1. How to manage Lodge dues billing and tracking of Lodge dues payments

2. Before we go any further, let’s summarize what we are going to do;1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Edit our Lodge Dues Structure Create all Dues Types we will use Create Dues Records for 2017
Edit member records to display the proper Dues Type Delete the Dues Records for we just created in step 3
Create Dues Records for 2017, second time
Review all members to assure they are set to the proper Dues Type Create Dues Statements
Print Statements Mail Statements
It is very important these steps be followed and no dues payments entered until all 10 steps are completed

3. From your home page, click on the “Dues Manager” button

4. On. the. dues. manager. page,. you. will. note. your. “Regular”. dues
On the dues manager page, you will note your “Regular” dues amount is automatically populated with your Lodge’s dues amount. Next, click the
“Manage Dues Types” button.

5. To edit, click on “Create new Lodge Fees for 2017”, or if this is the first time you have entered any values, it will say “Create Fee Structure for 2015”

6. Here you can change your “Annual Dues” amount, but only if you have a Proposed Bylaw Amendment which has been approved and signed by the Grand Master with the Grand Lodge Seal. Please verify it with us, as part of your Lodge’s historical record. You can also set the amount of several other fields, should you need to. The Assessment is the Grand Lodge Assessment of $3.00. These values will be added to everyone's record, unless over ridden by a specific Dues Type, which we will look at in the “Manage Dues Types” section

7. Perpetual and 50+ year members are defaulted to $0
Perpetual and 50+ year members are defaulted to $0.00; however, we know that some Lodges may ask their 50+ year members to contribute at least the Per-Capita Tax; some Lodges don’t. If your Lodge does, enter the Per Capita, as shown below. Whatever amount you enter will be the default amount for all like members. Then click “Edit Fee Structure" and it will be saved for your next year’s dues statements

8. You will come to this screen - Success
You will come to this screen - Success! Lodge Fees for 2017 have been edited.

9. You can verify it by going back to your Dues manager screen and confirming the amounts are correct. The default values on this page will be used to create your statements. If you have other dues types, you can enter them in the next step. If you add a dues type, and add that dues type to a members record, it will over ride the default values on this page. Please pay close attention when adding dues types, also verify that the amounts are right when the statements are created

10. To “Manage Dues Types” Click button near the top left hand portion of the page

11. Once on the “Manage Dues Types”, to add a new dues type, click the “Add new Dues Type”, or you can click on “Edit” to edit a previously created “Dues Type”. You can add up to 10 different Dues Types, if needed. I have already created two, 50 + year member paying the full amount of dues and 50 + year member paying nothing. There is no need to create one for the 50+ member paying $31.50 because we have entered that on the previous page that will default all 50+ members to $31.50
Once you have created or edited the “Dues Type”, for it to take effect, you will need to select it in an individual member record. It will then over ride the “Fee Structure” for the Lodge (click on Dues to go back to the “Create Member Dues Records” page)

12. Once back on this page, the next step is to “Create Dues Records for 2017”. Once you create the dues records we will do some adjusting of what each member pays, especially for those that might have a different dues amount than either the Regular members, PPLM members or the standard 50+ year members. You may have some additional dues types that you deal with, but the process explained in the previous slides will allow you to create them. And the following process will explain how to implement them into your members records

13. Here is your Lodge dues records for 2017 just created
Here is your Lodge dues records for 2017 just created. In the next slide I’m going to scroll down to show you some different dues types you have just entered

14. After the dues records are created, we need to tweak some of our member records so they reflect the correct amount of dues owed by that member. But before we do that, let’s look at a few things. As you can see, everyone that has a “Regular” dues type is set to $65.00 (for this particular Lodge, yours should be whatever your Regular Dues are), those members with 50+ years membership are at $31.50 (Per-Capita Tax amount) and those with a PPLM are set to $0.00 and marked paid.

15. So, lets look at member #8864’s member record
So, lets look at member #8864’s member record. Simply click on his member number to be taken to his record, and because the Lodge has decided that anyone that has more than 60 years of membership should not pay even the Per-Capita Tax, we’ll need to edit what he is charged

16. Here we see his individual membership record
Here we see his individual membership record. If we want to set his record so he pays nothing, click on “Edit Dues Type”

17. Click the drop down arrow and select “50 year + Paying Nothing” that we created previously in the “Manage Dues Type“ window.

18. Now Click the “Edit Members Dues Type”

19. You can assure yourself that it did work by clicking “Return to Member Record”, or if you click the “Return to Lodge Dues page”, it will take you back to the dues records for 2017

20. You can now see that his Dues Type is set to “50 year + paying Nothing”

21. After editing the members dues type, click “Return to Lodge Dues page” and it will take you back to the dues records for 2017

22. We are back at the dues records page, and you can see that member #8864 dues type and amount owed appears not to be changed! That’s because this set of dues records was created prior to our changing member #8864’s dues amount owed in his member record. I would suggest that you edit member records this way, because you can see the dues type and amount in this screen, which would be easier than going to each member record and verifying his dues type, or to make changes

23. The first time you work with this system will require some set up time investment. Once the initial set up is done, particularly setting up the Lodge fees structure, the Dues types and editing the individual member records, if needed, the succeeding years time investment should be minimal. So, at this point don’t worry about not seeing the changes in this screen. Proceed on making the necessary changes to the member records that need to be changed.

24. Once you have the changes made, and this might be a bit scary after all that work, but you will need to delete this set of dues records and create another set. One word of caution though, if you get the urge to enter a dues payment, just to see what happens, DON’T, at least not quite yet. Once you enter a payment for any member, you can not delete the record set, and we still need to delete this record set and create a new one for 2017 that will display the proper dues amounts owed in order to create the proper dues notices.

25. So, take a deep breath and click “Delete Dues Records”

26. So, take a deep breath and click “Delete Dues Records”
So, take a deep breath and click “Delete Dues Records”. What are you waiting for?

27. We are back at this screen, ready to create our next set of dues records, now that we have all of the Lodge fees set, the Dues Types configured and Member records edited to display the proper dues amount for each member. Click, “Create Dues Records for 2017”

28. Now, you should see the proper dues types and amounts where they belong. As you can see, member # 8864 is now listed as a “50 year + Paying Nothing” and he owes $0.00 for his 2017 dues as will be the case each subsequent year, until he is no longer a member. This is a good opportunity to review all of your members to make sure they all have the right dues type and amount displayed. If not, edit their member record and repeat the process of deleting the dues records and recreate them until you are satisfied.

29. Once you are satisfied with the dues records click “Print Dues Notices"

30. The created notices are produced and all you have to do is print them.
This will produce dues notices for all of your members. You can verify that by the count of notices to print on the “printing notices for 28 members 9/22/2016” line. If you wish to omit those members with zero dues, click on "Omit Dues Records with zero dues".

31. If you right mouse click on the screen, you will get the menu field, select “Print”, which will print each notice on one page.

32. One header page will print, then all the notices
One header page will print, then all the notices. You can fold the dues notices at the first or second solid line printed, with the printing facing out, and it should fit nicely into a #10 window envelope for mailing

33. Once they are printed, make sure you click the “Mark Notices Sent” button

34. You should get a notification of “Success”
You should get a notification of “Success”. Next go back to the Dues Page

35. Back at the Lodge Dues screen you can see that they are all marked as notice sent with a  and a + sign moved to the reminder column, should you need to send a reminder notice. If so, simply click on the + sign and one will be created. You will also notice, that those owing $0.00 were marked as having a notice sent, but not ticked with a second notice option, because there would be no need.
In the next set of instructions we will talk about receiving and entering payments

36. Please check often for updated information, instructions and forms that Secretaries use on a monthly basis, if not a weekly basis. As soon as more information is available, it will be posted.