Release 55

New Client Parameter to Specify Rebill or Reverse Behavior for Invoice Line Items (DEV-9036)

This feature introduces a new client parameter "Refund Reversal Action" to direct the behavior of Aria when you initiate a refund to your customer account holder of an invoice line item. It addresses the use case in which:

1. a refund (a charge transaction in Aria) is issued against an invoice line item, 
2. a reversal of the original charge (a payment transaction in Aria) is recorded, and 
3. a third-party taxation engine must recalculate tax charges when the new invoice is created. 

Previously, there could be a $0.01 difference between the original invoice tax calculation and that returned by the third-party taxation engine for the refund-reversal or rebill invoice. This difference could result in error conditions preventing the desired transactions from completing.

You can update the value of this parameter under Configuration > Payments > Payment Settings. This can be set to "Reversal" or "Rebill":

• Reversal (the default existing behavior): Aria creates a "refund" transaction and a reversal transaction for the line item. 
• Rebill: Aria creates a "rebill" transaction and a "refund" transaction (and does not reverse the line item). 

When you issue a Rebill for Reversal, Aria suppresses select email and event notifications that might otherwise be triggered for other transactions and use cases.

• Rebill Invoice (template class RB)
• Credit Memo (template class CM)

• Aria carries payments applied on the original invoice being refund-rebilled to the new rebill invoice.
• Aria re-applies payments from the original invoice to the same line item with same amount without any difference after rebilling.
• Aria ports credit line items from the original invoice to the rebill invoice created when "Rebill" is specified for this new "Refund Reversal Action" client parameter. Note: This feature is not implemented for the regular rebill invoice.

See the API Features writeup for DEV-9036 in these release notes.

• Aria does not support refund-rebill for the NETS payment method.
• Aria does not support refund-rebill for child invoices when initiated via the parent account.
• Aria retains the Prompt Payment cutoff date from the original invoice, and recalculates the associated discount, on the rebilled invoice.
• Aria retains the due date of the original invoice on the rebilled invoice, regardless of what you have specified for the Invoice Setting "Use Original Invoice Due Date for Rebill."
• If you void a Refund-Rebill, Aria voids the refund transaction alone. You must manually adjust the account to bring back the original charges per below:
  • Void the existing write-off available on invoice being rebilled/reversed.
  • Void the existing credit memo(s) available on invoice being rebilled/reversed.
  • Create one new credit memo for the complete invoice being rebilled/reversed.
  • Create a new rebill invoice for the revised amount.

Billing Group's Collection Groups Now Supported in Direct Post (DEV-10740)

With this release, Aria introduces the Honor BG (Billing Group) Collection Group setting for a USS Reg Direct Post configuration. This can be honored at the time of a collection attempt along with the following master plan or invoice input fields in your Direct Post configuration (Configuration > Client Settings > USS Reg Configuration):

• master_plan_instance_no
• client_master_plan_instance_id
• full_invoice_no
• pending_invoice_no

The following values are permitted at this field:

• Empty/False (default)—To maintain backward compatibility for our existing clients, the collection will be attempted with either the alt collection group(input) if provided or the account’s collection group.
• True—If the client is configured with this option, the collection will be attempted with the billing group’s collection group.

The order of precedence for picking the Collection group for your Direct Post configuration is listed below:

• alt_client_acct_group_id (the alternate collection group input remains as top precedence)
• Billing Group’s Collection Group (if the Honor BG Collection Group USS Reg param is set to True)
• Account collection group

The following validations/error codes have been introduced with this enhancement:

Learn more about Aria’s Direct Post from here.

Event 1004 modified to only show MPIs that were included on invoice/statement and the statement number (DEV-10937)

The Event 1004 now indicates whether or not an MPI has been billed on the current invoice/statement.

A new field ‘in_event_scope_ind' had been added to the Account and Master Plan Instances Notifications event class. This new field has a value of '1' if the MPI has been billed on the invoice that triggered Event 1004 or a value of 'NULL’ if the MPI did not contribute to Event 1004 (the MPI is not billed on the invoice).

The new ‘in_event_scope_ind' field has been added for the following events:

Allow creation of second_sequential_statement_id using modulus 11 for all generated statements (DEV-11067)

Aria now supports the creation of a <second_sequential_statement_id> using modulus 11 for all generated statements. A Modulus 11 calculation method is used to generate the ‘check digit’ during statement generation that is used in the output parameter <second_acct_statement_seq_str> for get_invoice_information_m query API. The ‘check digit’ can be configured from Configuration > Notifications > Statement Sending > Check Digit.

The description of the UI field is as follows:

• Modulus Method: Select between 'Modulus 10' (default) and 'Modulus 11'.

• Weighting Factor: Text input field to enter comma-separated numeric digits, the default value is '2,3,4,5,6,7,8'.

• Alternate Digit for Remainder 10: Text input field to enter a single alpha-numeric value, the default value is 'X'. 

Transaction Type Added to Generic Tax XML Request (DEV-11221)

The TransactionType field has been added to the Generic Tax XML request to send when making a quotation/post call. Now, Aria differentiates whether the quotation/post request is for an invoice, credit memo, reversal, writeoff, or void transaction. To enable this field, go to Configuration > Integration > Taxation Configuration > Create New Taxation Configuration [Generic Tax].

Statement status changed to 'Payment Reversed' for voided payment with transaction type (4) or (21) (DEV-11222)

When a payment is voided, the status of the statement, which the payment is adjusted against, is updated to "Payment Reversed" if the void charge transaction type is (4) “Balance Transfer To Account“ or (21) “Invoice charge line item”. For example, when a payment against a parent account with no charge line items is adjusted against a balance transfer charge from child account, the statement status will update to "Payment reversed". 

Client Parameters For Displaying Open Charges as Net Values (DEV-11224)

If the Enable Plan Unit Instances client parameter is set to True, prorated open charges for clients using this parameter are now shown as net values. This functionality is accessible only when the client parameter Net Value for Prorated Open Charges is set to True also; both parameters must be configured to show open charge net values. Please contact your Aria representative if you wish to enable this feature.

API Enhancement to Support Processor Name in get_acct_payment_history_m API (DEV-11225)

Changes have been made to the get_acct_payment_history_m API to enhance the Collection History UI screen in CCP:

Decimal Currency Validation Added for Refunds (DEV-11226)

Error messaging has been added with this release in the event that a refund amount exceeds the decimal values set at the Currency Scale field for that currency type (e.g., a USD amount of 25.0020 where the currency scale value is set for 3). This field value is set at the following location: Configuration > Billing > Currencies.

Updates to Statement Send Status for statement generation upon empty invoice approval (DEV-11227)

During statement generation upon an ‘empty invoice’ approval, the generated statements with balance transfer charges are sent to the client per their “Statement Sending” settings. The statement number’s record is retrieved and the statement status on the Account > Statement > Status column is changed to ‘Sent’. Previously, the statement status displayed ‘Not Sent’ even after the generated statement had been sent to the client.

Void Written-off Invoices Via UI (DEV-11236)

This feature adds the "Void" and "Void & Discard Usage" options to the invoice details UI screen for written-off invoices.

When you void an invoice with a written-off unsettled dispute hold, Aria now handles the voided writeoff via a "settle dispute" flow. This flow adds an account comment, "The dispute is settled with 'Remove and Do Not Re-Age' action since the disputed invoice is being voided,” and assigns reason code "13 (dispute settlement)" to that internal write-off void. 

WorldPay Smart Payments Basic—Phase 2 (DEV-11249)

Aria’s Smart Payments integration with WorldPay now includes the ability to delete (revoke) tokens and tokenized pay methods so they can no longer be used to process tokenized payments. This can be performed by either of the following:

• The remove_acct_payment_method_m API
• The Aria Billing Cloud UI (Configuration > Payments > Payment Methods)

Also, ACH Direct Debit payments are now supported within your WorldPay integration (pay_method = 2). The following fields must be completed to enable this pay method (Account > [search for account] > Account Overview > Payment Methods):

• billingAddress
  • firstName
  • address1
  • postalCode
  • city
  • countryCode
• bankAccountType
• accountNumber
• routingNumber

ACH direct debit in WorldPay requires a “bankAccountType” to be passed in the payment request with bank account number and routing number as the type of direct debit account used in the transaction.

Possible Values:

• Checking
• Savings
• Corporate
• Corp Savings

Soft descriptors are now supported with your WorldPay Smart Payments integration. Currently, this is used in support of pay method 2 as an alternate payment method. This will support other alternate payment method types in future releases (Configuration > Payments > Payment Gateways > Field Options). This field supports a maximum of 25 characters; Aria will truncate the field value if it exceeds this length to avoid transaction failure.

One-Time Payments Now Support Tokenized Credit Cards (DEV-11257)

Tokenized Credit Card is now available as a payment method in the Payments UI screen for making an alternate one-time payment. This can be selected at the Alternate Billing Type field (Account > [search for account] > Account Overview > Payments & Credits).

Learn more about Aria payment methods from here.

$1/$0 Authorizations Available for 3 Credit Card Types for WorldPay (DEV-11258)

For the WorldPay payment gateway, Aria performs $1/$0 authorizations for the VISA, Mastercard and Discover card types only (for the Tokenized Credit Card pay method). Aria will not record authorizations for other WorldPay-supported card types.

New Client Parameter to Specify Rebill or Reverse Behavior for Invoice Line Items (DEV-9036)

The new client parameter "Refund Reversal Action" directs the behavior of Aria when you initiate a refund to your customer account holder of an invoice line item. See the Application Features note for DEV-9036 above for more details about application behaviors. 

This note focuses on API enhancements to accommodate the new system behavior introduced with this feature. New output parameters are added to the API calls issue_refund_to_acct_m and get_refund_details_m.

Allow creation of second_sequential_statement_id using modulus 11 for all generated statements (DEV-11067)

Aria now supports the creation of a <second_sequential_statement_id> using modulus 11 for all generated statements. A Modulus 11 calculation method is used to generate the ‘check digit’ during statement generation that is used in the output parameter <second_acct_statement_seq_str> for get_invoice_information_m query API. 

Orders Enhancement—Output Parameters Added to 'get_order_m' and 'get_order_items_m' APIs to Support CCP (DEV-11223)

The following new output parameters have been added to the get_order_m API:

The following new output parameters have been added to the get_order_m and get_order_items_m APIs:

API Enhancement to Support Processor Name in get_acct_payment_history_m API (DEV-11225)

Changes have been made to the get_acct_payment_history_m API to enhance the Collection History UI screen in CCP:

Voids of Written-off Invoices for Unsettled Disputes No Longer Allowed (DEV-11236)

You can no longer void a written-off invoice via void_transaction_m if it was created as a "dispute hold" and that dispute is not yet settled. This API call will return error 3116, "Write-off of an unsettled dispute hold cannot be voided," when such a void is attempted. 

When you void an invoice with a written-off unsettled dispute hold, Aria now handles the voided writeoff via the "settle dispute" flow. This flow adds an account comment, "The dispute is settled with 'Remove and Do Not Re-Age' action since the disputed invoice is being voided,” and assigns reason code "13 (dispute settlement)" to that internal write-off void. 

Improved Handling of Order Units Crossing Multiple Rate Tiers for create_order_m (DEV-11243)

This feature improves the way Aria handles order-related API calls create_order_m, get_order_m, and get_order_details_m for units of an item that get split across multiple rate tiers.

• For create_order_m: when you specify both a number of units that split across multiple rate tiers for an order item and a <client_order_line_id>, Aria now notationally relates the <client_order_line_id> to the additional line items with different rates without violating an existing unique constraint for <client_order_line_id>. 
• For get_order_m and get_order_details_m: for each item with multiple rate tiers, Aria returns the user-passed <client_order_line_id> on the first rate sequence number and that value as <original_client_order_line_id> on the internally split line items.

New Output Parameter <dunning_process_name> added to get_acct_dunning_group_details_m API (DEV-11246)

A new output parameter <dunning_process_name> has been added to the <dunning_group_detail> output array for the get_acct_dunning_group_details_m API. The <dunning_process_name> will return the dunning process from the associated <dunning_group_no> or NULL if the <dunning_group_no> is not associated to any dunning process.

Coupon API enhancements to support CCP (DEV-11247)

The get_acct_coupon_details_m API has been modified with a new input parameter value to include all coupons (active and inactive) that have been assigned to an account or to a master plan instance. This API now also returns <coupon_cancel_date>, <coupon_message>, <credit_interval_weeks>, <credit_interval_days>, and <scope_label> to ensure parity with the get_recurring_credit_template_details_m API.

Input Parameters:

Output Parameters:

Account Status updates to get_acct_status_history_m API for CCP Support (DEV-11259)

A new output parameter <changed_by> has been added to get_acct_status_history_m API to return the name of the resource that makes a status change. The <changed_by> returns the results in the ascending order of the timestamp when the status change occurred.

Improved Outputs for get_acct_groups_by_acct_m API Call (DEV-11271)

This feature adds a new output array to the get_acct_groups_by_acct_m API call, <acct_groups_by_acct>, to replace the output array <acct_groups>. This new array  includes all the fields from the <acct_groups> array (except <group_mask> and <group_seq_no>), plus additional output fields <assigned_by> and <assigned_date>.

The full list of fields in the <acct_groups_by_acct> is listed below: