Altru Online Deposit

Blackbaud Merchant Services Disbursement + Deposit Reporting

Note 1: BBMS disburses funds one week after the transaction date. This means most days will be separated into different disbursement reports, but Sunday–Monday transactions will be disbursed together and accounted for in one report download.

Note 2: BBMS counts transaction dates by Eastern time, while our Altru account is on Central time. This time difference means that some late-night transactions will show in Altru on one day, while BBMS will count it with the disbursement for the next. For example: A $50 payment at 11:15pm on February 7 will be counted by BBMS as a February 8 transaction and will be included with other February 8 transactions in the BBMS disbursement report.

Login at https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/payment-portal/
Go to the Reports dropdown and select Disbursement. This page will show you all available disbursement reports that are ready for download.
Find the report you wish to process and click the three-dot button on the left side, then select Detailed XLS to download the report.
1. Note: The date on the file name will be the disbursement date, not the transaction date.
Open the XLS file and make adjustment to column sizes so that all data fits on one page when you print or convert to PDF. Leave room for an extra column on the right end of the page (this is where you will mark the destination account for transactions).
1. If there are any refunds, they will be on a separate sheet within the Excel file. Copy and paste the data onto the first sheet, below the payments.
Next, go to the Information Library in Altru and edit the Online Deposit: Payment Descriptions query to match the date(s) on your BBMS report.
Run the query, then compare the results with the BBMS report and label each item on the report to indicate the account those funds should go into.
1. You can spell it out or use abbreviations, as long as it is clear what the funds are.
  1. Here are some recommended abbreviations:
    1. Membership = M
    2. General Operating (donations) = GO
    3. Admission = A
    4. Curated Conversations: CC
    5. Annual Fund = AF
    6. Education – Group Visit = Edu or E
    7. Second Saturdays = SS
    8. Gala = G
  2. You can also relabel payment sections to suit your needs and create your own abbreviations to match.
2. If there is a split payment, meaning a transaction that includes two items which go into separate accounts (for example: parking and admission), you will need to note on the report the gross amount of each item (example: $4 P / $24 A).
  1. You will also need to calculate how much of the transaction fee comes out of each category in a combined transaction. See e.i. for this step.
3. Save the BBMS report as BBMS Online Deposit_[date or date range of included transactions]. You can also vary the file name format, as long as it’s clearly labeled.
4. Open a copy of the BBMS Online Deposit Deposit Template.
5. Going down the BBMS report, enter the gross amount of each transaction and the associated fee on the corresponding sheet of your deposit template.
  1. To determine how much of the transaction fee comes from each category in a combined transaction, calculate the percentage amounts of each item from the fee, then subtract the percentages from the fee to find the dollar amounts. Enter those amounts for the respective category fees. For a fuller explanation and example, see the note at the end of these instructions.
  2. You can enter all transactions at once, then enter fees, or you can enter transaction-by-transaction, doing the gross amount and the fee at the same time before moving on to the next payment. Whichever is easier.
  3. If there are any refunds, manually enter them in the appropriate section of the Deposit Totals sheet in the report template Excel.
6. Once everything is entered, return to the Deposit Totals sheet in your report template and compare your DEPOSIT TOTAL amount against the Grand Total amount on the BBMS report. If there is a difference, you may have to reenter in the deposit template until it is correct.
7. If the amounts match, save the deposit template.
8. Then, save both the BBMS report and the Deposit Totals sheet of your deposit template as PDF files.
9. Combine the PDFs into one document, titled BBMS Online Deposit_[date or date range of included transactions].
10. Save a copy for your department and send a copy to Stacey Cilek, Director of Finance & Administration, and she will turn it in to the Bursar’s office.
11. Done!

Notes on determining fee portions for transactions with items in separate revenue categories:

The Bursar’s office needs a breakdown of fees by category (membership, admission, etc.), which means if there are two items on an order, we need to show how much of that combined fee goes to each category. Here’s how I do the math to determine the breakdown:

For example, I have an online payment that includes a $68 membership and a $100 donation to general operating. BBMS takes the fee (2.798%+$0.026) out of the combined total: so, a $4.96 fee for a $168 transaction.

To separate the fee, I calculate that that $68 membership is 40.4761905% of the $168 total, which makes the membership fee $2.9523809512, rounded up to $2.96. Leaving the donation fee as $2.0076190488, rounded down to $2. Combined fee total: $4.96.

With those calculations, I enter on the disbursement report a $68 membership with a $2.96 membership fee and a $100 donation, with a $2 donation fee, which then get added to the totals on the cover sheet.