Billing of lost items

If a patron has not returned items to the library after overdue reminders, it is possible to set up for bills to be sent out.

When a bill is sent out for an item, this item will be excluded from the public portal and it can no longer be reserved or renewed.

The following needs to be defined to support billing, and is described in detail below:

  • Replacement charges and possibly an administrative fee
  • When a bill should be sent out
  • If an item on bill may be checked in or not
  • If bills are to be printed and sent to patrons or handled via integration to the financial system
  • If patrons with bills should be blocked in Quria
  • Setting up a scheduled job for billing

See also: Handling bills

Defining replacement charges

Replacement charges for items are set up under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Replacement charges for billing.

  1. Click Add replacement charge.
  2. Enter a description of the charge and define the conditions for the charge. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  3. Define a replacement charge, and select if this charge should always be used (Do not use item price) or if the item price should be used. The item price is retrieved from the unit price when the item was ordered. If a unit price cannot be found, the replacement charge is used.
  4. Click Save.

Defining an administrative fee for bills

The administrative fee is set up under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Rules.

  1. Select General charges/Overdue reminder fee/Bill.
  2. Click Add rule.
  3. Enter a description of the rule and define the conditions for the fee. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  4. Define the overdue reminder fee.
  5. Click Save.

Defining when a bill should be sent out

Take the time periods defined for the overdue reminders into account when defining when bills should be generated.

The time period for sending out a bill is set up under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Rules.

  1. Select Periods/Overdue reminder/Bill.
  2. Click Add rule.
  3. Enter a description and define the conditions for the rule. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  4. Define the number of days.
  5. Click Save.

Defining if an item on bill may be checked in

If billed items are not accepted for check-in, it will not be possible to force a check-in.

If billed items are allowed for check-in, normal check-in routines apply for transit, overdue fees etc, but the amount due for the returned item is deducted from the patron’s bill (excluding the administrative fee). An email can be generated and sent to the Overdue notification contact using the message text Item on bill returned, provided that the notification contact is defined. If no Overdue notification contact is defined, the Default notification contact is used.

Whether a billed item may be checked in or not is set up under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Rules.

  1. Select Circulation control/Check-in of items with bill and Self-service control/Check-in of items with bill respectively.
  2. Click Add rule.
  3. Enter a description and define the conditions for the rule. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  4. Select Yes to allow and No to deny check-in of a billed item.
  5. Click Save.

Printing bills

You decide to handle bills at the library under Configuration/Settings/Organisations/Organisation settings.

  1. Make sure to select consortium, account or authority level under Organisation.
  2. Click Add setting.
  3. Under Circulation, check Bills can be paid at the library.
  4. Click Save.

A message text needs to be created to be used for printout of bills. It is set up under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Message texts.

  1. Select Bills for Message type, Print-out for Send method, the correct level in the organisation and the language for the bills.
    You can click an existing message text in the list to verify that the text is accurate.
  2. To add a custom text, click Add custom text.

You find the bills for printout under Patron/Notifications.

  1. Select Bills and the correct branch.
  2. Click Print for each of the bills that you want to print.

Integration to financial system for billing

You define the integration to the financial system under Configuration/Settings/Peripherals and integration/Integration settings. You add the settings one by one.

  1. Make sure to select the authority level under Organisation.
  2. Click Add setting.
  3. For each setting, add the accurate key and value for your provider of financial system. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  4. Click Save.

See also: Integration with financial systems

Blocking patrons with bills

You can block patrons with bills from making reservations and checking out items under Configuration/Settings/Circulation and notifications/Rules.

  1. Select Patron control/Notification block/Bill.
  2. Click Add rule.
  3. Enter a description and define the conditions for the rule. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk.
  4. Select Yes to block and No to allow a patron with a bill to reserve and check out items.
  5. Add a message if you want to.
  6. Click Save.

Setting up a scheduled jobs to generate bills

Bills are generated along with other notifications through a scheduled job.

See also: Notifications