Viewing All Fines Paid

To use the Fines Paid function, you must be assigned permission 315 (View Fines Paid). See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

To view all fines that have been removed from patrons' records:

Choose Fines Paid from the Function list.
In the Limit Display By area, specify one or more of the following:
- Date Paid Between: the date range during which patrons paid the fines you want to view. By default, the system displays the following:
  - Between: the date of the first fine payment in the Fines Paid database
  - and: the current date
- Statistics Group: the statistics group number associated with the statistics group for which you want to view fines-collecting information.
- Login: the login for which you want to view fines-collecting information.
In the Owning Location area, choose the owning location for which you want to view paid fines. You can view paid fines for your login's Location Served, all locations, or a location you select from the Select Location drop-down list. By default, the system displays the location associated with your login.
Choose the View Fines Paid button. If the database contains paid fine entries for the selected location for the specified date range, statistics group, and/or login, a table of paid fines displays. For a description of the data elements that appear in the Fines Paid table, see Fines Display.

From the table of paid fines, you can:

clear the database of the entries displayed in the table
view a summary of all fines paid and waived
view a particular fine's details
export the table to another application, such as Excel
print the table
view a different set of fines-paid entries

Clearing the Database

To clear the Fines Paid database, you must be assigned permission 313 (Clear Fines Database). See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

To clear the database of the entries displayed in the fines-paid table:

Note the number of entries.
Choose the Clear Database button or Tools | Clear Database from the top left of the Fines Paid window. The displayed entries are immediately and permanently deleted.
Entries in the Collection Process
If your site has acquired the Collection Agency Reports product and one or more of the patron records displayed in the fines-paid table is currently in the collection process, the system displays the following message:
Some data could not be cleared because patrons are in the collection process.
Choose the OK button. The system deletes all displayed entries except those currently in the collection process.
Verify that the number of entries has been reduced by the number of entries that are not in the collection process.

If you clear the database and then attempt to view the fines paid in the exact same location and date range, the system informs you there are no fine payments to view.

Viewing the Fines Paid Summary

The Fines Paid function displays a summary panel above the table of individual paid fines which provides combined totals of fines paid and waived for the specified date range. The totals are calculated as follows:

Overdue Paid: The sum of all "Amount Paid Now" amounts where the payment status is "Full Payment" or "Partial Payment", and the charge type is one of the following: "Adjustment", "Overdue", "Overdue Renewed", "Rental", or "Rental Adjustment".
Replacement Paid: The sum of all "Amount Paid Now" amounts where the payment status is "Full Payment" or "Partial Payment", and the charge type is one either "Lost Book" or "Replacement".
Manual Paid: The sum of all "Amount Paid Now" amounts where the payment status is "Full Payment" or "Partial Payment", and the charge type is either "Manual Charge" or "Notice".
Total Paid: The sum of the Overdue Paid, Replacement Paid, and Manual Paid amounts.
Total Waived: For all payments with a payment status of "Waive", the system takes the total of the Item Charge, Processing Fee, and Billing Fee amounts, and subtracts the total of all the Previous Paid amounts.

Viewing a Fine's Details

To view the details of a paid fine, select the entry you want to view and double-click, or choose the View Detail button from the top left of the Fines Paid window. The Paid Fine Detail dialog displays. If desired, you can reinstate the fine you are viewing.

Exporting the Table

To export a detailed table of the displayed paid fines to a different application, such as Excel, choose the Export button or Tools | Export from the top left of the Fines Paid window, then select one of the following export options:

Open in Excel: If Excel is installed on your computer, Excel automatically launches and displays the table as a finespaid<#####>.xls file. (The appended <#####> is a random 5-numeral variable, used to distinguish the current exported file from previously exported files.)

Export Table Size

The maximum number of entries you can export to Excel from the fines-paid table is 64,000.

Print to a file Save as csv text Save as tabbed text: The Export dialog box enables you to choose a folder and enter a file name in which to save the fines-paid table. The table is saved as a "File" type of file. To view the file, select a program with which to open the file. Print to a file table entries are separated by spaces. Save as csv text table entries are separated by commas. Save as tabbed text table entries are separated by tabs.

The exported table contains the following information:

Date Assessed: The fine's assessed date.
Patron Name: The PATRN NAME field from the patron record.
Patron Record: The patron's record number, not including the prefix or check digit.
Patron Unique ID: The UNIQUE ID field from the patron record.
Invoice: The invoice number of the fine.
Charge Amount: The item charge portion of the fine.
Processing Fee: The processing fee portion of the fine.
Billing Fee: The billing fee portion of the fine.
Charge Type: The fine's charge type.
Owning Location: The fine's charge location.
Date Paid: The date the fine was paid or waived.
Statistics Group: The statistics group number associated with the payment.
Last Payment: The portion of the fine that was previously paid, if any.
Login: The login associated with the payment.
Creation Mode: The fine's creation method.
Description: A description of the fine.
Amount Paid: The amount paid against the fine.
Payment Status: The fine's payment status.
Payment Type: The fine's payment type, if applicable.

A Value of NULL

When you export the table of paid fines, a value of "NULL" displays in the Payment Type column if staff do not assign a payment type at the time the fine is paid. For example, the system displays a payment type of "NULL" if an item has overdue fines and staff place a checkmark in the Waive charges on items being checked in checkbox and then check in the item.

Payment Note: The payment note entered when collecting the fine.

Printing the Table and Viewing Different Entries

You can print the displayed table of paid fines, and you can also view a different set of paid fines.

To view different fines-paid entries, select a different date range and/or owning location for which to view paid fines, and then choose the View Fines Paid button. To clear the display (and not the database itself), close the currently displayed table.

See also:: Viewing a Patron's History of Fines Paid; Fining and Penalizing Patrons; Fines Display