Accounts

Everything relating to invoices, payments, adjustments and outstanding debt is managed within the Accounts capability.

Looking for help? You’ll find everything here – read through it all, or use the index below to jump straight to what you need.

Getting started

• Navigation and overview
• Settings

Invoicing

• Your fees
• Create an invoice

Authorisation

• Find Member

Payments

• Add a single payment
• Add a bulk payment
• Make adjustments
• Create a credit note
• Make a refund
• Reallocate debt

Credit control

• Review outstanding invoices
• Send reminders

Making tax digital

• Integrate with Xero
• Integrate with Sage

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Navigation and overview

The quickest way to access the Accounts capability is to click the App Drawer menu in the top left-hand side of the screen (nine dots in a square). Then click Accounts.

This’ll open to the main Invoicing screen, with a menu on the left-hand side giving you access to the following sections:

• Invoicing
• Payors
• Bulk Payments
• Documents
• Tasks
• Prices
• App integrations
• Settings

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Settings

This is where you set up your preferences for invoicing and aged debt bands.

Click on the Settings icon at the bottom of the left-hand menu.

Invoicing opens first. You can specify the total number of characters for your invoices, set a numbering starting point – useful if you are transferring from another system and want to pick up from where you left off – and apply a prefix.

Click on Aged debt bands. There are four available bands for each contact type, which you can configure in any way you choose. Generally aged debt bands follow a 30-day timetable, which is the default you’ll see, but you can choose to lengthen or shorten these as you want. To change all of them to the same lengths just click the pencil icon in the Actions column next to Site Default (All).

You have three options:

• In each band click the – or + symbol to reduce or extend the time – the other bands will change accordingly
• Click on the suggested options of 10 days each, 30 days each or 50 days each
• Use the sliding scale on the right to drag to the number of days you’d like each band to be – you can use this as a starting point and then make tweaks by clicking on the – or + symbol

Once you’ve made your changes click Update and all your bands will change to this setting. You can then refine each one further if you want.

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Your fees

When in Accounts, click on the left-hand menu to expand it and then click on Prices. This opens your Pricing matrix, where you add payors, define your services and set the fees you charge each payor. You’ll see Self-Pay and All Others, which are the permanent default payors.

Adding a payor – insurer

• Click Add Payor on the top right of the matrix – a pop-out box will appear
• Click the arrow next to Payor Type – you’ve two options:
  • Choose Insurer from the drop-down options
    • Click the Payor box that’ll appear underneath – if you’re looking for an insurer who accepts electronic invoices you can either scroll down the list or start typing
    • Click the name from the list
  • Choose Contact from the drop-down options
    • A further Contact Selection box will appear for you to choose the contact type e.g. Embassy and you can drill down to a specific contact if you want by typing in part of their name in the Contact box
    • Click Select
• Click Save
• A new column is now visible along the top of the matrix

Adding a service

• Click Add Service 
• Depending on the type of service you want to add, do the following:

• Click Save
• The chosen service will now appear in the left-hand section of the matrix
• If you try to add the same service again you’ll see a message that this has already been added and you can click to manage it

Managing a service

For all non-procedure services your only option is to delete the service. If you want to make changes to surgical procedures click the icon next to Surgeons/Anaesthetists Fee For Surgery to add further procedures, delete specific procedures by clicking Remove (these will be in CCSD code order) or delete the whole service. Please note that if you delete Surgeons/Anaesthetists Fee For Surgery you will also delete all the related procedures.

Adding a fee

It’s worth setting aside time to add your fees to the matrix for each of your payors – you’ll benefit when it come time to create your invoices.

The top row and the left-hand column stay fixed, so if you have multiple services and payors, you can scroll in any direction and clearly see the payor and service you’re adding the fee to.

• Click Add fee at the point where a specific service and a specific payor meet
• Add a number in the Fee box – you don’t add a £ symbol as this will automatically populate, but do add a decimal point if you are charging pounds and pence e.g. 10.50
• If you see patients at more than one location and want to charge difference fees, leave the Fee box empty, tick Vary Fee By Treatment Site and enter the fee for each location – they’ll all show in the matrix
• Click Save

The price is now set against that combination and you just simply repeat the process to populate the rest. To edit any fee, simply click the pencil icon next to it, make your changes and click Save.

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Create an invoice

You do this through the Invoicing section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

In this section you have two areas:

• Invoices – these have been created and either printed or submitted electronically. Any payments or adjustments are made from this screen
• Unbilled – these haven’t been invoiced yet and can fall into one of seven statuses:
  • Unbilled – the service(s) linked to an appointment
  • Failed – the invoice was submitted but has failed validation
  • Draft – the invoice has been created but hasn’t been submitted or printed
  • Review – the invoice is ready for printing/submission but has been intentionally held back
  • Awaiting Printing – the paper invoice needs to be sent to the print queue
  • Queued For Printing – the paper invoice is waiting to be printed
  • Cancelled – the invoice has been voided and you can’t make any changes

The easiest way to create an invoice is straight from an appointment as this’ll have a starting point linked to a service, e.g. a consultation. To speed things up services can be added directly to the appointment, so everything’s ready to invoice when you are.

• Click on Unbilled
• Click the Status filter at the top of the screen and choose Unbilled – you can then also choose to see all those assigned to a specific practitioner (Controlling Specialist) or even drill down to find a specific patient
• Click on the relevant item
• Using the Overview box on the right-hand side as a guide, review the:
  • patient details
  • payor details (patient or insurer etc)
  • services and prices – if you’ve populated your pricing matrix just click the calculator icon in the Price box to add the price*

*Automatic price calculation may not be available to all users. If you can’t calculate prices, check your permissions

• Add the diagnosis if you want (or if required by the payor)
• Add any additional service(s) required – if you’re a surgeon or anaesthetist and invoicing for a surgical procedure, you’ll need to use the service Surgeons Fee For Service or Anaesthetists Fee For Service and then search for the procedure**

**Note: for multiple procedures, add all of them first and then enter the correct price according to the insurer’s multiple procedure rules

• You can leave it in the unbilled section by:
  • cancelling it
  • saving it as draft
  • saving it for review
• If it’s ready to go, click Submit or Submit & print for a paper invoice
• All the invoice details will be shown – click Cancel if you want to make any changes or click Confirm

Invoices can also be created manually, usually for ad-hoc charges and non-appointment based services. It doesn’t matter what type of invoice you’re creating (electronic to insurer/patient or in paper form) – the steps are the same.

• Click New Invoice on the top right of the screen
• Find the patient by surname, first name, DOB, age, mobile number or MRN (you can also add a new patient from here)
• Choose the relevant payor – you can add a new contact, link one that’s already on the system or link an insurer
• Review the invoice details – check the date, manually add an invoice number if you don’t want to use the auto-generation, add the authorisation number if you have it and a note if you want (this’ll only be seen by you and won’t be shared with the payor)
• Select the correct episode type, completing the additional details as required
• Add a diagnosis if you want (or if required by the payor)
• Add the service(s) and price(s)
  • If you’re a surgeon or anaesthetist invoicing for a surgical procedure, you’ll need to use the service Surgeons Fee For Service or Anaesthetists Fee For Service and then search for the procedure Note: for multiple procedures, add all of them first and then enter the correct price according to the insurer’s multiple procedure rules
• You can then:
  • save it as draft
  • save for review
  • click Submit or Submit & print
• All the invoice details will be shown – you can either cancel if you want to make any changes or click Confirm

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Find Member

When adding a new invoice you can also check the membership number of the patient once you’ve added an insurer as the payor.

• Click the three dots at the end of the insurer card and click Edit
• Toggle on Verify membership at the bottom of the pop up – the Service Limitations & Disclaimer can be read by clicking on the information icon

• Click Update – if Find Member is enabled for this insurer, the system will attempt verification

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Add a single payment

All payments (apart from bulk payments) are made through the Invoicing < Invoices section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

• Use one or more of the filters at the top of the page to find the invoice you want to add a payment to by:
  • Searching for a specific patient
  • Searching for a specific payor
  • Searching for the specific invoice number
  • Entering a date range
  • Choosing the status of Outstanding
• Click on the invoice – an overview will open showing you the invoice on the left-hand side of the screen and the payment options on the right
• Select Add Payment
• A pop-out opens defaulting to today’s date – change this to the payment date, if different
• Choose the payment method from the drop-down options and change the amount if full payment isn’t been made
• Add an optional note – this can be viewed within the invoice by clicking on the Transactions tab and then clicking the transaction line

• Click Submit and then Confirm
• A payment receipt is generated, which can be added to the print queue, printed now or cancelled by clicking the x in the top right-hand corner

The status of the invoice will change to Paid.

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Add a bulk payment

These are the only type of payments that are not made through Invoicing < Invoices. Instead, choose Bulk Payments from the left-hand menu. Bulk payments are used for insurer remittances or when one payment covers many invoices. All payments are shown in this section – you can filter by payor type and/or status of Allocated or Unallocated. You can also tick the box to only show payments that include unassigned credits (where you’ve been wrongly paid or over paid by a payor).

If new electronic remittances are available, you’ll be notified on the top right-hand of the screen – just click Sync remits. Clicking Add bulk payment allows you to add one manually:

• Add the payor type from the drop-down menu
  • Insurer – choose from the Payor drop-down list
  • Patient – search, choose from the list and click Select
  • Contact – search, choose from the list and click Select
• It will default to today’s date – change this to the payment date, if different
• Enter the payment amount
• Choose the payment method from the drop-down options
• Add a payor reference and/or any notes
• Click Save

The steps will now be the same whether you sync an insurer remittance or add a manual bulk payment.

• All the outstanding invoices will be listed for the chosen payor in date order, with the oldest at the top
• Select the invoices you want to allocate payment to and scroll down the page to the section marked Allocate amount to selected invoices
• Next to each invoice, type the amount you want to allocate (either full or part payment) in the Allocated amount column – note that the fixed allocation info bar will update as you do this, showing the total amount allocated and what’s still left
• Untick the box next to the invoice in this section to remove it completely
• The info bar confirms when the total amount you’ve allocated against outstanding invoices matches the opening amount

• You now have three options:
  • Click Reconcile to complete – the bulk payment will be added to your list with a status of Allocated
  • Click Save as draft if you want to come back to this later – it will be added to your list with a status of Unallocated
  • Click Cancel if you want to delete all your allocations and start again

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Make adjustments

If there’s been an allocation error, you can easily add a debit (to increase the outstanding debt) or a credit (to reduce it) to an invoice. You can also use this to write off any invoices that you no longer want to chase.

Adjustments are made through the Invoicing < Invoices section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

• Use one or more of the filters at the top of the page to find the invoice you want to add an adjustment to by:
  • Searching for a specific patient
  • Searching for a specific payor
  • Searching for the specific invoice number
  • Entering a date range
  • Choosing the status of Outstanding – Note: invoices in credit are shown as paid
• Click on the invoice – an overview will open showing you the invoice on the left-hand side of the screen and the payment options on the right
• Select Adjustment, making sure you add this to the correct payor (if the invoice is associated with more than one payor, each one will appear in your overview)
• A pop-out opens defaulting to today’s date – change this if required
• Choose whether this is a debit, a credit or a write-off and add the amount – you’ll be shown the difference this makes to the invoice
• Add an optional note – you can view this later by opening the Transactions tab and selecting the relevant transaction line

• Click Submit and then Confirm

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Create a credit note

To reduce the total outstanding amount of an issued invoice for specific reasons (giving the patient a discount or there was an error made) or you want to “delete” it completely, you must use a credit note. You can’t add a credit note to a fully paid invoice and you shouldn’t use a credit note to write off an outstanding amount.

Credit notes are created through the Invoicing < Invoices section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

• Use one or more of the filters at the top of the page to find the invoice you want to add a credit note to by:
  • Searching for a specific patient
  • Searching for a specific payor
  • Searching for the specific invoice number
  • Entering a date range
  • Choosing the status of Outstanding
• Click on the invoice – an overview will open showing you the invoice on the left-hand side of the screen and the payment options on the right
• Select Credit Note, making sure you add this to the correct payor (if the invoice is associated with more than one payor, each one will appear in your overview)
• A pop-out opens defaulting to today’s date – change this if required
• The amount will default to the total outstanding, but you can change this as required – you’ll be shown the difference this makes to the invoice
• Add an optional note – you can view this later by opening the Transactions tab and selecting the relevant transaction line

• Click Submit and then Confirm
• A credit note is generated, which can be added to the print queue, printed now or cancelled by clicking the x in the top right-hand corner

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Make a refund

Sometimes a payment needs to be reversed and a refund issued. Refunds are made through the Invoicing < Invoices section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

• Use one or more of the filters at the top of the page to find the invoice you want to refund by:
  • Searching for a specific patient
  • Searching for a specific payor
  • Searching for the specific invoice number
  • Entering a date range
  • Choosing the relevant status – you may want to issue a refund to a fully paid invoice
• Click on the invoice – an overview will open showing you the invoice on the left-hand side of the screen and the payment options on the right
• Select Refund, making sure you add this to the correct payor (if the invoice is associated with more than one payor, each one will appear in your overview)
• A pop-out opens defaulting to today’s date – change this if required
• Add the payment method – this is how you are issuing the refund
• The amount will default to the total outstanding, but you can change this as required – you’ll be shown the difference this makes to the invoice
• Add an optional note – you can view this later by opening the Transactions tab and selecting the relevant transaction line

• Click Submit and then Confirm

You can now pay it off again using a different method (e.g. the patient paid by cash but then wanted to use a credit card), reallocate the debt, write it off or create a credit note.

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Reallocate debt

When an invoice needs to be sent to a different payor, an insurer has left a shortfall or for any other reason, you can easily reallocate the outstanding amount to someone else. The other payor must be linked to the patient first.

Refunds are made through the Invoicing < Invoices section – get there either when you first access Accounts or from the left-hand menu.

• Use one or more of the filters at the top of the page to find the invoice where you want to reallocate the debt by:
  • Searching for a specific patient
  • Searching for a specific payor
  • Searching for the specific invoice number
  • Entering a date range
  • Choosing the status of Outstanding
• Click on the invoice – an overview will open showing you the invoice on the left-hand side of the screen and the payment options on the right
• Select Reallocate debt
• A pop-out opens defaulting to today’s date – change this if required
• Choose the payor you want to reallocate the debt to from the drop-down options – you can link an insurer or add a contact by clicking the links at the bottom and completing the fields

• The amount will default to the total outstanding
• Add an optional note – you can view this later by opening the Transactions tab and selecting the relevant transaction line
• Click Submit and then Confirm
• A reallocation debt letter is generated, which can be added to the print queue, printed now or cancelled by clicking the x in the top right-hand corner
• A copy of the invoice can be printed by clicking the print button from the overview screen

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Review outstanding invoices

When in Accounts, click on the left-hand menu to expand it and then click on Payors. This is where you can view your aged debt area and, by default, this section only shows the outstanding invoices from each of your payors. There are filters available to drill down and only see specific payor types and/or aged debt bands. You can also search for a payor by typing their name in the search box.

The lists show the total amount outstanding, followed by the amounts that fall into each of the four colour-coded aged debt bands. You can also click on one of the coloured areas of the Outstanding Amount % widget at the top of the page to jump straight to a list of all outstanding invoices for that band.

Clicking on a payor breaks down the info into four tabs:

• Outstanding – all the invoices that still need to be paid
• All invoices – displays all the invoices ever sent to that payor
• Transactions – shows all financial activity and clicking on a transaction will show any notes attached to it
• Unassigned credits – giving you the date, amount and last updated details

To get back to the full list, simply click Back to Payors at the top-left of the screen.

Clicking on an outstanding invoice will open the Overview to see everything in detail. You can also make payments or adjustments directly from here – see the relevant payment sections.

• Add a single payment
• Add a bulk payment
• Make adjustments
• Create a credit note
• Make a refund
• Reallocate debt

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Send reminders

This’ll open on the documents queue and you’ll see any documents that are waiting to be sent. To create your reminder templates, please refer to our section on system accounting templates in Communication.

To generate any new reminders, follow these simple steps:

• Click Generate batch
• Toggle on Reminder letters
• Create reminders for all of the contact types, or click and choose a specific one from the drop-down options
• All the bands are pre-selected – just untick any that you don’t want now

• Click Generate – you’ll get a confirmation of how many have been created and these’ll appear at the top of your documents queue
• You can then choose to only see a single document type by using the filter at the top of the page

• Alternatively, you can click on Communication type at the top of the list which’ll sort all your documents into A-Z alphabetical order – clicking the upwards arrow that then appears to the side will change it to a downwards arrow and will sort from Z-A

• The last step is to simply click those that you want and click the Send / print selected button at the bottom of the screen

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Integrate with Xero

If you already use Xero as your accounting package, you can link it with ePractice to sync invoices and payments in real time.

You’ll need to click the Install App button – depending on whether you’ve previously installed an app,

• Click Install on the Xero card
• Click the Authorise button – this takes you to the Xero login page
• After logging in, confirm that you want to give ePractice access to the organisation data in Xero
• You’ll see a confirmation message that the installation has been successful and you can now manage the integration
• Toggle on the button next to Push records to Xero
• Select whether you want to push all your invoices and/or payments to your Xero account
• Select the Xero ledger account that you want your invoices to be pushed to
• Select the bank account that you want your payments to be pushed to
• Click Update
• A message will confirm that the parameter has been successfully updated

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Integrate with Sage

You’ll need to click the Install App button – depending on whether you’ve previously installed an app,

• Click Install on the Sage card
• Click the Authorise button – this takes you to the Sage login page
• After logging in you’ll be taken back to ePractice and you’ll see a confirmation message that the installation has been successful and you can now manage the integration
• Toggle on the button next to Push records to Sage
• Select whether you want to push all your invoices and/or payments to your Sage account
• Select the Sage ledger account that you want your invoices to be pushed to
• Select the bank account that you want your payments to be pushed to
• Click Update
• A message will confirm that the parameter has been successfully updated

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If you need more help with Accounts, you can sign up for a free 1-2-1 Healthcode Academy training session or get in touch with one of our friendly team.