FrontDesk & SimpleCity - Sync Procedures with gWorks payments

Overview of Changes

With the integration of SimpleCity’s Utility Billing desktop software and FrontDesk, you will see a few changes in SimpleCity and may need to change some of your procedures. This guide will review those changes.

The following processes will change

  • AutoPay/ACH
  • Setting Up Customers for AutoPay
  • Taking Payments in FrontDesk
  • E-Billing
  • Preparing Your Deposit
  • Updating Account Information

Migration Period( If applicable)

Once you have implemented the Utility Billing FrontDesk interface, you will enter into a migration period. You will use this migration period to transition any customers you have using Utility Billing ACH, E-Billing, or Utility Billing Internet. Typically the period is 2-3 months before those older Utility Billing modules are removed and all online payments and electronic billing occur through FrontDesk. Your Client Success Manager will discuss the migration period with you.

The migration period will allow your citizens (aka Public Users) time to sign up for a FrontDesk account in order to receive e-bills and sign up for AutoPay. During the migration period, the Agency will need to follow their normal procedures for Utility Billing ACH, E-Billing, and Utility Billing Internet, (if applicable) as well as follow the new procedures for FrontDesk. At the end of the migration period, all e-billing and AutoPay features will be performed in FrontDesk, and the Agency will no longer need to complete their ACH, E-Billing, or Utility Billing Internet procedures in the Utility Billing desktop software.

Updating Account Information

Once an account has been uploaded to FrontDesk, certain account information must be updated in FrontDesk. This ensures that the information in FrontDesk matches the information in SimpleCity. FrontDesk will update any changes made to SimpleCity during its sync. In Account Setup these fields will be greyed out.

You can update the following information in FrontDesk:

  • Name
  • Mailing Address
  • Phone Numbers
  • Social Security Number
  • Driver’s License Number
  • Date of Birth
  • Email Address
  1. Log into your gWorks Portal account at https://portal.gworks.com. Click on the FrontDesk Hub, then the Utilities Tab. Search for the account. You can search by account number, name, or property location. Click on the ID.
  1. FrontDesk will display the Public User associated with this account. Click on the Public User.
It is possible to have someone other than the property owner or tenant set up as the Bill Payer. In the event that someone else is responsible for the bill, such as the child of an elderly citizen or a property management company, FrontDesk will display the Bill Payer in the right column. To sign the Bill Payer up for AutoPay, you would click on their Public User ID.
  1. Click on Edit in the Public User Information section.
  1. Make the necessary changes, then click Save. FrontDesk will update the account information in SimpleCity the next time it syncs.
SimpleCity and FrontDesk sync every 10 minutes, you may not see the changes immediately. SimpleCity displays the last sync time for any given account in Account Setup.
Account Setup Changes

A few new features have been added in Utility Billing Account Setup, as well:

  • Update FrontDesk button – click this button to open the Public User account of the occupant in FrontDesk.
  • Account # - click on Account # to open the utility account in FrontDesk
  • Last Sync – SimpleCity displays the last time this account synced with FrontDesk.

For additional information on account setup changes, refer to the document here

AutoPay/ACH

FrontDesk’s AutoPay feature is designed to replace SimpleCity’s Utility Billing ACH. FrontDesk allows citizens to sign up for AutoPay using either a credit or debit card or an e-check. Once the citizen has signed up for AutoPay in FrontDesk, their account will be paid automatically each month. The Agency can control how many days before the due date the payments are processed and specify banking blackout days, or days on which autopay will not run. AutoPay runs automatically and requires no processing from the Agency.

During the Migration Period, the Agency will need to continue their ACH procedures for customers who have not been set up for AutoPay on FrontDesk.
Setting up Current ACH Customers on FrontDesk

The Agency has the ability to sign up customers for AutoPay in FrontDesk. The Agency may choose to do this at the end of the migration period for any ACH customers who have not signed up for a FrontDesk Account. Customers who are on AutoPay but do not have a FrontDesk account will continue to receive a paper bill. To set a customer up for AutoPay, complete the following steps:

  1. Log into your gWorks Portal account at https://portal.gworks.com. Click on the FrontDesk Hub, then the Utilities tab. Search for the account. You can search by account number, name, or property location. Click on the ID to open the details of that account.
  1. FrontDesk will display the Public User associated with this account. This may be the property owner or the tenant. To the right, [Bill Payer] will be displayed if that Public User is responsible for the bill. Click on the Public User.
It is possible to have someone other than the property owner or tenant set up as the Bill Payer. In the event that someone else is responsible for the bill, such as the child of an elderly citizen or a property management company, FrontDesk will display the Bill Payer in the right column. To sign the Bill Payer up for AutoPay, you would click on their Public User ID.
  1. Click on the Activate Public User button. Then click Confirm.
  1.  In the PAYMENT PREFERENCES section, click on Edit.
  1. Click on the Edit icon on the +Payment Method button then fill out the details for that payment method in the payment details section that populates below.
  1. In SimpleCity, open the account in Account Setup. Click on the Bank Pay Info tab. Using the information on the Bank Pay Info tab, fill out the routing number, account type, and account number in FrontDesk. Enter the customer’s name and address in FrontDesk, then click Save.
  1. Click the toggle to turn AutoPay on.

All payments for this account will now be made through FrontDesk and NOT through the SimpleCity Utility Billing desktop software.

Taking Payments via FrontDesk

The Agency may enter credit card or e-check payments into FrontDesk for both utility bills or forms. This can be helpful if a citizen wants to pay over the phone.

  1. Log into your gWorks Portal account at https://portal.gworks.com. Click on the FrontDesk Hub, then the Utilities Tab. Search for the account. You can search by account number, name, or property location. Click on the ID.

  1. FrontDesk will display the Public User associated with this account. This may be the property owner or the tenant. To the right, [Bill Payer] will be displayed if that Public User is responsible for the bill. Click on the Public User.
  1. Click on the Activate Public User button. Then click Confirm.
  1. Click on the Payments menu.
  1. FrontDesk will display any active invoices, including invoices for utility bills and forms. Click on the Pay Now button.
  1. Enter the payment information for either a credit card or an e-check (aka ACH) and the citizen’s name and address, then click Save.

Transaction Reports

You can run reports on transactions processed through FrontDesk. An in depth walkthrough of those reports is linked here.

E-Billing

When a citizen creates a FrontDesk account, they are automatically enrolled in E-Billing and will no longer receive paper bills. When you print your bills, the citizen will get an email letting them know their bill is ready. They will need to log in and navigate to the utilities tab in order to see their statement.

If the citizen wants to get a paper bill on top of an e-bill, they can do so by opting into that through the "my account" section in their FrontDesk profile. For instructions on that, follow the link here.

When running your first bill print post FrontDesk implementation, you will see an area for FrontDesk Bill format code.

If you weren't previously utilizing e-bills, you will select "FrontDesk Bill" as the code. If your agency was already utilizing SimpleCity E-bills before FrontDesk, you would select "E-bills" or something similar for that code.

In future bill prints, the FrontDesk Bill Format Code will default to the code that was selected when you ran your last bill print.
Preparing Your Deposit

FrontDesk and SimpleCity are syncing every 10 minutes. This means that any new payments submitted through FrontDesk will automatically sync down to Receipt Management. Payments submitted up until 8:30pm CST will be recorded under that date in Receipt Management. You will want to wait until the following morning to run your Receipt Update for the previous day's date. Doing so ensures that you are able to update all payments submitted up until 8:30pm CST.

Closing Out Your Drawer

With the implementation of FrontDesk payments, you would follow the same Receipt Management procedures that we have listed out in our SimpleCity process book here( starting on pg. 139).

You will want to keep the following items in mind as it pertains to handling FrontDesk payments with your Receipt Management procedures.

  1. FrontDesk payments have a cutoff time of 8:30pm CST. Any payments submitted after 8:30pm will populate on the following days receipt listing.
Running your receipt listing the following morning ensures you are capturing all payments submitted up until 8:30 that day.
  1. When you come in the next morning, before running your receipt listing, you'll want to ensure that SimpleCity and FrontDesk has had a sync that day. Doing so ensures that any payment submitted through FrontDesk the previous day, will be included in that mornings receipt listing
You can check the last time SimpleCity and FrontDesk synced in SimpleCity by navigating to Utility Billing > Inquiry. At the top of the window, it will display the last sync date. The date should be the current days date.
  1. Because FrontDesk is a 24/7 payment service, this means that you will likely get payments over the weekend. To ensure that you those payments get updated, when you come into the office following a weekend or holiday, you will want to run a receipt listing for those days. If there are payments, you will need to run a receipt update for each of those days individually.
The Receipt Update window will display the last time SimpleCity synced with FrontDesk. Do not update receipts if the last sync did not happen on the current day.

FrontDesk and Credit Card Payments

FrontDesk accepts two types of payments, credit or debit cards and e-checks. When a citizen makes a payment, FrontDesk records it the day it was made. However, it will take two to three days before the funds are deposited into your bank account. SimpleCity tracks each pending credit card or e-check payment. Once the payments have been deposited, you will need to settle the payments included in each deposit. FrontDesk credit or debit card payments take two days to clear and e-checks take three days to clear. You will need to specify which pending payments are included in each deposit.

If you accept credit card payments at the counter, those payments will be deposited separately and will have a different payment type in SimpleCity.

The following procedures describe how to settle the pending electronic payments.

  1. Verify the settlement information amount in your Bank matches the deposit in the Funding tab within FrontDesk.
  2. In Bank Reconciliation, select Entry | Credit Card Deposits. Press F12 or click Next.
  3. Enter the Bank # of the bank in which the payments were deposited. Enter the Credit Card Deposit Amt and the Deposit Date. These should correspond to the deposit amounts in FrontDesk located under FrontDesk > payments > Funding.
  4. On the Credit Card Summary tab, SimpleCity will summarize all payments by type received each day. Select the Deposited checkbox of the summarized payments that were deposited. This amount should tie to the deposit and the Proof should be zero. Press F12 or click Save.
If your city is absorbing fees, then you may see that the deposited amount at the top is less then the deposited amount in the credit card summary. This is because those fees are netted against your deposit. To reconcile this, the fees taken out of the deposit are accounted for at the bottom of the screen. This allows for the proof to equal 0, allowing you to hit F12 and post to bank rec.
  1. If the summarized amount does not match the deposit, you may need to select the payments individually. On the Credit Card Detail tab, select the individual payments included in the deposit. Once you have selected all of the payments included in the deposit and the Proof is zero, press F12 or click Save.
  1. You may have to repeat the steps for credit card payments received at the counter.

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