AUT University Agent Commissions May 2013

AUT Agent Commissions May 2013

Document Version: 0.5 Date of Issue: 13th May 2013

Page 1 of 18

DOCUMENT HISTORY ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 DESIGN SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 OUT OF SCOPE ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3 CONFIRMATION OUTPUT EXAMPLE DOCUMENT ........................................................................................................................ 4 ARION GEN3 VIEW (STAFF USER INTERFACE) .............................................................................................................................. 6 MATCHED/UNMATCHED IOOP AGAINST PAYMENT RECEIVED ................................................................................................... 6 ONLINE VIEW AGENCY UI......................................................................................................................................................... 7 COMMISSION PAYMENT APPROVAL (AGENT ONLINE) ............................................................................................................... 7 POTENTIAL COMMISSION PAYMENTS (AGENT ONLINE) ............................................................................................................. 8 AGENT COMMISSION PROPOSED PROCESS FLOW (PART 1) ....................................................................................................................... 9 AGENT COMMISSION PROPOSED PROCESS FLOW (PART 2) ..................................................................................................................... 10 ARION GEN3 VIEW (STAFF USER INTERFACE) ............................................................................................................................ 11 AGENT SET-UP & COMMISSION RULES (ARION GEN3 CLIENT) .................................................................................................. 11 AGENT COMMISSION MAINTENANCE (ARION GEN3 CLIENT).................................................................................................... 14 AGENT COMMISSION SUMMARY & CONFIRMATION (ARION GEN3 CLIENT) ............................................................................ 15 AGENT COMMISSION AUTHORISATION (FINANCE) (ARION GEN3 CLIENT) ................................................................................ 16 AGENT CONFIRMATION COMMISSION MAINTENANCE (ARION GEN3 CLIENT) ......................................................................... 17 REPORTING .............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Document History
Version
0.1 0.2

Date
27 February 2013 5 March 2013

Author
Felix Haslimeier Felix Haslimeier

Comments
Initial document Update document flow, Visio maps incorporating David Hs review input; Added ability for AUT staff to approve commissions and Finance Authorisation screen. Minor changes to the Agent Online screens; added functions to Agent screen and reject option for Finance. Update process flows, added Commission Rules matrix, added Reporting section. Update process flows, Matched/Unmatched interface, update screens, update reporting section, added out of scope section, update commission rules matrix.

0.3

21 March 2013

Felix Haslimeier

0.4 0.5

15 April 2013 13 May 2013

Nikki Daly-Jones Nikki Daly-Jones

Introduction
The purpose of this document is to summarise the initial discussion points from a meeting between the International Centre, Finance and Arion Solutions in 2012. Arion Solutions presented a concept design to the International Centre and Finance on 21 March 2013. Further analysis meetings have taken place with both the International Centre and Finance. The Agent Commissions process is currently a standalone process. Arion does not cater for the calculation, authorisation and confirmation of agency commissions. This document outlines a concept design for Agent Commissions for AUT.

Page 2 of 18

Design Summary
The following is a suggested design for creating a commission Confirmation output (a report in the first instance) to Finance forming the basis for a commission self-billing invoice OR authorisation for commission payment. The design calls for the creation of a set of [commission] tables in Arion and the creation of new Arion processes and application views, in both Arion Gen3 client and Agent Online. Whilst transactions are treated like financial transactions, no financial entries are created in Arion. The proposed design provides the ability for both AUT staff and Agents to view the status and details within Arion and Agent Online throughout the whole commission life cycle The key components are: - New Commission Rules tab on Agent Details screen in Arion Gen3 client for set-up and maintenance of the agency specific commission payment rules; - Creation of an Unmatched for Agent Commission screen in Arion Gen3 client to allow review and update status of those unmatched IOOP against payment received. Overnight batch process. - Creation of an Agent Commission Maintenance screen in Arion Gen3 client to support maintenance of unapproved system calculated commission at (agency) student IOOP level; - Creation of an Agent Commission Summary & Commission Confirmation screen in Arion Gen3 client to provide a helicopter view of agency commission and the functionality to create a Confirmation; - Creation of an Agent Confirmation Maintenance screen in Arion Gen3 client to support Confirmation Adjustments and Confirmation Reprints; - Creation of an Commission Payment Approval screen in Agent Online for the ag ent to review, approve and request commission payment for eligible student IOOPs; - Creation of a Commission Pipeline screen to provide the agent with a tool to view and manage the commission pipeline; - Creation of a Commission Payment Request output to trigger approved commission payment process through AUT Finance. The suggested design does not interfere with the current Agent Online functionality and commission process as it is adding additional functionality to both, Agent Online and the Gen 3 client. The security model for Agent Online is based on the current Agent Employee Type and its proposed that new functionality is only made available to User Type Agency Admin (but not Agent Employee). Reporting considerations are included at the end of the document.

Out of Scope
The following points outlined are considered out of scope for this project

1. The commission rules will not include commission flat fee rates that are not in $NZD. This effectively
excludes the EURO Flat Fees of 350/500.

2. The originating Agents for both the ACG and TAYLOR Foundation Programmes are excluded. No
record of Agent exists in the Arion Student record. Estimate 100 students per semester.

3. Student Withdraws from study - 7 days prior to the start of the programme and up until 11 days after
the start of the programme. In this scenario AUT retains 10% (less NZD300.00 admin fee). Agent claims commission on the retained amount.

Page 3 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Confirmation Output Example Document

Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT)

Confirmation No: 100012

Date [today] Please pay: Agency: 230997 / AUT0115 IEF International Education Fund PO Box 4012 Shortland Street Auckland 1140 New Zealand

Approved: International Centre

Michael Ware
Authorised

March 5th 2013

Date

Page 4 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

The output of the commission approval, submission and authorisation process is an Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) form. An ACT can be a debit OR a credit. A copy is sent to the Agent and Finance (Accounts Payable) at time of creation. Whilst the Confirmation Number (Commission Payment Request/CPR) is created when agent approved IOOPs are batched by the International Centre, the ACT is the confirmation that the commission payment has entered the Accounts Payables cycle. The Agent is in control of when eligible agent commissions are approved at a student IOOP level. The International Centre controls the approving and batching of IOOPs into Commission Payment Requests (CPRs). Finance authorise CPRs and release the resulting Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) into the Accounts Payable cycle

Considerations:
1. GST Registered Agents. Accounts Payable are required by IRD to have a document with the words Tax Invoice and Agents GST Number when processing commission payments for those GST registered New Zealand Agents. This requirement enables GST claims to be made. The Agency Details section in Arion will provide for a new field where a GST number can be entered if an Agent is GST registered. When an Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) is issued the GST number along with the words Tax Invoice will be apparent. 2. Agent Correspondence. The Epicor Accounts Payable system holds only one bank account for an Agent. At various times an Agent requests the commission to be paid into a bank account other than the one held in Epicor. Currently this is advised at Agent Commission Invoice level and officially documented during the AP process. 3. Currency of Payment. An Agent indicates at Agent Commission Invoice level as to the currency of payment. If not indicated Accounts Payable assume the currency of county of Agent.

Page 5 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Arion Gen3 View (Staff User Interface)

Matched/Unmatched IOOP against payment received

Unmatched for Agent Commission Screen:

This screen will provide a list of all unmatched student IOOP1 against payment received (where the student is linked to the agency). The matching will be managed by an overnight batch process. This screen will give the AUT International Centre the ability to review an unmatched student IOOP with payment and update to a match status. How the Match process works? IOOP will be numbered IOOP tuition fee will be matched against payment received.

Match Rules: a. b. Agent name must exist in student record International Student Application Payment/s received (receipt #s, sum of receipts) > than IOOP programme tuition fee

Unmatched IOOP against Payment received can occur due to More than one IOOP Payment/s < tuition fee

Note: Agent is paid commission on first year tuition fee only

IOOP International Offer of Place

Page 6 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Online View Agency UI

Commission Payment Approval (Agent Online)

Agency Commission Payment Approval Screen:

Approved agency employees (Type: Agency Admin only) can access the new Agency Commission Payment Approval screen in Agent Online:

This Agent Online screen will provide a list of all eligible1student IOOP (where the student is linked to the agency) and has been matched with a payment. Eligible IOOP ready for confirmation of correctly calculated commission. With a Commission Status of either Not Yet Approved not yet reviewed by the agent or Rejected currently with AUT International Centre for review

At IOOP level, the agent can approve OR reject the calculated commission for processing. Agency Admin staff have the ability to query any lines by rejecting the calculated commission. For a rejected invoice commission line, a reason must be provided in the Reason field. The Reason field is mandatory. This will update the IOOP Commission Status. The update may trigger a notification to the AUT staff dealing with this agencys commissions to action. This will be achieved via Alerts set against the IOOP commission status for a specific agent or range of agents. Changes are saved and once a record has been Approved the record falls off this list. Note: The Tuition Fee and Commission Due are shown in NZD$.

Eligible = the matched IOOP available for commission calculations based on the agents Commission Rules. The matched IOOP will only be available for Agents approval once the 11 day rule is applied. 11 days after the start of the programme is the time period where no refund is applicable if a student cancels/withdraws.

Page 7 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Potential Commission Payments (Agent Online)

Agent Commission Pipeline:

Approved agency employees (Type: Agency Admin only) can access the new Agent Commission Pipeline screen in Agent Online:

The screen will provide a full list of all current (confirmed) and potential future commission amounts (pipeline). It will also provide the agent with a view of YTD Commission (authorised commission/current calendar year) and Total Commission (total commissions authorised since the implementation of the Agent Commission module). This screen is VIEW only and can be filtered to exclude approved IOOP/commission amounts identified by a Commission Status of: Authorised/With Accounts Payable (by Finance CPR or ACT document printed by finance and copy sent to agent) Submitted/In Progress (processed by IC, awaiting finance authorisation for payment) Approved (by agent, awaiting processing by IC) Not yet eligible potential commission due to the agent upon student IOOP matched with payment received.

Consider any other filters for this page as well i.e. current year only?

Page 8 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Agent Commission Proposed Process flow (Part 1)

Commission Payments for Agents Process Overview

Submitted Int. Student Application

IOOP made? No Yes

No

End

Offer accepted?

Agent Creation: - How can we identify when an agent is added in Arion to a student record? - Admissions remove Agents at time of payment (physical action) - How do we establish what student fee invoices belong to what agent? Can we use the DATE the agent is associated with the student and un-associated (provided its stored in the system)

Yes

Payment Made

No

Receipt issued * Delay

Tuition Fee Paid?

Yes

Student enrolled in papers

Yes

Confirmed student for commission purposes

* Confirmed Student Definition (student can longer walk away): - 12 days after programme start date as per AUT Refund Rules - -> Arion System settings Arion enrolment status

Page 9 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Agent Commission Proposed Process flow (Part 2)

Commission Payments for Agents Commission Payment Request Creation
Review-update Student eligibility for Agent Comm. Review List of IOOP (available and Not Yet Approved) IOOP Flagged Approved (Approval time-stamp & User ID) Submit Payment Processing request? Agent Approved Payment Confirmation No created

AUT Staff log in to Agent on Client

AUT Staff

Agent logs in to Agent Online

Agency Commission Payment Approval Screen

Approve?

Yes

Yes

No Not yet Disputed Commission Rejected at IOOP (Reason required)

Commission Payment File (Confirmation No)

Alert generated to flag disputed commission AUT Staff to provide feedback through Agent Commission Maintenance Email to Agent (Agency Correspondence) AUT Staff Update Commission & Reason & status to Not Yet Approved

AUT Staff to review

No

Yes

Dispute justified? Commission Payment Request submitted to Finance

Email to Agent (Agency Correspondence)

Agent via Agent Online

AUT Staff via Arion Client

Finance Staff

Page 10 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Arion Gen3 View (Staff User Interface)

Agent Set-Up & Commission Rules (Arion Gen3 Client) Agent Set-Up
The current Agency Detail section of the Agency Details tab will have two additional tick-boxes added:

Commission Functionality Enabled for Agent? Commission Approval Available to AUT Staff?

(available online) (available through Gen3 client)

In order for the functionality described in this document to become available to the agent via Agent Online, the Commission Functionality Enabled flag must be ticked. Option to add GST number if Agent GST registered. This will allow for a GST number to be printed on the Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) along with the wording Tax Invoice.

Further, these two fields will provide the functionality to support a soft implementation of the Agency Commission functionality. If the functionality has not been enabled for the agent, AUT staff could be enabled to approve agency commissions via the Arion Gen 3 client, effectively using the new process to replace the current, manual commission process.

Page 11 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Commission Rule Section:

The Commission Rate is based on Commission Start Date and End Date and commission is paid to the Agent once eligible IOOPs have been approved by the Agent and submitted to AP by the International Centre. All changes are recorded with User Name and Date/time. The Rule will refer to the Commission Rule.
Agency Administrator access level rights are required to maintain this table to be confirmed

Agents can have Multiple active rules at any given time. Future commission rules can be loaded which take effect for the period determined by the Start/End dates. This new screen sits within the Agency Details section in Gen3. New: for set-up of new Agent Rule Open: for maintenance of the current rule (i.e. extend End Date) or future rules Delete: for deletion of future rules only Start Date cannot be changed to earlier than today and End Date cannot be extended AFTER it has expired. The Commission Rule default is No Commission. If no rate rule exists for the current period, the No Commission rule will be applied.

Page 12 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Commission Rules 1. Percentage 10%, 13%, 15%, 20% based on programme annual tuition fee 2. Flat Fee NZD1000.00 for PhD and Named Doctorate Programmes. Identifiable by programme code

One Agent can have multiple percentages and multiple flat fees in NZD.

Commission Rules Matrix:

Commission Rule Matrix table provides the rules in which commission is applied.

Rule
A B C D Conditions: Ability to set future conditions?

Programme
All, except AK1237, AK3309 AK1237,AK3309 AK1245,AK1292,AK1293,AK3518, AK3655,AK3664,AK3685 AKCOP

Commission Rate 10%

15% NZD1000.00 15%

Condition

This table will be maintained through the Admin Function in Gen3.

Agency Administrator access level rights are required to maintain this table to be confirmed

Page 13 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Agent Commission Maintenance (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Maintenance:

This new screen will allow AUT staff to review and maintain unapproved agency-linked student IOOP eligible for commission payment. AUT staff can set-up alerts against (their) agents to be notified when a commission calculation has been rejected by the agent and/or commissions have been approved by the agent. A new query will need to be created to support the Alert creation.

Only the New Commission, Reason and Status fields are maintainable. Reason field is mandatory if the New Commission field has been updated. When saved, User ID and Changed Date are added by the system. Rejected IOOP that are updated by AUT staff will reset the status to Unapproved. These IOOP will be visible to the agent via the new Agency Commission Payment Approval screen on Agent Online. This screen will also allow AUT staff to approve Commissions on behalf of the agent (change Status from Not Yet Approved to Approved) provided the Commission Approval Available to AUT Staff? flag is set on the Agency Details screen. An update Reason will be required for this action.
Agency Administrator access level rights are required.

Functionality to support multiple updates to a single IOOP is required and transaction/audit history will need to be kept.

Page 14 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013

Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation : This screen will provide AUT staff with a full 360 degree view of the agencys commission related status and transactions broken into 3 distinct areas: 1. Submitted and Authorised Commissions (CPR/ACT) 2. Approved Commissions 3. Pipeline 1. Submitted and Authorised Commissions Submitted and Authorised Commissions area presents grouped by CPR numbers IC Submitted and Finance Authorised commission payments. It also provides staff with a YTD and Total Commission total amounts for the agent.

A reprint function is available for Authorised ACTs. No print function for Submitted CPRs will be available. 2. Approved Commissions This area provides AUT staff (IC) with the tool to submit approved commission payments. This creates a Confirmation Number (CPR/ACT) and moves it to Finance (please refer to Agent Commission Payment Authorisation screen) for Authorisation.

3. Agency Pipeline This area provides AUT staff (IC) with a View Only of potential future agency commissions

Arion Gen 3 client access levels/rights to be confirmed.

Page 15 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Agent Commission Authorisation (Finance) (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Commission Payment Authorisation:

This new screen will allow AUT Finance staff to authorise a submitted CPR/ACT for payment. The authorisation will create an output in form of a CPR/ACT. The form will be dated and signed by the Finance Manager automatically and may be printed for AUTs Accounts Payable department (or automated email to be set-up). A copy will also be sent by email to the agency (using the agencys Contact Media Personal Email address in Arion).

Finance have the ability to reject a payment. Should this occur, the CPR is reversed and the Submitted IOOPs are moved back to status Approved. The Detail button will provide IOOP level detail of the highlighted Confirmation No. Arion will provide Radio button functionality for 'Authorise Confirmation' and 'Reject?' allowing for the following combinations: Authorise Confirmation Reject? = Authorised Commission Transaction (ACT) = Reversal of Commission Payment Request (CPR) = Hold/Not yet processed

Once a confirmation has been authorised or rejected, it will fall off this screen. For an Authorisation Reprint, please refer to point 1 under Agent Commission Summary & Confirmation.

Page 16 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Agent Confirmation Commission Maintenance (Arion Gen3 Client)

Agent Confirmation Commission Maintenance:

This screen will allow AUT staff to amend submitted and authorised (and potentially paid out) Confirmation records (collection of approved student IOOPs). It will also allow for the transferring of commissions between agents.

The New Agent field is defaulted by Current Agent but can be overwritten with a new agent code when a transfer is required. The output of an adjustment is a NEW Confirmation record (Status: Submitted). Agency Administrator access level rights are required.

Confirmation Table:

Page 17 of 18

AUT University Agent Commissions March 2013 Reporting

Currently, the International Student Centre produce a report, example excel extract below.

The information contained here is derived from the current AGENT Invoice. The No of Students column relates to how many students an Agent has enrolled in a full year course. This is indicated with a half count when commission is claimed for one semester only. An output similar to the above is a requirement for a new AUT Agent Commissions module. A new Arion Report named International Agent Commissions. Parameters to select one/all Agents and Year.

Page 18 of 18