Release 66

CCP Allow Searching With Credit Memo References (DEV-11394)

The following search criteria have been added in Aria Billing and CCP’s quick search to allow broader searches to be performed:

• Credit Memo Number
• Credit Memo Sequence ID
• Appended Client Credit Memo Sequence ID

Additionally, the quick search has been enhanced with grouped fields to facilitate quicker location of specific search criteria. This includes a Recent Search Fields group.

Processor-Defined Refund ID Enhancements (DEV-11832)

A new "Processor Refund ID" column has been added to the refunds listing UI to display the processor-defined refund ID for electronic refunds. See API writeup for new field information for get_refund_details_m.

CCP Additional Improvements (DEV-11873)

The following CCP features have been enhanced and updated:

• Improved color contrast to ensure better visibility and readability for all users, including those with visual impairments.
• Enhanced the Refunds page by adding a new Processor Refund ID column to provide additional refund identification information. This column is hidden by default.
• Added Required Field Indicators to Account Fields. Custom fields with a red asterisk (*) indicate a required field. Required fields are mandatory custom fields that cannot be deleted.
• Billing Group primary payment methods now appear highlighted at the top of the payment method list accompanied by a DEFAULT label.
• Three distinct icons have been added when hovering over interactive links to provide indicators of expected actions before clicking. Drawer icons indicate links that open side panel drawers, Popover icons show links that display informational popovers or tooltips, and Page icons identify links that navigate to new pages.
• A new segmented button component that handles user privilege restrictions and improves overall functionality has been added that adapts its behavior based on user permissions, ensuring that dropdown options and button actions are only available to users with appropriate privileges.

International Maestro and China UnionPay Supported for Chase Paymentech (DEV-11957)

Chase Paymentech now supports payments through the International Maestro debit card type. Also, China UnionPay (for Tokenized Credit Cards – pay method 13) has been enabled as a pay method for both Chase Paymentech legacy payments as well as Smart Payments.

Tax Actions and Environment Field Added for Avalara Smart Tax (DEV-12014)

Aria has added a field for Environment as part its Avalara Smart Tax integration for testing purposes (Configuration > Integrations > Taxation Configuration > Avalara Communications Tax > Configuration tab > AvaTax Environment field). Permitted values at this field are Sandbox and Production. This setting ensures correct communication with Avalara's respective environment for tax calculations and submissions. For clients migrated to Avalara Communications Tax from Avalara Tax Service, the default value at this field is retained.

Also Calculate, Post, Refund, and Void actions are permitted for Avalara Communcations Tax. Additionally, a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) has been sent in the code field for tax (quote) action requests through the tax orchestration service; when Aria receives the tax response, a value is returned in the response log in the "out_correlation_id" field.

PayPal Added for Smart Payments Integration (DEV-12041)

With this release, Aria adds PayPal to its Smart Payments integration for both Credit Cards (pay method 1) and Tokenized Credit Cards (pay method 13). This includes authorization and capture for the following card brands:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• Discover
• Maestro
• Diners Club International

PayPal Smart Payments also supports partial and full refunds and reversals for Credit Cards and Tokenized Credit Cards (pay methods 1 and 13). All payment actions are supported through the Aria UI and selected APIs. The query token action retrieves card details such as the last four digits of the card number, along with the card expiry date associated with the token.

CCP Drawer Enhancements (DEV-12046)

Drawers within CCP have been improved with a new collapse functionality allowing you to view information on the previous screen that may not be accessible within the currently displayed drawer. This collapse feature functions by temporarily collapsing the drawer content to allow visibility of the underlying page content without losing current work within the drawer.

Unlike closing the drawer, the collapse function preserves your progress and can be easily restored by re-expanding the current drawer. Collapsing allows you to reference information from a background layer, improving workflow efficiency and reducing the need to repeatedly close and reopen drawers.

CCP All Service Rates List View Updates (DEV-12052)

Adding a Rate Tier within the Subscriptions > All Service Rates page has been enhanced to prevent incomplete entries and restrict you from adding a new rate tier when an existing tier is incomplete. This enhancement ensures that all rate tiers are properly configured before additional tiers are created.

Additionally, real time validation now occurs when you modify rate tier data to maintain proper upper and lower limits and ensure limits are conserved across all existing tiers. Invalid rate tiers are now highlighted to provide visual feedback and prevent further additions until validation errors are resolved.

CCP Partial Invoice Disputes And Write-Offs Update (DEV-12055)

The invoice dispute functionality has been enhanced for partially disputed invoices on the Transactions > Write-Offs > Disputes tab. Previously, disputed records were only visible at the invoice level. You can now expand invoice level records from the Disputes tab to view individual line items showing both disputed and disputable line items within the same invoice.

The Create New Dispute Hold form has been enhanced to properly honor and validate dispute expiration dates against the configured Dispute Expiration Hold Days and Dispute Hold Expiration Override Maximum Days client miscellaneous settings. Visual indicators on invalid inputs display to highlight errors with an additional tooltip offering specific corrective actions.

Payment Plans Phase 1 (DEV-12056)

Payment plans help customers break down their outstanding balances into smaller, manageable payments. This makes it easier for them to pay off debts and reduces customer churn for Aria clients. Phase 1 of this feature focuses on helping struggling customers by negotiating custom plans based on their balance and financial situation.

You set up a payment plan for an account by:

• Selecting specific invoices and transaction IDs to include.
• Choosing a billing group.
• Picking a payment plan type: aligned (where the due amount appears on the master plan instance statement) or independent (where the due amount uses a new email notification template class).
  • Defining the payment interval (frequency), period type (days, weeks, or months), and length.
  • For independent plans, setting the start date and due date. If you do not specify these values, the system calculates the schedule using bill lag days plus days until due from the payment method or terms.

    Note: The system makes a single collection call to the payment processor when a statement includes both a payment plan due and new invoice obligations.

• Previewing the plan via API before the customer agrees (view API details below).

The system adjusts dunning once you create a payment plan: it assigns new due dates to the outstanding balance and only triggers dunning if the customer misses a scheduled payment. If services were already in dunning, the system removes them upon payment plan creation. 

New notifications and events support payment plans:

• A new event called "Account Payment Plan Created" under "Account and Master Plan Instances."
• A new email template class called "Payment Plan Due Reminder" to notify customers of upcoming dues.
• New strings and loops for statement templates to show upcoming payments due on anniversary statements.
• Support for bill lag days in payment terms and methods, which the system applies to payment plan notify dates and due dates.

The <extended_alt_date> Field Passed Blank Instead of Zero On Usage Records Array (DEV-12063)

For usage records in a statement when either the amount or rate is explicitly set to zero where usage is recorded, the fields <extended_alt_rate> (amount) and <alt_rate> (rate) now return zero for the field value. Previously, these fields returned as blank in the statement when amount or rate was set to zero in the usage.

The below replacement strings will return “0” when amount or rate is set to zero for the recorded usage.

Refund and Geo Action Support Added for Vertex Smart Tax (DEV-12066)

For Aria's Smart Tax integration with Vertex, refunds (for full or partial amounts) are now supported, including tax distribution among both the refund and tax amounts. Geo actions based on account Ship From and Bill To addresses are now supported also to enable precise taxation through a Vertex Smart Tax request. Also, the Allow Credits after 'x' days field has been removed from the Configuration tab (Configuration > Integrations > Taxation Configuration > Vertex Smart Tax).

RevRec Batch Job Performance Tuned (DEV-12082)

Aria has improved the performance of the Revenue Recognition (RevRec) batch job to address its excessive runtime and failure to complete within a day. The "RevRec Summarized Periods Report" now processes only the periods affected in the current run, significantly reducing the processing load. This enhancement, which also applies to partial-pay RevRec logic and extends to period summarization for both deferred debits and credits, is controlled by the hidden client parameter Use Revenue Recognition Profile Partial Pay Logic and ensures that only relevant periods are summarized.

CCP Subscription Details Updates (DEV-12088)

The Subscription > Subscription Details > Add-Ons Details drawer has been improved with added Usage Pooling management capabilities. When you select Usage Pooling, a pop out opens allowing you to modify the Status and Unit-Based Usage Thresholds directly. This new pop out also displays usage information including Accumulated Billed Units and Unbilled Pooled Units. This enhancement streamlines usage pooling management by eliminating the need to navigate to separate screens by providing immediate access to both configuration options and real-time usage data. 

Implement <encode_statement_values> For Credit Memo Messages (DEV-12089)

When the client parameter Encode Statement Values is set to "Encode", special characters like single quotes, double quotes, '&' , '<' or '>' present in the credit memo statement fields are encoded. This is applicable for non-plain text statement formats such as XML (Notify Methods 13, 15, 16) and HTML credit memo messages.

Restrict Credit Memo Statements From Being Included In PDF Master File: Batch Process 46 (DEV-12095)

Credit Memo statements have been restricted from appearing in the PDF Master File. Previously, if a billing group had multiple invoices (regular invoice, order-based invoice, etc.), duplicate statements would appear in the PDF Master file.

New Output Field in get_refund_details_m API (DEV-11832)

This feature enhances the get_refund_details_m API with a new output field, <proc_refund_id>.

See the Application writeup for UI information.

Enhancements to Anonymization API (DEV-11834)

Aria has enhanced the anonymization process for account data deletion, which now includes "country," "state," and "birthdate," when the delete_acct_data_m API is invoked. Address information will be anonymized with 'x' and birthdate with '01/01/1900'.

Ability to Specify Alternative Statement Template in get_statement_for_invoice_m API (DEV-11840)

Aria has enhanced the get_statement_for_invoice_m API with new <alt_stmt_template_no> and <alt_client_stmt_template_id> input parameters, allowing you to override the account's default statement template and generate statement content based on the specified alternate template. This override functionality is only applied when no statement content has been previously generated and stored; otherwise, the API returns the previously stored content without utilizing the alternate template.

If invalid values are provided for these inputs, the API will return error codes 18005 for an invalid template number and 18006 for an invalid client template ID.

Recurring Credit Displays Incorrect Status For Archived Accounts (DEV-12013)

The get_recurring_credit_info_m API now returns the appropriate recurring credit status and cancellation-related information:

• Status Update: Previously, when recurring credits were canceled via batch processing, the status was incorrectly set to "Cancelled, No Credits Created", even if some credits had been created. This has been corrected to now set the status to "Cancelled, Some Credits Created".
• Cancellation Details: Cancellation related information was not previously updated in the system. The following fields in the <recurring_credits> table are now populated with appropriate data:
  • <cancel_user>
  • <cancel_date>
  • <cancel_comments>

Specific comments will be returned for differing cancellation types and scenarios.

For batch cancellations of recurring credits on deactivated accounts: "Orphaned recurring credit no. <credit id> discarded by daily pre-invoice housekeeping batch process due to account being in non-provisioned status."

For cancellations when the associated coupon is canceled via API, UI, or batch process: "Recurring credit is cancelled since the associated coupon is cancelled."

Payment Plans Phase 1 (DEV-12056)

Payment plans help customers break down their outstanding balances into smaller, manageable payments. This makes it easier for them to pay off debts and reduces customer churn for Aria clients. Phase 1 of this feature focuses on helping struggling customers by negotiating custom plans based on their balance and financial situation. This feature introduces new core APIs to support payment plans:

• create_payment_plan_m: Creates a new payment plan for an account, allowing the balance to be split into scheduled payments over time. Required fields are <client_no>, <auth_key>, <acct_no> or <client_acct_id>, <client_billing_group_id>, and <payment_plan_type>. You can specify all master plan instances under a billing group, or a list of specific master plan instances, invoice number, and transaction id. When you specify a list of master plan instances, invoice number and transaction id, the payment plan will be created based on the combined open charges of all three.
• get_payment_plan_list_m: Returns the list of payment plans on the account. Required fields are <client_no>, <auth_key>, and <acct_no> or <client_acct_id>.

Learn more about Phase 1 in the Application Features section.