ESSentials/Debt Management and Information System (DMIS) interface 107-02060030

There are 2 types of receipts recorded on DMIS, internal receipts and external receipts.

External receipts

ESSentials records repayments and passes the details to DMIS. The 2 types of payments are:

• cheque payments (for example cheques posted by customers, compensation companies and from wage garnishees)
• external agency payments:
• Australia Post
• Direct Debits
• BPAY®
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO) garnishee payments

Internal receipts

Internal receipts are from:

• host systems (that is, withholdings) or are manually added on DMIS using the Adjust Repayment (OPAR) screen
• online payments via Centrelink online account or Express Plus Centrelink mobile app

ESSentials must record all payments for accounting purposes. DMIS has a facility for the recording of payments. Only record payments in DMIS when:

• the money has already been receipted and verified within ESSentials, and
• the details have not, and will not, be credited to DMIS via the interface

The interface between DMIS and ESSentials can be broken down into 4 categories:

• DMIS transfers debt data to ESSentials
• ESSentials receipting
• ESSentials transfers data to DMIS
• DMIS transfers journal data to ESSentials

DMIS provides ESSentials with a data file. This includes details for all debtors and debts. Occurs for debts with a status of:

• 'Determined' or
• that have been finalised within the last 3 months

Debts are excluded if:

• 'Finalised - No Debt'
• 'Other Government Department' (OGD)

The data file updates daily. Essentials uses this data file to:

• identify existing debts
• perform edit validation
• field consistency and
• data integrity checks used for:
• Australia Post Payments
• Direct Debits
• BPAY®, and
• ESSentials screen validations

The following details are passed from DMIS to ESSentials:

• Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• customer title, surname, given name and middle initial
• customer address (generally the postal address)
• DMIS Debt ID
• account Benefit Type
• amount owing
• recovery hierarchy

This process is entirely within the ESSentials system. On receipt of a customer's payment, the details are coded into ESSentials.

• logon to ESSentials Production
• key transaction type 'YFR1' in the white box
• select the tick in the top left hand corner

Records include:

• Document Type:
• Australia Post Payment - DZ
• Direct Debits (Voluntary Deductions) - DY
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO) garnishee - DV
• BPay - DW
• Posting Date, the date the payment is coded into ESSentials
• Date Received, the date when the payment was made
• AR Customer No., leave blank. This is the customer's ESSentials Reference Number, entry is optional
• CRN, CRN of the person that the payment is for. This is a required entry
• DEBT ID, leave blank. This is the debt to which the payment is to be credited, entry is optional
• Remittance Amount, the amount of the payment from/for the customer
• Remittance Mode, this is the type of payment (Select from drop down menu)
• MO No, the Money Order number
• Remittance Source, valid values include:
• BPY BillPay
• CRT Court Payment
• CUS Payment from the customer or their family
• DIV Dividend payment
• GRN Garnishee Payment (employer)
• ME2 Milton Graham payment
• ME3 Recoveries Corporation payment
• OGD Agency Payment
• PYC Australia Post Payment
• VOL Direct Debits
• TGN Tax Garnishee payment

Check all details are correct. Click on the Process Payment button. For repayment of an Advance Payment click on the Advances/GL/Ben Acct button, at the top of the screen.

For Advance Payments:

• key the customer's name and address details only. Do not key their CRN
• in the text box, key what the payment is for. For example, Repayment of JobSeeker Payment JSP/PEN Advance
• select proceed at the bottom of this box
• complete the Repayments of Advances Box - Benefit Account. See list of Benefit Account Codes on the Financial Accounting Branch homepage. The Cost Centre will be the code of the receipting office
• select proceed at the bottom of this box
• if processed, the receipt number will display at the bottom of the screen. Manual receipts are issued when the ESSentials receipting is unavailable, due to a system outage or system error. Do not issue a manual receipt due to problems with password.

If a Service Officer cannot reset the password in password manager, submit the Desktop Login Errors mySupport webform for them. See Resources page for link to mySupport.

Each night after ESSentials processing, all remittance details pass to DMIS. Transfer of details include:

• Record Type:
• debt remittance (DBR), or
• negative remittance (DBN). DBN is used when ESSentials passes details of dishonoured payments (for example, dishonoured cheque) or a payment incorrectly processed to a debt
• CRN:
• the CRN of the person that the payment is for displays on the Repayment History (OPRH) screen in the CRN column
• more than 1 person may be liable for a debt, so multiple CRNs can be recorded on the OPRH screen
• when manual adjustments are made in DMIS the balance of the debt is sent back to ESSentials which will adjust its record accordingly
• Debt ID:
• if there is more than 1 debt, the Debt ID dictates which debt the payment goes to. An ESSentials user has the choice of which Debt ID to apply the payment against
• details of the payment display on the OPRH screen and on the customer's record in ESSentials
• Remittance Source, displays on the OPRH screen in the Source column (for example Australia Post, BPAY)
• Date Received:
• the ESSentials payment receipt date
• displays on the OPRH screen in the Date column
• ESSentials does not pass to DMIS the posting date that the payment was loaded into ESSentials
• Receipt Number:
• the numbers transferred from ESSentials to DMIS
• they display on the OPRH screen in the Receipt Number/WH Ben Type column
• the receipt number received by the customer can be found by locating the receipt number in ESSentials, see Item 9
• Amount:
• this is the amount of money credited to the Debt ID
• is displayed on the OPRH screen in the Amount column

ESSentials maintains details of all program expenditure made by Services Australia. The payment systems provide details of the net amount paid to customers from each benefit/allowance/pension. It is a function of DMIS to provide details of withholdings from these payments to repay an account.

DMIS passes a 'journal' file to ESSentials on a weekly basis. This shows:

• withholdings information
• details of payments made by customers to repay:
• interest and administrative charges
• over recovered accounts of $10 or less

The withholdings information passed to ESSentials:

• the benefit type from which the amount was withheld
• the debt benefit type to which the withholding was credited
• the amount of the withholding

Information passed for Interest and Administrative charges:

• debt benefit type
• amount
• total credit amount

Information passed to ESSentials for over recovered debts of $10 or less:

• debt benefit type
• amount

To locate a customer’s CRN when the only information provided is a Compensation Claim ID:

• in Customer First, go to the Next field
• key CMCLMCRN and press [Enter]
• in the Compensation Claim CRN screen, go to the Claim ID field, key the Claim ID and select continue or [Enter]
• the CRN will display in the CRN field

If a valid response does not display, repeat procedure using different environment codes. See Resources page to view the list of environment codes.

Any customer payment processed in ESSentials but cannot be allocated against a customer debt, is sent to the Unidentified Administered Receipts (UAR). The details of the payment record in the 'In register' in ESSentials.

Do not use the OPAR function in DMIS to add the payment manually to the OPRH screen. The payment must be identified, and processed in ESSentials.

A customer may claim to have made a payment via an external agency (for example, Australia Post). Check the repayment history. The customer needs to provide the information from their receipt, if their payment is not displaying. Direct further investigations to the Debt Administration and Bankruptcy (DAB) Team. See Debt repayments not on the customer's record

ESSentials receipt all customer repayments:

• use transaction code ‘YDMD’ to display a customer's repayment history in ESSentials Production
• key the customer's CRN and select the DMIS Debt Details button. A list of debts recorded in ESSentials displays
• select both the Repayment History and Debt Details
• the Debt Details screen displays all information from DMIS. This includes:
• Debt Benefit Type
• Environment
• Balance
• Priority
• the Payments screen displays all information relating to payments made by the customer. Information includes:
• Document Number
• Document Type
• Pay Date
• Manual Receipt
• Payment Amount
• Positive or Negative Payment indicator
• Prior Balance
• Entry Date
• Time
• Account
• Date when sent to DMIS
• the actual payment document displays when clicking anywhere on the payment information line

Note: the Resources page contains a link to the ESSentials task cards.

The receipt number recorded in DMIS (OPRH screen) is the payment document created in ESSentials.

To locate the customer's actual receipt number:

• drop the first zero and key the remaining numbers into ESSentials Production
• the transaction code required to display receipts in ESSentials is 'FB03'.

The Resources page contains a link to the ESSentials task cards.