Section 11
Auto Transactions Table
The auto trans table permits you to define one or more transaction types
that will
cause additional line items to be added to your receipt. For example, if
you have a
fee for photocopies, and these are subject to sales tax, you can define
a automatic
transaction to add sales tax to the receipt, using a specific
transaction code and
tax rate.
You can define the tax rules so that tax is added on to the base fee or
included in
the total fee (e.g., an item sold for a fixed price which includes the
sales tax in
the price).
You can also define
SPLIT rules. These
permit you to
process a transaction for a certain amount, and to have that transaction
split into
2 or more additional line items on a percentage basis. For example, you
could have
a 3 way split defined, wherein the first item on the receipt gets 50% of
the fee,
and the remaining two items get 25% each. To use the
SPLIT option, your record key must start
with the letters
SPLIT, followed by a rule number or
name...e.g.,
SPLIT-01, or
SPLIT-PT,
or whatever has meaning to you.
In this table, you
must have at least two
SPLIT-xx rules
defined for a
percentage distribution like this to work properly.
Following a definition of each field, an example of setting up this sort
of
transaction is provided.
-
AUTO_TRAN_CODE
This is the NAME of the automatic transaction. It links directly to the
auto_tran_code value in the trancodes table.
When a transaction is processed, the program checks the
auto_tran_code value in the
trancodes table to see if there are any
matching records in the
autotrans table. If there are, the program adds a line
item to the receipt for each record it finds in the table,
using the tran_code and price_rule defined on each such
record.
Please note that you can share a single auto_tran_code key across several
tran_codes in the TranCode table
Table. For example, you might have 10 different tran_codes that
need to have a standard sales tax rate added to them when they are processed. In such a case, each one
of these records in the trancodes table
could be table linked to the same auto_tran_code.
Likewise, you might have SEVERAL fees that need to be added on
to a transaction. Simply create multiple records in the Auto Transactions table
using the SAME auto_tran_code,
value.
There are a rules that have special meaning. These are
listed below:
-
SPLITxxxxx
- used for transactions where the fee is split across
several accounts. You can define different SPLIT rules by including a suffix
following the first portion of the key value, which must be SPLIT.
-
ADDTAX-xx
- used for transactions where sales tax is to be added
on or included in
the amount. If it is to be added on the fee-rule-code
must be %. If it is to be
included in the amount the
fee-rule-code must be I.
-
FIXBALxxxxx
This works similar to the
SPLIT mode, except that
the total amount
allocated is automatically adjusted to allocate a
specific total amount by
adjusting the last item up or down in an amount
necessary to cause the
total allocated to equal the total amount desired.
This amount is entered
by the user as the transaction amount on the line
item entry screen.
-
TRAN_CODE
This the transaction code for the line item to be added. It must
be
tran_code present in the
trancodes table for it
to be processed correctly.
-
PRICE_RULE
This value tells the program how to calculate the add-on fee.
There are several valid settings:
-
%
When this setting is used, the base fee (entered on the transaction entry screen) is used as the
basis for determining the amount of the fee for the added-on amount. For example, if you sell a
map for $5.00, and want to calculate 8% tax on it, for a total of $5.40, then you would use the
% rule.
-
I
When this setting is use, the base fee is interpreted as the TOTAL FEE, and the tax rate is used
to compute a new BASE FEE by backing out the tax first, then adjusting the new base fee.
-
$
When this rule is used, the amount listed in the fee_amount_rate field
is treated as a fixed fee amount. Use this rule when you have a fixed fee surcharge - e.g., a
$2.00 late fee or other penalty that is not calculated as a percentage of the original base fee.
This may be used for handing situations in which you have several fees that go together, (e.g.,
a new account setup fee, might include, a $50 deposit, a $10 connect fee, and a $20 credit check
fee.
-
S
When this rule is used, the amount listed in the fee_amount_rate field
is treated as a percentage rate. This is used for SPLIT type transactions where the base fee
entered on the entry screen for the FIRST item in the transaction is used for calculating the
amount times the percentage defined for the line.
All other codes are treated as simple add-on type transactions. The additional codes defined are
added to the base fee entered on the transaction entry screen in either a %
(percent) mode or $ (fixed dollar) mode.
-
FEE_AMOUNT_RATE
This is the percentage rate or fixed fee dollar amount that will be used to calculate the add-on fee.
For percentages, use .08 to represent 8%. For dollar values, you can enter
50 for $50.00. If there are fractional dollars involved, you must put in the
decimal, e.g., $50.25 would be entered as 50.25
-
SEQUENCE_NUM
This is order in which you want to the calculations to be performed. These can be whole numbers (e.g.,
1, 2, 3,
4) or decimal values (e.g., 1.1,
1.2, 1.3) or a combination of both. When the program
retrieves the records for the items in the table that match your auto_tran_code
value, they will be retrieved in ascending sequence by the sequence_num field
value.
Example 1 - Add on Sales Taxes
Here is a specific example on how to create an automatic transaction to calculate sales tax. Suppose you have
two transaction codes (
MAPS, and
SALESTAX) and you want to
automatically add
SALESTAX charge to transactions that are posted for the
MAPS Tran_Code. Here are the steps to set up this calculation.
-
In the TranCodes table for the Tran_Code
MAPS, locate the field called auto_tran_code.
Set this value to ADDTAX.
-
In the AutoTrans table, create a record and set the
auto_tran_code field to ADDTAX
-
Set the tran_code field to SALESTAX. This is the tran_code of the item that will be added to the receipt.
-
Set the rule_code field to % . This is the rule used to
determine how to calculate the add-on fee.
-
Set the
amount_rule_rate
to the tax rate, e.g.,
.08 for 8%,
.075
for 7.5%, etc.
Once you set up the
ADDTAX entries this can be used for any
tran_code.
If the sales tax must be accounted for by department you can create multiple
SALESTAX tran codes (one for each fund or department) and multiple
ADDTAX
entries
(e.g.,
ADDTAX-01,
ADDTAX-02,
ADDTAX-03) to
permit
the proper sales tax account to be used.
Example 2 - Tax Include Type Sales Taxes
Here is a specific example on how to create an automatic transaction to calculate sales tax where the tax amount
is included in the total fee, as opposed to being added on the base fee. The total fee can be a preset or fixed
price transaction amount, ( or quantity based, etc.), or it can be entered at the time of the receipt by the
cashier. Suppose you are selling a copy of a public document and you want to have the TOTAL price be a nice
round number such as $20.00, and that this amount includes the sales tax.
The
tran_codes might be
ORDINANCE", and
SALESTAX.
Here
are the steps to set up this calculation.
-
In the Transaction Codes table
for the
Tran_CodeORDINANCE,
locate the field called
auto_tran_code. Set this value to
TAXINC. The first three letters
(TAX) plus the rule
code
(I) will tell the system to
include the tax as opposed to adding it on.
-
In the Auto_Transactions table, create a record and set the
auto_tran_code field to TAXINC
-
Set the tran_code field value to SALESTAX. This is the
tran_code of the item that will be added to the receipt.
-
Set the rule_code field value to I . This is the rule
used to determine how to calculate the add-on fee. It must be I for "included"
type tax calculations.
-
Set the amount_rule_rate value to the tax rate, e.g.,
.08 for 8%, .075 for 7.5%, etc.
Once you set up the
TAXINC
autotrans
table
entries this can be reused for many individual
Tran_Codes. If the sales tax must be
accounted for separately (by
department for example) you might need to create multiple
SALESTAX Tran_Codes
(one for each
fund or department) and multiple TAXINC entries (e.g.,
TAXINC-01,
TAXINC-02,
TAXINC-03) to permit the proper sales tax
account to
be used.
Example 3 - A split type transaction
Here is a specific example on how to create an automatic transaction to
calculate splits. Suppose you have two transaction codes
(
FEE1, and
FEE2).
When you process a fee for the
FEE1tran_code,
you want 70% of the total fee to go to the account associated with the
FEE1
tran code, and 30% of the total fee to go to the
FEE2.
Here are the steps to set up this calculation.
-
In the Transaction Codes table
for the
tran_code
FEE1, locate the field called
auto_tran_code.
Set
this value to SPLIT-FEE1.
-
In the AutoTrans table create the first split
definition record and set the auto_tran_code field to
SPLIT-Fee1
-
Set the tran_code field to FEE1.
This is the tran_code of the first item
that will be added to the receipt.
-
Set the rule_code field to S .
This is the rule used to determine how to calculate the add-on fee.
-
Set the amount_rule_rate to the
percentage of the split, e.g.,
.70 for 70%.
-
In the Auto_Transactions table, create a second split definition record and set the
auto_tran_code field to split-fee1
-
Set the tran_code field to fee2.
This is the tran_code of the 2nd item that will be added to
the receipt.
-
Set the rule_code field to S . This is the rule used to
determine how to calculate the
add-on fee.
-
Set the amount_rule_rate to the
percentage of the split, e.g.,
.30 for 30%.
When you process the
FEE1Tran_Code, it will see the SPLIT-DEV
rule, and retrieve the
SPLIT-fee1 rules (2 of them) from the table. This will then cause
the base fee amount you enter on the line item entry screen to be split into two lines, one for 70%, and the
other for the 30% portion.