct debit is assigned to a transaction, the system will look at the customers record and the field ‘’Payment Day of the Month’ and set the first instalment due date equal to that ‘payment day of the month’ in the following month after the transaction date, but taking into consideration the Invoice terms/Due Date as well. If you are not wanting to use instalments, so that each invoice is collected in its entirety in a single collection, then you can effectively ignore this Payment Day of Month setting. You can then prevent the Due Date field from appearing in the Outstanding Payments screen via an option in Debtors Settings.

Example: On a customer record you have the Payment Day of Month set to 1, as in our example below:

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9 Image 1

You add a transaction on Sales orders and the transaction (invoice date) is the 14th June 2021.

Sicon Debtor Management will set the first Instalment date of 1st July 2021, if customer has no payment terms set. If customer is on 30 days terms and invoice would normally be paid as a whole on 14th July, then instead the first direct debit instalment will be due 1st August 2021.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9 Image 2

If any previously exported transactions have not been previously flagged as collected, failed or credit they will show as Exported. Exported transactions can be excluded using the check box below the filters.

The filters at the top of the form can be used to find instalments for specific criteria

To show totals use the totals filter, options are: None, All, Checked and Selected (meaning highlighted). Note we use Sage’s total controls here so cannot change the terminology

You can also filter by

  • Sage Invoice Dates
  • Sage Due Dates (as opposed to Debtors instalment due dates)
  • Which direct debit payment method: monthly or quarterly
  • A specific customer
  • A specific order or Invoice number
  • Payment Status: Awaiting Collection, Exported, Failed, Part Collected (Original collection failed and user chose to add to remaining Instalments over a period of time), Credited
  • Payment source, this is useful for example if you are using the module in conjunction with Sicon Contracts and you are looking to run this process just for contract transactions
  • Whether to include transactions in Query. If this box is ticked, then you only see transactions in query. If this box is empty, then you only see transactions not in query. If this box is filled with a square, then you are not applying this filter, so will see all transactions that meet your other filters regardless of whether they are in query or not.

If you have set some filters and wish to clear, select clear.

You can also right click on transactions in this screen to be presented with the following options

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9 Image 3

The View Credit Transactions Valid For Allocations option will display unallocated credit transactions for the selected customer, in a filtered display of the Customer Transaction Enquiry screen. The next three options will display the relevant Sage screen for the selected transaction.

The first column ‘Days Overdue’ is a calculated date in the view days overdue based on the current date on the SQL server.

You can choose to Select some or all in preparation for ‘export for collection’, or clear selection by clicking ‘Select None’.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9 Image 4

When you have confirmed those items for export the system will prompt you to save the csv file.

The file destination is set as default within settings and it must be a network path, not a local one. If you do not have one set, then you will be prompted for the location to save the file into. By default, the file name is DD Collection+ Current Date+ Current Time, but you can change this if desired as part of the export process.

Collection Notes
Transactions will need to be exported before the user can print a collection note.

After the transactions have been ‘exported for collected’ the user will have been prompted to print off the collection notes.

If the user says no, then up until the point the user runs the process to confirm the customer has paid monies into your bank by direct debit ‘the direct debit collection process’ users can print collection notes from this screen via the Print Collection Notes button.

Alternatively, the user can print collection notes from within the Reports menu by choosing the Direct Debit Collection Notice report.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9 Image 5


9.1. Raising an internal credit against an 'Awaiting Processing' Instalment

If for any reason Instalments need to be credited, select each Instalment to be credited by ticking the check box next to each one before clicking the ‘Credit Transactions’ button.

An example being: You have invoiced a customer for meals on wheels for the whole year, but the customer was in hospital for 1 month, and you have agreed to credit back one month.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.1 Image 1

Before the transactions are credited, the system will ask for a reason to be recorded for crediting the transaction. This reason, along with the associated Credit Note URN will be visible in Sales Ledger Transaction Enquiry.

The status of each instalment credited will be changed to ‘Credited’.

When crediting an instalment, a credit note will be created on the Sales Ledger account with the Same Reference as the original invoice plus an additional ‘-C’ to indicate it was a credit. The newly created credit note will be automatically allocated against the invoice.

Example original Invoice was number 111021-001, the credit note would be 111021-001C.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.1 Image 2

The reason for the credit (entered when crediting) will be shown.

When looking at the standard Sage enquiry screen the credit note allocated to the original Invoice is visible.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.1 Image 3

The same nominal codes as the original invoice will be used.

Note: If Sicon Projects is installed, the credit note will be posted to the same project as the original invoice.


9.2. Allocating Credits

When exporting the payments for collection, the relevant customer accounts are checked to see if there are any unallocated credits on those accounts. The intention is that these would be allocated prior to the export step, so that the Sicon Debtor module knows how much is outstanding on the relevant invoices.

If this check finds any unallocated credits, then you will see a message similar to this at this point.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.2 Image 1

You can continue past this message and still export the selected transactions. But the Sicon module will then try and export the full outstanding value on the instalments.

To assist customers who end up with lots of unallocated credits on their customer accounts, we have an Auto Allocate Credits button available in the Outstanding Payments screen.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.2 Image 2

Before you can click on this button, you need to have selected the customer transactions that you want to export, and also specified either an Invoice Date range or a Due Date range. The credits that this function will look to automatically allocate are only those that fall within the same date range. By default, only credit notes are included; there is an option in the settings to also include unallocated receipts.

So, for example, if you have entered an invoice date range of 1st October 2021 – 15th October 2021 and selected the transactions of 10 customers, then when you click the Auto Allocate Credits button it will look for credit note transactions on those 10 customer accounts that also fall within the specified date range. Earlier or later credit notes will be ignored.

After a confirmation prompt you will be presented with the following screen:

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.2 Image 3

The Customers at the top of the window are the ones who have some instalments selected for collection when you click the Auto Allocate button. Then the Debits and Credits are those that fall within the Invoice/Due date range specified at the time that the button was clicked.

When the Continue button is clicked, then the credits will be automatically allocated to the debits displayed, starting with the oldest ones in the date range. If the credits are less than the value of the invoice it is allocating to, then it will part allocate to the credit value. If the totals of the credits are higher than the totals of the debits, then no allocation will happen automatically. In this situation, the customer account will be highlighted in red in the above window and the Manual Allocation button would activate to enable you to manually allocate the credits to the debits.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.2 Image 4

Clicking this Manual Allocation button takes you to the standard Sage 200 Customer Allocation screen. When you are finished allocating in this window, clicking Close will return you to the Auto Allocate screen above.

When you click the Continue button, then all customer allocations that can be done automatically are then performed (i.e. the exception is where the credits exceed the debits). You only need to click this button once, not once per customer.

If you click the Close button without clicking Continue first, then the screen closes without performing any allocations.


9.3. Preparing the CSV for Export

To export instalments for collection, tick the check box against each instalment to be exported and click the ‘Export for Collection’ button. You may receive a warning advising that there are unallocated credits on the selected customer account(s), see the section on auto allocating credits as an option on how to deal with this.

Note: Any instalments that have previously been exported using this routine and are exported again will update the BACS value type to ‘Re-Presentation’ (Instead of First / Regular Collection).

When exporting for collection, the system will ask which CSV format to use.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.3 Image 1

Select which csv file format to use and click OK.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.3 Image 2

The CSV format selection Screen

Select the CSV format to use, and specify a location to save the file. When saved, the status of all previously selected instalments will change to ‘Exported’.

Select a secure and backed up location to save the csv file to. If you have specified a Default Output Network Path in the settings, then this folder is presented as the initial location.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.3 Image 3

If having exported the file, you realise that you have included some payments that shouldn’t be there, or maybe missed others that should, then you can reverse this export. This is done via the Unexport For Collection button (in the same manner as the original export – i.e. tick the relevant transactions first), and will reset the transactions back to a status of ‘Awaiting Collection’. You will receive this warning message:

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.3 Image 4

This is an advisory message as the module doesn’t know if you have done anything with the previously generated CSV file, or sent any Collection Notes through to the customers already.


9.4. Cancelling Exported Instalments

If instalments have been exported already and it is necessary to cancel one or more of these instalments then the Direct Debit Cancellation screen can be used. This will generate a new CSV file that you can send to your Bank/Collection software if you have already imported the payments into it and need to update them as cancelled.

This works in much the same way as the Outstanding Payments screen, but will list only the currently exported transactions.

The Direct Debit Cancellation Screen

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.4 Image 1

The filters at the top of the screen can be used to find specific transactions that need to be cancelled. To export transactions for cancellation, tick the check box next to each transaction and click the ‘Export for Cancellation’ button.

Note: Please Consider whether you need to re print and send a customer a revised Direct Debit Collection Note after making changes, this would be done via the Reports Menu, see help and user guide section 10 Reports – Direct Debit Collection Notice

In the same way as transactions are exported for collection, a CSV Format must be selected and a path to save the exported file. For each instalment cancelled the status will be changed back to ‘Awaiting Collection’.


9.5. Direct Debit Collection

Confirming Successful receipt of funds into bank: After instalments have been exported, and when you have visibility in your bank that the direct debits have been deposited you will use the ‘Direct Debit Collection’ process to enter the details of the date received into your bank, any batch reference and description you chose to enter and then selected which previously exported instalment transactions have been received.

Date picker Control: In addition to the filters are the top of the screen that are used to find exported instalments that match the specified criteria, there is a date picker control to allow selection of a date to use for the receipts that are posted for the instalments that are marked as received.

When reconciling a statement, each transaction that appears on the statement can be marked as ‘Received’ by ticking the check box next to the instalment. For any instalments that are missing or failed, these can be marked as failed by ticking the ‘Failed’ check box next to the instalment.

The receipt for the full value of each instalment will be automatically allocated to the invoice the instalment relates to, and the status of the instalment will be updated to ‘Collected’. Due to memory limitations within Sage 200, if you are receiving more than 100 invoices, separate receipt transactions will be created for each 100 invoices in the cash book account. So, if you received 525 invoices, you would get 6 receipt transactions in your cash book account, the first 5 would each be 100 invoices and the 6th one would be the remaining 25 invoices.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.5 Image 1

Select the relevant transactions individually, or select Receive All’ or if selected in error, ‘Clear Selection’. If a Receipt Date has not been specified, you will be prompted for one now. This is used as the date for the receipt transactions in cash book.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.5 Image 2

When happy click the ‘Process’ button.

This will post receipt(s) for each transaction marked as ‘Received’.

The screen is left open as it may be that you are entering them in batches of date received

Alternatively, to close, use the close screen button.


9.6. Processing a 'Failed Collection'

When you aware that a direct debit has failed from within the ‘Direct Debit Collection’, you would select the relevant transaction (s) as failed and select process.

Note that if you do this, then no receipts will be posted for these transactions into your cash book. If your bank already posts the full receipts through for every payment you are trying to collect (as they then reverse out the failures), then this could cause issues with your bank reconciliation as the receipt transactions in the Sage cash book would not match your bank statement. In this case, you may decide it is simpler to receive all of the payments in this screen (thus ensuring you have a full receipt(s) in the cash book), and then manually reverse out the failures. This reversal would all be done through the Sales Ledger/Cash Book.

The query column visible on this screen pulls through from the SL Invoice. It is not an editable field but will show whatever they have entered.

Users can filter these, by transactions with a query code, or no query code also.

For any instalment that has been marked as failed, a popup screen will be displayed for each instalment.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.6 Image 1

Once you select process you will see a new screen showing future instalments for this customer (if there are not any, the remaining instalments panel will be empty).

The process here is to select how you wish to handle the failed direct debit collection.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.6 Image 2

The Skip button, visible bottom right is meant as a way of you skipping the process of deciding what to do at this point, if selected it does not update any transaction, it leaves it in the previous screen as exported ready for the next run.

It might be you need to call the customer to discuss and agree what the next action is, if so you would then come back to the same Direct Debit collection screen, select again and then confirm the follow up action.

The topmost section of this screen will show the details and outstanding value of the failed instalment. The list in the middle of the screen will show any remaining instalments with a status of ‘Awaiting Collection’.

At the bottom of the screen are the options available for the failed instalment. Depending on the number of remaining instalments, some options may be disabled.

For all failed instalments, the status of the instalment will be updated to ‘Failed’ and the option selected for the failed instalment will be written to the ‘Memo’ field on the instalment. See Viewing Payment Details for more information.

Failed Direct Debit Options Being:

  • Add to next instalment – The outstanding value of the failed instalment will be added to the next instalmentawaiting collection
  • Add to remaining instalments – The outstanding value of the failed instalment will be divided equally over the remaining instalments
  • Add a new instalment – An additional instalment for the outstanding value will be added at the end of the current schedule
  • Manual Collection – The instalment will be manually processed in Sage 200

 Add to next instalment: If this is the agreed action select and click update.

This would be visible on the customer enquiry screen on the payment information tab against the relevant Invoice.

In this example the direct debit due January 2019 has increased from £240 (the value of the failed instalment) to £480.

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - processing failed collection add to next installment

Add to remaining instalments: If this is the agreed action, once selected and updated, the value of the failed collection will be spread over the remaining instalments.

This would be visible on the customer enquiry screen on the payment information tab against the relevant invoice.

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - processing failed collection add to next installment status

In this example the direct debit due Dec18 onwards has increased in total by the amount that failed.

Add a new instalment: If this is the agreed action, once selected and updated, this would be visible on the customer enquiry screen on the payment information tab against the relevant invoice.

Manual Collection: If this is the agreed action and once selected and updated.

Looking at the payment information tab on the customer’s transaction enquiry the instalment will be shown as failed, with no increased future or additional instalments, in other words the value of the failed instalment will be due by manual methods / standard Sage terms i.e. Cheque or Bacs and once monies have been received would need to manually allocated to the relevant Invoice.


9.7. Importing Collection Failures

There is an Import Failures button at the bottom of the Direct Debit Collection screen. If you receive an XML file back from your collection software, this button allows you to import the file and have it automatically update the transactions in the Direct Debit Collection screen, flagging the relevant transactions as having failed and already setting against them which option is the appropriate course of action (e.g. Add to remaining instalments).

The course of action is determined from the details specified in the Direct Debit Failure Mapping screen.

Currently there is no further configuration possible, so the XML file would need to match the file format that we were provided with when developing this feature. Please contact your Business Partner/Account Manager if you would like to discuss this functionality further.


9.8. Direct Debit Failure Mapping

This screen is for those using the Import Failures button in the Direct Debit Collection screen. It enables you to select which option should be applied to failed transactions, based on the reason text provided in the XML file that they receive back from their bank/collection software.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.8 Image 1

Enter the text that appears as the failure reason in the received XML file on the left-hand side, and then choose from the drop down in the Strategy column as to which option you would like to be applied.


9.9. Allocation & Amending Allocation of Invoices with Instalments

The system also supports manually allocating credits/receipts to invoices that are being paid in instalments, or amending allocations for instalments that have already been allocated.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 9.9 Image 1

The Customer Allocation Entry Screen

When allocating against invoices, the system will allocate the value against the instalments that have a status of ‘Awaiting Collection’ or ‘Part Collected’. Depending on whether the Receipt covers the whole value of the instalments, the status of the instalments will be updated to ‘Collected’ or ‘Part Collected’.

When amending Allocations for an existing invoice, the system will find any instalments that are ‘Collected’ or ‘Part Collected’ and un-allocate the collected value on the instalment. This will leave the instalment at a status of ‘Part Collected’ or ‘Awaiting Collection’ based on the amount unallocated.

It’s not possible to manually enter an allocation against an instalment that is currently exported. If you do not want to collect that instalment via the direct debit run, you would need to either Unexport it from the Outstanding Payments screen or generate a Direct Debit Cancellation for that instalment, doing either of these would then make the instalment eligible for allocations.


10. Debtor System Reports

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10.1. Debtors Customers

This report lists the customers in your sales ledger, and displays which payment method has been set against them, and whether they have had their instructions sent (if applicable). An alternative to running this report to check if customers have not yet had their instructions sent is one of the dashboards in the next section.

The criteria on the report is the first six analysis codes on the customer accounts.

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Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 10.1 Image 2


10.2. Direct Debit Collection Notice

The direct debit collection notice can be printed after exporting instalments or manually from the main Debtors System menu, within the Reports folder.

Criteria for the Direct Debit Collection Notice Report

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide -colelction ntoice report criteria

When running the collection notice report manually it is possible to specify filters for the customer account(s), and the Payment Date(s) to include in the report.

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - colelction notice layout

The Direct Debit Collection Notice Report


10.3. Outstanding Instalments Report

The Outstanding Instalments Report can be used to report on all instalments that are currently ‘Awaiting Collection’ or ‘Exported’

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - outstanding installments report criteria

Criteria for the Outstanding Instalments Report

When running the Outstanding Instalments report its possible to filter on the below fields:

Outstanding Instalments Report Filters

  • Customer Account Number – The Sales Ledger Account Reference
  • Payment Due Date – The Payment Due Date
  • Days Overdue – The number of days the payment is overdue
  • Order / Return No – The Sales Order Number
  • Invoice / Credit No – The Invoice Number
  • Query Code – The Transaction Query Code
  • BACS Value Type Name – The BACs Value Type
    • First – The First Direct Debit
    • Regular – Regular Direct Debit after the first has been generated
    • Re-Presented – A previously exported direct debit has been exported again
    • Final – The Final direct debit
  • Status – The status of the instalment. See Instalment Statuses
  • Payment Method – The Payment Method. See Payment Information Fields

Sicon Debtor Management Help and User Guide - outstanding installments report layout

The Outstanding Instalments Report


11. Dashboards

The Debtors module comes pre-loaded with a General Debtors Dashboard, that has four panels that are pre-designed to show relevant information. Each panel can be configured to show different information if desired, although this does require the ability to write SQL queries to do so.


11.1. General Debtors Dashboard

This dashboard is made up of four panels. These buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to refresh the panels, or choose which panels are displayed if you have configured any new ones.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 11.1 Image 1

Pressing the icon on the right will display the Dashboard Config window.

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For each of the four panels you can select from the drop-down which panel you would like to see. Clicking the X icon to the right of each drop-down will clear the currently selected panel. New panels can be configured in the Maintain Dashboard Panels screen.

You can also set the automatic refresh interval, which is 10 minutes by default.

Any of the panels in the dashboard can be expanded into a bigger individual window by right clicking on them and choosing the Pop Out Panel option. You can also right click on the menu option in the Sage menu and choose ‘Make this my home page’ if you want to open Sage 200 onto this dashboard automatically.

Outstanding By Customer panel

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This bar graph displays outstanding values on invoices set for direct debit collection, split per customer. If you hover over any of the bars, then the value for that bar appears in a pop-up.

Amount To Collect This Month panel

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This pie chart displays instalment values that are due for collection on a future date in the current month, split by customer.

Exported Amounts By Customer panel

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This list style panel displays the customer totals that have been exported, but not yet collected.

Customers That Need Instructions Sent panel

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This list style panel displays the customers who have not yet had their instructions submitted.


11.2. Maintain Dashboard Panels

This screen enables you to edit or create new panels that are then available to be displayed within the General Debtors Dashboard.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 11.2 Image 1

Editing an existing panel will open this window: –

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 11.2 Image 2

The available types of panels can be seen by clicking on the Panel type drop-down:

  • Fields (lets you specify up to 40 SQL queries that each present a single result, e.g. a count of Debtor customers)
  • List (lets you specify a single SQL query that displays any returned columns into a list)
  • Pie chart (lets you specify a Label field (e.g. customer name) and a value field that drives the pie chart (e.g. Amount to Collect)
  • Bar chart (lets you specify a X axis column field and a Y axis column field)

The main SQL query field (for all types except Fields) is where you would enter your SELECT SQL statement. Once you have entered your SQL query, there is a Validate button which is a test that must be passed successfully before you can Save the panel. If you SQL query has joins that are not using the NOLOCK table hint, then you will be presented with a warning message suggesting that you should use it, as we don’t need to be locking any tables in Sage that we are reading the data from.

The Fields screen allows you to specify separate SQL queries for each of the 40 fields. You can enable whichever fields you want to use via the Enabled checkbox, give the field a text label and then click the Data square to enter the SQL query itself. The query entry window also has options in it to display positive/negative values in either red or green.

Sicon Debtor Management Help & User Guide - Section 11.2 Image 3

In terms of writing the SQL queries themselves, the example panels provided all have tightly configured queries as they all run from specific SQL views. If you require further assistance with panel design, please speak with your Business Partner/Sicon Support.

Note that these SQL queries can use any tables/views within the Sage 200 database, so you are not limited to just displaying data directly relating to Sicon Debtors.


12. Enable Module

This screen is used to show all configured Sicon Add-ons and allows the entry of enable strings to allow use of a module.  When a new module enable string is provided, copy into the ‘Enable string’ field and then click Apply to save the changes.

If online enable strings have been activated these will self-populate.


13. Release Notes

The release notes page shows which release of the system includes new features or issues resolved.

With the release of the Sicon v19, our version numbering has changed slightly. Previously our add-on versions were numbered in the format 201x.18.0.1.  From Sicon v19, our modules will be numbered in the format 201x.190.0.1  This is because we have three Sicon releases planned per year and we will use the second group of digits to reflect these as xx1 and xx2. We use the third set of digits to reflect whether it is a release or a pre-release build and the fourth set then give the build number.

New features detailed in the Release Notes relating to Pre-Release versions will not be detailed in the current Help and User Guide until the end of development phase.

Debtor Management Release Notes

14. Debtor Management Help and User Guide v21

Debtor Management Help and User Guide v21


15. New Features & Important Information

Sicon Debtor Management New Features & Important Information