How to Set Up Action Item Charge Type Rules

This article will cover how to set up the rules of an Action Item charge type. This charge type allows for a homeowner to be charged a preset amount when they have an action item of a certain type at a certain step on their account.

What Are Action Item Charge Types?

These are used any time that a charge needs to be added when a work-flow reached a certain step. Some common examples of this type of charge include:

• Bank Returns

• Violations

• Collections (Send to Attorney)

• Move-In/Move-Out

• Amenity Requests

How Do I Create These Charges?

First, navigate to the Association > Assessments screen and select the association for which you would like to set up the charge.

Note: All charges that are applied to Homeowner accounts are established and managed form the Association > Assessments screen, including charges that are not technically Assessments.

If you do not already have your action item type assessment created, create it using the "How to Set Up a New Charge or Assessment" article.

Note: To create a charge at a specific Action Item step, the Type of Charge must be set to Action Item.

Once the Action Item assessment is created, click on the caret to the left of the charge to display the Rules tab, as shown below:

To create a new charge rule, click the New Rule button to open up the Edit Assessment Rules screen.

Start Date: Pick a start date for this charge rule. Any date in the past will work if you want these charges to begin immediately.

End Date: An end date is rarely necessary. Only enter an End Date if you want these charges to stop at some point in the future.

Action Type: This is where you choose which Action Type creates the charge. Action Item charges are most often set up on the Bank Return and Violations action types but may be used on other action types as well. Be specific here, if you have multiple Violation Models, for example, be sure to choose the violation model appropriate for this Association

Action Step: This chooses which step of the above action type the charge will be applied on. When stepping an action item, only steps listed as part of rule will have the optional charge field when stepping.

Charge Amount: How much to charge by default at this step. When manually stepping, this can be edited using the Charge Amount field in the Action Item window. Note: An amount must be entered here in order for the Charge Amount field to display when manually stepping, if set to zero the field will not populate.

Frequency: How frequently do you want to the system to charge the above amount? Setting this to "Daily" will charge the Homeowner every day that the action item remains at this step. Advancing the Action Item to a different step will stop the charge from continuing to apply.

Rule Description: Use this to give more description to the charge on the Ledger. The Ledger will display the Overall Charge Type, then the Rule Description. Use this is you want more clarification on your Ledger items. 

Click Update once you're done. You may create multiple rules under the same charge type/assessment if needed. For example, a Violation Charge may have several rules for :

• Daily Fine

• Weekly Fine

• Monthly Fine

• One-Time Fine

How Do I Use These Charges?

As mentioned before, these charges are created on a Homeowner's ledger when an Action Item is stepped to a certain step. When stepping an Action Item that has an Action Item charge rule attached to that step, users will see a Charge Amount Box.

The amount in that Charge Amount box is the default amount, as set by the rule. If a user wants to charge a different amount, they can change the amount in this field. 

Note: In the event that the rule charges based on a frequency, Vantaca will retain the overridden amount for the duration of the charge. 

Clicking Update will add this charge to the Homeowner's Ledger. 

Note: If a charge doesn't appear on an owner's account when an action item reaches the step specified in the Rules, try re-stepping the action item to see if the charge is then applied correctly. If the charge still fails to appear after re-stepping, contact Vantaca support for assistance.

Note: Should a charge appear to be duplicated in its amount, please validate that there are not multiple Rules within the Action Item charge charging on the same Action Type and Action Step.

FAQ
 

Q: Why is the Charge Amount field not appearing on the Change Step screen?

A: This field requires an action item type charge to be properly configured. Work through the following checks in order:

1. Confirm that an action item type charge exists in Association > Assessments for the association where the action item is open
2. Confirm that the Rules within the action item type charge are correctly configured to match the desired Action Type and Action Step
3. Confirm that the Charge Amount set within the Rules is greater than $0.00
4. Confirm that the current Rule is open with no End Date
5. If the action item charge is for a violation action item, ensure the violation action type is listed in either the CCR Model or Additional CCR Models fields in Association > Settings > CCR

Q: How do I specify which action item step triggers an automatic charge?

A: When configuring an Action Item charge type under Assessments, you'll see a dropdown that lists the steps from the selected action item type. Simply choose the step you want the charge to trigger on. Once configured, the assessment will automatically be charged any time an action item of that type is moved to that designated step.