Billing for Clients
The Simpatico billing process is simple once you’ve done it a few times, but here’s a guide to help until you’ve got the hang of things.
Step 1 – Take a Payment
Simpatico allows you to take client payments in 3 separate places:
- Appointment Calendar Check-In Window – Payment tab
- Client Center Financials – Client Payment tab
- Main Menu Financials – Add New Payment button
Each of these locations will provide a window similar to the below, where you can fill in and allocate the client payment:
Step 2 – Billing Codes and Completion
Simpatico has charges built in for all service and retail products for your company. You can bill clients at the check-in window, or through the Client Center.
Check In:
On the Check-In window, you can complete billing on the “Billing” tab. Search either by the billing code, or any word within the description to find the right billing code. If the “Charges” field is left blank, the customary charge for this code will automatically populate in the grid below when the “Add” button is selected. For any billing that needs the charge modified, the modified charge can be entered in the “Charges” field.
If Billing is ready to be completed, click “Complete Billing” button directly from the Check-in window.
Client Center:
To add billing codes in the Client Center, search for your patient, then, within the Client Account, click the Financials button, then the Billing tab. Any appointments that have not had billing completed will display under the “Current Visits” tab. Click the Details icon in the first column to add, modify, or delete any billing codes and charges. If all looks accurate, click “Set Billing Completed” to complete billing for this visit.
Step 3 – Apply Payments and Adjustments to Charges
By this point in the billing process, Simpatico has both a payment and a charge for the client on the visit date. The final step is to match these two pieces of information together. This step is completed by clicking on the Main Menu Financials link.
The Financials screen displays every payment that has been taken within Simpatico. Use the “Filter” box to filter down to your client, or click any of the sortable column headers to easily find the correct payment:
Open the payment by clicking the icon in the first column; this opens the “Apply Payments” window. The Client’s name will default in the Client box, and the date of the payment will be defaulted as the Date of Service. You can apply payments to a different date of service by searching for a different date (for example, if a client pre-pays or pays in arrears for service).
Use the appropriate boxes to fill in payments and adjustments. If you have negotiated a discounted rate or are offering a sale, you will likely include adjustments. An “Adjustment Reason” can be selected by clicking the “Reason” button and selecting the appropriate code.
Please note that any remaining balance left on account for Clients will be automatically added to the Client Statement to be collected.
When the “Unapplied Amount” of the payment has reached $0 and any necessary adjustments, codes, and notes have been made, click the “Complete” button. If a portion of the payment has been applied, and an Unapplied balance remains (for example, if a client has prepaid for multiple visits), the payment can be Saved with a remaining Unapplied Amount, then opened at a later date and applied to a different date of service.
Helpful Tips
To ensure that clients don’t slip through the cracks, there is an Incomplete Billing widget available on the Insight Analytics page. Once a client has been checked in for an appointment, that appointment date will show up on the Incomplete Billing widget, indicating that it’s time to complete the billing for that client.
FAQs
- I completed my payment and now it’s gone! Where did it go?
- Once a payment has been Completed, it will disappear from the Main Menu Financials screen. This allows you to more quickly identify payments that need to be applied.
- The Completed payment can still be found by using the date range search atop the Financials grid. Additionally, a history of all client payments (and how they were applied) is available in the Client Center Financials window.
- I made a mistake when applying the payment. How do I fix it?
- To “undo” any payment action, open the Payment details. *If the payment has not been completed, it will still be available on the Financials screen. If the payment has previously been completed, search for the payment date in the date range search atop the Financials grid.
- Click on the “Previous Payments” tab. This will display every transaction that has occurred with the payment (payments, adjustments, etc). At the end of each row, there is a “Rollback” link. Clicking this link will “undo” the action taken on that line. For example, a “rollback” on an adjustment would undo the adjustment and make that balance due. A “rollback” on a payment would remove any funds applied to a charge and place them back in the “Unapplied” portion of the payment.
- The client did not make a payment and I need to send a statement for the negotiated cash amount (not the full charge amount). How can I write off the portion the client doesn’t need to pay?
- Simpatico’s recommended best practice is to create a “zero payment.” To do this, create a client payment for $0. Then, following the steps in Step 3 above, open that payment and adjust off any necessary charges using the adjustment column and adjustment reasons. Any remaining balance after adjustments will populate on the Client Statement.