Family Self-Sufficiency winfss M anual Page 1 of 25
General Setup Some general setup work needs to be done before you can use WinFSS: (1) Transaction codes need to be created (FSS Transaction Codes), (2) Processing groups need to be setup (FSS Processing Group), and (3) Transactions codes must be mapped or linked to an activity or action (FSS Configuration); a General Ledger account and Bank Account can be assigned in this option. These setup options can be found under the Setup menu option. Transaction Codes All account transactions are associated with a transaction code. For example, you may want to setup transaction codes for an initial balance, a tenant debit, or an investment result. Use codes that are familiar to you. Codes can be up to 16 characters in length. The description can be up to 64 characters in length and is appended to the code in the FSS Transaction screen. The example below displays some of the necessary accounting ACTIONS used by the software. The actual Code and Description are user-definable. Later, in FSS Configuration, the codes will be linked to an Activity (which will determine whether a debit or credit, and the purpose of the code). When you Add, enter a Code and a Description; modify allows you to change the Description. Page 2 of 25
Processing Groups A processing group is a collection of tenants who belong to a program/project/subgroup. Processing groups can be used to find a set of tenants. In addition, when monthly credits are generated, a processing group must be chosen. There needs to be at least one processing group. If all monthly credits are generated at the same time, just create one group and add all projects to that group. Or, create one processing group for Section 8 and another for Public Housing (if you wish to keep them separate). You are not limited to the number of Processing Groups. To set up the first processing group press the Add Group button and give the group a name. Enter the name of the group and press the TAB key to display the available projects (in the box on the right). Select the project(s) to be included in the processing group, click on the Add Arrow and move them into the group. Repeat the above steps to add another processing group. Press Close to exit when finished. Page 3 of 25
Configuration For each FSS Processing Group, you must tell which Trans Code to use for each of the 5 activities. The Interface button will default to None. If you are going to interface to the financial systems, however, additional setup is required. First decide whether to create G/L journal entries directly, or create A/P invoices (when appropriate) that will eventually be interfaced to G/L. If you choose to create an A/P invoice for any of the activities, be sure to establish which Bank Accounts to use so the system grabs the appropriate cash account codes. Also set up the default Vendor getting the invoice. The system will allow you to setup and save both GL and AP configurations as separate setups, so if you wish to start out without creating the AP invoice, use the GL configuration until you re ready to use the AP. Also, setting up either or both configuration does not force you to interface you can use this information for manual journal entries if you choose not to interface or don t have the GL software. NOTE: In our Accounts Payable example, G/L was still chosen rather than A/P for the Rescind Tenant Escrow Balance. However, if your HA does create a check through Accounts Payable, you may set those entries up. Page 4 of 25
Click the DR and CR buttons to look up GL accounts (or type them in the field yourself) so the system knows what FSS investment and other related accounts to appropriately debit and credit. **NOTE** By nature of invoicing (later, you ll see how to send an invoice to Accounts Payable), the credit offset will be created for you, so you should not set up the final credit account. But you will need to specify them all for G/L journal entries. Use the Help buttons (examples displayed below) to get a brief description to assist you in setting up accounts for each activity and clarify the difference between A/P vs. G/L setup. The system will allow you to setup and save both GL and AP configurations as separate setups, so if you wish to start out without creating the AP invoice, use the GL configuration until you re ready to use the AP. Also, setting up either or both configuration does not force you to interface you can use this information for manual journal entries if you choose not to interface or don t have the GL software. NOTE: In our Accounts Payable example, G/L was still chosen rather than A/P for the Rescind Tenant Escrow Balance. However, if your HA does create a check through Accounts Payable, you may set those entries up. Tenant Information Two options are under Tenants, Monthly Escrows/Addendums used to review your escrow calculations. Escrow Balances/Transactions is where you will maintain the tenants balance. Each option is described in detail below. Page 5 of 25
Monthly Escrows/Addendums Build List When the Build list button is pressed, tenant who participate in FSS are displayed. The subset of tenants that are displayed is based on the pre-search criteria. Page 6 of 25
Pre-Search Criteria First Name (Data Field) When looking for a tenant based on their first name use this data field. For example, if you typed J in this field and pressed the build list, you would get a list of all tenants with a first name that start with a J. Furthermore, if you type Frank and press the build list button, tenants who are in the FSS program and have the first name of Frank will be displayed. Last Name (Data Field) Last Name works the same as First Name. When you type the letter J in the field and press build list, tenants with a last name which start with J are displayed. FSS Active (Check Box) If the FSS Active check box is checked (the default), active tenants will be displayed. A tenant is considered active if the SYSTEM Date/Time is between the tenants FSS start date and FSS end date. FSS Inactive (Check Box) Check marking the FSS Inactive box will allow you to build the list of Inactive FSS participants. You may use this with the Actives to obtain a complete listing, or without for just past participants. Proc. Group (Drop Down List) If a processing group is selected and the build list button is pressed, only tenants who belong to that processing group are displayed. The default for the Proc. Group is All. When this item is selected and the build list button is pressed, the tenants that are displayed can belong to any processing group. Staff Member (Drop Down List) Each FSS tenant can be assigned to a staff member. If you select a staff member and press the build list button, tenants who are assigned to the selected staff member are displayed. Button Options: Sort To change the order, press the sort button and a Sort Bar will be displayed. Click on the option-button ( Last Name, First Name, etc.) to change the way the list is sorted. Press the BUILD button to re-fresh the list. Add Use this button to add tenants to the FSS program. If a tenant is already participating in the FSS program and they are RE-Added, the old FSS record is loaded for modification. NOTE: this is ONLY necessary if the person is not already marked as FSS in the WinFAM module. In most cases, you should not use this option but mark the person in WINFAM, Tenants, 50058 as FSS. Delete Allows you to delete a tenant that was inadvertently added to FSS. This option will only delete a tenant if no transactions exist. Modify To modify the FSS information for a tenant, add transactions such as adjustments, calculate escrow, print the 50058, and finalize as FSS Addendum. Letter Page 7 of 25
Allows you to create letters, lists, envelopes, or labels to the FSS participants using Word and Word s merge features. Escrow Calc/History Allows you to view, or print the last 50058; review and modify the last Escrow Calculation Worksheet. FSS Form Allows you to view/change the FSS Form. You can then create the MTCS FSS Addendum and it will check for errors using the Validation Tool. You can also run through the Error Checker separately and Print the 58. Print Statement You can view or print the tenant s statement for a date range. Print Tenant List Prints a listing of all Tenants found using the search criteria. Column Headings Each column heading is available as a temporary sort button. For instance, if you click on the Tenant column heading, the screen will display in last name order ascending; click again on the same heading, and the screen will resort descending. For sorting with Column Headings, don t use the Build List button since this will revert back to sort selections set using the Sort button. In the example screen on page 5, the list of Tenants is displayed according to the selections made using the Sort button, in this case, alphabetical. In the example below, this same screen is resorted using the column heading Calc Review (column heading explained below). Page 8 of 25
Calc Review The blue Review indicates that an applicable recertification was done and finalized. Highlighting a tenant with this indicator on and selecting Escrow Calc/History button allows a review of the escrow calculation, once this is done the blue Review indicator will disappear. If a user is already aware of the recertification and escrow calculation no action is necessary. NOTE: Records in PINK (shown below) indicates that the FSS Tenant has not had an Exit Addendum and either the End date or the Extension date is prior to today s date. Page 9 of 25
Escrow Balances/Transactions Begin by Building your List, all tenants with existing balances will be displayed. The option to display Tenants with a zero balance or needing an initial balance load is available if needed. Active tenants may Page 10 of 25
have a zero balance when their escrow credit is 0 and you choose to post the transaction amount of 0 to their account. Tenants that need an initial balance load have no existing transaction in the system. Double clicking or highlighting a particular tenant and clicking the Modify button will give you access to the tenants transaction activity. Page 11 of 25
Tenant Name This read-only field displays the tenant s full name. Start Date This is the date the tenant started their FSS participation. End Date Page 12 of 25
This is the date the tenant will or has ended their FSS participation. If the end date of participation has not been determined, leave the field blank. Monthly Credit This field is the amount of money that will be credited to the tenants escrow account. The credit is applied when the monthly credits are processed. The value is Whole Numbers Only! Staff Member Tenants can be assigned a staff member. This can help organize the FSS tenants. Hold Monthly Credits When this box is checked, all transactions that are generated during the monthly processing are held. Add To add a transaction, press the Add button. This will bring up the FSS Transaction box shown and described below. Modify To modify a transaction select the transaction and press the modify button. This will bring up the FSS Transaction box show below. You are free to modify past transactions as much as you wish. Void To void/unvoid transactions press this button. A transaction must be selected to void or un-void it. Hold To hold/unhold a transaction press this button. Calc. Escrow This button brings up the Escrow Calculator for this tenant. See the attached document for more explanation. Print Statement When this button is pressed a Tenant Statement report is generated. FSS Transaction Maintenance Page 13 of 25
The below box will appear when clicking on Add or Modify Proc. Date This is the date of the transaction. Transcode This is the type of transaction. See General Setup for adding/removing transaction codes. Staff Member A transaction can be associated with a staff member. The staff member defaults to the current user. Amount Enter the amount for the transactions. Use a negative sign for deductions. This value can have dollars and cents. Notes You may enter any note for the transaction, but a note isn t required. The Code description will be in the note field, which you can remove or add to. Page 14 of 25
TRANSACTION POSTING (MONTHLY CREDITS/INTEREST/AP-GL ENTRIES) TRANSACTIONS PROCESS MONTHLY CREDITS On a monthly basis, the monthly credits need to be processed. This will create a transaction for each Tenant marked as Included in the Tenant Maintenance dialog box and will create the escrow amount seen. Choose the processing group that you want to process and the month you want to process. Then, click the Process button. The month field will increment itself as you process. ********* If a tenant should not receive the monthly escrow for this processing month but is still considered an active FSS participant, simply uncheck the Incl? box for this processing posting! Page 15 of 25
The Pre-Report button will give you a report with you Escrow information on, see example below. TRANSACTIONS INTEREST CALCULATION/POST The Interest Calc/Post option allows you to break down the interest earned on your FSS Escrow account to all of your tenants with Escrow balances. Basically, this option breaks down the interest using the tenant s percent of the balance. Page 16 of 25
NOTICE the examples on the following pages you are allowed to modify or exclude the tenant balance to base the interest on prior to posting! Example 1: Calculation results (you must first enter the amount of interest in the AMOUNT OF INTEREST TO POST field). The Calculate button will disperse the Amount of Interest to Post based on the Percent of Balance for each Tenant, resulting in the Interest to Post. The Calculate button will allow you to review the potential postings, but will not affect the actual Balance you must press the POST button for this. After you have pressed the Calculate button, you can process the Pre-Report to print for verification prior to Posting the interest. Changes to a tenant s account can still be made at this point. An example of the report is shown on the following page. Pre-Process Report for Interest Calculation Page 17 of 25
Example 2: Changes made to 2 accounts. The Percent of Balance is calculated from the % of FSS Temp Balance to the TOTAL FSS Balance, allowing you to make changes prior to the final calculation and posting. 1. You can modify the FSS Temp Balance if the FSS Balance is not correct and you haven t yet made an adjustment. 2. If a Tenant s balance should not accrue interest for some reason, you can simply uncheck the INCL? box. Both of these actions will affect ALL Tenants whose balances will have interest applied. NOTE: Until you press the Calculate button again after your modifications, the interest amounts will not change for all Tenants! TRANSACTIONS MANUAL ENTRY/POST Page 18 of 25
The Interest Manual Entry/Post allows you to manually enter each tenants interest individual. In the below example we entered interest in the Interest to Post column. Clicking on the Pre-Report button will fill in the Columns: Balance w/interest, As of Date, Posting Month/Year etc. After you have reviewed your information, click on the Post button, to post the amount to each tenants account. This option is typically used in rare cases, such as when a Housing Authority has separate bank accounts for each FSS tenant. Interfaces (GL Example) Page 19 of 25
You can do this option at anytime. Click on the Show/Post button to see the Journal entry to make or to interface with the General Ledger. The next page shows an example of the Entries for the Monthly Escrow. Page 20 of 25
If you click on Do JV you will be notified that a Journal Voucher was created. Or if you click on Do Invoice (Accounts Payable example below) you will be notified and Invoice was created. Page 21 of 25
Interfaces (Accounts Payable Example) Page 22 of 25
Reports FSS Summary Report This option produces a Tenant Transaction Summary report. Last Name (Data Field) Type some or all of a last name of a tenant to generate the report for. Leave blank for all tenants. First Name (Data Field) Type some or all of a first name of a tenant to generate the report for. Leave blank for all tenants. FSS Active (Check Box) If the FSS Active check box is checked (the default), active tenants will be displayed. A tenant is considered active if the SYSTEM Date/Time is between the tenants FSS start date and FSS end date. FSS Inactive (Check Box) Check marking the FSS Inactive box will allow you to build the list of Inactive FSS participants. You may use this with the Actives to obtain a complete listing, or without for just past participants. From/Thru Dates (Date Fields) Enter a range of dates for desired transactions on report. This defaults to the current month. Transaction Type (List Box) Click in the check boxes next to the transaction types you wish to report on. Page 23 of 25
FSS Detail Report This option produces a Tenant Transaction Detail report. Last Name (Data Field) Type some or all of a last name of a tenant to generate the report for. Leave blank for all tenants. First Name (Data Field) Type some or all of a first name of a tenant to generate the report for. Leave blank for all tenants. FSS Active (Check Box) If the FSS Active check box is checked (the default), active tenants will be displayed. A tenant is considered active if the SYSTEM Date/Time is between the tenants FSS start date and FSS end date. FSS Inactive (Check Box) Check marking the FSS Inactive box will allow you to build the list of Inactive FSS participants. You may use this with the Actives to obtain a complete listing, or without for just past participants. From/Thru Dates (Date Fields) Enter a range of dates for desired transactions on report. This defaults to the current month. Transaction Type (List Box) Click in the check boxes next to the transaction types you wish to report on. FSS Tenant Statements Page 24 of 25
This option produces monthly FSS statements to send to your FSS participants. Process Group (Drop Down List) Select the processing group to run the statements for. Start/End Date (Date Fields) Enter the range of dates for transactions to appear on the statements. FSS Active (Check Box) If the FSS Active check box is checked (the default), active tenants will be displayed. A tenant is considered active if the SYSTEM Date/Time is between the tenants FSS start date and FSS end date. FSS Inactive (Check Box) Check marking the FSS Inactive box will allow you to build the list of Inactive FSS participants. You may use this with the Actives to obtain a complete listing, or without for just past participants. Print Tenants With Balances Only (Check Box) Check this box will only produce statement for tenants with balances. Active FSS tenants without an escrow balance will not print. Page 25 of 25