This article describes how to generate a PDF coupon file for in-house coupons or an Excel spreadsheet to send to third-parties for printing. Troubleshooting tips and a description of the coupon process and multiowner coupon process is included.

Notes:

• You can only generate coupons for one association at a time.
• If you have the Multiple Owners - Coupons interface setting enabled, coupons will generate for all homeowners related to an account. Make sure to use the Mailing Address with Name merge tag in letters and emails.

Contents

• Before You Start
• In-House Coupons
• Third-Party Coupons
• Troubleshooting Tips
• Coupon Process
• Multiple Owner Coupon Process

Before You start

Before you start generating coupons, be sure to check your:

• Association Settings: Set to ensure the coupon files will generate correctly. If you do not change the settings in the Coupons section, the coupon file defaults to send only to owners with paper preference and excludes owners using ACH and email billing preference. For more information about association settings, see the "Association Settings" article.
• Assessments: Set to ensure the coupons option is available for the type of charge for which you are generating the file.

Association Settings

To update your Association settings:

1. Navigate to Association > Settings.
2. Go to the Interfaces section, and click Edit next to Coupon Format.
3. From the Coupon Format dropdown, Selected either In House or your desired third-party service.
4. Click Update.
5. Go to the Coupons section and click Edit next to any of the option to open the Edit Association Data Coupons screen.
   
   
   
   
6. Update the options as needed and click Update.

Assessments

To update your Assessment settings:

1. Navigate to Association > Assessments.
2. Clicl Edit next to the desired charge to open the Edit Assessment screen.
3. From Billing Format, select Coupons.
   To generate one coupon for multiple charges and break out the total, select one of the Breakout options (e.g. Breakout 1, Breakout 2, etc.). To combine all of those charges into a single combined total on the coupon, select the Coupons (Combined) option. For more information about coupon breakouts, see the "Best Practices - Coupons Breakout" article. 
4. Click Update.

In-House Coupons

To begin generating the in-house coupon file for an association:

1. Navigate to Association > Action Items.
2. Ensure the association name at the top of the screen is the one for which you want to generate the coupon file, or select it and search for the desired association.
3. Click New Action Item.
4. From the Action type, select Generate Coupons.
5. Click the Plus symbol next to Dates and Assignment and select the Coupon Start Date.
   This will be the date that the coupon file is started (i.e. 8/1/2022), or when the charge starts.
   
   
   
   You do not need to add any other information to this action item.
6. Click Update.
   The file generates, and then the action item automatically steps to the Review Coupons step. Do not try to view the file before this, as the entire file may not be ready. 
7. On the Review Coupons step, you can click the Attachment (paperclip) icon to view the file.
   In-house coupons print 4 coupons pet page. If you use the in-house option, instead of sending to the Print Queue in Vantaca, you can simply print the file from your computer.
   For more information about the Print Queue, see the "Print Queue 101" and "Best Practices: Print Queue/Check Queue" articles.
   
   
   
   

Third-Party Coupons

If you use a third-party service, such as SouthData or Optimal, follow the same steps as In-House Coupons (previous section) to initiate the Generate Coupons action item.

During the final Review Coupons step, an Excel file generates for you to download. This file is sent to the third-party service to print the coupons. It is good practice to review the Excel file to ensure there are no errors and that coupon breakouts display on the same row for each homeowner. 

After you review and confirm the information within the file, return to the action item and step to Send Coupons, which sends the file to the third-party service (if applicable). If you need to edit the file in any way or include a cover letter, manually upload the file to the third-party service and step the action item to complete. 

Troubleshooting Tips

• For combined and breakout coupons, the Frequency, Duration, Start, and End Date for the assessment rules must match for the file to generate correctly.
• If you use a coupon printing company that uses Product Codes or Coupon Codes, they must be the same on any assessments that use combined or breakout coupons so that they group properly.
• There are no coupon options for Annual Billing as these associations generally send statements. However, if you need coupons for Annual Billing, follow the normal generation process and change the frequency column in the file that generates from M to A before you submit.
• Coupons are generated for all addresses that have the Is Mailing Address selected within the Edit Contact settings, regardless if they are primary or nonprimary. 

Coupon Process

Coupon Generation CSV

A CSVfile generates when a Generate Homeowner Invoice action item is processed.

The following reports display indications of Void and Reclass entries:

• • AccountNo
  • LastName
  • FirstName
  • MailAddress
  • MailAddress2
  • MailAddress3
  • PropAddress
  • PropAddress2
  • Included
    • Yes or No
  • Exclude Reasons

Users are notified if a generation fails and proviged the reason for the failure. 

This automatically generating log allows you to identify the number of accounts included in your homeowner invoice generation.

Multiple Owner Coupon Process