Harris County Lockbox - Hotel

Last Revised: February 10, 2017

When to use:  To post payments made on the Hotel-Motel portal, which are sent to a bank. Two files, a transaction file in fixed length format and a .csv file of additional payment data are sent from the bank to ACT and must be uploaded before processing the payments. These files can be processed separately or at the same time. At least one of the two file name fields must be filled in when running the lockbox.

Entitlements:

HOTBATCHMENU: View and run reports and batch processes on the Batch Menu. Each user must also be granted the user security access for each batch menu report or process. This is done in ACT's Tax Collection System.

FILE_UPLOAD - check the box to use the File Upload button.

There are two steps to follow during this posting process:  1) upload the files to the ACT server, and 2) post the payments to the HOT accounts in the Tax Collection System.

Move the payment files to the ACT 7 server:

  1. From the Main Menu, click on Products, then Batch Products.  The Batch Menu will appear.  
  2. Click the File Upload button located at the bottom of the screen.
  3. The File Uploadform will appear.
  4. In the File to Upload field, enter the directory path and file name to be loaded.

Note: Use the Browse button to find where the file is on your local hard drive.

  1. Click Press to complete the upload. A confirmation page will display when the process is complete.
  2. Repeat this for the second file.

Post the payments:

  1. Return to the Batch Menu.
  2. Click in the Harris County Lockbox - Hotel line, batch menu no. 16111.
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen will appear.
  4. Enter the tax office's ACT Client ID if it is not already populated.
  5. In the File Name field, enter the name of the transaction file.
  6. Enter the desired Deposit Date for the payments on the file (use mm/dd/yyyy format). The receipt date is provided in the file for each payment.
  7. In the Posting Option field, enter E to edit or P to post.

Note: Edit mode shows how the payments will post and does not actually change the account records. Post actually applies the payment to the account.

  1. In the Paymt Detail File Name field, enter the name of the .csv file
  2. Click Submit Job.
  3. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
  1. To preview and print your reports, see Previewing and Printing Reports.

This process creates several reports that show how the file will be processed and posted to the accounts, including summary and detail distribution reports and reports that compare the files to the payment data in the database by cashier and by 'Dex' number. These reports are created both for Edit and Post modes. They can be seen by clicking on the appropriate line in the bottom half of the Batch Request screen, after you have clicked on the correct batch request seq. line for the Edit or Post process you just ran.