There are at least three key approaches that are often utilized when configuring registration for an organization; there is currently not a universally accepted best-practice here as it differs significantly depending on the unique requirements of each organization and the modules that have been licensed.
These approaches relate to the typical scenario where you wish to charge your customers the total amount upfront for the registration of an event.
You may decide to have the registration orders automatically assigned to a "100% Upfront" payment plan and invoice the first step of the invoice on the same day (or when required), to not use a payment plan and raise the final invoice on the same day (or when required), or to not use a payment plan and raise the final invoice after the event takes place.
Note – whether or not you decide to use a default payment plan, it will look the same to the online user registering for the event, and they will still be charged the full amount upfront. Please see below for an overview of these key approaches and considerations for each.
1. Have the registration orders automatically assigned to a "100% Upfront" payment plan and invoice the first step of the invoice on the same day (or when required)
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This is the more common approach.
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This will allow you to recognize the revenue immediately in a deferred income account, to allow you to produce accurate financial reports at any time.
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The bill-to account can have an invoice sent to them with the remittance advice at the same day as registering for the event (or when the invoice is raised in the system).
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This will allow the editing of registration orders, cancellations (with or without cancellation fees), and substitutions in the lead up the event (until the final invoice is raised), hence this is a very flexible approach.
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One disadvantage of this is that it may be perceived as being more complicated, as you would be using the Payment Plan Invoicing screen to raise the deposit invoices, and on completion of the event, the registration orders will need to be completed and closed before the final invoices can then be raised (and in most cases not actually sent to the registrants if they are for $0).
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To ensure there is no confusion for your registrants, you may need to make some minor modifications to your invoice reports to exclude any mention of a payment plan if it is present.
2. Not using a payment plan but still raise the invoices on the same day (or when required)
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This approach will allow you to recognize the revenue immediately in the actual revenue GL accounts.
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The bill-to account can have an invoice sent to them with the remittance advice at the same day as registering for the event (or when the invoice is raised in the system).
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This will mean that you will be able to simply use the Registration Orders screen to raise invoices for orders that are added to the system, and there should be no need to raise a ‘final’ invoice after the event.
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This approach will not allow the editing of registration orders, cancellations (with or without cancellation fees), and substitutions in the lead up the event. Any changes/cancellations will need to be performed manually by either voiding the invoice or raising a credit note. If voiding invoices isn’t a problem at your organization (which it typically is), then this might not be much of a problem as it is a fairly quick process.
3. Not using a payment plan and raising invoices after the event
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This will allow the editing of registration orders, cancellations (with or without cancellation fees), and substitutions in the lead up the event (until the invoice is raised), hence this is a very flexible approach.
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This will mean that you will be able to simply use the Registration Orders screen to raise invoices for all orders after the event has been held.
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Fake invoice/order confirmation
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The bill-to account will not have an actual invoice sent to them at the same day as registering for the event, although to accommodate this requirement the Registration Order Confirmation can be sent to them, or a report can be automatically attached to their registration order confirmation email. These reports can be made to look like an actual invoice for the customer through customization.
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The revenue will not be automatically recognized in the software (or your third party financial system) until the event has been held and the invoice has been raised. This can pose a problem if you are receiving registration orders for an event months in advance, as you will not have an accurate picture in your financial reporting.
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