This Activity is used to generate Export Files, Control Files and Summary Reports containing details of one or more issued Tenant Bills. Tenant Bills are approved and issued using the Tenant Approve and Issue Bills Activity (see [2] Sigma User Guide – Manage Tenant Bills for details).
An Export File is compatible with and can be loaded directly into an external Financial System. A Control File is generated at the same time as an Export File and provides details of all the Tenant Bills included in the Export File.
A Summary Report can also be generated to provide details of any ad-hoc selection of issued Tenant Bills.
When Export Files are generated (live run) the issued Tenant Bills included in the export are marked as 'exported' and are stamped with a unique Batch Number.
Within the Tenant Accounts Link Generator screen it is possible to:
- Find, filter and select issued Tenant Bills to be exported (see section 2.2).
- Generate Export Files and Control Files containing details of issued Tenant Bills (see section 2.3).
- Generate Summary Reports containing details of issued Tenant Bills (see section 2.4).
Once Export Files, Control Files and Summary Reports have been generated, they can be viewed and downloaded using the Accounts Link Download Activity (see section 3 for details). Export Files can then be transferred to an external Financial System.
Access Tenant Accounts Link Generator Activity
To access this Activity:
- Select the Tenant Billing menu item from the Sigma Browser Activities dropdown list and then select the Tenant Accounts Link Generator sub-menu item:
- Or click on the Sigma Menu icon in the Top Bar and then click on the Tenant Accounts Link Generator icon:
- Or click on the Tenant Accounts Link Generator icon in the Sigma Welcome Screen:
The Tenant Accounts Link Generator screen opens as shown below:
On entry to the Tenant Accounts Link Generator Activity:
- If an export has previously been run:
- The All since last export option is selected and the date/time of the last export is displayed.
- If an export has not previously been run:
- The Use date range option is selected.
- The From date checkbox is ticked and the date field is set to the current date.
- The To date checkbox is ticked and the date field is set to the current date.
- No data is displayed in the Bills table.
- The Basic tab is displayed.
View Tenant Bills
To view data in the Bills table:
- Specify filtering options in the Basic tab:
- Select the All since last export option to view all issued Tenant Bills that have been issued since the last export.
- Select the Use date range option and enter date values in the From date and/or To date fields (either directly or using the date pickers) to view all issued Tenant Bills that are within this date range, i.e. where the Bill Start Date is on or after the From date and the Bill End Date is on or before the To date.
- Tick the Show exported checkbox to include issued Tenant Bills that have previously been exported.
- Specify further filtering options in the Location tab:
- Tick the Include all checkbox to include all issued Tenant Bills.
- Tick the Use data selector checkbox to include all issued Tenant Bills linked to items selected in the Data Selector, e.g. selected Tenants.
- Specify additional filtering options (if required) in the Additional tab:
- Tick the Only include Commodity checkbox and select the required Commodity from the dropdown list (list of all Commodities) to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to Tenant Accounts with Commodity set to this value.
- Tick the Only include Organisation checkbox and select the required Organisation from the dropdown list (list of all Organisations) to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to the selected Organisation.
- Tick the Only include Tenant Provider checkbox and select the required Tenant Provider from the dropdown list (list of all Tenant Providers) to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to the selected Tenant Provider.
- Tick the Only include Tenant checkbox and enter a value in the text field to only include Tenant Bills linked to a Tenant that includes this value in the Tenant Name.
- Tick the Property Key 1 checkbox, select the required Property Key from the dropdown list (list of all character-based Property Keys that can be applied at Global or Tenant Account level) and enter a value in the text field to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to Tenant Accounts with the selected Property Key set to this value.
- Tick the Property Key 2 checkbox, select the required Property Key from the dropdown list (list of all character-based Property Keys that can be applied at Global or Tenant Account level) and enter a value in the text field to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to Tenant Accounts with the selected Property Key set to this value.
- Tick the Property Key 3 checkbox, select the required Property Key from the dropdown list (list of all character-based Property Keys that can be applied at Global or Tenant Account level) and enter a value in the text field to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to Tenant Accounts with the selected Property Key set to this value.
- Tick the Property Key 4 checkbox, select the required Property Key from the dropdown list (list of all character-based Property Keys that can be applied at Global or Tenant Account level) and enter a value in the text field to only include issued Tenant Bills linked to Tenant Accounts with the selected Property Key set to this value.
- Click on the Apply Filter icon at the top of this section.
- The Bills table is updated to display data according to the selected filter options / criteria. The number of Tenant Bills found is also updated.
Export Tenant Bills
When exporting Tenant Bills, it is possible to:
- Generate an initial PROOF Export File which contains a new unique Batch Number (see section 2.3.1).
- Regenerate a new PROOF Export File using the same Batch Number as the initial PROOF Export File (see section 2.3.2).
- Generate a FINAL Export File using the same Batch Number as the initial PROOF Export File (see section 2.3.3).
PROOF and FINAL Export Files can be used in a business process, for example:
- Generate an initial PROOF Export File and navigate to the Accounts Link Download Activity. View the PROOF Export File and note the new Batch Number. Check the Control File to ensure all required Tenant Bills are included.
- Regenerate the PROOF Export File (if needed) using the same Batch Number and navigate to the Accounts Link Download Activity. Check the Control File to ensure all required Tenant Bills are included. Repeat this step until details in Control File are as expected.
- When details in Control File are as expected, generate the FINAL Export File using the same Batch Number and navigate to the Accounts Link Download Activity. Download the Control File and send it to the external Financial System.
Generate Initial PROOF Export File
To generate an initial PROOF Export File:
- With the required batch of 'Issued' Tenant Bills displayed in the Bills table, click on the Export Bills button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up opens.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Ensure the date range defined by the Start date and End date fields covers the creation dates of the Tenant Bills to be exported.
- Untick the Live run checkbox.
- Scroll down and setup the following reporting rules:
- Tick the Generate new batch number checkbox.
- Leave the Enter the correct batch number for live run field empty.
- Leave all other reporting rules in the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up unchanged.
- Click on the OK button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up closes and the Accounts Link Download Activity opens in a new Sigma browser tab. From here it is possible to view/download the Export File (see section 3.2) and Control File (see section 3.4).
- Alternatively, click on the Cancel button to close the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up.
Regenerate PROOF Export File
To regenerate a PROOF Export File:
- With the required batch of 'Issued' Tenant Bills displayed in the Bills table, click on the Export Bills button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up opens.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Ensure the date range defined by the Start date and End date fields covers the creation dates of the Tenant Bills to be exported.
- Untick the Live run checkbox.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Untick the Generate new batch number checkbox.
- Enter the Batch Number from the initial PROOF file in the Enter the correct batch number for live run field.
- Leave all other reporting rules in the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up unchanged.
- Click on the OK button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up closes and the Accounts Link Download Activity opens in a new Sigma browser tab. From here it is possible to view/download the Export File (see section 3.2) and Control File (see section 3.4).
- Alternatively, click on the Cancel button to close the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up.
Generate FINAL Export File
To generate a FINAL Export File:
- With the required batch of 'Issued' Tenant Bills displayed in the Bills table, click on the Export Bills button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up opens.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Ensure the date range defined by the Start date and End date fields covers the creation dates of the Tenant Bills to be exported.
- Tick the Live run checkbox.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Untick the Generate new batch number checkbox.
- Enter the Batch Number from the initial PROOF file in the Enter the correct batch number for live run field.
- Leave all other reporting rules in the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up unchanged.
- Click on the OK button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up closes and the Accounts Link Download Activity opens in a new Sigma browser tab. From here it is possible to view/download the Export File (see section 3.2) and Control File (see section 3.4).
- Alternatively, click on the Cancel button to close the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up.
Generate Summary Report
Summary Reports can be used to check details of one or more issued Tenant Bills before exporting them.
To generate a Summary Report:
- With the required batch of 'Issued' Tenant Bills displayed in the Bills table, click on the Run Summary Report button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up opens.
- Setup the following reporting rules:
- Ensure the date range defined by the Start date and End date fields covers the creation dates of the Tenant Bills to be included in the Summary Report.
- Leave all other reporting rules in the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up unchanged.
- Click on the OK button. The Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up closes and the Accounts Link Download Activity opens in a new Sigma browser tab. From here it is possible to view/download the Summary Report (see section 3.5).
- Alternatively, click on the Cancel button to close the Setup Report Rules for Exporting pop-up.