TOP OF HELP DOCUMENTATION

Financial Admins and Liaisons

Academic Outreach and Entrepreneurship (AOE)

REPORTER Business Practices & Processes

Last Updated 10/1/21

Written:September 27, 2016; Revised: November 30, 2016, March 23, 2017, June 2, 2017

Table of Contents

About REPORTER

REPORTER Business Services

REPORTER Business Services Contact & Support

Academic Outreach & Entrepreneurship Business Office

REPORTER Support Structure

College/Division Business Office

Segregation of Duties

REPORTER Business Process & Procedure Standards:

REPORTER Nelnet Merchant Services

Merchant Account

Merchant Credit Card Fees

POS Terminal

REPORTER Charge Model

Setting Up Chartfield Information

REPORTER Sample Registration Cancellation and Payment Policies

Cancellation

Transfer

Substitution

Adverse Weather

Payment - Other than Online Courses

Payment - Online Courses

Online Course Cancellation

REPORTER Recommended Registration Refund Policies

Classroom Course Refund Policy

Online Course Refund Policy

Refund Process Times

Setting up Pricing Information

Setting up Discounts Table

Accepting Payments & Posting in REPORTER

Administrative Payments - How it Works

Check

Wire Transfer

Interdepartmental Sales Transaction (IDS)

Internal Payment Guide

About Interdepartmental Sales Transactions

Enable Internal Payments

Pay Now with an NC State Project ID

Pay Later with a Project ID

Posting an IDS

Cash

Credit Card

Policies and Procedures for Maintaining Compliance

Online

POS Terminal

NelNet Correction

Refunds

Pending Refunds - Drop Requests

Refund History (Drops & Overpayments)

Refunds - Overpaid Orders

Refunds - Customer Requests and Adjustments / VOIDS

Processing Refunds - AOE Business Office

REPORTER Reconciliation

Reconciliation - Business Unit

Revenue - Daily/Weekly

Invalid Order Numbers - Daily/Weekly

Orders Not Paid - Aging Analysis - weekly/monthly

Discounts Analysis

Affiliate/Group  Registrations Payments

Reporting - weekly/monthly

Reconciliation - AOE Business Office

REPORTER Revenue Clearing Account

Orphan Transactions

Chargebacks, Disputes & Other Reversals

CONTROLLER’S OFFICE CASH DISTRIBUTION

REPORTER Financials Export Instructions

Financial File Information

Button Description on the Export Page

Data Grid Information

Export Steps

REPORTER FINANCES TAB

Orders

Refunds

Pending Refunds & Overpaid Orders

History

Orders Not Paid

Invalid Orders

Invalid Order Numbers

Reconciled Overpayment Orders

Cancelled Orders

All Orders

REPORTER FINANCIAL REPORTS

Revenue

Registrations

Transactions Details

Financials View

Past Refunds

Discount Report

Orders Not Paid

Cancelled Orders

Invalid Orders

REPORTER System Billing Report

Enrollment History Report

OTHER REPORTS

REPORTER ROLES & ACCESS

Financial Roles Access

Other Roles Access

About REPORTER

REPORTER  is a cross university solution for tracking, managing, and reporting non-degree credit activities. It allows groups, such as those in external outreach and required training, to measure their impact across the university and beyond.

Participants can use REPORTER to view and register for non-degree courses or events at NC State, and maintain a history of the courses they have taken.

REPORTER Business Services

(Click to view the REPORTER Business Services Model)

Academic Outreach and Entrepreneurship (AOE) Business Operations will provide general business services in support of the REPORTER registration system. These services include client billing for use of registration system, refund processing, general overall reporting of system business activities, requests for REPORTER financial access, College/Division Business Officer training, and business unit onboarding.

AOE’s REPORTER business services will build and maintain customer satisfaction to the highest standard, focusing on units’ business results:

• Approaching all situations with honesty and integrity
• Exploring options when unable to deliver a requested service
• Providing business units with status reports and solution progress updates
• Quickly and effectively solving customer problems

REPORTER Business Services Contact & Support

1. Academic Outreach & Entrepreneurship Business Office

REPORTERbusinessservices@ncsu.edu 

Voice: 919.515.4362

• Department Business Units are the first point of contact for all client questions and participant relations.
• AOE Business Office provides REPORTER business unit support services only:

• General transactional and business questions related to the registration system
• Refunds and refunds processing
• POS Terminal use requests for REPORTER registrations
• Credit card company inquiries
• System usage billing
• REPORTER Financial role access
• Questions concerning product features and business unit practices
• College/Division Business Officer training and support
• Coordinating with NC State’s Help Desk, assist business users with reporting requests and registration questions
• Business unit onboarding 
• Contribute to REPORTER Help and Community  website, Community The site is a news, information, and collaboration portal for the platform's stakeholders throughout NC State University

2. REPORTER Support Structure

3. College/Division Business Office

Business units onboarded, or thinking of onboarding, to REPORTER for their non-credit registrations should discuss their business processes and practices and REPORTER’s functionality with their college or division business office.  AOE Business Services will then work with both the business unit and college or division business office through the onboarding process.  Units may find that their business practices may need to be refreshed and processes and procedures standardized to ensure practices are efficient and effective and mitigate risk.  

Segregation of Duties

Business units handling credit or debit card transactions must segregate, to the extent possible, all duties related to data processing and storage of credit card information. A system of checks and balances should be put in place in which tasks are performed by different individuals in order to assure adequate controls.

1. One person cannot hold all these positions:

1. User access to REPORTER storefront to set up and approve course/instance cancellation and refund policies, chartfield information, discounts and course price (Department Business Officer (4-digit OUC level); REPORTER ROLE: FINANCIAL ADMIN)
2. User processing orders (takes payments):  Department Account Technician (4-digit OUC level); REPORTER ROLE: FINANCIAL ADMIN
3. User requests dropped course/event refunds: Department Account Technician (4-digit OUC level); REPORTER ROLE: FINANCIAL ADMIN or Course Administrator (4-digit OUC level); REPORTER ROLE: Course Administrator/Program Administrator
4. User authorizes overpayment refunds requests: Department Business Officer (4-digit OUC level); REPORTER ROLE: FINANCIAL ADMIN
5. User processing refunds: This role is managed by the AOE Business Office; REPORTER ROLE: FINANCIAL LIAISON
6. Reconciles REPORTER reports with WRS:

1. Payments and refunds processed in REPORTER:  Department Account Technician and Department Business Officer reviews
2. Approves journal for reconciliation to post to financials: College Business Office; REPORTER ROLE: College Division Business Officer
3. AOE manages the REPORTER Revenue Clearing Project (994005) for all non-credit registration revenue. This will include all unidentified checks for registrations and credit card receipts. Each month the revenues will be moved to the appropriate projects throughout campus (or active campus REPORTER clients). REPORTER only uses a single merchant ID for credit card transactions.
4. AOE manages the REPORTER Merchant Fees Clearing Project (385756). Merchant fees/banking fees are billed separately and will be charged to campus departments to cover the cost of electronic payment process.  This clearing account will be managed by AOE for incoming transaction maintenance and other related fees and charges associated with REPORTER activities.  RCF Sub

2. Business units may combine the following roles:

1. REPORTER storefront access
2. REPORTER processing orders  
3. REPORTER refunds processing is managed by the AOE Business Office

REPORTER Business Process & Procedure Standards:

1. REPORTER Nelnet Merchant Services

REPORTER uses a secure eCommerce solution for accepting credit payments online

1. Merchant Account

1. NCSU REPORTER REGISTRN  
2. If the business unit charges for participation, the unit must use REPORTER’s Merchant ID to accept credit card payments

2. Merchant Credit Card Fees

1. Business units are responsible for merchant credit card fees. 
2. AOE Business Services will distribute associated credit card fees to the business unit upon completion of monthly reconciliation of the REPORTER merchant fee clearing account
3. If payment plans are accepted practice, understand that this practice may increase merchant fees assessed
4. AOE Business Office will charge Business Units a 3% flat rate per transaction, consistent with NC State Controller’s Office credit card fee charge.

3. POS Terminal

1. REPORTER’s Merchant ID is used for all registrations processed through the REPORTER application so the use of point of sale terminals for REPORTER registrations is highly discouraged.  However, with permission from the AOE Business Office and University Controller’s Office, a unit may retain or purchase/rent a POS Terminal for this purpose.
2. If the use of a POS Terminal is approved, the business unit will need to request a POS Terminal  through NC State merchant services and incorporate the associated rental and/or purchase of the equipment.  
3. The POS Terminal approved and designated for REPORTER use and using REPORTER’s Merchant ID must be separate from any other POS Terminal(s) the business unit may have.
4. REPORTER’s Merchant ID must be used to process payment for REPORTER registrations.
5. Refunds associated with REPORTER registrations as a result of transactions processed via the POS Terminal must still be processed by the AOE Business Office.

2. REPORTER Charge Model

The REPORTER costing model is 5% of course/instance price, with a cap of $2.00. If the course price is under $40 then the charge is 5% of the course/instance price.  If the course price is over $40 then the charge is $2.00.   The fee will multiplied by the unique number of transactions that occurred for each event.  Billings will be the totals from the previous month’s activities.

3. Setting Up Chartfield Information

1. If your program charges participants for registration or events, then Chartfield information needs to be established in REPORTER by 4 digit OUC before this information can be associated with a given course/instance and/or event.
2. Always confer with your division business office to ensure you setup and select the appropriate project IDs and revenue account codes to manage your receipts. As a rule:

1. For registrations:

1. For upper ledger 3 projects,  use 40510 for registration purposes
2. For registrations for state appropriated receipts, use 40131

2. For conference sponsorships:

1. upper ledger 3 conference sponsorship's, use 40399
2. ledger 7 sponsored funds, use 40269

3. The  unit Financial Administrator or Financial Liaison will navigate to Course Management, Setup, Department Setup:

4. Searching by 4 digit OUC, select your unit and click “Project Information”

5. Enter in the Project ID and Phase (if appropriate) for the selected 4 digit OUC where registration receipts will be posted

.

6. Here is an example of a cost center that has elected to have:

1. Course registration fees - 303701, revenue account code 40131
2. Specific registration fees for their upcoming mfgCON2016 conference - 303701-00016, revenue account 40510.  The 00016 phase allows the unit to track receipts specifically for this particular event.

3. Event/conference sponsorships for the upcoming mfgCON2016 conference:                        

Special Note:  If the project ID for the sponsorship(s) is under a different 4 digit OUC than the Registrations project ID OUC:

• The OUC managing the sponsorship needs to be set up
• The event’s conference and sponsorship should be created as a Course for the Registration and another Course for the Sponsorship.

4. REPORTER Sample Registration Cancellation and Payment Policies

REPORTER documents that the credit cardholder is aware of, and agrees to, your refund and cancellation policies in the shopping cart, as part of the checking out process.  Accepting credit card payments is a convenient form of payment, not a guaranteed form of payment, so the rules and regulations are written in favor of the cardholders.  Therefore, it is very important to protect the University and your department’s interests with these best practices.

Below are registration cancellation best practices for  REPORTER.  Review your unit’s business processes and determine if it aligns with these established policies.

8. Cancellation

1. Cancellations more than 10 business days (minimum 2 weeks) of a course/conference are subject to a $25 cancellation fee.
2. Cancellations within 10 business days (minimum 2 weeks) of a course are subject to a $50 cancellation fee.
3. Cancellations on or after the course/conference start date will receive no refund of the registration fee.
4. Business unit reserves the right to cancel any courses/conferences for reasons such as instructor illness, adverse weather or low enrollment, with no cancellation fee to be incurred by the participants.

9. Transfer

1. There are no fees associated with transfers of a participant between class offerings more than 10 business days before a class, unless more than two course transfers have been made to a single registration.
2. A $25 Course Change fee will be incurred if a transfer is done in 10 business days or less before the start of a class or if more than 2 transfers for the same registration have occurred.

10. Substitution

1. Substitutions of one participant to another participant cannot be made to a course/conference registration. Participants will need to drop the original registration and re-enroll with the new attendee.

11. Adverse Weather

1. During adverse weather events and other emergency conditions when the University’s schedule is altered, course participants will be notified by their instructor or the [Business Unit] Registration Coordinator of any change to the course schedule.
2. The safety of our course participants is extremely important to [Business Unit].  If a participant misses any portion of a course due to hazardous travel or other emergency conditions, the instructor will work with the participant to cover the missed material if possible, or a course transfer can be made with no additional fee.

12. Payment - Other than Online Courses

1. All registration fees must be paid in full prior to the start of a class/conference.
2. Online Credit Card and on site check payments will be accepted 
3. The “Pay Later” option has a 10 business day payment deadline for courses/conferences starting more than 10 business days out. This option should only be used when this 10 business day payment deadline can be met. If a registration is not paid within 10 business days, the registration will be cancelled.
4. If the course/conference start day is less than 10 business days out, it is recommended that registrations be paid by credit card online (if seats are still available). Contact the registration coordinator with questions at [business unit registration coordinator email address].

13. Payment - Online Courses

1. All registration fees must be paid in full prior to being able to access a class.
2. Credit Card and on site check payments will be accepted.
3. The “Pay Later” option has a 10 business day payment deadline. This option should only be used when this 10 business day payment deadline can be met. If a registration is not paid within 10 business days, the registration will be cancelled.  The participant will receive access to the course once fully paid.
4. Contact the registration coordinator with questions at [business office registration coordinator email address].

14. Online Course Cancellation

1. There is no refund of course/conference fees if a participant has accessed the course material in the learning management system.

5. REPORTER Recommended Registration Refund Policies

The below are registration refund best practices for  REPORTER.  Review your unit’s business processes and determine if they  align with these established policies.

15. Classroom Course Refund Policy

1. Cancellations more than 10 business days (minimum 2 weeks) of a course are subject to a $25 cancellation fee which will be deducted from amount refunded.
2. Cancellations within 10 business days (minimum 2 weeks) of a course are subject to a $50 cancellation fee which will be deducted from amount refunded.
3. Cancellations on or after the course start date will receive no refund of the registration fee.
4. No Shows will receive no refund of course fees.

16. Online Course Refund Policy

1. If the course material has not been accessed by the participant, a full refund can be processed.

17. Refund Process Times

1. Credit Card refunds can take up to 48 business hours to be processed and will be processed back to the card from the original authorization.
2. Check refunds can take up to 2 weeks to be processed and will be cut and mailed back to the organization or person from which the check originally came.  

6. Setting up Pricing Information

1. The department business officer will consult with the course or program director to determine the best price point for each course and associated instances.  After budgets are prepared and approved, the Department Account Technician and/or the Department Business Officer may enter course price information in REPORTER.  Course Administrators will then have the course prices available to them to select in the Course Create/Modify modules.  
2. Ensure you use a standard naming convention, as approved during the onboarding process
3. Navigate to Course Management, Setup, Department Setup, select your 4 digit OUC and select Pricing
   

7. Setting up Discounts Table

1. The department business officer will consult with the course or program director to determine what discounts should be made available and used for each course/instance/event.  After budgets are prepared and approved, the Department Account Technician and/or the Department Business Officer may enter the approved discounts  in REPORTER.  Course Administrators will then have the discounts available to them to select in the Course Create/Modify modules.
2. Ensure you use a standard naming convention, as approved during the onboarding process
3. Navigate to Course Management, Setup, Department Setup, select your 4 digit OUC and select Discount Manager:

8. Accepting Payments & Posting in REPORTER

• Business practices dictate accurate and timely payment processing and reconciliations
• Ensure your unit business practices are consistent with the below standards  
• As a security measure, REPORTER will not allow individuals to enter payment on their individual personal registration(s)
• Multiple and partial payments are accepted
• Group (administrative) payments are also accepted
• Recommended acceptable forms of payment through REPORTER:

• Online Credit Card
• Check
• IDS
• Wire Transfer

4. Administrative Payments - How it Works

1. If the Affiliate (a role assigned to external users who have permission to complete proxy registrations (team)) makes a partial payment; the payment will go to registrations with the closest start date first until the amount paid runs out
2. If there are multiple participants for the same class; payment will be applied alphabetically by last name until the funds run out
3. Multiple courses, payment is distributed by course by start date

5. Check

1. Before entering payment by check in REPORTER, follow the university’s check acceptance procedures to appropriately process and deposit payment(s) received by check.
2. Checks should be made out to, “NC State University [and the specific department]”
3. REPORTER standardized check payment entry

1. Select “Check” as the payment type
2. Enter the date the check was received
3. Enter the check number
4. Enter the payer’s name on the check
5. Enter payer’s address as such:  Street or PO Box, City, State, Zip Code
6. Enter amount of check (in USD), even if the amount is different than the amount owed for the order
7. Note in the comments any relevant information associated with this transaction that will be helpful for future audit review and reconciliation
8. You may also upload documents associated with this transaction in the Payment Summary section

6. Wire Transfer

1. The most efficient and cost-effective way to receive payments from foreign sources is by credit card or wire transfer
2. To arrange a foreign wire transfer, contact the Controller’s Office, Cash Management Services
3. There are no transaction fees associated with this type of funds transfer; the state of North Carolina pays the transaction fees
4. REPORTER standardized wire transfer payment entry

1. Select “Other” as the payment type
2. Enter the date the wire transfer was received
3. Enter the wire transfer/routing #
4. Enter amount of the transfer (in USD), even if the USD amount is different than the amount owed for the order
5. In the Comments Box:

1. Enter “Wire Transfer”
2. Enter the financial institution name on the transfer: example, Citibank, Denmark Branch
3. Enter Address: Vesterbrogade 1L, 5, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1620
4. SWIFT/BIC Code: example, CITIDKKX [enter the bank code, country code, location and branch codes].  These codes are unique identification codes for both financial and non-financial institutions
5. Add any relevant information associated with this transaction that will be helpful for future audit review and reconciliation.  
6. You may also upload documents associated with this transaction in the Payment Summary section

7. Interdepartmental Sales Transaction (IDS)

Internal Payment Guide

5. When completing a registration with a cost, you are now able to pay with an NC State Project ID (and phase if applicable) when checking out in the cart, and also as a Pay Later option.

About Interdepartmental Sales Transactions

6. Interdepartmental sales journals are used to record transactions between projects for internal sales and service activities.  For REPORTER, IDS are used to transfer payment for registrations for a campus unit to another campus that is conducting the course or event.
7. First, an order (registration) must be posted in REPORTER with Pay Later selected as the payment option, if the campus unit of the registered employee(s) is paying for the course or event.  
8. IDS’s are initiated through the IDT system outside of REPORTER. The department providing the course or event (service) starts the process by recording the necessary information for the charge including the project ID and account number for both sides of the transaction and explaining the charge (REPORTER registration).
9. The IDT system is OUC (Department ID) security-driven and provides for the customer department the ability to change the project ID and/or account numbers if necessary, and to either approve the transaction or recycle it back to the billing department. The OUC security used by the IDT system limits individual journal entries to only two OUCs; one for the billing department and the other for the customer department. Billings to multiple OUCs will require individual IDS entries for each customer department.
10. Once approved by the customer department, the entry is routed to University Accounting for review and approval to post. Entries requiring changes will not be changed by University Accounting, but instead be recycled to the billing department with notes as to the required change and will begin the approval process all over again. Once approved by both departments and University Accounting, the expense and revenue amounts associated with the entry are posted during the overnight batch processing.

11. IDT transactions are added to the SUB file every morning which is processed at approximately 10:00 AM. Files are subject to the Controller’s closeout schedules which could cause delays in processing times during month end or fiscal year end closeouts.

Enable Internal Payments

12. In Order to have access to have participants pay with an NC State Project ID (and phase if applicable), you must first obtain access from REPORTER’s business officer. (Please email Julie Talton at jwtalton@ncsu for information on obtaining access.) Once you have the Internal Payment option made available to your department, you can enable the ability to pay with an NC State Project ID in the Financial section of the Instance (in edit mode).

Pay Now with an NC State Project ID

13. To pay for a course in REPORTER with an NC State Project ID (and phase if applicable), you must select “I will pay now with an NC State Project ID” from the Payment Option Dropdown and click Checkout.

14. In your Cart Order Summary, you need to attest to supervisor approval to use a Project ID.  After entering the Project ID (and phase if applicable, a green checkbox will appear verifying that the ID is correct and will then list the name of the department associated with the ID.  Select Checkout to complete your registration and view your Order Summary.

Pay Later with a Project ID

15. Select “I will pay later” in the Payment Option dropdown, and then click Checkout to complete your registration and proceed to your Order Summary.

16. You will see a Notification on the Order Summary page stating that you still need to pay for the Course.

17. To pay for the course, you can either select My Orders from the My Account Dropdown to proceed to paying with the Project ID, OR you can click the Pay button that appears on your Dashboard Home page under Upcoming Courses.

18. Please attest that you have approval from you supervisor to use this Project ID by checking the Yes box. After you enter a valid Project ID (and phase if applicable), a green checkbox and the name of the department associated with the Project ID will appear.  Select “Pay with Project ID” and you will receive a confirmation of successful payment.

Posting an IDS

19. Once you have found the Order, the navigation is: Select the Order> View Details> View Payment Info>Select NC State Project ID from the Post Payment Dropdown

20. Enter the Project ID (with phase if applicable) and the amount, and click Save.  You may also add any comments pertaining to this payment.

8. Cash

1. Typically, cash is not an acceptable payment option; however, if your business unit does accept cash payment(s), then you must follow the university’s cash acceptance procedures to appropriately process and deposit payment(s) received by cash
2. Cash receipts must be officially recorded on a cash register, approved validating equipment, or in official prenumbered receipt books.
3. REPORTER standardized cash payment entry

1. Select “Other” as the payment type
2. Enter the date the cash was received
3. Enter the cash register transaction ID or receipt book #
4. Enter the name of the payer noted in the receipt book or cash register ID information
5. Enter payer’s address as such:  Street or PO Box, City, State, Zip Code
6. Enter amount of the cash, even if the amount is different than the amount owed for the order
7. In the Comments Box:

1. Enter “Cash” or “Cash Payment”
2. Enter name of payer as noted on cash receipt
3. Add any relevant information associated with this transaction that will be helpful for future audit review and reconciliation.  In this case, contact information would be helpful as well as the reasons why cash was accepted as a type of payment.  

8. You may also upload documents associated with this transaction in the Payment Summary section, such a copy of the cash receipt

9. Credit Card

In order to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), NC State University Credit Card Policies, as well as good business practices related to the handling of our customers' credit card information, the following have been established:

4. Policies and Procedures for Maintaining Compliance

1. Only trained, authorized personnel are allowed to transact/process credit card sales and payments
2. All authorized personnel must sign the Credit Card Security Agreement before working with cardholder data. The Agreement must be reviewed and signed annually
3. Unauthorized persons are not allowed unaccompanied access to areas where credit card data is stored or processed.  Ex: Maintenance and janitorial staff should not be permitted in secure areas unaccompanied
4. Credit card data will be treated as confidential. Cardholder data should not be left out on desks or in open areas when not needed. Even if leaving the desk for a short period, staff should keep material in a folder and lock the folder in the desk when they leave temporarily or lock their computer screen. 
5. Data that is not absolutely necessary in order to conduct business will not be retained in any format (e.g., paper or electronic). If absolutely necessary, data is collected and then immediately shredded in a cross cut shredder after the credit card transaction has been completed.   
6. Credit Card account numbers will be masked if and when displayed (i.e., no more than the first six and last four digits of the credit card numbers).  
7. Physical and virtual access to records will be restricted to staff with a "business-need-to-know".  Business unit staff with access to a POS terminal is limited to a “ business need to know” basis. 
8. Gift cards may not be used for payment
9. Declined Authorizations & Expired Credit Cards: If the customer’s credit card is declined; ask them to provide another form of payment
10. REPORTER uses a 3rd party payment provider

1. Business unit staff should not act as the customer and input their data for them.
2. If it is necessary to provide this service: transactions must be processed on a separate (isolated) payment terminal (reference the Offline section below)

5. Online

1. Credit Cards Accepted:

1. MasterCard
2. Visa
3. American Express
4. Discover Card

2. Participants register and then select Pay Now or Pay Later in their Shopping Cart
3. Payment is automatically posted to the order in REPORTER.  Reference the REGISTRATIONS - PAY LATER/PAY NOW PAYMENT - How it Works for more information and screenshots.

6. POS Terminal

1. Use of an approved POS Terminal for REPORTER registrations must have been requested and approved by the AOE Business Office and the University Controller’s Office.  
2. The use of a POS Terminal is to accept offline credit card payments for REPORTER application using REPORTER’S merchant ID.
3. REPORTER standardized POS Terminal payment entry

1. Select “POS Terminal” as the payment type
2. Enter the date the POS Terminal transaction was completed
3. Enter the POS Terminal authorization/sequence number
4. Enter the amount of transaction (in USD) and it should be exactly the amount owed on the order
5. Note in the comments any relevant information associated with this transaction that will be helpful for future audit review and reconciliation
6. You may also upload documents associated with this transaction in the Payment Summary section

7. NelNet Correction

1. Used for posting payments and refunds where NelNet returns an invalid order number during the Nelnet payment process
2. Before posting the payment in REPORTER, the invalid order must be reconciled.  The business unit must update the order number with the payment.  The participant is registered for the course; however, REPORTER is unable to match the order number to the payment.
3. Go to the Finances tab, Invalid Order Numbers tab

4. Search for the correct order number and post the payment as noted below:  
   REPORTER standardized NelNet Correction payment entry

1. Select “NelNet Correction” as the payment type
2. Enter the date the of the Nelnet transaction
3. Enter the Nelnet Transaction ID
4. Enter the amount of the transaction
   Note in the comments any relevant information associated with this reconciliation and transaction that will be helpful for future audit review and reconciliation
5. You may also upload documents associated with this transaction in the Payment Summary section
6. FINAL STEP:  Go to the Invalid Order Numbers tab and delete invalid order once reconciled.

FINAL STEP:  Go to the Invalid Order Numbers tab and delete invalid order(s)

once reconciled and payment posted

9. Refunds

Refunds can occur for various reasons such as when a registration is dropped where payment has already occurred or when an overpayment occurs.  All refunds, regardless of payment option, will be processed by the AOE Business Office based on  documentation received from the respective business office.

10. Pending Refunds - Drop Requests

1. Courses can be set up such that permission from the instructor is required in order for a participant to drop the course. This is indicated by the Course Admin  when creating the course. If someone attempts to drop a course that has this setting activated, a request is sent to the course admin for approval or denial.
2. Approved drop requests that require a refund are listed in the Finances Tab > Refunds > Pending Refunds.  Business units are able to download the Refund Summary sent to Participant to support reconciliation activities.
3. AOE Business Office will receive a notification that attention is required for a refund request that has been approved by the Course Administrator or Program Administrator.   The business unit financial admin is copied on this email communication.

4. Note:  Refunds resulting from an order overpayment are not listed in this tab.  Overpaid Orders are listed under the Invalid Orders, Overpaid Orders section

11. Refund History (Drops & Overpayments)

This tab contains a listing of all refunds resulting from approved drop requests processed and posted as processed in REPORTER along with a separate listing of refunded (reconciled) overpayments.  Business units are able to download the Refund Summary sent to Participant to support reconciliation activities

12. Refunds - Overpaid Orders

1. Refunds due to order overpayment.  All overpayments will be processed within 48 hours of receipt or by the next business day.
2. These refund requests do not require pre-approval by the course administrator for the AOE Business Office to process the refund.
3. Overpaid Orders are listed in the Finances Tab > Refunds  > Pending  
4. AOE Business Office will receive a notification that attention is required on an overpayment.   The business unit financial admin is copied on this email communication.

13. Refunds - Customer Requests and Adjustments / VOIDS

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1. Adjustment:  If after a customer pays for a registration and ask that they be refunded because they forgot to apply a discount or other reason, the proper process is to:

1. Have the customer drop the course in REPORTER
2. Process the refund request as noted below in Refunds - Approved Drops
3. Request the customer re-enroll with discount code applied in their shopping cart - please note that this may require the reactivation of a Discount Code if the code has expired.

2. VOID: A void occurs when a customer registers for a course and then, before the transaction hits the batch file for that night’s processing, the business unit  contacts Nelnet to void the transaction.  This is not an acceptable process.  Rather than trying to void the credit card payment, the proper process is to:

1. Have the  customer drop the course in REPORTER
2. Process the refund request as noted above in “Refunds - Approved Drops”
3. Note:  If the drop and the refund occur before end of business day’s batch, then the customer will not see the transaction in their monthly credit card statement
4. In REPORTER , we can still track the order, drop and refund transactions to audit the process.

15. Processing Refunds - AOE Business Office
    

1. Each business day, the Business Operations Assistant:

1. Reviews the REPORTER business services email account and sends refund overpayment  requests to the Assistant Vice Provost, Business Operations as primary for processing, the Business Operations Accountant as secondary if the primary is out of the office.
2. Sends an acknowledged receipt communication to the business office
3. Files the refund request in the appropriate email account folder

2. AOE Business Office reviews the request(s) for completeness and reconciles the refund request with REPORTER data
3. The AOE Business Office may require additional information or clarification and will follow up with the Department Fin Admin
4. All credit card refunds must be posted to the original card used for the sales transaction
5. REPORTER does not currently have the ability to apply more than one refund to an order. Until otherwise changed, please do not request multiple partial refunds
6. If the request is in order, AOE Business Office will process  the refund as payment was received or as appropriate if required:

1. Credit Card:

1. Credit card payments (both online and offline POS Terminals): AOE Business Office logs into QuikPay, from the REPORTER Refund Request screen; confirms the information is correct and if so processes the refund(s)
2. 90-Day Refund Time Period:  If a refund request is not requested within 90-day period then the refund will be processed with an Accounts Payable Voucher
3. Expired Credit Cards: If the original credit card has been expired, then we document the expiration and process the refund as Accounts Payable Voucher
4. Declined Authorization:  If the original credit card is declined then we document the declined authorization and process the refund as Accounts Payable Voucher
   

7. NelNet Correction for posting payments and refunds where NelNet returns an invalid order number
8. Check: Accounts Payable Voucher for payments by check

College of Engineering business units will process refunds that are required to be vouchered and provide refund information to AOE Business Office who will then update REPORTER with the transaction details

9. Other:

1. IDT reversal of registration payment for IDS transactions

College of Engineering business units will process refunds that require an IDT and provide refund information to AOE Business Office who will then update REPORTER with the transaction details

2. Accounts Payable Voucher for refunded wire transfers
3. Accounts Payable Voucher for refunded cash payments
4. Accounts Payable Voucher for 90 day refund time period
5. Accounts Payable Voucher for expired/declined credit cards

10. Once the refund(s) is processed, AOE Business Office updates REPORTER with the transactions:
11. Refunds - Approved Drops: REPORTER automatically removes these refunds from the Pending tab and posts them to the History, Orders, All Orders, and Financials Reports
12. Overpayment Orders Refunds:

1. These refunds must be manually posted in REPORTER.  Once these refunds are processed, the AOE Business Office will then post the refund to the individual order(s) in the Refunds  > Pending
2. Refunded and reconciled overpaid orders are then listed in the Refunds History tab and Financial Report.  The tab/report lists the Order Number, Total, Original Amount Paid, Refund, Refund Type, Processor, and Date Processed. Additionally, Refund Receipt may be downloaded for reconciliation purposes 

13. The AOE Business Office then sends an email to the business unit communicating that the requested refunds have been processed

7. REPORTER Reconciliation

1. Reconciliation - Business Unit

1. Revenue - Daily/Weekly

1. All credit and debit card terminals and web applications are closed out on a daily basis and reconciled on a daily basis.  The REPORTER POS Terminal is closed out daily at the end of the day.
2. Business Officer/Account Technician reconciles all transaction receipts and REPORTER payment postings, both processed and payment requests to ensure they are accounted for in the financial system and correctly posted in REPORTER
3. Reconciliation to PS Financials and REPORTER is completed on a daily/weekly basis by the Account Technician
4. Account Technician runs WRS for the current month activity, downloads revenue transactions, and sorts transactions that have not yet been reconciled
5. Account Technician runs the REPORTER Transaction Details Financial Report, downloads to Excel, and sorts transactions that have not been reconciled
6. Reconcile PS Financials receipts to REPORTER  transactions and compare completed transactions
7. After all the transactions have been printed and reconciled, go to REPORTER to post those transactions that have not posted in REPORTER (such as a check deposited but REPORTER order not updated with the payment.
8. Online credit card payments are auto-updated in REPORTER, matching payments to orders via order number and posting the Nelnet confirmation number and date paid to the REPORTER registration transaction.
9. Review monthly reports and supporting documents to ensure that all transactions are valid and posted
10. REPORTER feed to PeopleSoft Financials data fields. At this time we will not have a link to the REPORTER Order # image; however, we will begin development of this functionality. Details on the order’s receipts may be obtained in the REPORTER application.

HDRDESC (30 Characters) - REPORTER
REF (10 Characters) - REPORTER Order#
LINEDESC (30 Characters) - REPORTER CourseID:InstanceID

Example: RC04192016REPORTER 100000062 IES-OIT-478:000001

Example PeopleSoft Financials Transactions:

Credit Card Deposit Journal Voucher (CCJV):

dr.  994005  11100                             (cash)
cr.  994005  40131                              (REPORTER Transaction)

REPORTER Credit Journal Voucher (RCJV):

dr.  994005  40131                             (offset)
cr.  303701  40131                              (REPORTER Transaction)

Indirect Cash Entry (ICE) - to move the cash to the business unit once reconciled:

dr.  303701  11100                             (cash)
cr.  994005  11100                              (offset)

Note:  For a refund the entry should be a reverse of the above.

The journal source that will be used is I60.  The journal will require an Indirect Cash Entry (ICE), automated cash entry associated with the source, entered by the Controller's Office.

2. Invalid Order Numbers - Daily/Weekly

This section has two areas for the business units to reconcile issues from transactions processed through Nelnet.  Sometimes Nelnet may return an invalid order number for a payment during the Nelnet payment process.

11. Invalid Order Numbers:  Reconcile any payments where Nelnet returns an invalid order number during the payment process.  Follow instructions in the NelNet Correction section of this manual
12. Overpaid Orders:  Review overpaid orders and contact the AOE Business Office for reconciliation

3. Orders Not Paid - Aging Analysis - weekly/monthly

1. Collections for orders not paid are the responsibility of the Department business unit
2. Until an Aging Report is developed in this application, business units should run the Orders Not Paid report.  This report can be found in the Finance Tab and the Finance Reports
3. Navigation: Finance Tab > Orders Not Paid
4. Download the report to Excel and sort by date
5. Address all orders that have not been paid for more than 30 days if you have not set up your payment policy as recommended in the cancellation policies section of this manual.

4. Discounts Analysis

Units should run the Discounts Report and review respective orders to determine if 1) discounts are being used and their impact on the net profit/loss of the activity(s); and 2) REPORTER is properly calculating and applying discounts.

5. Affiliate/Group  Registrations Payments

Review Administrative Payments (group/proxy registration payments) to determine if payments have been applied correctly to each order and participant.

6. Reporting - weekly/monthly

1. See the “Financial Reports” section of this manual.  Reports should be run weekly and monthly, depending upon reporting requirements.  
2. Ensure that department leadership and staff receive timely and up to date reports on REPORTER activity:

1. The business unit Registration Coordinator reviews and provides clarification of financial information with Account Technician
2. The Registration Coordinator should also review payments and refunds and have access to reviews REPORTER financial reports.  
3. The Course Liaison and Program Liaison also have view access to the REPORTER financial reports and should coordinate with the Account Technician if they have questions.
4. Department Head/Program Director should receive monthly activity reports

2. Reconciliation - AOE Business Office

1. REPORTER Revenue Clearing Account

AOE manages the REPORTER Revenue Clearing Account (994005) for all non-credit registration revenue. This will include all unidentified checks for registrations and credit card receipts. Periodically, the revenues will be moved to the appropriate projects throughout campus (or active campus REPORTER clients). REPORTER only uses a single merchant ID for credit card transactions.

1. Example PeopleSoft Financials Transactions:

Credit Card Deposit Journal Voucher (CCJV):

dr.  994005  11100                             (cash)
cr.  994005  40131                              (REPORTER Transaction)

REPORTER Credit Journal Voucher (RCJV):

dr.  994005  40131                             (offset)
cr.  303701  40131                              (REPORTER Transaction)

Indirect Cash Entry (ICE) - to move the cash to the business unit once reconciled:

dr.  303701  11100                             (cash)
cr.  994005  11100                              (offset)

Note:  For a refund the entry should be a reverse of the above.

The journal source that will be used is I60.  The journal will require an Indirect Cash Entry (ICE), automated cash entry associated with the source, entered by the Controller's Office.

2. For Nelnet transactions, AOE will reconcile orphan and similar error types of transactions as well as refunds on a daily/weekly basis

1. Reconcile Nelnet’s report to WRS for refunds, orphaned and other similar type transactions
2. Review transactions to determine discrepancy and correct errors
3. Review monthly reports and supporting documents to ensure that all transactions are valid
4. The Controller’s Office will electronically upload REPORTER transactions where receipts have cleared the bank, posting the Bank Cleared (yes or no) and Bank Financial Reference number

2. Orphan Transactions

1. Business units must reconcile orphan transactions, running the REPORTER Invalid Orders Numbers and Overpayment Orders Reports and reconciling and correcting in the REPORTER system.  
2. AOE Business Office will monitor these transactions to ensure the business units are aware that these transactions are outstanding and require reconciliation.  In the case of overpayments, AOE Business Office advise the business unit if action has not been taken within a reasonable time period.
3. Examples of orphan transactions:

1. Nelnet Order # does not match REPORTER Order #
2. Nelnet Amount is greater than REPORTER Amount for Order #
3. Nelnet to REPORTER Order #s match but the amount in REPORTER has been already been marked paid
4. Nelnet connection back to REPORTER is broken and transaction paid is not updated in REPORTER

3. Chargebacks, Disputes & Other Reversals

10. AOE Business Office will coordinate with the Business Unit (point of sale staff) on chargebacks and responses to credit card companies
11. Merchants are notified through the University Controller’s Office, via email or by interoffice mail. AOE Business Office will be contacted to review and respond appropriately to the chargeback.
12. A chargeback is the reversal of a prior transfer of funds from a consumer's credit card used as payment for a registration(s) for the following reasons:

1. Processing Errors
2. Authorization Issue
3. Credit was not processed when the customer expected it would be
4. Disputes: Service was not performed or performed as expected or merchandise ordered was never received
5. Fraud: The customer did not make the purchase; it was fraudulent

13. Processing Chargebacks and Card Issuer Copy Requests:

1. Provide credit card company with information about the transaction and actions taken
2. Written response must be provided within the prescribed days (mail or fax)
3. Provide transaction details:

1. Order Creator (if different from Participant Name)
2. Participant Name
3. Transaction Amount
4. Authorization code (Nelnet Transaction ID)
5. REPORTER Business Services contact information
6. Business Unit contact information
7. Itemized charges (order and receipt summary)

4. AOE Business Office will communicate the disposition of the chargeback to the Business Unit:

1. Chargeback is Valid

1. Credit Processed on Disputed Transactions: If the refund (credit) has been processed to the cardholder’s account on one or all of the disputed transactions, send evidence of the refund(s)
2. Credit Not Processed on Disputed Transactions: If refund (credit) has not yet been processed on the disputed transaction, accept the chargeback. Do not process a refund; the chargeback has already performed this function

2. Chargeback is Invalid

1. Typically credit card companies manage this process automatically to repost the payment
2. Ensure transaction is posted and reconciled as payment

3. For Mastercard and VISA, the funds are deducted from the merchant’s account at the time the chargeback is initiated. If the chargeback is invalid, the funds are returned
4. American Express and Discover only deducts funds if the chargeback is valid
5. Associated chargeback fees will be distributed to the respective business unit

5. Customer Refunds Questions

1. If the original card has been compromised or closed, the issuing bank will issue refunds, chargebacks and reversals to the new card/account.
2. If the account is closed without a new card being assigned, then the issuing bank will mail a check for the refunded amount. The cardholder should contact their issuing bank if they have not received their refund with in three to five business days.
   

4. AOE manages the REPORTER Merchant Fees Clearing Account (385756). Merchant fees/banking fees are billed separately and will be charged to campus departments, a 3% flat rate per transaction,  to cover the cost of electronic payment process.  

10. This clearing account will be managed by AOE for incoming transaction maintenance and other related fees and charges associated with REPORTER activities.  
11. Fees will be assessed on a monthly basis and journal vouchers prepared to charge applicable business units for the month’s activities.

8. CONTROLLER’S OFFICE CASH DISTRIBUTION

1. The Controller’s Office will either manually post or electronically upload REPORTER transactions where receipts have cleared the bank, posting the Bank Cleared (yes or no) and Bank Financial Reference number
2. AOE Business Operations Office may run the report, exporting to Excel to assist in the reconciliation of outstanding transactions and those posted to REPORTER’s clearing account.  AOE Business Office will provide bank clearing information to department business offices when requested and assist with reconciliations

REPORTER Financials Export Instructions

Navigation: Financial Reports > Fin Recon (Controller’s Office)

9. REPORTER FINANCES TAB

The Finances tab is only available to those NC State employees who have REPORTER financial access roles as requested and approved through the University’s Security Access Request (SAR) application.

The Finances tab contains several screens with various types of information to be used to view registrations, payments status, refunds, orders not paid, invalid orders and cancelled orders

1. Orders

1. In this section, the business office may view all the orders for their unit
2. Each column may be sorted.  Employees with financial roles are able to post payments for transactions processed as either POS Terminal, Other (IDS, Wire Transfer, Cash), Check, or NelNet Correction

• Search

The search options are varied, allowing the business office to refine searches:

• Order Creator
• Name on Registration
• Order #
• Total
• Order Date
• Payment Type (Pay Now - Online Credit Card or Pay Later)

NOTE:  Orders listed without a designation of Pay Now or Pay Later are those orders that are still in the participant’s cart, but the participant has not yet checked out.

• Course ID
• Course Title
• Department ID (2 and 4 digit OUC search)
• Project ID
• Transaction ID

• View Details

The business office may select an order and view the order contents, the Order creator, view and edit the payment information (post payment), resend an Order Summary to the order creator/participant, or download the order in Excel or CSV format

• Email

Business Offices may also send an email to participants reminding them of payment or other information concerning their registration(s)

• Administrative Payment

For registrations where an Affiliate has registered multiple  participants and has sent payment for all registrations, the system allows for application of one payment for multiple registrations by Administrative User of REPORTER with the proper permissions. Column is “Yes”, the payment will be provided by the Participant Administrator or Affiliate and not the individual participant (registrant). ‘No” means the participant must pay, individually.

• Export

The data may also be downloaded to Excel or CSV

• Download Order Summary

• Business units may wish to review the order information to assist with reconciliation

1. Refunds

Refunds provides two sections: Pending Refunds and History.

• Pending Refunds & Overpaid Orders

Business Units will receive a notification that attention is required for a refund request that has been approved by the Course Administrator or Program Administrator.   Refunds resulting from an order overpayment are also listed in this section.  

• History

A listing of all refunds resulting from an approved refund request and reconciled (refunded) overpayment processed and posted as processed in REPORTER.  Business units are able to download the Refund Summary sent to Participant to support reconciliation activities

2. Orders Not Paid

• Orders not paid as of the current date for the business unit  (Pay Later)
• Columns are sortable and the Date Created column is provided for aging analysis

3. Invalid Orders

This section has three areas for the business unit to reconcile issues from transactions processed through the Commerce Management Payor

• Invalid Order Numbers

NelNet returns an invalid order number for a payment when an invalid order number is returned during the Nelnet payment process

• Reconciled Overpayment Orders

A listing of reconciled overpayments with Order Number, Total, Original Amount Paid, Refund, Refund Type, Processor, and Date Processed. Additionally, Refund Receipt may be downloaded for reconciliation purposes 

4. Cancelled Orders

Cancelled are those orders where a participant has selected to checkout, which creates  an Order Number, and then abandons their cart

5. All Orders

A listing of all orders, including cancelled orders.  Again, the business unit may download an order summary;

10. REPORTER FINANCIAL REPORTS

Financial Reports are only available to those NC State employees who have REPORTER financial access roles as requested and approved through the university’s Security Access Request (SAR) application.  

Financials Reports provides several reports that may be exported to Excel or CSV

Revenue

A report that provides detailed financial information on each order to include order number, date, if the participant is an NCSU employee, course and instance IDs, department ID, project ID, account code, instance begin and end dates, paid status, course price, discounts, registration fee, registration status, cancellation fee, cancellation override, cancellation fee comments, payment type, amount paid, date paid, refund due, amount refunded, amount due, refund paid type, total receipts and net revenue

NOTE: A registration that is in a cart and the course/instance/event has past, the Registration Status will be ‘expired.’  

Registrations

Listing of registrations by course ID(s) and instance ID(s). The Fiscal Year is based upon Registration Date versus course/instance/event start date.  This allows the business unit to track what fiscal year the transaction(s) actually occurred.  If the transaction is also a financial one, then this is doubly advantageous to track what fiscal year we received the dollars which plays into our deferred revenue reporting.  For example, a participant may choose to pay later in June of 20XX and then pay in July of 20XX, crossing two fiscal years, deferred revenue identification is not an issue and the business unit knows when the initial transaction occurred.  

Transactions Details

Detailed transactional information for refunds paid and receipts.  Information includes payment information as well as  Nelnet transaction ID for easier reconciliation

Financials View

Financial information is provided by course ID, rolled up with number associated instances.  Before selecting a course to review, click “Refresh”.  Then select the course and click View Instance Details, then select the instance and View Registration details.  You can also view pricing details for course price (cost) and any applied discounts

Past Refunds

        A listing of all refunds processed and posted as processed in REPORTER

Discount Report

A listing of all discounts provided for each course/instance ID

Orders Not Paid

Orders not paid as of the current date for the business unit

Cancelled Orders

A listing of all cancelled orders

Invalid Orders

This report has three sections, Invalid Order Numbers, Overpaid Orders and Reconciled Overpaid orders

REPORTER System Billing Report

This report allows the business unit to review monthly billings for REPORTER registrations. The report allows users to review billable activity by billing month and year.  

11. Enrollment History Report

This report is a quick view of all course/instance(s) enrollments to determine enrollment and participants’ payment statuses (paid or unpaid).  The Enrollment HIstory Report provides data line by line for each participant and is not to be used as a financial report to make business decisions.

12. OTHER REPORTS

AOE Business Operations can provide additional reports if requested by the business unit:

• Overall system business activity
• Registrations
• College/Division Business Officer Report Requests
• Reconciliation, discounts, refunds and other general transaction reports
• Trends analysis
  

13. REPORTER ROLES & ACCESS

1. Financial Roles Access

1. For roles which require view or update access to financial information, unit requests, requests should be processed by the unit SAR representative, requesting access to the following roles as appropriate.

Administrator
CollegeDivisionBusinessOfficer
CourseLiaison
FinancialAdmin
FinancialLiaison
FinancialOperationsCoordinator
OperationsCoordinator
ParticipantLiaison
ProgramAdmin
ProgramLiaison

2. In the comments section of the SAR request for these roles, detail the required 4- and 6- digit OUCs.  Upon receipt of the SAR request, the Academic Outreach & Entrepreneurship  (AOE) office will review the request and contact the division business office to confirm role(s) requested as well as the required OUCs.
3. Once confirmation is completed, AOE will update the request and approve and forward the request to the REPORTER Administrator to update the REPORTER application access tables.

2. Other Roles Access

1. Roles that do not require view or update access to financial information can be requested during the onboarding process or by emailing reporter_support@ncsu.edu:
           Affiliate
           Compliance Official
           CourseAdmin
           ExternalLiaison
           Group Administrator
           Group Liaison
           Instructor
           Participant
           ParticipantAdmin

For questions or additional information you can view our support site at support.reporter.ncsu.edu or you can contact us at reporter_support@ncsu.edu.