Aphelion .Net I4 Manual - PulseTec Solutions Support

I4 Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Chapter 1 SYSTEM SETUP............................................................................................... 1 

Configuring Your Browser’s Security............................................................................ 1 

ActiveX....................................................................................................................... 1 

Trusted Sites................................................................................................................ 1 

Check Your Browser Version..................................................................................... 1 

Add Aphelion to Trusted Sites.................................................................................... 2 

Workstation Registration .............................................................................................. 11 

Installing Components for i4 ........................................................................................ 15 

Chapter 2 Front Desk........................................................................................................ 29 

Front Desk Login .......................................................................................................... 29 

Front Desk Check-in .................................................................................................... 33 

Attended or Unattended Mode.................................................................................. 34 

Two ways to enter a member.................................................................................... 35 

"List All" Search Feature .......................................................................................... 36 

Selling New Membership Plans.................................................................................... 41 

Step 1: Selecting a Membership Plan for Sale.......................................................... 42 

STEP 2: Attaching a Prospect to a Membership Plan............................................... 44 

Creating a New Prospect........................................................................................... 45 

Enter Billing Information.......................................................................................... 46 

Step 3: Adding a Family Member(s) ........................................................................ 53 

Step 4: Adding a Service/Fee/Personal Training...................................................... 55 

Step 5: Viewing Plan Details/Charges...................................................................... 56 

Step 6: Getting a Member's Signature ...................................................................... 58 

Step 7: Collecting Payment....................................................................................... 59 

Step 8: Printing a Membership Agreement (Contract) ............................................. 61 

Selling Inventory........................................................................................................... 63 

Using Quick Keys..................................................................................................... 64 

Manually Entering Item Barcode.............................................................................. 69 

Search the Database .................................................................................................. 71 

Giving Discounts at the Point-of Sale Register ........................................................ 73 

Z-Out Key ................................................................................................................. 75 

Add a Guest............................................................................................................... 81 

Follow-up Information.............................................................................................. 81 

Set Guest Appointments ........................................................................................... 82 

Notes ......................................................................................................................... 83 

Get Payments ................................................................................................................ 85 

Payment Details in Back Office................................................................................ 89 

Member Services .......................................................................................................... 90 

Submitting a Change Request................................................................................... 90 

Approving Change Requests in Back Office............................................................ 94 

Front Desk - Reports..................................................................................................... 97 

Front Desk Reports ................................................................................................... 97 

Front Desk Marketing................................................................................................. 101 

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Table of Contents 

Marketing to Increase Membership ........................................................................ 101 

Browse Prospects.................................................................................................... 101 

Chapter 3 Configuration ................................................................................................. 104 

Accessing the Configuration Module ......................................................................... 104 

Accessing the Configuration Module ..................................................................... 105 

Station Configuration.................................................................................................. 104 

Printer Settings........................................................................................................ 105 

Hardware Configuration ......................................................................................... 109 

Paths and Files ........................................................................................................ 110 

Check-in Settings.................................................................................................... 111 

POS Settings ........................................................................................................... 112 

Serial Port Card Reader .......................................................................................... 113 

POS Pole Settings ................................................................................................... 114 

Sounds..................................................................................................................... 115 

Browse all stations .................................................................................................. 116 

Corporate Configuration ............................................................................................. 117 

Billing ..................................................................................................................... 118 

Financial Accounts.................................................................................................. 125 

Clubs ....................................................................................................................... 126 

Corporate Information ............................................................................................ 127 

Check-in Alerts ....................................................................................................... 132 

Default Settings....................................................................................................... 134 

Receipt Settings ...................................................................................................... 135 

Accounting Configuration .......................................................................................... 136 

Billing Categories ................................................................................................... 137 

Payment Categories ................................................................................................ 138 

Income/Expense Accounts...................................................................................... 139 

Account Defaults .................................................................................................... 140 

Credit Card Types................................................................................................... 141 

Billing Cycles.......................................................................................................... 142 

Payment Schedules ................................................................................................. 143 

Discount Levels ...................................................................................................... 144 

Decline Reasons...................................................................................................... 145 

Set Close-out Date .................................................................................................. 146 

Member Configuration................................................................................................ 147 

Membership Types.................................................................................................. 148 

Member Status ........................................................................................................ 151 

Actions .................................................................................................................... 153 

Sources.................................................................................................................... 154 

Prospect Defaults .................................................................................................... 155 

Preset Check-in Notes............................................................................................. 156 

Member Services .................................................................................................... 157 

Interests................................................................................................................... 159 

Custom Fields ......................................................................................................... 160 

ID Assignments....................................................................................................... 162 

Data Exchange ID Assignment............................................................................... 163 

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Employee Configuration............................................................................................. 164 

Certifications........................................................................................................... 164 

Departments ............................................................................................................ 165 

Security Settings ......................................................................................................... 166 

Access Defaults....................................................................................................... 167 

Chapter 4 Data Entry ...................................................................................................... 170 

Data Entry Overview .................................................................................................. 170 

Member Database ................................................................................................... 173 

Adding a Record ......................................................................................................... 178 

Personal Tab............................................................................................................ 182 

General Tab............................................................................................................. 185 

To perform the pre-note process:............................................................................ 188 

Renewal Tab ........................................................................................................... 196 

Responsibility Tab .................................................................................................. 197 

Rankings ................................................................................................................. 198 

Custom Tab............................................................................................................. 200 

Notes ....................................................................................................................... 202 

Pictures.................................................................................................................... 203 

Changing a Record...................................................................................................... 204 

Delete Record.............................................................................................................. 205 

Convert Record ........................................................................................................... 207 

Products................................................................................................................... 209 

Add Inventory ............................................................................................................. 211 

Employees............................................................................................................... 213 

General Tab:............................................................................................................ 214 

Additional Tab: ....................................................................................................... 214 

Login Security......................................................................................................... 216 

Banks....................................................................................................................... 218 

Adding Banks.......................................................................................................... 218 

Editing POS Buttons................................................................................................... 223 

Making Changes to POS Buttons ........................................................................... 226 

Chapter 5 Sales ............................................................................................................... 229 

Creating a Membership Plan....................................................................................... 229 

To Create a New Membership Plan:....................................................................... 229 

General Tab............................................................................................................. 231 

Payments Tab.......................................................................................................... 233 

Services/Fees/PT Tab.............................................................................................. 235 

Add-on Screen ........................................................................................................ 237 

Apply Charge.......................................................................................................... 239 

Visits ....................................................................................................................... 240 

Terms ...................................................................................................................... 241 

Note Tab.................................................................................................................. 242 

Word Documents Tab............................................................................................. 242 

Chapter 6 Accounting ..................................................................................................... 244 

Accounting Structure .................................................................................................. 244 

Membership Dues ................................................................................................... 245 

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POS Transactions.................................................................................................... 245 

Payments................................................................................................................. 245 

Unapplied or Open Payments ................................................................................. 245 

Credit Memos and Payment Discounts................................................................... 245 

POS Transactions.................................................................................................... 246 

Membership Contracts............................................................................................ 246 

Example .................................................................................................................. 246 

Billing ..................................................................................................................... 246 

Receiving Payments from Mailed Statements ........................................................ 248 

Configuration Settings ................................................................................................ 249 

Income/Expense Accounts...................................................................................... 249 

Billing Categories ................................................................................................... 252 

Account Defaults .................................................................................................... 254 

Credit Cards and Billing Cycles ............................................................................. 256 

Using the Member Account Interface......................................................................... 256 

Member Account Status from Front Desk.............................................................. 256 

Invoices................................................................................................................... 257 

Member Account Status from Data Entry .............................................................. 258 

Invoices................................................................................................................... 261 

Payments................................................................................................................. 261 

Data Entry ............................................................................................................... 263 

To Manually Enter Invoices: .................................................................................. 265 

To receive payments against the invoice created in this fashion:........................... 267 

Credit Memos.......................................................................................................... 268 

Cash versus Accrual................................................................................................ 268 

Creating Credit Memos........................................................................................... 269 

To Create a Credit Memo: ...................................................................................... 269 

Changing the Payment Application ........................................................................ 272 

To change the charge to which a payment was applied:......................................... 272 

Get Payments .......................................................................................................... 273 

Accounting Reports .................................................................................................... 276 

Station Cash Drawer Report ................................................................................... 277 

Income by Account Report ..................................................................................... 278 

Cost of Inventory Goods Sold Report..................................................................... 280 

Receivables Reports................................................................................................ 281 

Billing Reports........................................................................................................ 282 

Transaction Reports ................................................................................................ 283 

QuickBooks Export Overview.................................................................................... 284 

Selection of Detail vs. Summary QuickBooks Interface ........................................ 284 

Other QuickBooks Import Limitations ................................................................... 284 

How to Export to QuickBooks................................................................................ 285 

Export to QuickBooks using Detail Interface Option............................................ 286 

Members ................................................................................................................. 286 

Inventory Items ....................................................................................................... 286 

Income accounts...................................................................................................... 286 

Expense accounts.................................................................................................... 286 

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Invoices................................................................................................................... 286 

Credit Memo ........................................................................................................... 286 

Payments................................................................................................................. 287 

Payment Discounts.................................................................................................. 287 

Summary Interface Option...................................................................................... 288 

Members ................................................................................................................. 288 

Inventory Items ....................................................................................................... 288 

Income accounts...................................................................................................... 288 

Expense accounts.................................................................................................... 288 

Invoices................................................................................................................... 288 

Credit Memo ........................................................................................................... 288 

Payments................................................................................................................. 288 

Payment Discounts.................................................................................................. 289 

Chapter 7 Billing............................................................................................................. 290 

Post Due Presets.......................................................................................................... 292 

To Set Up Post Dues Preset: ................................................................................... 292 

Filters Tab ............................................................................................................... 298 

The Billing Process..................................................................................................... 302 

Step 1: Posting Dues ............................................................................................... 302 

Step 2: Applying Payments..................................................................................... 307 

Step 3: Processing Billing....................................................................................... 308 

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Chapter 1 System Setup 

Chapter 1 SYSTEM SETUP 

Configuring Your Browser’s Security 

ActiveX 

Aphelion's ASP program uses ActiveX technology. ActiveX is a set of technologies 

created by Microsoft to enable interactive content on Web sites. 

ActiveX components do introduce some security risk however, because they can 

cause destructive programs to be automatically downloaded and run on your 

computer. For this reason, Microsoft's Internet Explorer restricts the downloading 

and running of ActiveX components. Internet Explorer gives you the option of 

designating "trusted" Web sites from which you can download and run these 

components. 

Trusted Sites 

You can selectively add the web sites that you trust to download and run 

components on your computer. You must add the Aphelion ASP Web site to this list 

of trusted sites before you can successfully operate the program. Only the Web sites 

you add to the Trusted Sites will have these privileges. Adding the Aphelion Web site 

to this list WILL NOT CHANGE YOUR SECURITY SETTINGS FOR ANY OTHER WEB 

SITE. You will still be fully protected from malicious ActiveX components when 

browsing the web. 

Check Your Browser Version 

For reliable performance, you must use Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 5.5 or 

later. To find out what version of Internet Explorer you are running open your web 

browser and follow the steps below. You can download the latest version of Internet 

Explorer at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads. 

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Add Aphelion to Trusted Sites 

Once you have verified that you are running Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher, 

you are ready to add Aphelion to your Trusted Sites. Follow the steps below to 

complete this procedure. 

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Your browser's security settings are now properly configured for the Aphelion ASP 

web site. It is not necessary to restart your computer. 

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Workstation Registration 

Only registered workstations can access your site. This process allows you to 

determine which computers have access to your data. Use the following procedures 

for registering each computer workstation you will be using to access Aphelion’s i4 

software. 

1. Click on the Support link. 

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Click 

“Workstations 

Registration” 

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Your Administrator password is not the same as your Front Desk or Back Office 

password. This is a unique password used only for this purpose. Contact Aphelion at 

800-333-9800 if you don’t know this password. 

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Select the club name from the pull-down menu. 

Every computer must have a unique station ID. If you have multiple clubs, the 

station IDs must be different for each club. 

When you have entered the information in all four fields, click “OK”. 

After you click “OK”, you will see the station you have registered displayed on the 

screen as well as any other previously registered stations. You can edit or delete 

stations by clicking on the appropriate links. 

You must repeat the registration process for each workstation that will access the 

application. Workstation registration must be performed on the workstation you wish 

to register (you can’t register other workstations from your computer). 

Click the “Home” link to return to the main page. 

Note: These additional steps are required before you can access Aphelion’s 

i4 program: 

• Configure browser security settings 

• Download and install software component 

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Installing Components for i4 

NOTE: Before completing these steps, you must properly configure your browser’s 

security settings. 

There are several components you must install on each machine that will run the 

Aphelion ASP software. 

Follow the steps below to install these components. It is important that you follow 

the steps in the proper sequence. 

1. Login to the Front Desk. 

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22. Restart your computer. 

23. Login to the Front Desk. 

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Chapter 2 Front Desk 


Front Desk Login 

In this section you will learn how to: 

• Access the ASP training dataset 

• Login to the Front Desk 

Enter http://www.aphelionasp.net in your browser's address bar to open 

the page shown below. 

Click on the Front Desk button. 

At the Aphelion ASP Club Login screen, enter: aphelionuser 

For the password enter: fitness 

You will be logged in to the training data set. 

To login to your club's dataset, you will follow the same steps with the User Name 

and Password provided to you by Aphelion. 

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After logging in to the Front Desk, you will be prompted to select one of the Front 

Desk icons to the left of the screen. 

You will then be prompted to select the club and the station. Click on the club you 

wish to work in. 

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Next select the station you wish to work from. 

Finally you will be prompted to enter an employee password. For the training 

dataset, enter (111) and press the Enter key. 

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After you login with 111, you will notice the employee Jason Lorin's name appears on 

the screen. You will be able to tell which club, station and employee is logged in by 

looking in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. 

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Front Desk Check-in 

Check-in members or prospects by using the Front Desk button. 

1. Select "Front Desk" from the Aphelion ASP main screen. 

"ASP Main Screen" 

2. Select the Check-in icon by clicking on it. 

"Front Desk" screen 

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Attended or Unattended Mode 

Use the attended check-in mode when someone will be at the computer screen 

monitoring member check-ins. 

In many cases it may be desirable for each member to check themselves into the 

club. There may be an attendant near the counter to monitor the check-ins; 

however, the clerk may be attending to other duties and not be right at the 

computer screen. In this circumstance, you should use the unattended check-in 

mode. 

When configured for unattended check-in, the display will not pause when there is 

a status problem with a member's account. The display will allow the check-in to 

proceed; however, the member's account will be flagged and the screen will display 

an alert, if appropriate, for a short period of time. The front counter attendant can 

visually monitor the check-in without having to touch the computer. This can be 

useful if the front counter attendant is called away temporarily, or the front desk is 

not attended due to a slow time of day. 

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Two ways to enter a member 

a) If you know the member's ID number, enter it in the field. 

b) If you don't know the member's ID number, use the search button. 

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After you click the search button, you will see the "Check-in Search" screen. 

"Check-in Search" screen 

"List All" Search Feature 

Another way to search is to use the "List All" feature. This feature allows you to 

select a name from a list of all the members in the database. Click the "Member ID" 

number to select the member for check-in. 

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"List All" Members screen 

Find the name of the person you wish to check-in and click the Member ID number. 

This will open the Check-in screen shown below. This is what the screen will look like 

in "Attended" mode. When in "Attended" mode, you will have to "accept" or "decline" 

the check-in by clicking on the green or red traffic light button. 

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If you accept the check-in while in "attended" mode, the screen below will open 

giving you the option to choose a regular check-in or a visit/training check-in. 

"Regular Check-in" screen 

If the member wants to check-in using a visit or training, click in the box next to the 

visit or training and then click the "Visit/Training check-in" button. 

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"Visit/Training Check-in" screen 

After you click the "Visit/Training Check-in" button, the screen will display "Accepted" 

and some basic membership information, as shown below. 

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Screen showing accepted check-in 

You are now ready to check-in another member or return to the main ASP screen. 

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Selling New Membership Plans 


• Select a membership plan for sale 

• Attach a prospect to a membership plan 

• Add a family member to a primary member's plan 

• Add a service and/or fee to a primary member's plan 

• View details of service charges 

• Store electronic signature 

• Collect a payment 

• Print a membership agreement 

Note: Membership plans can be sold from either the Front Desk or the Back Office. 

In either case, the sales process is the same; however, there are some functions that 

can be performed only in the Front Desk or the Back Office. 

Front Desk 

sell new membership plans 

upgrade membership contracts 

renew sales contracts 

browse sales contracts 

Back Office 

sell new membership plans 

upgrade membership contracts 

browse member contract history 

browse sales contracts 

add or change membership plans 

approve membership contracts 

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Step 1: Selecting a Membership Plan for Sale 

1. Select "Front Desk" from the Aphelion ASP main screen. 

ASP Main Screen 

2. Select the "Sales" icon on the Front Office screen. 

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Front Office Screen 

3. Select the "New" icon. 

Menu Options 

Front Desk Sales 

4. Select a plan (in this example, Single 12-Month) and click "Select". 

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"Select a Plan for Contract" screen 

STEP 2: Attaching a Prospect to a Membership Plan 

There are two (2) ways to attach a prospect to a membership plan: 

1) Create a new prospect. 

2) Attach an existing prospect to a plan. 

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Creating a New Prospect 

1. Click the "Create a New Prospect" icon. 

"New Contract" screen 

2. This opens the "Member Will Be Added" screen. Enter all the member 

information (name, address, and billing information). 

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"Member Will Be added" screen 

Enter Billing Information 

3. There are three fields of information that are needed from the member: 

a. Billing Name (if different from member) 

b. Pay Method ID (or Form of Payment) For example: EFT-Draft; Credit Card or 

Statements/Coupons. 

c. Group Association (if any) 

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"Member Billing Information" screen 

4. If Form of Payment is EFT-Draft, you scan the check, NOT the deposit slips. 

Click "Next" to return to Edit Prospect Data screen. 

5. If Form of Payment is VISA, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover, swipe 

the credit card in the Magnetic Swipe Reader to store credit card information. Click 

"Next" to return to Edit Prospect Data screen. 

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"Member Billing Information" Form of Payment 

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B. Add an existing prospect: 

If a prospect was previously entered into the Data Entry module, you may search for 

that individual to attach to a membership plan. 

1. From the "New Contract" screen, click the Card Deck button to open the "Select 

a Prospect for Contract" screen. 

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2. Check the "Show Prospects Only" box to display the list of prospects. Search for 

a prospect using first name, last name or member ID (Barcode ID). 

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3. This opens the New Contract for


Step 3: Adding a Family Member(s) 

The "Family" button is used to add additional family members to a plan. 

There are two (2) ways to add a family member: 

1. Find Existing Member 

2. Build Member Info 

Find Existing Member 

• If a current member will be added under a primary member's plan, click Find 

Existing Member. 

• Search by First Name, Last Name or Member ID (Barcode ID). Click Select to 

add the member to the plan. 

Build Member Info 

• For a first-time member, click Build Member Info to create a new member. 

• Enter the Member ID, First Name, Home Phone and Gender of this 

person. (All the other fields are static and do not require changes.) 

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• Click OK. 

"Family Member Will Be Added" screen 

"New Contract" Screen 

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Hint: You may remove some services if necessary. 

Step 4: Adding a Service/Fee/Personal Training 

The Services/Fee button is used to add services, fees, and (or) personal training 

items to a member's plan. 

1. Click the "Service/Fee button. 

2. This opens the "Select Items to add to the Contract" screen. Select the 

Service, Fee or Personal Training item you wish to add. 

"Select Items to Add to the Contract" screen 

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"New Contract" screen 

Step 5: Viewing Plan Details/Charges 

You may take a look at the expected monthly charges for each member. There are 

two (2) ways to view the costs of each service. 

3. Click on the plus sign (+) (located in front of the service) to show the cost of the 

service. 

4. Double-click the cost to open Details of total screen. 

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Details of Term Cost 

5. To view the amounts that the primary member and family member pays for each 

service/area, click on Term Cost to open the Detail of Total screen. 

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"Detail of Total" screen 

If you take a look at the plan details (see "Detail of Total" screen), you see the costs 

breakdown for each service/fee in a Standard Membership Plan. 

Step 6: Getting a Member's Signature 

If you are using a Signature Capture Pad, you have the option to store the signature 

of a member with his or her contract. This signature is then printed on the 

membership agreement. 

Here's what to do: 

• Click the button to get the member's signature. 

• This opens the Signature Capture window on which the signature appears 

as it is written. 

NOTE: The signature capture pad only displays "APHELION, PLEASE SIGN 

HERE...." when the 

button is activated. 

"Invoice Payment" screen 

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6. Set the salesperson(s) by clicking the "Sold By" button. 

Step 7: Collecting Payment 

After the member has electronically signed the membership agreement, he/she must 

pay for the plan. Follow these simple steps to collect the payment. 

1. Click button after setting the salesperson. This opens the Contract 

Payment screen. 

2. Click the Form of Payment (Visa, Master Card, Amex, Discover, Cash, Check, 

Gift, On-Account or Split payment). 

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3. Enter a Reference if you wish. Click the OK button. 


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Step 8: Printing a Membership Agreement (Contract) 

After collecting payment, you can print the receipt (if you wish), but more 

importantly, the membership agreement. 

If you checked "Print Receipt" on the previous Invoice Payment screen, the Print 

Preview screen appears. 

Hint: You may want to cancel the printing receipt if you just wish to print the 

membership agreement (contract). 

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"Preview of Receipt" 

"Preview of Membership Agreement" 

Here is a copy of the Membership Agreement with the member's information 

automatically entered in the fields. 

"Membership Agreement" 

Click "Print Preview" to print the number of copies (set in advance). 

Click "OK" after printing to electronically store a copy of the membership contract. 

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Selling Inventory 

All retail and service transactions are handled from the point-of-sale register screen. 

Information from this screen is used to update the database and is then stored for 

record keeping purposes. 

Use the POS button on the Front Desk screen to access the Point-of-Sale register 

screen. 

ASP Front Desk screen 

The screen below is what you will see after clicking the POS button; however, the 

"Quick Keys" on the right of the screen may vary because they are configurable. You 

can reconfigure the "Quick Keys" in the Back Office under Configuration. 

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POS screen 

There are several ways to select an item for sale from the POS register. Use one of 

the following methods: 

• Use the "Quick Keys" 

• Manually enter the item barcode 

• Search the database 

Using Quick Keys 

The Quick Keys are set up to make selling inventory and services fast and easy. Each 

key is labeled with a department name. Select the department by clicking one of the 

buttons on the right side of the screen. 

The example below shows the "Shirts" department highlighted. When you select 

"Shirts", the screen will then display quick keys with the various items available 

included in that department's inventory. 

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In this example, we will select a logo shirt from the available options. Notice the 

"Logo Shirt" key is highlighted on the screen below. 

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After selecting the quick key "Logo Shirt," you will see the item listed in the center of 

the screen as shown below. 

At this point in the transaction, you can either total the transaction or select another 

item. 

To select an item from another department, click the "Change Department" button in 

the lower right-hand section of the screen. 

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Total Key 

Use the Total key when you are ready to complete the sales transaction. 

After clicking the Total key you will see the screen shown below. 

Select a payment option. 

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The screen below shows the total due after the "Cash" button has been selected. 

If you wish to have a printed receipt, make sure you check the "Print Receipt" 

option. 

Click "OK" to complete the transaction. 

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Manually Entering Item Barcode 

If you know the item barcode you can enter it by using your keyboard and then 

press the Enter key. 

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After entering the item barcode, your selection appears on the POS screen as shown 

below. 

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Search the Database 

Search the database by clicking the arrow button next to the item barcode field. 

The search page allows you to search several different ways. Enter your search 

criteria in the fields on the left-hand side of the POS search screen. 

Or you can click "List All" and view everything in the POS database. 

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The List All screen allows you to select an item by clicking on the word "Select" in the 

row of the inventory item. 

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Giving Discounts at the Point-of Sale Register 

Use the Discount key on the POS register to calculate preset discounts on inventory 

items. 

Discounts can be configured from the Back Office. 

First select a Department by using the Quick Keys. In this example we are using the 

Shirts department key. 

Select the item. Here we have selected the Logo Shirt. 

Click the Discount button. 

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After clicking the Discount button, you will see a screen with the available discount 

levels. 

Click on discount you want to apply to the sale. In this example, we have used the 

"Preferred Client" discount. 

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As you can see by the change in the subtotal, the discount has been applied. 

Click Total to complete the sale. 

Z-Out Key 

Use the Z-Out key to reset the register totals. 

Click the Z-Out key on the POS register screen. 

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The Z-Out screen will open showing sales totals for each form of payment. 

Close the Z-Out screen by clicking on Close. 

After clicking Close, you will have the option to reset the register for the next shift. 

If you choose OK, you will clear the totals. 

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History 

The History button is used to view all transactions generated by an employee logged 

on to the Point-of-Sale register. 

From the POS register screen, click the History button at the top right of the screen. 

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The history screen displays all the transaction by the logged on employee. 

View the details of the transaction by clicking on the word "Select" next to the time 

of the transaction. 

Sold By Button 

Use the Sold By button to change the salesperson or split the sales commission. 

Click the Sold By button. 

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You can use the Search button to select the salesperson from a list if you don't know 

their employee number. The screen shown below will open if after pressing the 

Search button. 

If you are splitting the commission, also enter the percentage for each salesperson. 

Click the word Select in the row next to the salesperson. 

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Adding Guests at the Front Desk 


• Add a guest 

• Enter the follow-up information 

• Set guest appointments 

• Add notes to alert on check-in 

Add a Guest 

Enter the guest's name, address, and general information on the General Info 

screen. 

Follow-up Information 

This screen helps you streamline your sales effort by recording follow- up 

information. 

Use the pull-down menus to select type, next action, source, and priority. These 

are all preset in Back Office > Configuration. 

Click the calendar icons to select the call back and expiration date. 

Enter the sales person's employee ID or use the search arrow button to select from 

the employee list. 

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Set Guest Appointments 

The appointments tab is used to set up appointments for guests. 

Use the pull-down menu to select an appointment group (For example: tanning 

booths, tennis courts, trainers). Appointment groups are set up in Back Office > Data 

Entry > Data Entry > Groups. 

Select appointment type, appointment item, time and duration. (All are preset in 

Back Office > Data Entry. 

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Notes 

Use the notes tab to enter information that might be helpful in the sales follow-up 

process. Notes can be typed in the free-form field. 

If you would like to be alerted at the Front Desk when this guest checks in, check the 

"Alert on check-in" box. 

Click the Submit button when you are finished. The entries will be cleared and you 

will be ready to enter the next guest. 

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Get Payments 

The "Get Payment" feature allows you to record payments. This is useful to track 

walk-in payments for member accounts made at the Front Desk. 

Click the "Get Payment" button on the Front Desk screen. 

After pressing the Get Payments button, the Receive Payments screen will open. 

Enter the Member ID manually in the field on the left side of the screen or swipe a 

barcoded ID card. 

If you don't know the Member ID, click the Search button which will open the search 

screen. 

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Enter your search information and click Enter on your keyboard. 

Select the member from the list by clicking on the hyperlinked Member ID. 

At the "Make a payment" screen you should verify that you selected the correct 

member by looking at the name at the top of the screen. 

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Enter the payment method, amount, reference number and payment 

category. 

The date will be the current date and time of the transaction. 

If you use a reference number for payments, it will show up in the details for this 

payment viewable through the Back Office. 

Note: Payment categories are set up in Back Office >Configuration > Accounting > 

Payment Categories. 

The description will default to Payment, but you can change it. The description 

entered here will become part of the payment detail record viewable through the 

Back Office. 

A check in the Print Receipt box will indicate that a receipt will be printed for this 

payment. 

Click the Submit button. 

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Next you will be prompted to confirm the payment. If the information is correct, click 

the Confirm button. 

After you confirm the payment, you will be returned to the Receive Payments 

screen shown below. 

You may now take another payment, or return to the Main screen by clicking on the 

link. 

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Payment Details in Back Office 

The screen below shows the payment details of the transaction we just made. After 

the "Get Payment" transaction, you will be able to view the payment details in the 

Back Office. You must have the appropriate security access to view these records. 

You will not see these records during the "Get Payment" process. 

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Member Services 

Submitting a Change Request 

Member Services is used to submit changes to member's personal information such 

as name, address, phone number and billing information. A Change Request is 

submitted, but must first be approved from the Back Office module before taking 

effect. 

On the Front Desk screen, click the Member Services icon. 

When the Member Services icon is clicked, the Change Request screen will open. 

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Enter the member ID and press the Enter key on the keyboard, or use the arrow to 

search for the member in the database. In this example we have entered the 

Member ID #124. 

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On the Submit Request screen you will be able to make changes to the following 

fields: 

• Address 

• City, State, Zip 

• Social Security # 

• Driver's license 

• Member ID 

• Home Phone 

• Work Phone 

• Emergency Phone 

• Emergency Phone 

• Emergency Contact 

• Email address 

Click the Billing Info tab to make changes to the member's billing information 

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After the necessary changes are made, click the Submit button. 

The screen below shows the changes which have been submitted. 

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Remember, Change Requests must be approved in the Back Office > Member 

Services module. Changes will not be effective until they are approved. 

Note: Certain information cannot be changed from the Front Desk. Use the 

Data Entry module in the Back Office to change any member data you can't 

change here. 

Approving Change Requests in Back Office 

Changes made in Member Services will not take effect until they are approved 

through the Back Office. Only personnel with password authorization will be able to 

access this function. 

Enter the Back Office from the Aphelion ASP.net main screen. 

Click the Member Services icon. 

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The Survey Manager screen shown below will open. 

Click the icon with the man and the blue triangle. 

The Process Change Requests screen will open showing all of the change requests 

currently waiting for approval. 

Highlight the change(s) you wish to approve and click the Approve button. 

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If you would like to review all of the change requests for a member, click on the CRs 

for Member button. 

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Front Desk - Reports 

Reports, if run regularly and reviewed by management, effectively increase your 

profit potential. Some reports can be run from the Front Desk while others are run 

through the Back Office. The reports we will be discussing in this section are all 

accessed through the Front Desk. 

Front Desk Reports 

The Front Desk reports are divided into seven (7) categories. Each category has 

several different reports available within that category (see screen below). 

1. Daily Business Reports 

2. Members 

3. Prospects 

4. Sales Summary 

5. Accounting 

6. Personal Training/Visits 

7. Scheduling 

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Access a report by clicking on the report title. In this example we will use the 

"Check-in by Date" report. 

Once you click on the title, the screen shown below will open. Enter the date range 

for the report. The "End Date" will default to the current date. The "Start Date" will 

default to one month prior to the end date. 

If your report results are not what you expected, check the date range you entered 

before you generated the report. 

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When the calendar pops-up on the screen, select the date range. Then click the 

"View Report" button to generate the report. 

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"Check-in by Date" Report 

You can export reports to the following formats: 

• PDF 

• Rich Text files 

• MS Word Doc 

• MS Excel 

• Crystal Reports 

• HTML 

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Front Desk Marketing 

Marketing to Increase Membership 

You can greatly increase club membership by using Aphelion's marketing tools. As 

guests come into your facility, you will enter the prospect information through the 

Front Desk "Add Guest" icon. After you have added prospects to your database, you 

can use the Marketing module to manage your prospect lists. 

Browse Prospects 

Let's look up a prospect that has previously been added to the database. 

First click the Marketing icon on the Front Desk screen. 

Use the search button to view the prospects list for the logged on employee (in this 

case, Jason Lorin). 

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This screen shows a rather short list, but if you have many prospects you might want 

to do a search to find an individual more quickly. You can search in seven (7) 

different ways. 

Search by: 

• Member ID 

• First Name 

• Last Name 

• Work Phone 

• Home Phone 

• Driver's License # 

• Agreement Number 

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Once you've found the name you're looking for, click on Select in the row next to 

the prospect's name. 

The prospect record contains the complete contact history. 

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Chapter 3 Configuration 


Accessing the Configuration Module 

The Configuration module allows you to set up your system to conform to your club. 

Configuration is a one-time setup. These settings will be used over and over again in 

the main program. 

In this section you will learn: 

• How to access the configuration module 

In order to prepare your system properly, follow the instructions in each section 

listed below. 

Note: Although for the most part the order in which you configure your system is not 

so important, the following six items should be configured in the order they appear 

below to avoid additional steps during the configuration process. 

1. Income Accounts (Configuration |Accounting) See Accounting Configuration. 

2. Services (Configuration | Member) See Member Configuration. 

3. Membership Types (Configuration | Member) See Member Configuration. 

4. Check-in Settings (Configuration | Station) See Member Configuration. 

5. Actions (Configuration | Member | Actions) See Member Configuration. 

6. General Info (Configuration | Corporate) See Corporate Configuration. 

The settings suggested in the lessons are typical configuration settings. Your club 

requirements may be different; however, the suggested settings are a good starting 

point. 

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Accessing the Configuration Module 

1. From the Aphelion ASP main screen, select the Back Office button. 

2. Enter your Back Office Username and Password and then click the 'Login' 

button. 

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If you would like to use the practice dataset, enter aphelionuser as the Username 

and fitness as the Password. 

3. Now open the "Configuration Module" to set up your facility. 

Your login password is required to access the Configuration module. Enter your 

password and click the OK button. 

If you want to login to the practice dataset, enter 111 and then click OK. 

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Use station number one (1) for all Back Office functions. Station one is always going 

to be the Back Office. Anytime you use the Back Office, (except in Configuration) 

you will be using station number one (1). 

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Station Configuration 

In this section you will learn how to configure: 

• Printer Settings 

• Hardware Settings 

• Paths and Files 

• Check-in Settings 

• POS Settings 

You will see the screen below after you've entered your password for the 

Configuration module. 

In this example, we will change settings for the first station (station number one 

should be reserved for back office billing.) 

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The options within the station menu (see screen below) allow you to specify the 

options to be used by each station running the software. 

Printer Settings 

Use the Printer Settings menu to set the requirements for printing receipts, invoices, 

and mailing labels. 

In this example we will change settings for the first station (typically the front desk 

station). 

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1. GENERAL TAB: Set the defaults for "Receipt Printing", "Receipt Form" and 

"Statement Form". 

Printer Settings | General Tab 

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2. STRIP RECEIPT TAB: Customize your club message in "Message at receipt end" 

box and "Periodic Message at receipt end". 

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3. STRIP RECEIPT[MORE]: Check to include signature blocks on your receipt. 

Printer Settings | Strip Receipt Tab 

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Hardware Configuration 

From the Hardware menu, set the COM ports for the Cashdrawer, Turnstile (if used) 

and Signature Capture Pad (if used). 

Make sure that the COM ports are each different to avoid hardware port conflict. 

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Paths and Files 

The paths to the various files are usually set as default. Make sure the drive letters 

and paths are accurately defined. 

How to get here: Station| Paths and Files 

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Check-in Settings 

The check-in options allow you to default the way the check-in screen operates. The 

Attended, Unattended, or Monitored modes are default choices. 

How to get here: Station| Check-in Settings 

Check-In Options: (See screen above) 

1. This prompts the member for the area or activity he/she is using. *This is 

helpful to run reports on the facility/activity usage. 

2. Prompts the member for personal training classes he/she is accessing. 

3. Prints a receipt to document the personal training or visit check-in. 

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POS Settings 

From the POS menu you can configure your system to send credit card transactions 

directly from the Point-of-Sale (POS) screen. 

How to get here: Station| POS Settings 

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Serial Port Card Reader 

This can be a card swipe or laser barcode reader. The serial port card reader is most 

commonly used in situations where a club wishes to use one computer for both 

check-in and POS. 

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POS Pole Settings 

The POS pole is a device that is visible by the member. It shows progress during POS 

transactions or messages during the check-in process. 

This device is used for displaying messages to members when they check in. 

Messages such as "Welcome to Club XXXX", or "Family Memberships ½ price" are 

displayed. 

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Sounds 

This feature does not work for the ASP version of our software. 

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Browse all stations 

You use this when you want to determine the setup of your workstations (which have 

cash drawers attached to them, etc.) 

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Corporate Configuration 

The options within the corporate menu allow you to enter your club(s) name, bank 

information, database entry defaults, and member billing defaults. 


• Billing 

• Financial Accounts 

• Clubs 

• Check-in Alerts 

• Default Settings 

• Next Receipt number 

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Billing 

The Billing menu allows you to set up the various billing formats for Bank Drafts and 

Credit Cards. 

Draft Formats - Combined Billing Format 

If your processor supports a combined draft and credit card billing file, check the first 

checkbox and select the appropriate billing format. 

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Draft Formats - Bank Draft Format 

Select the appropriate bank format. Note: For U.S banks, the national standard 

format is ACH. However, for all other clubs outside of the U.S., select your 

appropriate bank format. 

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Set your Bank Settings (obtain the Batch Number from your bank and check or 

uncheck the bank settings. 

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Credit Card Formats 

From the drop down list, select the appropriate billing format that your Credit Card 

Processor supports. 

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Barcode (Member Id) is usually the default field to identify members after billing is 

run. 

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Integrated Payments 

If you are using Aphelion to process your EFT and Credit Card monthly billing, enter 

the UserID and Password provided to you by Aphelion. 

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Statements 

If you use statements/invoices when you bill your members, select how you want to 

identify members on the statements. The fields are Barcode (Member Id), 

Agreement # or Data Exchange ID. 

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Billing Validations 

Here you may place a checkmark for the system to validate all route numbers before 

processing the billing of members. Also set other Billing Validation criteria (such as 

not billing expired credit cards). 

Financial Accounts 

From the Financial Accounts menu you can setup the various billing formats for Bank 

Draft and Credit Card. 

Draft Formats - Combined Billing Format 

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Clubs 

If you are operating your business with multiple clubs, this configuration option 

allows you to specify the names of the clubs, along with tax rates and EFT 

information. 

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Corporate Information 

Here you store setup information about each club location. The screen is divided into 

five tabs (General Information, ProShop, Check-in, Reports and Email). 

1. General Information tab Specify site, number of freezes and 

masking employee passwords. 

2. ProShop tab Set requirements for completing 

invoices (employees, salespersons 

and members); Automation of z-out 

process or not and setting default 

due dates for on-account charges. 

3. Check-in tab Disabled feature from Front Desk 

ASP. 

4. Reports tab Set preferred member id field to 

appear on reports (to identify each 

member). 

5. Email tab Set reply email and SMTP server for 

mass mailings. 

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General Information Tab 

The "Default action for check-in note" is usually set to "No Action." Generally 

speaking when a member checks into the facility no action will be required. If any 

action needs to be taken, an alert will notify the attendant at the front desk of the 

member's status. (see Configuring Actions) 

Member statuses can include anything from billing problems, notification of account 

balances, additional information required or a message left at the Front Desk for the 

member. (see Configuring Member Status) 

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ProShop Tab 

Check-in Tab 

Note: This feature is disabled for the ASP software since the Membership Type and 

other pertinent information can be accessed through the Check-in screen. 

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Reports Tab 

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Email Tab 

Enter your club's SMTP Server information and Reply Email address. We've included 

an example of what the reply email address would look like. You can get this 

information from your IT administrator. 

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Check-in Alerts 

The Alerts screen is used to tailor your club's exact requirements whenever a 

member checks into the facility. You may set advance warnings for Contract 

Expiration, Account Balances, Credit Card Expiration, Lockers Expiration, Inactive 

Members and Multiple Check-ins. 

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Default Settings 

The values you enter in "DEFAULT SETTINGS" are used when you add a new 

member or prospect (only in Back Office Data Entry module). The default settings 

screen is divided into two (2) tabs: Values and Formatting. Information entered here 

will automatically be entered into the new member database entry screens. 

Values tab: Used to enter the city, state, and zip code most commonly used by 

members. 

Formatting Tab: Sets the format for phone numbers, zip codes, and social security 

numbers. 

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Receipt Settings 

Receipt settings simply specify the next receipt number. 

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Accounting Configuration 

The options within the Accounting menu allow you to customize the software to meet 

your accounting and reporting requirements. 


• Billing Categories 

• Payment Categories 

• Income/Expense Accounts 

• Account Defaults 

• Credit Card Types 

• Billing Cycles 

• Payment Schedules 

• Discount Levels 

• Decline Reasons 

• Close-out Date 

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Billing Categories 

From the Billing Categories menu you will setup the various billing partitions within 

the Accounts Receivable system. This allows you to select the proper invoices for 

billing. Creating these categories allows you to easily separate your billing. 

For example: 

Membership Dues Used for billing all Bank Account and Credit Card 

members for monthly charges. 

NSF/Declines 

ProShop 

Renewals 

Used to categorize all members who appeared in 

the declines file from the bank after billing. 

Used to categorize all "on account" charges (e.g. 

purchase of things from juice bar, gym bags, 

etc.) 

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Payment Categories 

To group each type of payment received by members, you must define the 

categories. For instance, categories such as Membership Sales and ProShop (POS) 

are useful. 

To set payment categories: 

1. Configuration module | Accounting | Payment Categories 

2. Click “ADD” 

3. Enter “Description”. 

4. Click “OK”. 

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Income/Expense Accounts 

These settings are important for establishing income and expense accounts as well 

as default accounts for certain invoice processes. The "Set Accounts" option allows 

you to establish income and expense accounts as well as the GL code required for 

export to certain accounting packages. 

An income account should be set up to partition the sales items for profit tracking. 

An expense account should be set up to pay off delinquent, uncollectible member 

accounts. 

To set income & expense accounts: 

1. Configuration module | Accounting | Income & Expense Accounts 

2. Click “ADD”. 


4. Enter the general ledger (GL) code that matches with that in QuickBooks 

software. 

5. Select “Income” or “Expense” as the account type. 


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Account Defaults 

Account Defaults are default values of the income account and billing categories that 

apply to certain invoices. Whenever, there is a sale of an item from the income 

accounts list, the item is grouped under the appropriate billing category. 

To set account defaults: 

1. Configuration module | Accounting | Accounting Defaults 

2. Click the drop-down arrow to select the appropriate field to link the entry to 

the title. 


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Credit Card Types 

You can configure up to five (5) different credit card forms of payment that your 

facility supports. 

To set credit card types: 

1. Configuration module | Accounting | Credit Cards 

2. Click the arrow to select the credit card type. 

3. Enter the “Label” of the credit card to the right. 

4. Repeat this for all credit cards you support. 


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Billing Cycles 

The billing cycles represent the repeat frequency of your billing activities such as 

Monthly 1st, Monthly 15th, Quarterly, Yearly, etc. These values are used when 

setting up the billing system for automated processing of your accounts receivable. 

(You can configure up to 20 different billing cycles). 

To conduct Billing, use the Billing Module in the Back Office. This module can be used 

to filter your members by different billing cycles. 

To set billing cycles: 

1. Configuration module | Accounting | Billing cycles 



4. Select “Weeks” or “Months” for billing frequency. 



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Payment Schedules 

The Payment Section of the Configuration Module allows you to set various payment 

schedules for all membership dues and fees. Some examples include: Paid-in-full, 

Monthly, for-a-Year and Annually. 

To set payment schedules: 

1. Configuration Module | Accounting | Payment Schedules 



4. Enter the number of payments. 

5. Enter how payments are spaced apart. 

6. Enter whether payments are months or weeks apart. 

7. Repeat steps to enter all payments schedules. 

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Discount Levels 

The "Set POS Discount Levels" screen allows you to categorize discount levels. You 

can set discount percentages to be applied to membership types. For example, you 

can set a discount level for all club employees, corporate, or preferred clients. 

To set discount levels: 

1. Configuration Module | Accounting | Discount Levels 


3. Enter the “Description”. 

4. Enter the discount percentage. 


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Decline Reasons 

The importance of setting up decline codes and the associated description is to 

effectively manage your billing declines when your processor returns them. The 

Aphelion software supports electronic declines - this means that you can import the 

decline file sent by your processor to update each member's record. Each processor 

may use a unique set of decline codes. Therefore, it is very important to call the 

processor to obtain these decline (return) codes along with their meanings. 

To configure decline codes and reasons: 

1. Configuration Module | Accounting | Decline Reasons 



4. Set the appropriate statuses when processing declines (new status for 

declined member, status reason, effective period for status and the NSF fee if 

applicable). 


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Set Close-out Date 

The account close-out screen is used to ensure that transactions on or before a 

specified date cannot be modified. This includes voiding invoices and canceling and 

unapplying payments. 

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Member Configuration 

The Member menu selection allows you to setup terms (that are familiar to you) to 

describe your members. You may configure things such as Membership Types; 

Statuses of members; Actions; Marketing Media to attract members (sources); 

Interests and Services offered to members. 


• Membership Types 

• Member Statuses 

• Actions 

• Sources 

• Prospect default 

• Preset Check-in Notes 

• Services 

• Interests 

• Income Choices 

• Custom Fields 

• ID Assignments 

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Membership Types 

It is often convenient to separate members into groups or types for billing purposes, 

or for reporting purposes. 

To configure membership types: 

1. Configuration Module | Member | Membership Types 

2. Click "ADD" 

3. Enter the Description. 

4. Select Prospect, Member or Both to assign that membership type. 

5. Click the "Day & Time" button to set access restrictions for that membership 

type. 

6. Click "Services Areas" to set areas membership type is allowed to access. 

7. Click "Clubs" to set admittance. 

8. Select the POS Discount you want to set to that membership type. 

9. Click "OK". 

Click "Add" to open the "Update Membership Types" screen. Enter the Description. 

Select only Prospects, Members or Both to assign membership types. 

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Set Restricted Time 

You may set up to three time restrictions for all 7 days of the week. Set access 

restrictions (if applicable) for that membership type. 

• You may set the interval times during which a member type is either allowed 

or not allowed entry. 

• As an example, you wish to set up a Non-Prime Membership. The member will 

only be allowed to check in before 7AM and after 5PM on Monday through 

Friday. Here's how to do that: 

o 

o 

o 

Enter 7:00AM in the "Early" field and 5:00PM in the "Late" field. 

In the middle column, uncheck "Allow" for Monday through Friday. 

(This signifies the member is not allowed to check-in during this time 

frame). 

Check all Allow boxes for Saturday and Sunday. 

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HINT: Based on this example, there will be an alert when this member type 

attempts to check in. 

Set Allowed Services 

Check in to a particular service or area can be restricted by member type. For each 

membership type, any combination of services can be selected as an allowed entry. 

In order to restrict services, you must first configure your services in 

Configuration|Member| Services. For each membership type, you may tag or untag 

the services or areas that each is allowed. 

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Set Clubs 

In a multi-club environment, you can define the clubs to which a member type can 

have access. For instance, where there is reciprocal membership, you tag the clubs. 

Member Status 

These are configurable status messages to categorize members. Additionally, the 

status can alert the Front Desk personnel of special conditions when a member is 

checked-in. 

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Member status can include anything from billing problems, notification of account 

balances, additional information required or a message left at the Front Desk for the 

member. 

To configure Member Status: 

1. Configuration Module | Member | Member Statuses 

2. Click "ADD" 


4. Check “Alert on Check-in” if you want a warning message to be displayed on 

the Check-in screen. 


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Actions 

Actions are simply notations included in a member or prospect's record to remind or 

notify personnel about what to do next with that particular member or prospect. 

Actions can be used to categorize member notes. For example, Member Follow-up, 

Collection Call, Call Back, Send letter are types of notes that can be configured. 

To configure actions: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Actions 




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Sources 

For marketing purposes, you may track how prospective members discovered your 

facility. This allows management to track trends of the marketing media and focus on 

the successful advertising methods. From this you may run reports on your sources. 

To configure sources: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Sources 




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Prospect Defaults 

To make the data entry process faster and easier, you can default certain items. 

To set prospect defaults: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Prospect Defaults 

2. Select “Priority” level on scale of 1 through 9 (to identify importance of 

prospect). 

3. Set “Days until call back”. 

4. Set “Default guest period (days)”. Note: You may set period to 0 if you do not 

offer guest passes. 

5. Set “Next Action”. Note: Actions were configured under member actions. 

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Preset Check-in Notes 

Preset Check-in Notes are routine notes that notify Front Desk personnel to the 

meaning of these notes. 

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Member Services 

Here you configure all the services and areas that members are allowed access and 

billed for usage. It may include any punch-card services (sold as a pack or on per 

day or month basis) such as Personal Training sessions, Massage, Tanning or Child 

Care. 

Member Services can have any combination of attributes: Area (A), Visits (V) for 

Dues (D). These attributes define how services are used in your facility. 

Service Attributes 

A (Area): Allows the service to be checked into by members. 

V (Visits): Service is sold on a metered or punch card basis. 

D (Dues): Members are billed on a recurring basis for using this service. 

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To configure member services: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Services 


3. Enter a “Barcoded ID (E.g. Service 01, GenFac01, Mass01, etc.) 

4. Enter a “Description” of the service. 

5. Link the appropriate “Income Account” (previously configured) to this service. 

Hint: Whenever this service is sold, the Income by Account (Revenue) Report 

will show this service. 

6. Check the appropriate attributes (“A”, “V”, or “D”) 

7. Select tax status (None, Rate 1, Rate 2 or Both Rates). Hint: Rate 1 is the tax 

rate you configured under Accounting | Financial Accounts. 


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Interests 

For the owners and management to continually offer new services, this marketing 

portion is tracked on the guest or prospective member's record. 

To set interests: 

1. Select “Member” menu and then the “Interests” submenu. 


3. Enter “Description” of interests that correspond to you facility’s activities. 


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Income Choices 

Another marketing capability, the income choices screen is available in Data Entry 

under the general tab. If used, this function allows management to target prospects 

within a particular income bracket. 

To set income choices: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Income Choices 

2. In lines 1 through 5, enter the description of income levels. 


Custom Fields 

The Aphelion software provides 16 text fields, 4 numeric fields, and 4 date fields that 

can be customized for data tracking with each member's record. This screen is used 

to create the titles for each field. 

To configure custom fields: 

1. Configuration module | Member | Custom Fields 

2. Enter the title based on your club requirements. 


160


161


ID Assignments 

To easily identify each Prospect and Member, our Aphelion software can 

automatically assign unique numbers to each individual. If desired, you can have 

each member and prospect record begin with a certain prefix. Especially for 

Prospects, where you may not distribute key tags, you can set the software to 

automatically generate unique numbers. You can set a prefix of "P" to identify 

prospects in the list. Note: If you want to assign Member Ids manually, uncheck the 

box labeled "Auto-generate". 

To configure ID assignments: 

1. Configuration Module | Member | ID Assignments 

2. Enter the titles based on your club requirements. 

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Data Exchange ID Assignment 

The Data Exchange ID is used as a unique identifier for exchanging data with 

external data sources (i.e. billing companies or other clubs using Aphelion software). 

This is a numeric and must be a unique number within your member's database. 

163


Employee Configuration 

The Employee menu selection allows you to setup employee certifications and 

departments. 

In this lesson you will learn how to configure: 

• Employee Certifications 

• Employee Departments 

Certifications 

You may keep track of all certifications of your employees. This is then attached to 

each employee's record in Data Entry module. There you select the certification and 

the starting and expiration date of the certification. 

HINT: This is a helpful tool for managers to keep employees certified. 

164


To configure employee certifications: 

1. Configuration module | Employee | Certifications 

2. Click “Add” and enter the name of the certification in the “Description” field. 


Departments 

You may group employees by departments. This is useful for two reasons (1) setting 

up security access for your various categories of employees and (2) payroll purposes 

- if employees use the time clock feature to log time in and out of the club. 

To configure employee departments: 

1. Configuration module | Employee | Departments 

2. Click “Add” and enter the name of the department in the “Description” field. 


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Security Settings 

This menu selection allows you to restrict access to the program modules and 

various areas within each module. 

Here you can set various access settings for different employee types. Since some 

areas contain sensitive information, the use of passwords will restrict access to 

certain individuals except managers and owners. 

In this section you will learn how to configure access defaults. 

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Access Defaults 

Use the Access Defaults menu to set up the various levels of users and configure the 

appropriate access. For example, the managers or administrators will have access to all 

modules. Please note that these are the high levels of access based on employee types. 

Note: To assign each employee to one of your configured levels, do so in the Data Entry 

module under Browse Employees and Access settings. 

To configure security settings: 

1. Configuration module | Security | Access defaults 

2. Enter the “Level Name”. 

3. Check the allowed module and uncheck the restricted modules. 

4. Within each module, check or uncheck (when appropriate) the various 

functions to which you allow or restrict access. 


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169

Chapter 4 Data Entry 

Data Entry Overview 

The Data Entry module is divided into separate areas to save member, prospect, 

retail inventory, employee, bank, schedule, and group affiliation information. The 

information is organized in separate data entry areas. 

Access Data Entry through the ASP Back Office button. 

Access to the Back Office requires your user name and password. 

170


Each module in the Back Office requires a password. 

Enter your password and click OK. 

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The Data Entry structure is similar to an office file drawer with six (6) file folders. 

These files are labeled: 

• Members 

• Products 

• Employee 

• Banks 

• Groups 

• Scheduling 

To view or enter data into an area, select the appropriate button from the top of the 

screen or select Data Entry from the drop-down menu. 

Data Entry Toolbar 

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Member Database 

The member database holds all of the information associated with your members. 

The member database also contains the optional Prospect tracking information. 

The browse screen displays an alphabetical list of the records in the database. You 

can search for any record that is not displayed by using the Search function. 

To search, enter as many or as few characters as desired in the Search field. Press 

the key to start the search. The program will search the database and find 

the closest match to the name given. The closest match will be highlighted. 

The browser allows you to search for an alternate entry, to order the entries in 

numeric rather than alphabetical order, and to add, delete or change each record. 

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Access the member database by selecting the members button on the toolbar or by 

selecting Data Entry > Members on the pull-down menu. 

The browser displays members in different colors to differentiate them from each 

other. 

Green 

Red 

Gray 

Blue 

Black 

Member is in good standing 

Member has status message 

Member has been terminated 

Prospect 

Member is in freeze status 

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Each data entry area contains all of the information about similar items. For 

example, the "Members" data entry contains all the information about the members. 

The information from the data entry area is displayed in a "browse" window like the 

one below. 

Browse Member screen 

The browse screen displays an alphabetical list of the records in the database. You 

can search for any record that is not displayed by using the Search function. 

To search, enter as many or as few characters as desired in the Search field. Press 

the key to start the search. The program will search the database and find 

the closest match to the name given. The closest match will be highlighted. 

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The browser allows you to search for an alternate entry, to order the entries in 

numeric rather than alphabetical order, and to add, delete or change each record. 

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Use the buttons at the bottom of the screen to Add, Change, Delete or Convert 

member information. 

Add 

Change 

Delete 

Convert 

Add a new member, a family member, or prospect. 

Change a record after it has been previously entered. 

Remove a record from the file. 

Convert a prospect to a member or convert status to 

collections. 

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Adding a Record 

The Add function is used whenever you want to add a new member, prospect or 

family member to the database. 

A small pop-up window will appear asking if you want to add an Active Member, 

Family member, or Prospect. 

Select the type of new member you want to add. 

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Select Member Type 

If you choose Active Member, a blank member record will be displayed for you to 

enter the pertinent member information. 

Add Member 

If you select Prospect, a blank prospect record will be displayed for you to enter the 

pertinent prospect information. 

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Add Prospect 

The Prospect and Member databases are similar, except the Prospect record does 

not contain billing information. The prospect record contains information related to 

call back and prospect tracking, while the member record displays appropriate 

membership information. 

The Family option is used to add a secondary record for a family member. When you 

click the Family member button, this has the effect of using all of the information in 

the member's record that was highlighted when you pressed the Add button. 

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Add Family 

The Family button copies pertinent information from the highlighted record into a 

new record to save time upon entering the new record. When you add a family 

record (secondary account), the billing for the account will be handled by the primary 

account. 

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Personal Tab 

The personal tab holds the demographic information about the member. Some fields 

are required, while others are not; however, it's best to include as much information 

as possible. 

Barcode ID: This is the ID number assigned to the member. This ID code can be 

any combination of numbers up to a maximum of 10 characters long. It must be 

unique from all other members in the database. Frequently, telephone, driver's 

license, membership contract number, or social security numbers are used. 

If you wish to select a new ID, choose the New button located adjacent to the ID 

field. 

Agreement #: This optional field is used to record the agreement number of the 

member contract, if it is different from the customer ID. 

Last Name: Enter the member's last name. A maximum of 25 letters can be used. 

(Required field.) 

First Name: Enter the member's first name. Usually this will be the legal name, or 

the name of the member's checking account or credit card. A maximum of 25 letters 

can be used. (Required entry field.) 

Middle Initial: Enter the initial of the middle name of the member. 

Preferred Name: Enter the name or nickname preferred by the member. The name 

typed in this field will appear on the Register screen when the member checks in or 

purchases retail products, and on all mailings sent to the member. 

Address: Enter the member's street address. 

City: Enter the member's city of residence. If most of your members are from the 

same city, you can enter that city as the default. Then that city is automatically 

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displayed when entering a new member. (Configuration > Corporate > Default 

Settings.) 

State: Enter the two-digit abbreviation for the state. 

Zip Code: This field supports the 9-digit zip code for the mailing address of the 

member. 

Home Phone: Enter the member's telephone number and area code in this field. 

Work Phone: Enter the telephone number of the member's place of employment. If 

there is no business telephone, enter a daytime telephone number in this field. 

Extension: Enter any extension required to contact the member at his work 

telephone. 

Emergency Phone: Enter the telephone number to be used in case of emergency 

concerning the member. 

Emergency Contact: Enter the name of the person to contact in case of an 

emergency. This name should correspond to the telephone number entered in the 

previous field. 

General Notes: Any comments regarding the member can be typed into this field. 

Use this area for recording any notes you may need regarding the member. This field 

is printed, along with the Status and Status Message, on reports. 

Home Club: This optional field can be used in a multiple club organization to identify 

the "Home Club" of this individual member. It can also be very useful for health and 

fitness centers utilizing reciprocal memberships, or to ensure the data integrity 

among multiple club configurations. This field is configured in Configuration. 

PIN: This field is for a personal identification number for member access. 

Status: The items in the list are entered initially in the Configuration program. Use 

the "OK" status if no particular messages or warnings are associated with the 

member. If set in the Configuration program, other status selections may cause alert 

messages to appear to the user when the member checks in or attempts to purchase 

a retail product. 

Additional selections for the member status include FREEZE and TERMINATE. 

Selection of either of these options will suspend periodic billing of the member's 

account. FREEZE is designed to be used to temporarily suspend billing, while 

TERMINATE is designed to permanently suspend billing. 

When you select FREEZE, the ending date field will activate. When you select 

TERMINATE, the ending date will be grayed out which means the field is inactive. 

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General Tab 

Group Name: Frequently members belong to a group, such as a large corporation in 

the area. To track these members as a group or a corporate affiliation, enter the 

name of the group to which they belong. 

You can select the group from the existing Group data base. Type the name of the 

member's group and then press Tab. If the Group doesn't already exist, a window 

will be displayed that shows the Groups. Highlight the desired Group, then press OK. 

The group information will be automatically transferred to the member's database 

record. This information includes the group name, address, city, state, and zip code. 

Keeping an up-to-date group database will greatly assist in the entry of new 

members. 

Occupation: This field is used primarily to identify potential member prospects and 

support the membership sales function. 

Employer: Enter the name of the member's employer. 

Income: This function is used primarily to identify potential member prospects and 

support the membership sales function. 

Height and Weight: Enter the height and weight of the member. 

Gender: This field is used to track the gender of your members. 

Date of Birth: Enter the date of birth of your member. 

Locker Number/Locker Expires: If you use lockers, enter the locker number and 

expiration date in these two fields. This information is printed on reports. 

Interests: This data field is configured in the Configuration module. It is used to 

store the activities or events that are of interest to this member. This information is 

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useful for selective mailings of particular Pro Shop sale items, or special class/event 

promotions. Select all the "interests" for this particular member. 

Sales Person: Enter the salesperson ID number. This allows the responsible 

employee the ability to track prospect follow-ups. Reports are printed and sorted by 

ID so each employee can have a current callback sheet. 

Trainer: This field is used if the member prefers to work with a particular trainer. 

Source: Select one of the choices originally set up in the Configuration section for 

the method by which the prospect/member discovered your club. This is used to 

track the effectiveness of various marketing techniques. 

Thaws Allowed: Since some clubs limit the number of time a member may Freeze 

his membership, the system allows you to set a given number of Thaws. Each time a 

Freeze is used, the number of Thaws available is counted down. When zero Thaws 

are available, the program will not allow you to freeze a member's account. 

Level: This field can be used to designate different levels of participation or ability. A 

number between 0 and 99 can be entered to separate member skill or fitness levels. 

For example, the user may wish to designate "Beginning," "Intermediate," and 

"Advanced" fitness levels. If you do not wish to utilize this feature, set this value to 

"0." 

Note the "Account" and "Invoice" buttons on the bottom of the "Browse Members" 

screen: These buttons allow you to view the Member's Invoices, Invoice History, 

Invoice Detail, Charges/Payments, Account Aging, and even allow you to create an 

invoice for this member from the Data Entry program. 

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Billing Tab 

The Billing page of the member record pertains to the recurring billing (or drafting) 

of members. A description of the entry fields for billing the member record follows: 

Billing Cycle for Dues: Select the dues billing cycle for the member. Billing cycles 

are initially entered for your site in Configuration. The billing cycle that you enter 

here will be used when the member billing occurs. 

(Required entry field). 

Form of Payment for Dues: Select the desired form of payment for the member. 

This field allows the user to select various payment options including electronic 

drafting, statement billing, or electronic credit cards. 

(Required entry field). 

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Note for EFT users: If you select EFT as the form of payment, you may also want 

to check the Pre-note box. 

A pre-note is a test transaction with the bank to verify that the routing and account 

numbers are correct. The pre-note process creates a zero dollar amount transaction. 

Generally, all new entries should be pre-noted. In some cases this is a bank 

requirement. 

By checking the pre-note box on the billing tab of the member record (Data Entry 

module), you are only "flagging" the member to be pre-noted. 

To actually generate the pre-note file for your new member, open the Billing module, 

click the Billing button and then click the manual setting. In most cases you will use 

the Manual option to perform the pre-note process. 

Pre-notes should be processed 7-10 days before you run your billing. 

Billing Tab 

Data Entry Module (Members) 

To perform the pre-note process: 

1. In the Billing module, click the billing button. 

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2. Click Manual. 

Billing Module 

3. Select the Pre-note EFT (ACH) option. 

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4. On the Post Payments tab, select "Clear pre-note flags". 

Once the pre-note process has been completed, the "flag" on individual records 

signifying the need for a pre-note is cleared, but only if you select "Clear pre-note 

flags" on the Post Payments tab shown above. 

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Dues Amount: 

Enter the amount of the dues that correspond to the billing cycle. This is the amount 

that will get billed to the member. 

Note that this amount is intended to be a recurring or cyclic billing amount (for 

example, monthly, quarterly, etc.). Do not add tax to the amount, as the tax rate is 

set in Configuration and is automatically added to the billing amount. 

Apply Credit Limit of: The software allows you to set a credit limit for each 

member for "On Account" sales. This limit can be "overridden" by an authorized 

individual. 

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Next Dues Post: This field is allocated for the billing program to determine when to 

post the dues. When "posting dues", the program is simply evaluating the members' 

recurring dues-related settings and performing database updates of adding invoices 

and forwarding next billing dates. 

Last Billing Date: When the member account is billed, the date of billing (or 

drafting) is automatically entered into this field by the billing/drafting program. 

Bank Route: Use the pull-down arrow to select the bank route number for the 

member. The name of the banking institution will then be displayed under the bank 

route. 

The bank routes are originally entered in the Data Entry module. 

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Bank Account Number: Enter the member's account number for which all 

electronic drafting will be directed. Select Checking or Savings for this account. 

Credit Card Number: This field contains the credit card number from the type of 

credit card selected in the "Form of Payment" field. If a credit card is selected as the 

form of payment, this field requires a card number input. If other methods of 

payment are specified (for example, statement billing), entry in this field is optional. 

Credit Card Swipe: Use the Swipe button to enter the credit card number to avoid 

data entry errors. Of course this is only possible if you have a barcode reader 

attached to your computer. 

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Expires (mm/yyyy): Enter the expiration date of the credit card (month and year). 

Billing Name: This data field identifies from whom a dues or on-account payment is 

to be expected. 

Social Security Number: Enter the member's SSN in this field. 

Driver's License: The member's driver's license number can be stored in this field. 

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Renewal Tab 

The Renewal tab contains additional information about the member contract, 

specifically regarding the renewal rate. 

The screen contains the date the member joined the club and the expiration date. In 

addition, it displays the dollar amounts needed to renew the contract using various 

forms of payment (EFT, Statement, or Paid-in-Full). 

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Responsibility Tab 

This tab contains billing information when the member's dues are to be billed to 

someone other than the member. For example, the dues could be billed to a third 

party such as the parents of the member. 

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Rankings 

The Rankings tab is used to track belt levels for martial arts programs. The current 

ranking, next exam date, stripes, belt size and uniform size can all be recorded. 

Update Member Ranking History 

Use the "New Ranking" button to change the rank, set the promotion and next exam 

dates. After clicking the new ranking button, the screen below will open. Add any 

notes concerning the member in the comments field. 

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Ranking History 

Use the History button to open the Ranking History screen. From here you can view 

a listing of all ranks earned, description, promotion date and exam date for each 

member. 

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Custom Tab 

The custom tab is for recording additional member information in the database. All of 

the fields can be customized to suit the needs of your facility. The example screen 

below shows the fields before they are configured. Enter your own custom text from 

the Data Entry module (Data Entry > Browse Members >Add or Change tab > 

Custom Fields). 

The screen below shows the custom text that was added from the Configuration 

module. 

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Notes 

Enter information that you want communicated to an employee. Check the toggle 

box if you wish the employee to be alerted at front counter log-in/clock-in. 

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Pictures 

The picture of the member will be viewable on the picture tab if you store the 

pictures on your local server. If you store your pictures on the VeriCenter server, you 

will see a gray screen like the one shown below. 

The screen also includes a field to identify the member's picture file name, data 

exchange ID, and the record's last update. 

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Changing a Record 

To change information in an existing member record, select the Change option. 

The "Updating Record" screen showing the existing member information (for the 

highlighted member) will be displayed. 

Make the necessary changes to the member's record. Use the tabs at the top of the 

screen to access other areas such as billing information. 

The Prospect database and the Member database share the first page of information. 

Since a prospect is not billed, the billing tab is omitted. 

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When you have completed making changes, click the OK button to save all changes. 

Delete Record 

To delete an existing record, use the mouse or up/down arrow keys to position the 

cursor on the desired record (selected record will be highlighted). Click the Delete 

key. The record will be removed from the database. 

When the delete button is selected, a prompt box appears on the screen. 

First the prompt will ask if you want to print the record listing for this member. 

Click YES if you want to keep a printed copy of the member's information. 

The printout includes all of the information included in the record, so it's a good idea 

to print it in case of error or in case you need to reproduce the member's record at a 

later time. 

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A second prompt will ask you to confirm the deletion of the record. By clicking OK, 

you will permanently delete the record. 

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Convert Record 

The Convert Record button changes a prospect to a member or, if necessary, places 

the member in collections. 

Use the mouse or up/down arrow keys to position the cursor on the desired record 

(selected record will be highlighted). 

Clicking the Convert button will open a prompt box on the screen. 

Select Member and click OK. 

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Prospects are indicated by a "P" before the name in the "Browse Member" screen. 

Members who have been placed in collections will have a "C" before their name. 

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Products 

Although the word "product" seems to imply inventory items such as clothing, sports 

drinks, power bars, or sports equipment, "product" in this context refers to any item 

available for purchase at your facility. 

This broader definition of "product" includes: 

• retail inventory 

• services 

• personal training 

• classes 

• fees 

Use the Products button to access the retail inventory database. 

Browse Products screen 

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Retail Inventory 

The retail inventory database holds all of the information associated with a particular 

item. To view only your retail inventory items, select the inventory button. 

What you can do while in the Browse Products screen: 

• Add inventory 

• Change inventory information 

• Delete inventory 

• Copy inventory information 

• Print Barcode information 

• Select clubs where this inventory item is available 

• View the sales history of the inventory item 

• View restocking history of the item 

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Add Inventory 

Use the ADD button to add items to your database. The screen shown below will 

open. 

Barcode ID: Enter the Barcode ID. 

Description: Give the item a descriptive name. 

Income Account: Use the pull-down arrow to choose an income account from the 

list. For example, if you are adding protein shakes to your inventory, you might 

choose "Juice Bar" as the income account. (Income accounts are configured in the 

Configuration module in the Back Office.) 

Sales Tax: Select a Sales Tax option. (Tax rates are entered in Configuration > 

Corporate > Clubs.) 

Price: Enter the unit price. 

Discount Item: If you want to discount this inventory item, check the box next to 

"Discount Item". This will open a field to allow you to enter a percentage amount. 

Each time the item is sold, the discount will be applied. 

Prompt for pricing in POS: When this box is checked, you will be allowed to edit 

the price of the item at the time of sale. 

Apply membership discounts to this item: When this box is checked, a discount 

is automatically applied to the item based on the member's discount level. 

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(Discounts are setup in Configuration > Accounting > Discount Levels and tied to the 

Membership Type.) 

Alert When Below: You will be alerted at the POS when inventory falls below this 

whatever number you insert. 

Calc items on hand: Pressing this button will show you how many of the selected 

items you have left in your inventory. 

Commissions Tab: Use the Commissions tab to setup commission levels for the 

inventory item. 

When you have finished entering information for the inventory item, click OK to save 

the information. The item is now in the database and available for sale through the 

POS. 

\ 

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Employees 

The employee database allows the manager to keep records on club employee. The 

menu selections available to the user upon entering the employee database Browse 

window are: Add, Change, and Delete. 

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General Tab: 

Additional Tab: 

Department: Select the employee's department from the pull-down arrow. 

Departments are set up in Configuration under Employee > Departments. 

Start Date: Enter the start date for the employee in this field. 

Active: If the employee is currently working for you, check the "active" box. When 

the employee is terminated, uncheck the "active" box. This entry is helpful when 

viewing or filtering lists of employees. 

Password: Enter a unique "alphanumeric" password for each employee. This 

password will be used when logging into the system and when using the employee 

time clock. (See Login Security at the end of this section.) 

Hourly Wage: Enter the hourly wage for the employee. 

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Login Security 

Every module can be protected to ensure only the appropriate employees have 

access to the system. The login security can be implemented in a variety of methods 

depending on the type of club. The system can be configured to operate with little 

access control, with maximum control, or to varying degrees between these 

extremes. You should analyze your club to determine how much access control you 

need. Don't implement more than you need, as you'll be constantly typing in access 

codes. 

The security is implemented at the employee level. Each employee is assigned a 

password along with access to designated areas of the system. When an employee 

logs-in by typing his/her security code, the system will only allow access to those 

screens, areas and modules for which he/she has privileges. Since access control is 

determined at an employee level, every employee can have independent access 

authorization. 

For those modules where this feature is enabled, an employee will be asked to enter 

a login ID whenever they attempt to start one of the modules. 

Depending on the employee's access privileges, many screens within the modules 

may not be available to him/her. Some "windows" may be displayed with a simplified 

view preventing the employee from accessing "information sensitive" detail views. 

Alternately, a function may be depicted on the screen without the employee having 

authorization to perform that function. 

The Login Security system allows "authorized access" to the programs for a 

particular employee to be "configured dynamically" based upon "privileges". 

Furthermore the employee may be granted limited access to certain modules and be 

given specific authorization to perform certain functions within those modules. 

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Banks 

The bank database holds the information associated with a bank used by a member. 

The purpose of storing this information is its usefulness when entering banking 

information into a member's account. A typical site will contain relatively few banks 

when compared to the total number of members. Keeping a bank database and 

using it to enter banking information into the member database (Data Entry >Add 

Member > Billing tab) will simplify entering the banking data. 

Adding Banks 

Use the Add button to add a bank to the database. 

Enter the nine digit bank routing number. Use the validate button to verify and 

update bank values from the ACH directory of US banks. 

Note: You can automatically populate the fields on this screen (bank name, address, 

city, state, etc.) by clicking the validate button after you've entered the bank route 

number. 

Enter the number of digits in the bank account of this bank. All banks do not use the 

same number for their accounts. Check the "Perform validation" box if you want to 

validate the number of digits in the account number when entering member data. 

Enter any notes you wish concerning the bank. 

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Groups 

The group database tracks the organizations or companies that purchase 

memberships for their employees. The group is used to track which members belong 

to a company or organization. 

The purpose of storing the group information is twofold. First, it is useful when 

entering group information into a member's account. A typical facility will contain 

relatively few groups when compared to the total number of members. Keeping a 

group database and using it to enter grouping information into the member 

database, will simplify entering the group data. 

Perhaps more important is the ability to track which groups are active, how many 

members are in a group, and the facility usage. The group tracking capability will 

provide this information. 

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Note: If this box is checked, when a member of this group checks 

in, the program will test the account of the responsible party for a 

current balance. 

If unchecked, then members of this group will not be tested for a 

current balance on check-in. 

On the main Browse Groups screen use the Members button to view the group 

member. First, select the group you wish to view and click the Member's button. 

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Editing POS Buttons 

The Point-of-Sale buttons can be configured through the Back Office feature. 

From the main AphelionASP.net screen click the Back Office button. 

Once in the Back Office, you will select the Data Entry icon. 

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Data Entry is password protected so that only authorized personnel can make changes to 

your data. 

Enter your password and click Enter. 

Select Data Entry from the pull-down menu. 

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On the pull-down menu, select POS buttons. 

At the Browse POS button sets screen, you have the option to Add, Change, Delete, or 

Copy POS buttons. 

In this example, we'll use the Change option so we can make changes to the default POS 

button settings. 

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Making Changes to POS Buttons 

To change any of the department buttons, click on one of the buttons in the Departments 

area of the screen. 

Change the button name by entering a new name in the Label field. 

You can change the appearance of the font on the buttons by clicking the Style button. 

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Once you click the Style button, the screen shown below will open. Make any font 

changes here and then click OK. 

After clicking OK on the Choose Department Font screen, you will return to the POS 

Button Configuration screen shown below. 

Accept the changes you made by clicking OK at the bottom of the screen. 

You will be able to view the changes when you open the Front Desk POS screen. 

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Chapter 5 Sales 

Creating a Membership Plan 


• Create a membership plan 

• Set up payment terms (EFT, Statement or Paid-in-full). 

• Set up services, fees and training with each plan. 

To Create a New Membership Plan: 

NOTE: The membership plans are created using the Back Office SALES module. 

1. Select from the main ASP.net screen. 

Aphelion ASP.net 

2. From the Sales module in Back Office, select the icon and click 

on the "Browse Membership Plans" screen. 

Menu Options 

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Browse Membership Plans 

HINT: You may use the COPY icon to duplicate an existing plan and then make 

minor changes. 

3. Select a plan type (Open-ended, Terms, or Terms w. Roll-over) and click . 

The plan type you choose determines the items available on the Membership Plan 

screen. 

PLAN TYPES: 

• Open Ended: no enforceable time span (recurring dues or 

month-to-month plans) 

• Terms: contains enforceable time span only (on account) 

• Terms w/Rollover: contains enforceable time span and then 

rolls over to open-ended contract at the end of the contract 

term 

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General Tab 

Plan Type Options 

3. Enter the plan description (i.e. Charter membership, Executive 

membership, etc.). 

4. Set the effective starting and ending dates of the contract. 

5. Choose the default membership type. Each plan of this type will default to 

whichever membership type is set in this field. (Membership Types are set up in the 

Configuration module: Member > Membership Types.) 

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View of General Tab Screen with Open-ended Plan Type Selected 

6. Check the "Pricing options" available with this plan by clicking on one or all. 

7. If you want to require the salesperson to enter billing information, check the box 

"Require Sales Person Enter Billing Info". 

8. Click on the button to choose club locations where this type 

of plan is available. 

9. Click on the box to choose the club location where plan will be available. Click 

. 

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Set Club Location Screen 

Payments Tab 

The Payments tab is used to enter the basic information about the cost of the plan. 

10. Click on the "Payments" tab and click on the pull-down arrow to choose a billing 

category. (Billing categories are set up in the Configuration module: Accounting > 

Billing Categories.) Example: Membership Dues. 

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Payments Tab 

(Open-ended Payments Plan) 

11. Set the finance charge amount. 

12. Select the desired Billing Cycle (preset in Configuration module). 

13. Enter the number of weeks or months membership dues will be collected. 

14. Proration Options: 

• Prorate Service/Training Terms: Check if you want to charge for a portion 

until next billing period. 

• Prorate Fees: Check if you want to prorate fees. 

• Prorate Dues: Check if you want to charge for portion until the initial dues 

billing date. 

• Move Billing Date only: corresponds to "Prorate Service/Training Terms" 

and "Prorate Dues". You can choose one or the other but not both. For 

example, choose either "Prorate Service/Training Terms" or "Move Billing 

Date Only". Check "Move Billing Date Only" if you want to prorate the billing 

date--no charge for the prorated days. 

15. Set the "Base date" from which to calculate proration. 

16. Click when finished entering information in the "Payments" tab. 

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Services/Fees/PT Tab 

The Services/Fees/PT tab is used to add or change services/fees/training associated 

with a particular membership plan. 

Services 

Usually recurring charges for items such as General Facility 

access. 

Fees 

Similar to services, but must be paid at the time of sale. 

17. Click on the "Services/Fees/Training" tab and click . 

Services/Fees/Training Tab 

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Note: 

• Fees are configured in the Sales module > Utilities > 

Browse Fees > Add. 

• Services are configured in the Configuration module > 

Member Services > Add. 

• Personal Training is configured in the Data Entry 

module > Data Entry > Personal Training > Add. 

18. In the "Browse Services/Fees" window, click the tab for the type of item you 

want to add (Services, Fees, or Personal Training). Then highlight the item and click 

. 

The "Browse Services/Fees" screen allows you to add pre-configured services, fees, 

and personal training to your plan. 

19. Choose a service or fee by clicking on it, then click . The "Plan 

Service/Fee/Personal Training Add-on" screen will open. 

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Browse Services Tab 

Browse Fees Tab 

20. Select an "Add-on Type". 

Add-on Screen 

Browse Personal Training Tab 

For each service, fee, or personal training you wish to include in a plan, you need to 

enter the "Add-on Type", "Apply Charge", and "Terms of the item". 

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Plan Service/Fee/Personal Training Add-on Screen 

Basic: This option is integral to the membership plan and cannot be removed. 

Default w/ new contract: This option is included in the plan but can be removed. 

Optional: If you select "optional" , the add-on is not included in the plan, but can be 

added to the plan. 

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Apply Charge 

Total: If "total" is selected for this plan, only the primary member will be charged for 

this add-on. 

Per Member: If "per member" is selected, each family member will be charged for 

this add-on. 

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Visits 

Number of visits: used if adding a Tanning or Massage service to a membership plan 

Enter the days after effective date of the contract that the visit(s) will expire 

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Terms 

Schedule: Use the pull-down arrow to enter the defaulted payment schedule for this 

add-on item. (These choices are set up in the Configuration module.) 

EFT Cost: Enter the total EFT charge ($) per entire term of contract. 

Statement Cost: Enter the total statement charge($) per entire term of contract. 

PIF Cost: Enter the Paid-in-Full charge ($) for the entire contract amount. 

Maximum Discount: Enter the maximum ($) discount allowed (if any) off full 

contract amount. 

EFT Renewal: Enter the total renewal EFT charge ($) for term renewal contract. 

Statement Renewal: Enter the total renewal Statement charge ($) for term 

renewal contract. 

CIF Renewal: Enter the total renewal Paid-in-full charge ($) for term renewal 

contract. 

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Note Tab 

22. Click on the "Note" tab if you want to attach a note to the membership plan. 

(e.g. “This is a Charter Membership. This plan can only be sold during pre-sale.") 

Notes Tab 

Word Documents Tab 

23. Click on the "Word Documents" tab when you want to print a contract. 

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Word Documents Tab 

24. Click when finished entering information for the new plan. The new plan will 

now be listed in the "Browse Membership Plans" screen. 

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Chapter 6 Accounting 

Accounting Structure 

The fundamental structure of the accounting system is comprised of: 

Invoices –- that document sales 

Charges -- that schedule future payments 

Payments -- against charges 

Income accounts are used extensively to track sales for both accrual and cash 

accounting methods. Expense accounts have been added for purposes of payment 

discounts and credit memos. 

"Billing" categories can be established to allow billing activities to only act on a 

particular type of charge (i.e. membership dues, NSF fees, Pro Shop sales, etc.). 

In the Fitness Manager Software, an invoice is created whenever a sale is completed. 

Invoices are created in the following ways: 

• through a POS transaction 

• through the sale of a membership contract in the "Sales" module 

• through a recurring dues invoice in the "Billing" module 

• directly through the "Member Data Entry" screen 

The invoice data is composed of information regarding the purchaser, date of sale, 

form of payment, etc. In addition, detail records associated with each invoice contain 

the individual items sold on the invoice. This information is used when performing 

"accrual" type accounting. 

To support the accounts receivable character of the membership sale (i.e. 

monthly/weekly dues), a list of "charges" can be attached to any sale/invoice to 

record a schedule of obligated payments. 

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Membership Dues 

A 1-year membership contract of $480 may be split into 12 equal "charges" of $40. 

An invoice will be created for $480 to record the membership sale and 12 "charges" 

will be associated with the invoice to schedule the payment obligations. The charge 

record contains the amount of the obligation along with a due date for the 

corresponding payment. In each case, payments are applied to the charges, not 

to the invoice directly. 

POS Transactions 

In the case of POS transactions that are paid at the time of sale (referred to as 

"cash" sales), a single charge that is due on the same day it's created. The payment 

received at the time of sale is tied directly to the charge and indirectly to the invoice 

(via the charge record). It is within the capabilities of the software to schedule the 

payment for any sale through future charges (by setting the due date). This 

capability supports "house" charges for Pro Shop items where payment is collected 

through the monthly billing process. 

Payments 

As payments are received, either through EFT methods or by the member providing 

some form of payment (check, cash, charge), the user will designate the charges to 

which the payment is to be applied. Attaching the payment to a specific charge 

indirectly associates a payment with a particular invoice (since charges are linked to 

invoices). The software can be set to either automatically apply payments to the 

oldest outstanding charge or provide the user with the ability to assign the payment 

to a specific charge. In this process, payments can be applied to a single or multiple 

charges. Any payment can be applied to a charge as partial or full payment. The 

flexibility to selectively attach payments to charges provides the capability to 

separate "house" Pro Shop charges/payments from member dues payments. Also, 

this system provides a more accurate depiction of accounts receivable aging. 

Unapplied or Open Payments 

Although payments that are received are normally applied to the outstanding 

charges, payments can be entered into a member's account without being applied to 

a charge. These payments are referred to as "unapplied" or "open" payments and 

are reflected in the account summaries. Unapplied payments can be received into a 

member's account by front desk employees and later applied to the appropriate 

charges by management level personnel. 

Credit Memos and Payment Discounts 

There are two secondary data components to the accounting system: credit memos 

and payment discounts. Creating a credit memo allows the user to provide credit 

to a member's account. The credit memo is represented in the software as a 

negative invoice. Invoice headers, details, and charges are all included in the credit 

memo. The credit memo documents a reduction in the account balance and is 

reflected in accrual reports. Since it only affects accrual reporting, the credit memo 

can be thought of as a negative valued invoice. The payment discount provides a 

means for discounting the amount of a charge through a non-cash payment and is 

reflected in "cash" accounting reports. The discount is used when a payment may 

leave a small residual account value that you wish to nullify. 

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POS Transactions 

When conducting a simple POS transaction (e.g. purchase of a Pro Shop item), an 

invoice is stored by the computer that contains all of the information regarding the 

sale. 

A single charge, that is due immediately, is created and is associated with the 

invoice. When payment is received at the time of sale, the payment is applied 

against the charge (and indirectly, the corresponding invoice). 

When a POS sale is made and a portion, or all, of the sales amount is placed on the 

member's account, a schedule of charges is created. 

The charges are based on the total amount of the sale and the number of payments. 

All invoices, charges, and payments are reflected in the individual member's account. 

This provides a complete history of all sales and payment activity for each member 

that includes membership contracts and POS-type sales. 

When performing a "Return" of an item, a negative amount for the item is displayed 

on the POS screen. When the sale is totaled, select the "On-Account" form of 

payment to create a credit memo on the member's account. 

Membership Contracts 

The "Sales" module provides a powerful method for defining and selling membership 

contracts. When the membership sale (new member or renewal) is completed and 

approved, an invoice is created with the number of associated charges that are 

defined in the contract. 

Example 

If a one-year contract is sold with 12 scheduled monthly payments, a single invoice 

is created for the full amount of the sale and 12 monthly charges are assigned. 

The creation of the invoice and charges is similar to the POS transactions; however, 

these elements are created at the time of contract approval by the management. 

When the membership contract is sold by the salesperson, the contract is stored as 

"unapproved." The contract remains in this status until assigned management 

personnel review and approve the contract. 

At the time of approval, the corresponding sales invoice and schedule of account 

charges are created in the member's account. 

A payment that documents the down payment/initiation fee is also created at the 

time of contract approval. 

Billing 

The primary function of the billing process is to collect payments for outstanding 

balances and membership dues. 

To determine if a payment is due from a member, two methods are used. 

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The first method examines the recurring dues information in the billing tab of the 

member data entry forms. If an appropriate match of the billing criteria is made, the 

amount recorded on the "Billing" tab is processed for billing. 

The second method involves a query of the accounting system to determine if any 

charges are due for a specific member. 

When assessing a member's account balance for billing payments, only the charges 

with the billing categories specified in the billing software are queried. 

For example, if you wish to only perform EFT billing for the membership dues, you 

will select the "Membership Dues" (or similar) billing category in the billing settings 

screen. Selecting the billing categories for billing provides the flexibility to perform 

EFT billing for membership dues followed by the mailing of statements to members 

for Pro Shop charges. Alternately, if all billing categories are selected, an assessment 

of all amounts due are computed and billed collectively. 

When performing recurring dues billing (open-ended cyclic billing - i.e. fixed amount 

each month) an invoice, charge, and payment is created for the amount of the 

recurring dues due on the next billing date (refer to the Billing tab in the Member 

Data Entry form). 

Billing performed for account balances operates on an existing set of invoices and 

charges that were created at the time of contract or POS sale. During the billing 

process, payments are created for the charges (that match the billing categories 

selected) that are due. These payments are automatically applied to each charge 

used to compute the amount billed. 

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Receiving Payments from Mailed Statements 

When processing payments received from a mailed statement to the member, use 

the "Get Payment" function available from the Front Counter or Data Entry modules. 

Enter the amount of the payment received. The amount will be applied to the oldest 

matching charge. If you wish to apply the amount to another charge, select the 

"Manually apply payment" option and double-click the desired charge. 

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Configuration Settings 

The Configuration module contains a menu heading called "Accounting" that must be 

set up prior to using the software. These settings are important for establishing 

income and expense accounts as well as default accounts for certain invoice 

processes. 

Income/Expense Accounts 

The Income/Expense Accounts option allows you to establish income and expense 

accounts as well as the General Ledger (GL) code required for export to certain 

accounting packages. 

An expense account should be set up to pay off delinquent, uncollectable member 

accounts such as "Bad Debt." 

Another expense account is needed when providing a "discount" at the time of 

payment such as "Discount." This is a general discount function used when applying 

payments to invoices and acts like non-cash, pseudo-payment. This function will 

"pay" on the invoice but is charged to this expense account. Income accounts should 

be set up which will partition the sales items for profit tracking. 

An account for Membership Dues might be used to accumulate sales of member 

contracts. Other income accounts should be established to separate sales of Pro 

Shop or Juice Bar items. 

Income accounts are specified for all items sold, whether they are membership 

contracts or retail inventory. The income accounts are set by the user in the 

Configuration module of the software system. 

Add, Change, or Delete income accounts from Configuration > Set Income & 

Expense Accounts screen. 

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Income & Expense Accounts screen 

in Configuration Module 

Once created, the income accounts are assigned to each inventory item through the 

Data Entry module. 

To assign an income account to a new inventory item, select Data Entry > 

Inventory > Add in the Data Entry module. 

Browse Inventory screen in Data Entry Module 

Income accounts associated with the service products are configured in the 

Configuration module under Member > Services. Other income account 

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assignments for automated functions are set in the Configuration module under 

Accounting > Account Defaults. 

When an item is sold, either through POS, Sales module, Billing, or manual invoice 

creation, the invoice that is created contains the detail information of the product 

that was sold. Through the association of these products and the income account, 

the Income by Account report is created. Accrual reporting examines invoices 

directly to determine sales while cash reports indirectly view the invoice details 

through the application of payments that have been received from invoice charges. 

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Billing Categories 

The Billing Categories section of the Configuration module allows you to set up the 

various billing partitions within the accounts receivable (charges) system. 

(Configuration module > Accounting > Billing Categories). You may wish to set 

up a billing category for membership dues, NSF/declines, and POS charges. This will 

allow you to perform EFT billing for membership dues while creating mailed 

statements for POS charges. In this case, you would set up a billing category for 

"Dues" and one for "POS" allowing you to bill separately for those charges. Set up 

the number of billing partitions that will allow you to select the appropriate invoices 

during your billing process. 

A Billing category is established for each charge that is placed on the member's 

account. A POS invoice may contain items that link to various income accounts. If 

this invoice is placed on the member's account (i.e. by selecting On-account as the 

form of payment) the user can specify the billing category that will be used by the 

billing system to collect the outstanding charge. 

Billing Category Setup Screen in Configuration Module 

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Payments made at the time of the sale (POS) may be removed (canceled) through 

the Payments window of the Account Summary screen. This may be necessary if 

a member purchases an item with a check that subsequently is returned for NSF or 

other reasons. Removing the payment will cause the original invoice to become 

"open" (unpaid). This unpaid invoice (and associated unpaid charge) is eligible for 

collection as part of the billing process. Of course, if the member provides a direct 

payment, the new payment can be attached to the invoice (i.e. using the Get 

Payments window on the Account Summary screen). The invoice will then be "paid" 

and will not be included in future billing activity. 

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Account Defaults 

Although changeable at the time of sale, default values of the income and billing 

accounts that apply to certain invoices can be established. 

When using the Sales module for selling membership contracts, a billing account 

must be assigned to the sale. 

Select the category desired for membership sales (e.g. Membership Dues, or similar) 

from the user-configured list of billing categories. This selection also applies to the 

recurring dues invoices automatically generated during the billing process. Also, 

select from the income/expense account list to set the income account for Contract 

sales. 

Account Default Settings in Configuration Module 

If a sale using the POS is completed and placed on the member's account, a billing 

category must be specified for the sale. (This is necessary to separate billing 

activities between member dues and POS charges.) 

Billing categories can be established for Pro Shop and/or Juice Bar invoices to assist 

in on-account billing of items purchased in these areas of your facility. The Billing 

categories are only used for identifying the proper charges for billing and are not 

credited with sales (payments received during billing are credited to the original 

invoice items' income accounts). 

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The POS system is capable of selling items that are not entered into the retail 

inventory database. These items are considered "Miscellaneous" items. Sales from 

this type of item must be assigned an income account since the information is not 

stored elsewhere in the computer. Establishing an income account such as "Misc." is 

recommended for this purpose. 

Credit Memos can be created against a member's account. The effect of a Credit 

Memo is to reduce accrual sales by creating a negative invoice. 

Creating an invoice is performed from the Account Summary screen. When creating 

the Credit Memo, an income account must be specified if an inventory item is not 

specified. Setting the income account causes the credit memo to deduct sales from 

the proper account. For instance, if a member owes $100.00 on his membership 

contract and you have agreed to reduce it by $25.00. A Credit Memo should be 

created with an income account of "Membership Dues". Accrual sales reports will 

reduce the amount in the income account for Membership Dues by the $25.00 

contained in the Credit Memo. 

Credit Memos act on the invoice side of the accounting system. On the cash side, a 

"Discount" function is available that creates a pseudo-payment against an invoice. 

The "Discount" function is accessible from the "Get Payments" window on the 

Account Summary screen. The "Discount" is generally used to zero a member's 

account balance when small residual amounts exist after payments have been 

received. The Discounts only effect the cash method reporting and are not reflected 

in accrual reports. Typically, the account used by the "Discount" will be an expense 

account, such as "Discounts." This expense account is set up under this configuration 

setting and is not changeable at the time of applying the Discount function. 

Declines received after completing a billing process must be entered into the 

accounting system. If a decline file is received from the transaction processor, it can 

be processed automatically through the Billing module. During this process late fees 

can be automatically applied to the member's account. The invoice/charges that are 

produced in this process use the income account and billing category specified in this 

section of the Configuration module. 

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Credit Cards and Billing Cycles 

Other configuration parameters set in this area of the configuration module include 

the types of credit cards accepted (including your Merchant ID) and the Billing 

Cycles. 

The Billing Cycles represent the repeat frequency of your billing activities such as: 

• Monthly 1st 

• Monthly 15th 

• Quarterly 

• Yearly, etc. 

These values are used when setting up the billing system for automated processing 

of your accounts receivable. 

Using the Member Account Interface 

The previous sections described the automatic actions taken on a member's account 

when performing different operations within the software. This section describes the 

manual interfaces that can be used to interact directly with the accounting system 

and the member's account specifically. 

The Account Status screen is available from the Front Desk and Data Entry. 

Member Account Status from Front Desk 

From the Front Desk, you can view the Account Status screen for a member after 

you check-in the member (from the check-in screen click History > Member ID > 

Account Status). 

The Account Status screen includes a complete aging analysis with total amount 

due. The total value of the member's account is displayed and includes the 

outstanding balance minus any unapplied payments plus the total of future 

scheduled payments. 

Other information on the Account Status screen includes: contract expiration date, 

the date of last contract renewal (if any), and renewal amounts. If the member is 

billed on an open-ended, recurring dues basis, the dues amount and the next and 

last billing dates are displayed. 

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Account Summary Screen 

Invoices 

The Transaction History screen is available through the Account Info button (from 

the check-in screen click History > Member ID > Account Info). 

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The purpose of the Transaction screen is to provide a detailed view of all sales 

activity for the member. 

Member Account Status from Data Entry 

Clicking on the member's name in the check-in box on the Front Counter module 

provides a summary of the member information with options to select from 

additional sources of information. One of these data sources is the member's account 

summary. Selecting this option will display the Account Summary screen. In 

addition, when an outstanding account balance is detected during check-in an alert is 

issued to the operator. Selecting the account icon from the alert list will also display 

the Account Summary screen. 

Account Icon 

Check-in Screen with Alert 

The Account Summary screen includes a complete aging analysis with total amount 

due. The total value of the member's account is displayed and includes the 

outstanding balance minus any unapplied payments plus the total of future 

scheduled payments. Other information on this screen includes: contract expiration 

date, the date of last contract renewal (if any), and renewal amounts. If the member 

is billed on an open-ended, recurring dues basis, the dues amount and the next and 

last billing dates are displayed. 

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Additional information is available by selecting the Details button from the displayed 

options (selecting this button invokes the password security system). 

Account Summary Screen with"Details" 

After selecting the Details button, the summary screen is expanded to display the 

complete schedule of unpaid charges. To see all account charges (including paid 

charges) click on the check box to deselect the Show unpaid charges only option. 

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The Description displayed with the charge is taken from the first line of the 

associated invoice. Once the summary screen has been expanded, the user can 

select the Credit Memo button to apply a credit to the member's account. 

Functions available from Account Summary screen: 

• Invoices 

• Payments 

• Get Payment 

• Add Invoice 

• Credit Memo 

• Billing History 

• Declines 

• Print 

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Invoices 

The Invoice History screen is available through the Account Summary screen. Click 

on the Invoices icon to display the Invoice History screen. 

Payments 

The Payments button provides a list of all payments made by the member to the 

account. Payments are listed in the order of the "Post Date" and include the amount 

of the payment as well as the amount applied to invoice charges. This window 

provides the functionality to apply a payment, unapply a payment (and apply it to a 

different invoice charge), or remove the payment altogether (cancel). If a payment is 

removed inadvertently, a new payment must be created and applied to the proper 

invoice. 

The payments window does not normally display payments made to cash 

transactions such as POS--type sales. In these cases, the payment is automatically 

applied at the time of sale, and therefore is not normally reapplied to another 

invoice. If you wish to see the cash payments in the payments browse window, click 

on the 'include payments for cash transactions" box. With the box checked, all 

payments made by the member will be displayed. 

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Payment History with 

"Include payments for cash transactions" checked 

When the payment is removed from a completed POS transaction, the corresponding 

invoice reverts to an on-account type of payment. Payment for this invoice can then 

be collected during the next billing cycle by including the default retail sales billing 

category when specifying the billing operation. This can occur if a member purchases 

a Pro Shop item and pays by check. If the check is returned (i.e. NSF, etc.) the 

payment should be removed. Doing so will leave the corresponding invoice open until 

it is paid through another payment or collected during the billing process. When a 

payment is removed, the computer retains the payment for security purposes. A list 

of these removed payments can be made in the Reports module. 

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Data Entry 

The member Data Entry module provides complete member data management 

including the member's account activity. 

Browse Members Screen 

The member highlighted in the browse window can be explored through the options 

represented by the buttons at the bottom of the window as shown in the graphic 

below. 

Viewing the member's account is one of the option buttons available at the bottom of 

the browse screen. Selecting the Account button displays the Account summary 

screen complete with aging and other account information. 

Account Button 

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The lower part of this window lists the unpaid charges on the member's account. 

Clicking on the Show unpaid charges only box will deselect this option and display 

all account charges and their corresponding payments (along with the unpaid 

charges). 

From this summary screen, many of the necessary account transaction activities can 

be performed. A complete history of all invoices (sales) to the member can be seen 

by selecting the Invoices button from the vertically arranged toolbar. A list of all 

payments that have been received against a member's account is displayed when 

the Payments button has been selected. To receive a payment and apply it to an 

open invoice/charge, select the Get Payment option. A Credit Memo can also be 

created from this screen. 

An invoice and associated charges can be manually applied to a member's account 

through the Add Invoice button on the member entry form. A manual 

invoice/charge entry might be used if your membership sales process produces a 

paper contract without prior entry into the computer. In this case, the membership 

sale and the schedule of payments may be entered directly into the member's 

account. This manual entry system for invoices and charges may also be useful for 

restoring invoices that were inadvertently deleted, credited, or otherwise lost from 

the computer. 

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To Manually Enter Invoices: 

1. Highlight the member in the browse window. 

2. Select the Change button. 

3. From the entry form, the Invoice button is available. 

4. After clicking on this button, a Create Invoice entry window is displayed. 

(This window is also available from the Account Summary window.) 

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Create Invoice Screen 

5. If you wish to create a credit memo for an item in the inventory database, 

enter the item ID (or select from the inventory list available from the 

"Rolodex" icon). Selecting an item will automatically assign the income 

account. If you simply wish to create a general credit memo, bypass the ID 

entry field and enter a description. 

6. A quantity can be entered if the item ID (indicating a particular product) has 

been entered. 

7. Enter the total amount of the invoice and a description into this form. 

8. Designate the appropriate tax rates to automatically add tax to the invoice. 

9. Next, set the due date for the first charge associated with the invoice. 

10. The terms (or payment schedule) is selected from the list that is originally set 

up in the Configuration module (Accounting/Payment schedules). 

11. The Billing category and the Income account (if no item ID has been selected) 

must also be set. 

12. Click the OK button to complete the invoice entry. 

This will create an invoice and a schedule of charges (as defined in the 

payment schedule) in the member's account. This operation constitutes a 

manual on-account sale to the member. 

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To receive payments against the invoice created in this fashion: 

1. Select the Account button and click on the Get Payments option. 

2. From this screen payments can be received and applied to the manually 

created invoice (or any other invoice on the member's account). 

Receive Payment Screen 

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Credit Memos 

The Credit Memo is used to provide a negative charge to a member's account 

resulting in a credit balance. This function can be used to offset previous sales in 

cases such as returns or resolution of dispute. Also, if a member moves from the 

local area and quits paying, you may want to credit the member's account for 

outstanding charges. 

The importance of the Credit Memo is in accrual reports. In accrual reports, invoices 

are used to determine sales. A Credit Memo is used during accrual reporting to act as 

a negative invoice, therefore, reducing the amount of the original sale. This allows 

adjustments to the member's account without affecting any cash-side accounting. 

Cash versus Accrual 

The software supports either cash or accrual reporting capabilities. 

When you run a cash report, the figures reported are based on income. This type of 

report uses the payment information that has been entered into the system to 

determine the income that has been received. Reports will reflect only the amount of 

money that has been received, regardless of the amount of sales. For example, a 

cash report for a membership sold over a 12 month period will only display the 

actual payments that were received for the membership, while ignoring income that 

has not been received. 

When you run an accrual report, the figures reported are based on invoices. This 

type of report uses the invoice information that has been entered into the system to 

determine the sales that have been completed. An accrual report for a membership 

sold over a 12 month period will display all of the payments that are scheduled when 

the report is produced. 

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Creating Credit Memos 

A Credit Memo can be created from the Credit Memo button displayed on the 

Account Summary screen. 

To Create a Credit Memo: 


1. Click on the Credit Memo button. This opens the Credit Memo screen. 

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Credit Memo Screen 

2. Click on the card deck icon to open the inventory item screen. 

Inventory Item Screen 

3. Highlight the inventory item you wish to credit by clicking on it. 

This displays the Create Credit Memo screen with the inventory information 

for the item barcode, item description, and credit amount entered in the 

appropriate fields. 

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Credit Memo Screen with inventory information 

This input screen is identical to the Add Invoice form since the Credit Memo is 

simply a negative invoice. If an inventory item is not selected, the proper income 

account needs to be assigned so that proper recording of the credit against sales can 

be made. (Inventory items are already linked to income accounts so if an item is 

selected, no further assignment is necessary or allowed.) If you are crediting 

membership sales invoice, the income account used when the membership contract 

was sold should be used. Selecting an income account causes the Credit Memo to 

record a negative value against the account. The effect of this Credit Memo would be 

to reduce the amount shown in accrual sales reports. It may be necessary to create 

multiple credit memos to offset an invoice that contains several line items. The POS 

interface supports the creation of multi-line credit memos through the Return 

function and selecting the On-account form of payment. 

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Changing the Payment Application 

If a payment is displayed that has not been applied to an invoice charge, highlight 

the payment and click on the "Apply" button. The "Get Payment" screen will be 

displayed and you will be allowed to apply the payment to an invoice charge. 

To change the charge to which a payment was applied: 

1. Unapply the payment by highlighting the payment and clicking on the 

"Unapply" button. 

The amount "Applied" for the highlighted payment will be turned to $0.00, 

and the corresponding invoice charge will be "Unpaid." 

2. With the same payment highlighted, click the "Apply" button. 

Payment History Screen with Unapplied Payment 

The "Get Payment" window will open with the unapplied amount displayed in the 

"Apply Existing Credits of" field. 

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"Get Payment" screen 

3. Click on the boxes for "Apply Existing Credits of" and "Manually apply 

amounts". 

The "Total to Apply" and the "Unapplied amount" values will reflect the amount 

of the unapplied payment. 

4. Double-click on the desired invoice charge to apply the payment. 

Get Payments 

The Get Payments screen is available from the Account Summary window. The 

purpose of this screen is to manually receive payments from a member. If the 

member responds to your mailed account statement or is paying for an outstanding 

balance, the payment must be entered into his account through this screen. 

There are two versions of this screen based on the security privileges extended to 

the operator. The simple payment entry screen is designed for employees that have 

entry responsibilities, but not account editing privileges. With this screen, front 

counter personnel can receive the payment into the account, but not assign it to a 

specific charge. This action places the payment in an "unapplied" status for later 

attachment to a charge. The complete payment entry window is designed for 

management level use and provides the ability to apply the payments to specific 

charges when the payment is received. In the Management module, a report can be 

generated that lists all "unapplied" payments. This list can be used when applying 

payments to charges. 

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The simplified payment entry screen (Front Counter) allows the user to enter the 

amount of the payment received and the form of the payment (e.g. cash, check, or 

charge). A memo field is used to describe the payment in the account. A reference 

number is available to record a tracking value such as check number. The date field 

provides the date that the payment will be posted to the account. The lower section 

of this window shows the list of outstanding charges with the post and due dates, a 

description, and the amount. Only the unpaid charges are visible in this window. Past 

due amounts are shown in red, amounts currently due are in black, and future 

charges are in green. The originating invoice for any of the charges shown in the 

browse window is visible by highlighting the charge and clicking on the "Goto" 

button. The individual items sold on the originating invoice are displayed in the 

invoice details browse window. Selecting the "Charges/Payments" tab will display 

the charges associated with the invoice and any payments made against those 

charges. 

Simplified "Get Payments" screen 

To receive a payment in the simplified window: 

1. Enter the amount of the payment received. 

2. Select the form of payment. 

3. Enter a description in the memo field 

4. Click "OK" button. 

This will record the payment to the member's account, but it will be left in an 

unapplied status. These unapplied amounts are shown in the "Unapplied Credits" 

field of the Account Summary screen. The unapplied payments will need to be 

applied to the appropriate charges at a later time by management level personnel. 

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Complete "Get Payment" Screen 

for Users with Appropriate Privileges 

The complete payment entry screen is similar to the simplified screen, but includes 

additional capabilities for applying the payment to the list of charges. In this screen, 

the payment amount, form of payment, and description are entered in the same 

fashion as the simplified screen. However, when the amount is entered (and the Tab 

key is pressed), the payment is automatically applied to the oldest charge. If the 

user wishes to apply the payment to a different charge, click the "Manually apply 

amounts" box. With this box checked, the payment that was placed against the 

oldest charge can be removed by double clicking on the charge line. This will remove 

the payment that was applied and place the payment in the "Unapplied amount" 

field. Double click on another charge and the amount will be applied to the new 

charge. If previous payments were received, but not applied to a charge, the amount 

of those payments will be reflected in the "Apply existing credits" field. Click the 

box next to this field to apply those previously received payments. 

The Discount field provides the user with the ability to create a discount for an 

invoice. The discount amount is applied in a similar fashion as the payment and can 

be used to negate residual amounts on the member's account. The amount entered 

into the discount field acts as a "cash" input and is not reflected in accrual reports. 

Cash-basis reports will reflect the discount amounts along with the other payments 

applied to the invoice charges. 

The default view of charges in the browse window includes only unpaid charges. To 

view the complete member account, click on the box for "Show unpaid charges 

only" to remove the checkmark in the box. The charge browse window will show all 

of the charges and payments in the account. As with the simplified screen, the 

originating invoice and its charges as well as the applied payments can be viewed by 

selecting the Invoice button. 

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Accounting Reports 

The Accounting reports within the Reports module provide detail and summary 

information regarding sales and member accounts receivable. Activities performed 

through the accounting system can be monitored through these reports. Many of the 

Accounting reports have the option of "Cash" or "Accrual" method reporting. The 

"Cash" method examines the payments made against invoices/charges to determine 

sales values. The "Accrual" method examines the invoices directly to compute sales 

values. In "Cash" reporting, a one-year membership contract that has 12 monthly 

payments will only show sales based on the portion of the payments made by the 

member. In "Accrual" method reporting, the full amount of the membership sale is 

reported on the date of the sale. 

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Station Cash Drawer Report 

The Station Cash Drawer report provides information required to reconcile the cash 

in the drawer against sales. The actual currency in the drawer is compared to the 

amount sold to produce an over/under value. 

Access this screen through the Reports module. Select Accounting > Station 

Cash Drawer from the menu. 

Station Cash Drawer Screen 

Cash Reconciliation Screen 

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Income by Account Report 

A table of accounts is displayed with sales values shown in the income accounts (see 

report below). Expense accounts are shown to summarize amounts placed in these 

accounts through payment discounts. 

Select the date range of interest prior to executing the report. When you are 

satisfied with the settings, click OK. See the resulting report below. 

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Income by Account Report 

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Cost of Inventory Goods Sold Report 

The Cost of Inventory Goods Sold report provides a detailed assessment of retail 

inventory for costs and profitability. The report lists each item in the inventory along 

with its income account. The total number sold and the total revenue for each item is 

also listed (with tax values separated). 

The COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) is computed based on a First In/First Out (FIFO) 

approach. The computer maintains a complete restocking history of inventory. This 

information is combined with the sales history for each item to computer the COGS. 

A net dollar margin is also shown for each retail inventory item that reflects the 

difference between total revenue and COGS. A percent of total profit is shown for 

each item in the list. This column reflects the items contributing most to retail 

profitability. 

In the Reports module, select Accounting > Cost of Inventory Goods Sold. 

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Receivables Reports 

A series of reports that analyze the member account receivables are provided under 

this menu heading. Aging of the account receivables is provided in current due as 

well as 30-60-90-120 days overdue. 

The accounts are grouped by member category and show a complete summary for 

each member. A "Value of Accounts" report is provided to show the receivables that 

are currently due along with the amount to be billed in the future. 

This report is useful when assessing the total value of membership contracts on 

record. An "Open Invoices by Member" report shows all unpaid invoices/charges for 

each member. 

This report displays the total amount of the invoice, the amount that is currently 

due, and the remaining balance on the invoice. Aging in days from the invoice date is 

shown for each open invoice. 

To get to this screen: Back Office > Reports > Accounting > Receivables 

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Billing Reports 

The Billing reports in the Accounting section focus on details associated with 

members paying recurring dues. These amounts and due dates are controlled in the 

Billing tab of the member data entry forms. 

Recurring dues apply to an open-ended type of contract where the member is paying 

a specified amount each month for an indefinite term. The reports will provide 

summary information as well as a detailed list of billing information for each 

member. 

In the Reports module, select Accounting > Billing. 

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Transaction Reports 

Transaction reports detail activity within the accounts receivable system. Reports are 

available to list invoices, charges, and payments over any range of dates. 

For security purposes, reports are also provided to review voided POS transactions, 

removed (cancelled) payments, and credit memos on a member's account. All 

transactions performed on a member's account can be listed in this section of 

reports. Payments that are unapplied to invoices can be listed in these reports. 

These payments should be reviewed and applied to open invoices/charges through 

the "Get Payments" function available from the Account Summary screen. 

In the Reports module, select Accounting > Transactions. 

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 

The EFT reports provide information relative to the accurate creation of EFT files. A 

list of members currently set for "pre-note" can be made from these reports. Also, if 

you have members that pay their accounts by credit card, a list of members whose 

credit card has expired (or is about to expire) is available. Other reports provide 

information regarding your bank listings that ensure your transit/route numbers are 

properly assigned. 

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QuickBooks Export Overview 

The QuickBooks accounting program utilizes data structure very similar to V3.0 

Fitness Manager. Therefore, this information can be exported from the Fitness 

Manager to QuickBooks through specially formatted text files. There are two types of 

interfaces to QuickBooks supported in v3.0 of the Fitness Manager Detail and 

Summary. The Detail interface exports all sales invoices and payments individually 

to QuickBooks. The Summary interface exports a single "summary" invoice for each 

income account. A single merged payment that summarizes all payments received 

into an income account is also exported to QuickBooks. The choice between these 

two options depends on the accounting functions you wish to perform in QuickBooks. 

Selection of Detail vs. Summary QuickBooks Interface 

A combination of your business operations and QuickBooks limitations must be 

considered when selecting the proper QuickBooks interface. Several factors 

regarding limitations imposed by QuickBooks should be considered. Also, whether 

you use a cash or accrual accounting method needs to be factored into the interface 

selection process. QuickBooks does not provide the facility to link payments with 

invoices during the export/import process. This is a significant limitation because it 

forces the user to manually apply payments to invoices. Unapplied payments in 

QuickBooks will disrupt cash accounting methods and inaccurately depict customer 

account balances in Collections reports. This limitation can be particularly 

burdensome if the Detail interface is selected and payments that result from a billing 

process are exported (since a payment will be created for each member). This can 

create a significant manual process of linking these payments with the membership 

sale invoice previously exported to QuickBooks. These difficulties are mitigated if an 

accrual method is used since QuickBooks will read invoices, and not payments, for 

sales information. The Summary interface is recommended for most users. This 

approach will provide accurate financial reports and minimize the amount of manual 

work imposed by the limitations in the QuickBooks import utility. The Fitness 

Manager will provide all of the detailed account information for each member. The 

Detailed interface can be considered if your POS activity is small and you have 

outsourced your billing function to a third party service company. 

Other QuickBooks Import Limitations 

QuickBooks can accept invoiced sales for retail inventory items contained in the 

"Items" list. However, the import utility does not allow for restocking quantities to be 

added to inventory. Therefore, to maintain proper inventory levels in the Fitness 

Manager and QuickBooks, restocking values must be entered into both software 

programs. Payments from the cash sales at the POS counter are exported in this 

process. However, these payments must be manually "grouped with other 

undeposited funds" in QuickBooks for them to appear in the Make Deposits window. 

This can have significant work impact if a large number of POS sales/payments are 

exported from the Fitness Manager to QuickBooks. 

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How to Export to QuickBooks 

Prior to performing the export / import process, make a current backup of 

your QuickBooks data. 

To export the accounting information from Fitness Manager to QuickBooks, the 

Import/Export utility program must be executed from the Data Exchange module. 

1. From the Data Exchange module, select the Export > 3rd-Party > 

Invoices/Payment to QuickBooks. 

A window will be displayed that allows you to enter the range of dates for 

information to be exported. Specifying the date range is critically important 

for accurate information transfer. QuickBooks does not recognize duplicate 

invoices. Therefore, if you overlap the date range with earlier exports, 

duplicate invoices will be created in QuickBooks resulting in corrupted data 

files. It is recommended that a specific export frequency (e.g. daily, weekly, 

monthly, etc.) be used to avoid duplication of data within QuickBooks. 

2. Once the file has been created, start QuickBooks and select the Import 

function under the File menu. 

3. Provide the path and filename for import and process the file. 

4. Verify that new invoices, etc. have been imported by running reports over the 

same date range used when exporting the data from the Fitness Manager. 

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Export to QuickBooks using 

Detail Interface Option 

This section describes the export/import of Fitness Manager information to 

QuickBooks using the "Detail" interface option. 

Members 

In the Detail interface, all active members contained in member database file of the 

Fitness Manager are exported to QuickBooks. Prospects are not included in the 

export process. Once imported, each member will be in the QuickBooks Customer 

list. 

Inventory Items 

All retail inventory items, personal training, membership plans, and activities (sold 

by visits, such as tanning, etc.) are exported from the Fitness Manager into the 

Items list in QuickBooks. This allows QuickBooks to properly associate items sold on 

the invoices with items in QuickBooks. The income account for each item is also 

transferred to QuickBooks for proper internal association of the item with the 

QuickBooks income accounts. 

Income accounts 

The complete list of income accounts from the Fitness Manager is exported for 

inclusion in the QuickBooks "Chart of Accounts." 

Expense accounts 

The complete list of expense accounts from the Fitness Manager is exported for 

inclusion in the QuickBooks "Chart of Accounts." 

Invoices 

Each sales invoice is exported to QuickBooks. This includes all invoices created 

during billing processes as well as all POS activity. 

Credit Memo 

These items are not exported from the Fitness Manager and need to be manually 

created in QuickBooks using the "Create Credit Memo/Refunds" option in the 

Activities menu. 

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Payments 

All payments received by the Fitness Manager are exported to QuickBooks. This 

includes payments applied to invoices as well as payments that are "unapplied." 

Payments for billing activities as well as POS are included in this export. 

Payment Discounts 

These items are not exported and will need to be manually applied in QuickBooks 

through the "Discount" button on the Receive Payments window. 

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Summary Interface Option 

This section describes the export/import of Fitness Manager information to 

QuickBooks using the "Summary" Interface option. 

Members 

A single customer is created in QuickBooks called "Membership" to represent sales to 

all members of the club. 

Inventory Items 

A single inventory item is created in QuickBooks as a "non-inventory part" for each 

income account. This inventory item represents all items in the Fitness Manager that 

are associated with that income account. 

Income accounts 

The complete list of income accounts from the Fitness Manager is exported for inclusion 

in the QuickBooks "Chart of Accounts." 

Expense accounts 

The complete list of expense accounts from the Fitness Manager is exported for inclusion 

in the QuickBooks "Chart of Accounts." 

Invoices 

A single invoice is created in QuickBooks that summarizes the sale of all items 

associated with the income account. If no sales are recorded for a given income account, 

no invoice is created in QuickBooks. The invoice for each income account is sold to the 

"Membership" customer in QuickBooks. 

Credit Memo 

These items are not exported from the Fitness Manager and need to be manually created 

in QuickBooks using the "Create Credit Memo/Refunds" option in the Activities menu. 

Payments 

A single payment record for each income category is exported to QuickBooks that 

summarizes all payments received against that income category. The payment is received 

from the fictitious customer "Membership" created in QuickBooks. 

288


Payment Discounts 

[These items are not exported and will need to be manually applied in QuickBooks 

through the "Discount" button on the Receive Payments window. 

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Chapter 7 Billing 


On the main Aphelionasp.net screen, click the Back Office button. 

Only authorized employees will have access to the Back Office, so you will have to enter 

your user name and password on the Login screen. 

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Setting up Presets 

Presets should be set up for both Post Dues and Billing. 

The Billing module is designed so you can "configure" billing presets. Presets allow you 

to easily bill groups of members at different times. For example, you might want to bill 

one type of member on the first of the month while billing other types of members on the 

15th of the month. Each billing preset represents a group of members filtered by billing 

type, billing category, membership type, etc. When you are ready to bill that group, you 

simply "run" the billing for each preset you have created. 

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Billing Preset Screen 

When you begin setting up your presets, you will see a series of screens that allow you to 

filter which members to bill and the type of billing to perform. You will name and save 

each billing preset you configure. To actually perform the billing for a particular group, 

highlight the preset and click the "Run Preset" button. 

Post Due Presets 

To Set Up Post Dues Preset: 

1. In Back Office, select Billing. 

2. Click the Post Dues button. 

3. Click the Add button. 

General Tab: 

Enter a description for the Post Dues preset. You can set up a preset for each billing 

category (Monthly 1st Credit Cards, Monthly 15th Credit Cards, etc.), or you can set up 

one preset that includes all billing categories. By having your Post Dues presets mirror 

your Billing presets, you can more easily match up your dues posting with your billing 

output. 

292


The Filters tab allows you to decide which clubs, membership types, billing cycles, and 

member statuses will be included in the dues posting. 

293


Members Tab 

Select the forms of payments to be included in the preset by clicking in the box next to 

the specified form of payment. 

Post Dues Tab 

Select the billing category to which the invoice will posted. Billing categories are setup in 

the Configuration module, so use the pull-down arrow to select from the pre-configured 

list. 

Select the club to which the invoice will be assigned when the Post Dues preset is run. 

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Billing Presets 

To Set Up Billing Preset: 

1. In Back Office select Billing. 

2. Click the Billing button. 

3. Click the Add button. 

The tabs on the screen may be different depending on the billing format you 

choose. Notice the difference between the tabs on the screen when "Statement" is 

selected as opposed to Electronic Credit Card or EFT. For instance, it is not 

appropriate to select an output file if you choose to print Electronic Credit Card or 

EFT, so that selection (on the Output tab) is grayed out, which means it's 

unavailable. 

295


Statement Billing Selected 

Electronic Credit Card Selected 

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Type Tab 

Enter a description for the type of billing you are creating, such as EFT Monthly 1st or 

Statement Monthly 15th. 

Complete the settings on this screen to determine which form of payment you wish to 

produce and to name the billing type for future use. 

You should create and name a preset for each type of billing you plan to conduct. For 

example, if you want to bill members on the 1st and 15th via credit card, you will create 

two billing profiles. Each profile will bill for credit cards, but one will be on the 1st and 

the other on the 15th of the month. 

Note that as you select the type of billing, the bottom of the page displays the form of 

payment that you have selected. The form of payment display is gray and cannot be 

changed for all billing types other than Statement and Combined EFT/Credit Card. If you 

select Statement billing, you can override the default to send a statement to those 

members that are normally billed via credit card or bank draft. The Statement that is 

produced will reflect the recurring dues amount that has been entered into the member 

database record along with any account balance. 

Account Balances Tab: 

The settings on the Account Balances tab determine what charges will be billed. 

Set the day of the month through which unpaid charges will be billed. You have four 

options: Current Month, Previous Month, Next Month, or End of Current Month. This 

setting will depend on when you actually run your billing. 

By checking "Current charges only" you will be restricting billing to the month specified. 

Select the categories you want billed for the preset. The categories checked will be 

included in the billing. 

297


Filters Tab 

The filters tab is used to determine the groups to be billed for each preset. Select the 

membership types, clubs, billing cycles and member status you wish to include in the 

billing preset. 

Members Tab 

The members tab will remain grayed out (unavailable) for billing presets. It will only be 

activated when selecting manual billing. 

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Output Tab 

The output tab is used to determine what is printed on the statement. 

Date on Statement - day: The date you enter depends of when you will be running your 

billing. 

Print Details from day: Enter the first day of month for the billing period. 

Print statements for "Credit" balances: If this is checked, statements will be printed for 

members with a credit balance. 

Print "simplified" statement: If checked, the printed statement will show only member 

name, on-account amount, and amount billed. 

Print details of transactions: If checked, details of billing will be printed on the statement 

(type, post date, due date, description, amount on-account, amount billed). 

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Printed Messages 

You can include messages on your statements. Enter your message in line 1 and/or line 2. 

Due Message: Enter the due date of the bill. (Upon Receipt, 30-days, etc.) 

Message Block: Enter any text in this field that you would like to be printed on your 

statements. 

Post Payments Tab: 

The Post Payments tab is available only for credit card or EFT billings. 

300


Effective Days: Number of days from posting when EFT or credit card will actually be 

processed. (The post date and payment date will be displayed in the payment history of 

the member's record.) 

Payment Description: Enter a descriptive name to identify the payment. For example, 

Credit Card Payment, EFT Payment. 

Set payment category for each payment to: Select a category from the pull-down list. 

Assign each payment to: Select the club to which the payment will be assigned. 

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The Billing Process 

The billing process consists of three separate steps: 

Step 1. Posting dues 

Step 2. Applying payments 

Step 3. Processing billing 

These steps are completely separate processes which improves billing performance. 

Step 1: Posting Dues 

When "posting dues", the program is simply evaluating the members' recurring duesrelated 

settings and performing database updates of adding invoices and forwarding next 

billing dates. 

The far left button on the toolbar (refer to Figure 9), labeled "Post Dues", brings up the 

main screen (Figure 10) that starts the dues posting process. 

Figure 9: Billing module toolbar 

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Figure 10: Main dialog for posting dues 

There are a series of settings associated with performing this process. A group of settings 

can be saved and executed as a "preset", (see Presets) or the process can be executed 

"manually". 

The system maintains separate presets for both the dues posting and billing steps. 

Figures 11 through 14 depict the four tabs present when editing settings for a dues 

posting preset. Setup for the ASP billing process (step 3) includes the equivalent settings 

to those on the dues posting filters tab. 

Figure 11: General tab of dues settings 

303


Figure 12: Filters tab of dues settings 

The "Members" tab (Figure 13) includes a series of checkboxes that specify which 

member form of payments should be processed in the dues posting. 

You can post dues for all types of members at a single time and separately process each 

type of billing at later dates. 

Figure 13: Members tab of dues settings 

304


The entries on the "Post Dues" tab (Figure 14) relate to attributes of the invoices that will 

be posted for recurring dues. The first entry determines what billing category the 

generated dues invoices will get assigned to. V4 adds the concept of assigned clubs as 

described earlier, and the second entry in Figure 14 shows how this is configured for an 

individual dues posting. 

Figure 14: Post Dues tab in recurring dues settings 

When a dues preset is "run" (from the dialog in Figure 10, highlight a preset and press 

"Run Preset") or when a dues posting is executed from manual settings, the program 

generates a preview of what dues will be posted (Figure 15). 

While the preview is being generated, there is no feedback displayed in the program other 

than a simple message telling the operator to "please wait". 

Once the preview is complete and displayed, reports can be printed or exported and the 

Process button can be selected to perform the database updates which consist of creating 

invoices and forwarding member next billing dates. 

Some members may be listed in the preview screen with "total dues" values of $0. These 

are members with a "Freeze" status, based on the status evaluation date specified in the 

dues settings, where the freeze dues for that member are set to $0. 

The program applies the member filters without any special handling. You will probably 

want to include the freeze status both when posting dues and processing billing. 

305


Figure 15: Posted dues preview 

306


Step 2: Applying Payments 

The second step of the billing process is to apply any currently "unapplied" (also referred 

to as "open") payments. This can be executed by pressing the second button from the left 

on the billing module's toolbar (Apply Payment button). 

Billing module toolbar 

The settings are limited to selecting a set of billing categories. 

Every on-account invoice in the system gets associated with a billing category and by 

selecting a subset of the billing categories; you can limit which invoices will get paid by 

the open payments. 

Because the settings are so simple, there are no presets for the apply payments step. Also, 

there is currently no preview display or results report. 

By pressing the Process button, the program immediately starts updating the database and 

simply displays a summary of the results stating the number of payments applied and the 

total amount they were applied for. 

Reports related to unapplied payments are available within the Reports module. 

Figure 16: Apply payments settings 

307


Step 3: Processing Billing 

• evaluates unpaid charges for the specified members, 

• generates the billing output, 

• and for draft billing, posts payments matching the billed amounts 

Any charges you want to bill for should already be in the system. These charges result 

from manually creating transactions or from batch processes including the posting of 

dues. 

To begin the billing process, click the "Billing" button on the Billing module toolbar 

(shown below). This will open the "Run Billing" screen. 

The settings for a billing preset are shown in Figure 18 through 23. 

When the "Prompt before processing database updates" checkbox is checked, the 

operator is prompted before the actual database updates are performed. This allows you 

to examine the generated output and restart the entire billing process if there are any 

issues present. 

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Figure 17: Main dialog for billing processing 

309


Figure 18: Type tab in billing settings 

Figure 19: Account Balances tab in billing settings 

310


Figure 20: Filters tab in billing settings 

Figure 21: Members tab in billing settings 

311


Figure 22: Output tab in billing settings (EFT "type" billing) 

Figure 23: Post Payments tab in billing settings 

Executing a billing from either manual settings or a preset, produces a preview screen 

(Figure 24) showing the billing members in the top list and the billed charges for the 

highlighted member in the lower list. 

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Figure 24: Billing preview 

313

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