Click for Index

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.
  1. 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:
    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. PRICE_RULE This value tells the program how to calculate the add-on fee. There are several valid settings:

    1. %

      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.

    2. 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.

    3. $

      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.

    4. 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.

  4. 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

  5. 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.
  1. In the TranCodes table for the Tran_Code MAPS, locate the field called auto_tran_code. Set this value to ADDTAX.

  2. In the AutoTrans table, create a record and set the auto_tran_code field to ADDTAX

  3. Set the tran_code field to SALESTAX. This is the tran_code of the item that will be added to the receipt.

  4. Set the rule_code field to % . This is the rule used to determine how to calculate the add-on fee.

  5. 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.
  1. 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.
  2. In the Auto_Transactions table, create a record and set the auto_tran_code field to TAXINC
  3. Set the tran_code field value to SALESTAX. This is the tran_code of the item that will be added to the receipt.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  1. In the Transaction Codes table for the tran_code FEE1, locate the field called auto_tran_code. Set this value to SPLIT-FEE1.
  2. In the AutoTrans table create the first split definition record and set the auto_tran_code field to SPLIT-Fee1
  3. Set the tran_code field to FEE1. This is the tran_code of the first item that will be added to the receipt.
  4. Set the rule_code field to S . This is the rule used to determine how to calculate the add-on fee.

  5. Set the amount_rule_rate to the percentage of the split, e.g., .70 for 70%.
  6. In the Auto_Transactions table, create a second split definition record and set the auto_tran_code field to split-fee1
  7. Set the tran_code field to fee2. This is the tran_code of the 2nd item that will be added to the receipt.
  8. Set the rule_code field to S . This is the rule used to determine how to calculate the add-on fee.
  9. 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.