[Evergreen-general] How to refund a deposit

Fri Jan 29 09:03:29 EST 2021

Hi Eva,

The "Prohibit negative balance on bills (DEFAULT)" setting prevents the
system from allowing negative balances on patron records when billings are
voided by the system.

Rather than voiding the billings, it applies "Adjustment" payments to
offset the billings.

I believe the inability to create a negative billing outright has been
disallowed in the client interface itself.

To refund your deposits, one thing you could try is to void the deposit
billing. That should create the negative balance so you can refund the
money to the patron.

I haven't actually tested this, but would be surprised if it didn't result
in the negative balance you're looking for.

Hope this helps,
Michele
--
Michele M. Morgan, Technical Support Analyst
North of Boston Library Exchange, Danvers Massachusetts
mmorgan at noblenet.org

On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 5:46 PM Cerninakova Eva <cernin at jabok.cz> wrote:

> Hi Terran,
>
> Thank you very much for additional details.
>
> I have one more question, which is intended for everyone (not just Terran)
> and concerns the possibility of adding a negative amount to the paid bill
> for the deposit.
> In the Library Settings Editor, I have found several settings related to
> negative balance, particularly the one: "Prohibit negative balance on bills
> (DEFAULT)"
> I thought it might help me with my problem and allow the negative amount
> to be added to the deposit bill according to the amount paid. I tried to
> change the setting "Prohibit negative balance on bills" to "False".
> Unfortunately, even after changing this setting to "false" it was still not
> possible to add a negative amount to the deposit bill.
>
> Does anyone know if this particular setting could be related to some other
> settings? Or does the settings allowing negative balance  only apply to
> system generated bills, not to those charged manually?
>
> Thanks
> Eva
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Eva Cerniňáková
>
> vedoucí Knihovny Jabok
>
> Jabok - Vyšší odborná škola sociálně pedagogická a teologická
>
>
>
>
> +420 211 222 409 <+420+211+222+413>
>
> cernin at jabok.cz <propagace at jabok.cz>
>
> knihovna.jabok.cz <https://www.jabok.cz>
>
> Salmovská 8, Praha 2, 120 00
>
>
> [image: facebook] <https://www.instagram.com/vosjabok/?hl=cs>   [image:
> instagram] <https://www.facebook.com/vosjabok/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> st 27. 1. 2021 v 16:59 odesílatel Terran McCanna <
> tmccanna at georgialibraries.org> napsal:
>
>> Yes, that is correct. We set up that additional billing type locally.
>>
>> I think the deposit/refund process could definitely be improved, but I
>> don't think anyone has put a lot of thought into rethinking how it should
>> work better from either a staff perspective or from a software perspective
>> yet. Only a few of our libraries are using deposits, and some of those
>> aren't doing them through Evergreen, they are using local tracking
>> processes.
>>
>>
>>
>> Terran McCanna, PINES Program Manager
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Georgia Public Library Service | University System of Georgia
>>
>> 2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 l Atlanta, GA 30341
>>
>> (404) 235-7138 | tmccanna at georgialibraries.org
>>
>> http://help.georgialibraries.org | help at georgialibraries.org
>>
>> <https://www.facebook.com/georgialibraries>
>> <https://www.twitter.com/georgialibs>
>> <https://www.instagram.com/georgialibraries/>
>> <https://www.twitter.com/georgialibs>
>>
>> Join our email list <http://georgialibraries.org> for stories of Georgia
>> libraries making an impact in our communities.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 27, 2021 at 10:03 AM Cerninakova Eva <cernin at jabok.cz> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Terran,
>>>
>>> thank you very much. PINES documentation is a very useful source of
>>> information because, in addition to the manuals for working with Evergreen,
>>> it also contains several scenarios how the issue could be dealt with. When
>>> thinking about various workflow options, it is very inspiring and helpful ☺.
>>>
>>> However, I would like to ask you about some  details:
>>>
>>> In the documentation  (in the section  describing how to manage deposit
>>> with Evergreen
>>> <https://pines.georgialibraries.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=circ:bills:deposits#managing_deposits_with_evergreen>),
>>> the following instructions are given:
>>> "On the Bills > History screen, click Add Billing. Choose Billing Type
>>> of “Refund: Deposit Item Returned” with an amount of zero (0)'"
>>> However, I don't  see a Billing type "Refund: Deposit Item Returned" in
>>> our system. I suppose it is because it's not a billing type available in
>>> Evergreen by default  (i.e. this billing type has been set manually on your
>>> system). Am I right?
>>> And am I right to think  that this procedure only serves to indicate
>>> that the deposit has been refunded to the patron, but  the refunded amount
>>> will not be reflected in the staff client Cash reports or in cash payments
>>> report outputs?
>>>
>>> Thank you in advance for additional explanation.
>>>
>>> Eva
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mgr. Eva Cerniňáková
>>>
>>> vedoucí Knihovny Jabok
>>>
>>> Jabok - Vyšší odborná škola sociálně pedagogická a teologická
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> +420 211 222 409 <+420+211+222+413>
>>>
>>> cernin at jabok.cz <propagace at jabok.cz>
>>>
>>> knihovna.jabok.cz <https://www.jabok.cz>
>>>
>>> Salmovská 8, Praha 2, 120 00
>>>
>>>
>>> [image: facebook] <https://www.instagram.com/vosjabok/?hl=cs>   [image:
>>> instagram] <https://www.facebook.com/vosjabok/>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> út 26. 1. 2021 v 18:29 odesílatel Terran McCanna <
>>> tmccanna at georgialibraries.org> napsal:
>>>
>>>> Hi Eva,
>>>>
>>>> There may be better ways to do this, but this is what our libraries are
>>>> doing:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://pines.georgialibraries.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=circ:bills:deposits#managing_deposits_with_evergreen
>>>>
>>>> I hope that helps,
>>>> Terran
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Terran McCanna, PINES Program Manager
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Georgia Public Library Service | University System of Georgia
>>>>
>>>> 2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 l Atlanta, GA 30341
>>>>
>>>> (404) 235-7138 | tmccanna at georgialibraries.org
>>>>
>>>> http://help.georgialibraries.org | help at georgialibraries.org
>>>>
>>>> <https://www.facebook.com/georgialibraries>
>>>> <https://www.twitter.com/georgialibs>
>>>> <https://www.instagram.com/georgialibraries/>
>>>> <https://www.twitter.com/georgialibs>
>>>>
>>>> Join our email list <http://georgialibraries.org> for stories of
>>>> Georgia libraries making an impact in our communities.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Jan 25, 2021 at 1:02 PM Cerninakova Eva <cernin at jabok.cz>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder whether there is a possibility to add a negative billing to a
>>>>> deposit fee that has been previously charged and paid?
>>>>>
>>>>> We are about to start borrowing tablets in our library, and we want
>>>>> patrons to pay a small refundable deposit when a tablet is being  checked
>>>>> out and refund it at check in. I am currently trying to make up checkout
>>>>> and check in procedures. However, I am not sure how to refund a deposit.
>>>>> When the item has been checked in, and I try to add a negative bill to a
>>>>> transaction related to the paid deposit fee in the patron  billing history,
>>>>> Evergreen displays a warning that the *amount must be greater than or
>>>>> equal to 0*.
>>>>> Could this be  caused by a setting in our Evergreen installation? Or
>>>>> is it a general Evergreen feature?
>>>>>
>>>>> If the second option is true and adding a bill with a negative
>>>>> amount is not possible to use in Evergreen to refund a deposit, what
>>>>> procedures do you use in your libraries to refund a deposit payment?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks a lot for your help.
>>>>>
>>>>> Eva
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Mgr. Eva Cerniňáková
>>>>>
>>>>> vedoucí Knihovny Jabok
>>>>>
>>>>> Jabok - Vyšší odborná škola sociálně pedagogická a teologická
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> +420 211 222 409 <+420+211+222+413>
>>>>>
>>>>> cernin at jabok.cz <propagace at jabok.cz>
>>>>>
>>>>> knihovna.jabok.cz <https://www.jabok.cz>
>>>>>
>>>>> Salmovská 8, Praha 2, 120 00
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> [image: facebook] <https://www.instagram.com/vosjabok/?hl=cs>   [image:
>>>>> instagram] <https://www.facebook.com/vosjabok/>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Evergreen-general mailing list
>>>>> Evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org
>>>>>
>>>>> http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/evergreen-general
>>>>>
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