This article explores Standing Orders Utility, which allows the user to post, maintain, and delete standing orders and direct debits within Unity® Practice Management

How To Access This Utility

1.  Open the Accounts program.

2.  Click the Utilities icon.

3.  Double-click the Standing Orders option.

Templates vs Transactions: What is the Difference?

The documentation on this page provides instructions according to whether an item is a template or a transaction, so an explanation of the differences between these two is essential.

• When you first set up a standing order/direct debit, you create a template. A template is not a physical transaction in itself - it will never be posted to a ledger card. It is a blueprint upon which transactions are based. For example, let's say you set up a monthly standing order to a local stationer called Quill & Pen. The payment is for £100; it is to come out on the first of every month, and the standing order is to expire after a year. What we have just done is define the rules of the standing order without yet making a physical posting. This definition is what we call a template, and on the first of every month, a physical transaction will be generated for that template.
• So, what happens if the stationer's changed its name to Quill & Pencils? This change would affect every transaction. The change relates to the definition of the standing order rather than to an individual transaction. In this case, you would edit the template.
• Conversely, let's say the practice has been closed for 2 weeks, so they only owe £50 for January. This does not affect the definition of the standing order as it is a one-off occurrence, and the standing order will be back up to the normal £100 for the next month. Instead, this change only affects the individual transaction for January. In this case, you would edit the transaction.

How To Create a New Template

1.  Click Maintain.

2.  Click New Order and a pop-up window will appear.

3.  Enter an easily identifiable name for the standing order/direct debit template.

4.  Select a Posting Type.

5.  Select the Posting Frequency.

6.  Remove the tick from the Is Active checkbox if you wish to make the template inactive.

7.  Click Next.

8.  Enter the date of the First Posting.

9.  Select one of the three options below which dictate when the postings will cease to be generated.

10.  Click Next.

11.  Select a Branch.

12.  Select a Nominal.

13.  Click Next.

14.  The final section is where you enter information such as Amount and VAT etc. The content of this section will depend upon the posting type selected previously. 

15.  Click Finish.

16. You can also click Back at any point to revisit previous sections.

How To Edit a Template

1.  Click Maintain.

2.  Click Amend Order, and a popup window will appear.

3.  Edit the details as necessary then click Finish.

4. Whilst editing you can also click Back at any point to revisit previous sections.

How To Mark a Template as Active/Inactive

1.  Click Maintain.

2.  To mark a template as inactive first click the required record and that line will turn blue. Then click Mark Inactive.

3.  To mark a template as active click Show Active to display a list of inactive templates. Click the required record and that line will turn blue. Then click Show Active.

How To Refresh Any Pending Transactions

Click Refresh and any unposted transactions for which the due date has been reached will appear in the transaction window below.

How to Edit a Transaction

1.  Click the required transaction record and that line will turn blue.

2.  The Date, Amount and VAT columns are all editable.

3.  To edit simply click inside the required field and select/enter a new value.

4.  To amend the VAT, click inside the VAT field then click the Three Dots and a new window will pop up.

• All fields within the window are editable. Simply locate the required field and re-enter the new information.
• Click the Plus sign to add a new record (in order to split the VAT between different codes).
• Click the Minus sign to delete a record.
• Click Ok to save any changes or click Cancel to quit the window without saving.

How To Delete a Transaction

1.  Click the required transaction record and that line will turn blue.

2.  Click Delete.

How To Post Transactions

1.  To select all pending transactions, click Tick All.

2.  To deselect all pending transactions click Untick All.

3.  To select/deselect individual transactions tick/untick the checkboxes in the Post column.

4.  Once the required transactions have been selected click Post to post them through to the ledger cards.