Non Cash Settlement - hmislk/hmis GitHub Wiki
Non-Cash Payment Settlement
What is Settlement?
When patients pay by Card, Cheque, Bank Slip, eWallet, or any other non-cash method, the cashier holds a physical document (card slip, cheque, deposit slip, eWallet receipt) — not the money itself. The actual money only enters the hospital bank account later, when:
- The card processor settles the batch and remits the net amount
- The cheque clears the bank
- The bank confirms a deposit slip
- The eWallet provider remits the batch
The Settlement workflow records this confirmation. Every settlement is a two-step process:
- The holder of the payments submits a settlement request.
- A different, authorised user approves (or rejects) it.
Only after approval does the payment leave the cashier's responsibility. From then on it no longer appears in any handover.
Settlement is for non-cash payments only. Cash deposits use the existing Bank Deposit workflow.
Why Non-Cash Items Keep Appearing in Handovers
A cashier who collects a non-cash payment hands the physical document over at shift end. The receiving cashier hands it over again at their shift end. This chain continues — typically ending at a main cashier or accounts officer — until the bank or processor confirms receipt.
Until that confirmation is recorded and approved, the document keeps appearing in the holder's handovers, because the holder is still physically responsible for it.
Where to Find It
Menu → Financial Transaction Manager → Drawer:
- Settle Non-Cash Payments — submit a settlement request (privilege: Settle Non-Cash Payments)
- Non-Cash Settlement Approvals (n) — approve or reject requests; n is the number waiting (privilege: Approve Non-Cash Settlement)
The Drawer section of the Financial Transaction Manager. The number in brackets is how many requests are waiting for approval.
Step 1 — Submit a Settlement Request
- Open Settle Non-Cash Payments and pick a department. The list shows only departments where you hold non-cash payments that are ready to settle.
- Tick the payments being settled in this batch. A payment is listed only if:
- you currently hold it,
- it has been through at least one accepted handover,
- it is not already in a settlement request waiting for approval, and
- it is not inside a handover you sent that has not been accepted yet.
- Enter the Settlement Reference (POS batch ID, bank deposit slip number, processor or eWallet remittance reference) and any comments.
- Click Submit for Approval.
Tick the payments in the batch, enter the reference, then Submit for Approval.
A Settlement Request slip is shown, marked PENDING APPROVAL, with a request number (NCSET-…). Print it if your process needs a paper copy. It has signature lines for Requested By and Approved By.
The request slip. Nothing is settled yet. The payments stay with you until the request is approved.
A single request always covers one department. If you hold payments from several departments, submit one request per department.
While a Request Is Waiting
- The payments stay in your name, but they are locked: they cannot be picked for another request and cannot be handed over.
- You cannot end your shift or create a handover until every request of yours has been approved, rejected or withdrawn. See Starting and Ending a Shift.
- Your waiting requests are listed at the top of the Settle Non-Cash Payments page. Use Withdraw to cancel one yourself, for example if you picked the wrong payments. The payments then return to your list.
Your waiting requests, with a Withdraw button for each.
Step 2 — Approve or Reject
The approver opens Non-Cash Settlement Approvals. Waiting requests are always listed, whatever dates are set. Use the Status filter (Approved, Rejected, Cancelled) and the date range to look at past requests.
- Click View on a request to see its payments.
- Check them against the bank statement or the processor's batch report.
- Click Approve, or enter a Rejection reason and click Reject.
The approver sees the payments in the request. A rejection needs a reason.
You cannot approve or reject your own request. The buttons are disabled for the requester, and hovering over them explains why. Another user with the Approve Non-Cash Settlement privilege must act on it.
What approval does
- Each payment is marked settled and leaves the cashier's responsibility. It no longer appears in any handover.
- The settled amounts are taken out of the requester's drawer, separately for each payment method (Card, Cheque, Slip, …). Each one is recorded in the drawer history against the requester, with the approver as the person who made the entry.
- The request and its settlement bill record who approved it and when.
What rejection does
- The payments go back to the requester's list of payments to settle.
- Nothing changes in the drawer.
- The requester can end their shift and hand over again (if they have no other waiting request).
The Cash Book is not updated by settlement. The payment was recorded in the cash book at its first handover.
Cancelling an Approved Settlement
An approved settlement can be cancelled (whole settlement only). Cancellation:
- returns the payments to the holder at the time of settlement, unsettled, so they appear in that holder's next handover;
- puts the amounts back into that holder's drawer.
Settlements made before the approval step was introduced never took money out of the drawer, so cancelling one of those does not put money back either.
Bounced cheques and chargebacks are different. If a cheque clears and is settled, then later bounces, that is a real financial discrepancy and is handled through a separate process — not by cancelling the settlement.
Required Privileges
| Privilege (Cash Transaction category) | Allows |
|---|---|
| Settle Non-Cash Payments | Submit and withdraw settlement requests |
| Approve Non-Cash Settlement | Approve or reject other users' settlement requests |
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bank Deposit | Cash physically deposited at the bank (existing workflow) |
| Settlement request | A batch of non-cash payments submitted as confirmed by the bank or processor, waiting for approval |
| Settlement | An approved request: the payments are settled |
| Holder | The user currently responsible for the physical document |