SIT Disbursements--Post to TCS

Last Revised:  March 3, 2014

When to run:

After the SIT Disbursements--Allocate and Disburse steps have been completed.   The numbering of the major processes is continued from that help topic.

What it does:

This document gives the steps needed to be done to complete the disbursement of funds back to the TCS accounts.

Note: At the beginning of each step, the ACT module to be used is shown in brackets. TCS refers to the Tax Collection System.

User Entitlements

The following user entitlements are available on the Batch Menu. They are part of the Run SI Batch Processes task, which is part of the SI Batch Menu job. See Tasks, Entitlements, and Jobs for more information. Individual reports and processes must be assigned to each user.

SI_BATCHMENU: access the batch menu

SI_BATCHREQUEST: access the Batch Request screen

SI_FILE_UPLOAD: access and use the File Upload button

  1. [TCS] Make sure you have entered a fiduciary of 88888 with a fiduciary name of SIT.  If you have already done this, skip to the next step.

Check these preferences:

[TCS] LOCKBOX_FIDO – this must be set to 88888 and you must create a new fiduciary using number 88888 in TCS with a Company name of SIT.  This is the same number you will use in the Mortgage Payment Entry screen in TCS later in these procedures.

[TCS] ASSIGN_FIDO: Set to Y to allow you to assign your own fiduciary number.

  1. From the Main Menu, select Update, then Fiduciary Master, or click the Go To drop-down list and select Fido Master.  The Fiduciary Master screen will appear.
  2. If a fiduciary is already displayed, press F6 (Insert) to clear the screen. If the screen is blank, press Ctrl + Q (Cancel Query) to leave the search mode.
  3. Enter 88888 as the Fiduciary No.
  4. Enter SIT for the Company.
  5. Click the Star button next to Business Type, select FD (Fiduciary), then click OK.
  6. Press F10 (Save) to save the changes.
  1. [TCS] Enter the required check information into the Mortgage Payment Entry screen.
  1. From the Main Menu select Payment , then Mortgage Payment Entry.
  2. This screen opens in 'insert' mode.  To begin entering check information, enter 88888 in the Fido field. (If you have set LOCKBOX_FIDO to a different number, enter that number here.)
  3. Press Tab.  The Request Seq and Remit Seq fields auto-populate.

Write down the Request Sequence number (the leftmost field); you will need this number again in the next step.

  1. In the Remit ID field, enter any number you want.
  2. In the Remit Amt field, enter the amount of the levy to be sent to the Tax Collection System.  Make sure you enter the levy amount, not the total disbursement amount. The levy amount is given on the SIT Distribution report, batch menu no. 12113.
  3. Press F10 (Save) to save the information. You will receive a popup message asking if you want to clear (blank) the screen.  Select Yes or No as desired.
  4. To re-query the information, press F7 (Enter Query), enter the Request Seq, Fido, Remit ID (check no.) or Remit Amt (check amount), then press F8 (Execute Query).
  1. [TCS] Run the Dealer Inventory File Posting process, batch menu no. 135. This process will apply the SIT levy to the receivables in TCS, i.e., it applies the payments made in SIT throughout the year to the receivables in TCS.

Note:  If you want to distribute ONLY SIT funds, use a deposit date that falls on a weekend.  If you encounter problems, contact ACT and ask if the data file is in usr2\upload\prod\bin and if the job file name is act_lb005.bat.

(Harris County only) Make sure this client preference is set:

SIT_OVERAGE_TAX_UNIT:  Enter the unit to store any overage created in the SIT lockbox when using Special Rule 09.

  1. From the Main Menu, click Batch Menu.  
  2. Click the Dealer Inventory File Posting line, batch menu no. 135.
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen will appear.
  4. In the File Name field, enter 'CC_LOCKBOX.999999', where 99999 is the request sequence number from when you ran the SIT Distribution process, batch menu no. 12113.  The file name must be in CAPS.
  5. In the Deposit No. field, enter up to eight characters or numbers for your deposit number; the system will assign the remaining four numbers. A separate deposit is created for each fiduciary on the file.
  6. Enter the desired Deposit Date for the payments (YYYYMMDD)
  7. Enter the desired Receipt Date for the payments (YYYYMMDD). This should be 01/31/yyyy or earlier to avoid charging penalty and interest.
  8. In the Report Option field, leave the default of D.
  9. In the Process 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. It is recommended that you run this first to prevent duplicate payments; if duplicate payments have been made, the amounts on this file will appear as refunds.

  1. Enter a four-character operator ID in the Operator field. Example: LKBX for lock box.
  2. Leave the Deposit Override and Postmark Override fields set to the default of N.
  3. Leave the Mortgage File Format field set to the default of 0.
  4. In the Fiduciary No. field, enter 88888, which should be the fiduciary number entered in the LOCKBOX_FIDO client preference.
  5. In the Special Rule field,  enter 04, which will post to current year only. ACT recommends using '04, but other options are:
  6. 00 - post in the order given in the LOCKBOX_POST_ORDER client preference.
  7. 01 -  post to coupon year first, then current year, then oldest year.
  8. 02 - post to coupon year first, then oldest year.
  9. 03 - post from current year to oldest year in order.
  10. 05 - post only to prior years, 07 to post to oldest year first.
  11. 07 - post to oldest year first.
  12. 09 - post any overage in the unit entered in the SIT_OVERAGE_TAX_UNIT client preference. This overage will be put in the current year (the default is 8001). The money is posted to the year prior to the year entered in the Receipt Date parameter, step 7 (this is receipt year - 1).
  1. In the Deposit Type field, enter MC.
  2. Leave the Do Not Use field set to the default of N.
  3. In the Request Sequence No. field, enter the request seq. no. generated above when you entered check numbers and amounts in the Mortgage Payment Entry screen.
  4. Leave the Portfolio ID number blank.
  5. Click Submit Job.
  6. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.  After the process has completed, you can look at the deposit(s) in the Deposit Status screen, or you can run a Deposit Status Report to verify that the deposit(s) were posted correctly.

If the first line in the lower portion of the Batch Request screen says **FATAL ERRORS**, this mean that some account numbers are invalid, the total amount of the coupons does not match the total amount of the checks, or there is a duplicate deposit name (the program looks only at the first four letters/numbers of the deposit name).  You have several options. 1) You can edit the lockbox file and remove the invalid account numbers, in which case you will have to post those manually through the Advanced Payment screen in order to balance to the bank deposit amount for the file,  2) you can locate the coupon(s) with the invalid account number(s) and edit the coupon amount to match the check amount, or  3) you can post the file without any editing.  In this latter case, the lockbox program creates a LOCKBOX-CLEAR account that contains the funds for the invalid accounts.  Once you have determined how to correct the amounts, you will need to transfer money from the LOCKBOX-CLEAR account to the correct accounts.

Other reports to check for errors are the lb040, the lbcompare, and the 298D.

LBCompare: This report lists, for each fiduciary number, the remittance payment amount (from the Mortgage Payment Entry screen) and the total payment amount for the fido, the amount of difference between the two amounts, and the name of the fiduciary.  If the fiduciary number is not in the ACT 7 system, the words 'Please Add Fido' will be displayed as the fiduciary name.  A list of invalid account numbers (those in the file but not in ACT 7) is given at the top of the report.

LB040: Database Process Update Log.  If this states Normal EOJ, you have posted the payments successfully.  If it states Edit Mode - No Database Updates, this is confirmation that you have run this in edit mode, not posting mode.  This also lists any tolerance overpayments. If the lockbox program fails, error messages are given in this report.

LB050 - TC298D: This Lockbox Distribution report is sorted by jurisdiction and shows disbursement amounts separated by M&O, I&S, and total of M&O and I&S. Tax rates are shown, as are totals by year and fund for   levy paid, discount given (if any), penalty and interest, TIF amount, disbursal total (sum of levy, p&i, and TIF), attorney fees, other fees, refund amount and payment amount (a gross total for each fund per year).  Totals for each column are given for each jurisdiction.  Grand totals for all years are provided on the last page.

  1. [TCS] If you do NOT use TaxLedge but would like to post the SIT overage to TCS penalty, you can then use the Post SIT Overage to TCS process, batch  menu no. 10233, to put the overage money in penalty in TCS. If you use TaxLedge, do not run the process below.
  1. From the Main Menu, click on Products, then Batch Products.  The TCS Batch Menu will appear.
  2. Click the Post SIT Overage to TCS line, batch menu no. 10233.
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen for this report will appear.
  4. Enter your ACT 7 Client ID.
  5. Enter the current TCS Tax Year.
  6. In the SIT Overage Allocation Deposit field, enter the SIT deposit number in which the overage allocation was done.
  7. In the TCS Deposit for Posting field, enter the deposit number to use for posting the overage to penalty.
  8. In the Deposit Date for TCS field, enter the deposit date for the deposit you will be creating.
  9. In the Receipt Date for TCS field, enter the receipt date for the deposit you will be creating.
  10. Click Submit Job.
  11. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
  1. [TCS] Run the TC298 reports, batch menu no. 4.
  1. Make sure your deposit is closed.
  2. From the Main Menu, click on Products, then Batch Products.  The TCS Batch Menu will appear.
  3. Click the Deposit Distribution Reports (TC298) line, batch menu no. 4.
  4. Press Enter.  The parameter screen for this report will appear.
  5. In the Data Type field, enter D for data from the deposits.
  6. Enter the Begin Date desired (mm/dd/yyyy). This is the deposit date used in the previous step when you posted the SIT levy.
  7. Enter the same date in the End Date field.
  8. Enter the Current Tax Year.
  9. In the Summary Only field enter Y or leave this field blank; if left blank, the report selects data by receipt date instead of deposit date.  Leave the default of Y to print a summary report.
  10. Enter ** (2 asterisks) in the Deposit Status field.
  11. In the Split P&I field, leave the default of N.
  12. In the Ag Rollback Inclusion field, enter 3.
  13. In the Deposit Sort Order field, enter N to sort by deposit name, or T to sort by deposit type.  The default is T.
  14. In the Location field, leave ALL unless you want to see data for only one of the tax office locations in your entity.
  15. In the Rendition Process Option field, leave E for edit unless you want to create a TC298X file for disbursement to TaxLedge, in which case enter a U.  SIT accounts normally do not have rendition penalty, so leaving E is acceptable.

Warning!  If you enter a U, you will NOT be able to rerun this report for the same or overlapping date ranges!  Be sure that you have checked the edit (E) version of the 298X before running this in update mode.

  1. Click Submit Job.
  2. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
  3. Match the levy control totals on the 298E to the YTD Dealer Detail Report.  This will verify that all monies have been correctly applied to the SIT accounts.

This process also creates the file of levy funds to be loaded into TaxLedge for final disbursement to the jurisdictions. SIT levy moves to TaxLedge along with regular property tax money for each jurisdiction. If the control total is off, check for a refund that may need to be transferred to levy; also make sure that the Disburse Total and Payment Amount tie to this report.

Note:  For all units if distribution rules and bank account information are not set up in TaxLedge, not all data will load there; contact ACT for assistance.

  1. [SIT] Another report you can run is the SIT Tax Overage report, which lists the amounts paid in SIT that are over the amount due in TCS (perhaps due to tax rate changes or differences between estimated and actual sales amounts for the year).
  1. From the Main Menu, click on Products, then Batch Products.  The TCS Batch Menu will appear.  
  2. Click the SIT Tax Overage line, batch menu no. 12211 (or 12506, which produces a separate report for each jurisdiction).
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen for this report will appear.
  4. Enter your ACT 7 Client ID.
  5. Leave the Tax Unit field blank to report overages for all tax units or enter a specific unit number.
  6. Enter the Deposit No. used for the SIT Distribution of overage.
  7. Enter the current Tax Year.
  8. Click Submit Job.
  9. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.  The report lists, for each tax unit, the Dealer Number, Appraisal District number, and the amount of overage. Totals for account and amounts are given.  Tax units are separated by page breaks and grand totals by unit are given on the last page.
  1. [TCS] Print current tax statements using the batch menu process your tax office normally uses in the Tax Collection System.  These statements will be sent to dealers who have an annual shortage after the initial distribution.
  2. Once this annual disbursement from SIT is complete, tax offices should take all successive payments for the disbursed year in the Tax Collection System.  The only time the user should go back into SIT after the initial disbursement should be to amend a sale.  If, however, payments were taken in SIT after the annual disbursement, you can load the accounts into the trigger table using the Request Seq. No. fields in the various steps above to disburse the payments. The accounts must have the SIT Account box checked on the Account Detail screen in TCS.

To select SIT accounts for the statements and put these accounts in the trigger table:

  1. From the Main Menu, click Batch Menu. The TCS Batch Menu will appear.
  2. Click on the Load Unpaid SIT Accounts to Trigger Table line, batch menu no. 1047.
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen for this report appears.
  4. Enter your tax office's ACT 7 Client ID.
  5. Enter the current Tax Year.
  6. Click Submit Job to start the report process.
  7. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
  8. Use the Request Seq. number generated for this process to run batch current statements for your tax office.  The batch menu no. varies by tax office.

Note: Before printing statements, you may need to change the delinquency dates in TCS for these accounts in the trigger table. See step 27 below, batch menu no. 1073.

  1. [TCS] (optional) Change the delinquency dates on the accounts in the trigger table.
  1. From the Main Menu, click Batch Menu. The TCS Batch Menu will appear
  2. Click on the Update Delinquency Dates for File of Accounts  line, batch menu no. 1073.
  3. Press Enter.  The parameter screen for this report appears.
  4. Enter your tax office's ACT 7 Client ID.
  5. In the Old Delinquency Date field, enter the current delinquency date of the accounts.
  6. In the New Delinquency Date field, enter the desired delinquency date (normally 04./01/yyyy).
  7. (optional) Enter the File Name, case sensitive and with an extension.
  8. (optional) In the Req. Seq. from Trigger Table field, enter the request sequence generated when you ran step 26, batch menu no. 1047.
  9. Enter the Tax Year for which the delinquency date should be changed.
  10. Click Submit Job to start the report process.
  11. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
  12.  A log is created only if you entered a file name.

Once these steps have been completed, proceed to the steps for SIT Disbursements--Taxledge.  If you want to remove the X-entities, ACT recommends that you wait until you reach step 32  If your tax office does not use TaxLedge, run whatever procedures you need to disburse the SIT monies before removing the X-entities.