Common Questions & Answers

Modified on Thu, 23 Oct at 4:11 PM

Find answers to frequently asked questions about Account Maintenance, Payments, Recurring Charges, Technical Issues, Support Notes, Invoice History, and Reports.

Account Maintenance

What Invoice does Cornerstone mail? How do I know if I should print and mail an invoice?

The only invoices Cornerstone mails are those that we generate. This happens on one of four monthly cycles: the 2nd, 12th, 22nd, & 28th.

Any invoices created/generated on your end (whether R or P invoices) can be printed and mailed, emailed or you can choose CornerMail from the drop-down box and our print house will send it out.

Important Notes:

If Cornerstone generates an R invoice when there is already an open invoice on the account, that balance will also be included on the invoice when we generate and mail (Print Prior Balance Due is a global setting in databases - contact Cornerstone if you are not sure how your account is set up)
If you normally have statements printed and mailed by Cornerstone, customers will receive statements for balances that are 30+ days past due. This only happens once the invoice reaches 30+ days past due – not when the invoice is initially created

I re-opened an account, should I change the active since date?

When you re-open a previously closed account you do not need to change the active since date. You can record the updated date in the "Service Start Date" field when you create the new recurring charge.

The active since date reflects when the account was physically created in Cornerstone, not the date in which service started.

Closing and creating new accounts for new owners/tenants

If you have a new owner or tenant taking over an account in Cornerstone, you should treat them as if they were new customers. A new account should be created for these customers and the old account closed.

Updating a current account with a different person's information leaves a lot of room for error and does not properly track individual data and history. Contact Cornerstone to see if you are able to access the COPY ACCOUNT feature.

Can we keep track of calls we make to our customers?

You can keep track of any calls you make to a customer by using the Correspondence Log Icon.

Like that of a letter/email/statement, calls can also be tracked in the Correspondence Log. Simply click on Insert from the Correspondence Log screen and input the necessary information (status and description). This tool is often utilized to keep track of collection efforts made on an account.

How do I find a Specific Invoice?

The easiest way to find an Invoice is to click on the "Invoice #" tab under Search Options on the Customer List.

You can also generate a report which lists all invoices generated:

Select Reports > Financial Reports > Invoice History Report
Specify a date range for this report

Payments

When did my customer pay last?

Sometimes figuring out when your customer last paid is as simple as reviewing the payment dates from Invoice History. However, if your customer pays in multiple payments, you would want to check the payment history on the invoice to ensure there were no later payments made.

You can also use the "Check#" search in "Recurring Research" or the Check Ledger report to dig deeper into a situation.

I submitted a payment through the portal. Why hasn't it posted to the invoice as paid?

Payments submitted through the portal will not immediately post to an invoice as paid. Cornerstone submits EFT (Checking payments) once a week and CC payments three times a week.

Checking Payment Schedule:

Processed on the 1st, 8th, 22nd, and 28th of every month
If you submit a payment after Cornerstone has closed the batch, the payment will be processed with the next batch
Payments are posted to invoices the next day after processing

How can I write-off or post payments to multiple invoices?

Click on the Payments option at the top of the screen
Click on Post payments
Type in or search for your customer number
Choose either:
- "Apply Check to All Open Invoices"
- "Write-Off All Open Invoices"

I received a payment from my customer, where do I post it?

You can post payments to an account by:

Clicking on the open invoice
Clicking on the payments icon
Posting the payment information in the appropriate fields

Important: If the payment being posted is a check, you should account for the check number in the check number field. Any and all payments posted from your end must be posted with the *CHK/CARD payment type.

My customer said they paid online…where can I find this?

The Correspondence Log Icon records when you, a subscriber, or someone at Cornerstone logs into the Cornerstone pay portal to update CC information or submit a payment.

What You'll Find:

If a CC was submitted, the Correspondence Log will immediately inform you whether it was approved or declined
EFTs will often take several days to be approved and posted to an invoice

My customer sent in a payment for service in another system

If a customer sends in a payment to Cornerstone for service in another system and the payment was posted in an account as a credit, you can simply zero out the credit and account for it in your other system.

Important: DO NOT delete the credit, zero it out.

My customer sent in a payment and it belongs to a different invoice/account

If a credit needs to be moved:

Go to Credit History
Open the credit
Click on the magnifying glass icon next to the "Post to Account #" field
Re-assign to the correct account number
Once you move the credit, you will need to apply it to the invoice(s) in the other account

If a payment is posted to the wrong invoice or account:

Remove the payment from the payment screen by deleting the amount from the Check Amount field
An option box will appear - make sure the "Create Prepaid credit" box is checked
Click OK - this will create a prepaid credit
Go to the Credit History tab on the main customer screen
Click on the magnifying glass to search for the correct account
Click OK to move the credit
Apply the credit to the appropriate invoice(s) in the correct account

Note: When the system creates the PREPAID payment it uses the original post date, keeping an accurate history for reporting purposes.

I cannot figure out how to clear out the balance for a customer. Can you tell me how to do this?

This solution is dependent on the outcome you're trying to achieve:

If you received a payment from a customer: Post the payment
If the customer DID NOT make payments and they were billed in error: Create and apply a discount credit
Write-offs: Typically applied when a customer refuses to make payments to the open amounts (an implied bad debt)

My customer sent in a payment but I couldn't find it in Cornerstone

If the payment is a check:

If the check was cashed, you will need a copy of the back of the check to see what bank has endorsed the payment in order to do further research
If the check was not cashed, ask the customer to contact their bank to put a trace on the check

If the payment was made via their online banking:

Bank 3rd party payment options will debit their account right away and then process the payment from their own account
If the check never arrives at the lockbox, the invoice never gets posted as paid
They may need to initiate a trace on their payment

I am unable to apply a credit

Check the following:

See if you have a date entered in the 'Only Apply After' field - if there is a date, you will not be able to apply the credit to an invoice with a prior date
Check if the "Recurring Invoice" or "P Invoice" box are checked - if these are unchecked then you cannot apply open credits to any invoice

A customer said they paid online. Why isn't it posted?

Keep in mind that "paid online" can mean several things:

Through the Alarm Payments portal:

Credit card batches are closed every Mon/Wed/Friday and posted the next business day
Checking debits are processed once a week; submitted the day before to transact on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd

Through their Bank online payment:

Bank 3rd party payment options will debit their account right away and then process the payment from their own account
If the check never arrives at the lockbox, the invoice never gets posted as paid
They may need to initiate a trace on their payment

My customer said they sent in Check # XYZ and it was cashed but I don't see it posted to their account

The quickest and easiest solution is to use the "Check #" field under the search tools on the customer list.

You can also run a Check Ledger Report:

Select Reports > Financial Reports > Check Ledger Report
This shows a list of all payments ordered by check number (or Credit Card/ACH payment), the date it was posted, the amount paid, and the invoice to which it was applied
This report shows how a check may have been applied to multiple invoices

Recurring Charges & Autopay

How do I bill a customer that started monitoring in the middle of the month?

Cornerstone allows you to add any pro-rated amount and date to a regular invoice.

Steps:

When setting up a customer's recurring charge, select "Y" for Pro-rate
Enter the date you would like to bill them from in the "Service Start Date"
Keep in mind that the next date typically falls on the 1st of any given month (10/1, 11/1 etc.)

If you are unable to edit the "Svc Starting" date, please call Cornerstone for assistance.

How can there be an invoice with a future paid date with other open and unpaid invoices on an account?

Autopay does not apply to past due invoices on an account. If a customer has an open invoice and is set up on autopay, that payment must be sent in/submitted through the portal to be processed.

Often, a future invoice is set to autopay and an account has open invoices because you (or the customer) set up the autopay without submitting payment for the past due invoices.

There is an invoice in the invoice history with a future date posted as payment. How is this possible?

When customers are on autopay and invoices are generated, they are automatically submitted to our autopay files and posted as paid in Cornerstone. If the payment is not approved, Cornerstone will leave a payment note on the account for you to follow up.

My customer is on autopay but also wants a hard copy of their invoice. Is there a way to set this up?

You can set an autopay customer up to also receive hard copies of their statements:

Click on the Email Copy (in the customer's account)
Select "Mail Hard Copy" for the "Email Copy" field

Technical Issues

I need to delete an account, but I get an error message saying it can't be deleted

Cornerstone does not allow the deletion of accounts unless the account was created on the same day and there is no pertinent information that will be deleted along with it (recurring charges, invoices etc.).

Accounts should be closed (enter a close date in the account) rather than deleted to maintain an accurate history of data.

My screen is frozen. I can't click any of the boxes or move anything around

If your screen is frozen it is likely there is an additional screen hidden behind another.

To Fix:

Click on the "Window" tab at the very top of the screen
Click on "Cascade"
This will line up all screens that are currently open in Cornerstone

If this does not fix the issue, call Cornerstone.

My customer screen doesn't list any customers – it is completely blank

Use the Help > Reset User Screen Settings feature. Make sure that you have all tabs closed before using this option.

My screen is black – what should I do?

Please call Cornerstone, we will properly disconnect you and have you re-try your login.

Support Notes

Why isn't Cornerstone responding to my support note?

When leaving support notes to Cornerstone you will need to make sure that:

The Status is set to "To Corner"
The note is Open

If a note is closed or a status is set to anything other than "To Corner," Cornerstone will not see the note and will likely not respond.

Can I close more than one note at a time?

You can close multiple notes at a time by checking the little box next to each support note you want to close and then hitting the "Multi-Close" icon.

When should I follow up with the customer vs. when you (Cornerstone) will follow up with the customer?

There are typically only two ways Cornerstone ends the payment note:

"Changed to Printer-Dealer to F/U for Payment. CFI"

This note informs you that the account has been set to Printer and that you need to follow up with the customer for payment

"CFI will rerun Credit Card in about 5 days"

This note informs you that Cornerstone will attempt to run the customer's autopay information a second time approximately 5 days from the first attempt
You do not need to follow up with the customer at this point

Invoice History

How do I delete an invoice?

We do not allow invoices to be deleted in Cornerstone. If you need to remove an invoice you can simply write it off or create and apply a discount credit.

Important: Write-offs typically imply bad debt. Cornerstone advises that you create discount credits and apply them to the invoices when the customer has been billed in error, a cycle or rate change has been made, etc.

You can easily create and apply credits to an account by using the Quick Credit feature (located on the invoice itself).

How do I remove/stop late fees from an account?

To remove or change a late fee on an OPEN invoice:

Highlight the invoice
Click on "Change Late fee"
Type in 0
Click OK

To remove late fees from an account altogether:

Change the settings on the main customer account from "Y" to "N" for Late Fees
This is located on the right-hand side of the customer screen near the Bill-To address field

Why am I getting a late fee of only $.50 (or another very small amount)?

The Minimum Balance determines whether a Late Fee or a Late Rate is assessed. You need to set the minimum balance at a level where you generate the desired late fee amount on small balances.

Example:

Your normal Late Rate is 18% (1.5% per month)
On a $33 past-due amount, that would only generate a monthly Late Fee of $0.50
If you decide that a $3.00 minimum Late Charge should apply, $3.00 is 1.5% of $200
Set your Minimum Balance at $200 - late amounts less than this would be charged the Late Fee, and amounts greater would be charged the 1.5% Late Rate

Reports

Who still owes me money?

The easiest way to figure out which of your customers have open invoices is to run an Aging Report.

Steps:

The report is located in the first column of the financial reports
You can run the aging report set to the current defaults (only open accounts and all aging)
Or select your own filters (60+ days, open and closed accounts, etc.)
This report can also be emailed in a CSV file and then saved as an excel file to sort

What report can I run to see who I am billing monthly/on autopay/for a certain charge?

The Recurring Research tool, located on the Customer List screen, is a helpful tool that can be used to separate and sort your customer data.

Example: If you would like to know how many customers you have with monthly monitoring and set to an autopay method (Visa, Checking, MasterCard etc.):

Use the recurring research tool
Set your filters
Click on Refresh
It will provide you with the accounts set to those filters

The results can also be emailed as a CSV file so you can review and sort your data.

Need Help?

Still have questions? Contact Cornerstone Holding Co. 847-405-9517 or email us customer.success@alarmbills.com