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In ContactsLaw, a direct debit template is used to automate the process of recording when direct debits occur on a bank or credit card account.
 
Direct debit template editor
 
The template determines the particulars of the transactions that will be generated from it, i.e:
  • The affected bank or credit card account
  • Payee contact
  • Likely bank reference number
  • Date range in which a transaction of this type may occur*
  • Frequency with which the debits will occur (and the likely day of the month they will occur on)
  • Details of the affected income/expense account(s), narration and amount debited
Specifying the commencement and expiration dates limits the templates that can be selected by the user, and prevents accidental/erroneous posting of transactions. You can also specify a fixed number of occurrences after which the template will be considered inactive.
 
DD templates are primarily identified by the payee, but each also carries a descriptive name designed to eliminate any confusion about their purpose or nature. If the debited amount is different in each resultant transaction, it can be omitted from the template. The applicability of GST is determined by selecting an appropriate account, but the GST component of the debit can be changed.
 
Once a direct debit template has been used to generate one or more transactions, it cannot be deleted from the system. Instead, it can be disabled and suppressed from most displays thereafter.

Automation

Direct debit templates are most commonly used to pre-fill the particulars of the transaction when an occurrence of the debit is entered by a bookkeeper. However, for debits which occur reliably, it is possible to use the ContactsLaw Daemon to post the transactions automatically according to a schedule. The benefit of this approach is that the bookkeeper need only verify that the debit has occurred when reconciling the account.

After creating a scheduled task (recurring daily) to post direct debits, you must opt-in each template by ticking the 'Include in scheduled tasks' box.

When the scheduled task runs, it will determine which direct debits have not yet been posted to the account and add them; either in the authorised or processed state (depending on the configuration of the job).