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How to Drop Members

Use Non-Renew and Credit to drop members that have not paid their dues.

Pete Zimek, CAE avatar
Written by Pete Zimek, CAE
Updated today

While most members pay their outstanding dues invoices, there are always a few who don't. At some point in time, association staff will decide to drop members who haven't paid their dues.

In Novi AMS, this is handled with a feature called Non-Renew and Credit.

What Happens During Renewal?

When a membership renews, two things happen:

  1. A dues invoice is created.

  2. The member's expiration date is moved forward to the end of the next term (yearly, monthly, etc).

When a member hasn't paid their invoice, to effectively reverse the renewal, Non-Renew & Credit is the correct action to take.


Video Tutorial

Watch Non-Renew & Credit in Action:


What is Non-Renew and Credit?

Non-Renew

This part of the process:

  • Rolls back the expiration date to the previous expiration date, making them Expired (or removes the date entirely for new members, converting them to Prospects).

  • Immediately removes benefits from the member (and any inheriting members, if applicable to the member type).

  • Commonly referred to by calendar-year associations as their "annual drops."

Credit

The credit portion:

  • Triggers QuickBooks Online to create a credit memo offsetting the original dues invoice.

  • Adds a layer of detail and transparency to accounting records by properly reversing recognized revenue, keeping financial reports accurate.

  • Ensures that your Profit & Loss statement reflects a net zero effect, unless the original invoice and credit were recorded in different periods.

As a best practice, Novi highly suggests not deleting dues invoices in QuickBooks Online. This could alter previous financial reporting. It's best to use the Non-Renew & Credit functionality instead.

Trust us, no one wants to report X dollars for January's income to a board only to revise the number down a few months later!


How To Non-Renew & Credit

Batch Processing

Learn how to process multiple drops at once.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to Accounting > Transactions in the backend.

  2. Click the Filter button, then use the Quick Filter link for Overdue Dues Invoices.

  3. Apply additional filters as needed.

  4. Manually select specific invoices, or select all on the page.

  5. Once the invoices are selected, click the Batch Actions drop-down, then select Non-renew & credit.

Locate the Overdue Dues Filter and (optional) apply additional filters:

Select the Dues Invoices:

Select Batch Action > Non Renew & Credit:


Processing a Single Non-Renew and Credit

The Non-Renew & Credit button is available:

  • On open dues invoices

  • On the Details tab of the billed record

To process non-renew on a single dues invoice:

  1. Open the invoice and click Non-Renew & Credit.

  2. Close the modal using the "X" or “Close” button.

To process Non-Renew from the Details tab of a record:

  1. Navigate to the Details tab of the billed record.

  2. In the blue area under Membership Information, select Non-Renew & Credit.


The "Non-Renew" Transaction Status

For Non-Renew & Credited invoices, QuickBooks Online considers the status of these transactions as Paid. In most cases, a zero-dollar payment is automatically created to link the credit memo with the outstanding invoice.

However, Novi displays these as Non-Renew so you can distinguish them.

Non-Renew & Credit is a Novi feature.
QuickBooks Online will still show the invoice as PAID when Non-Renew and Credit is used.

The Non-Renew status is visible in these areas of Novi:

  • Accounting > Transactions Tab

  • Member Detail > Accounting Tab

  • Recent Signups

  • In Transaction Status Filters

  • Member Compass > Accounting Tab


Key Notes & Best Practices

  1. Non-Renew status appears only if the invoice is credited using Novi's Non-Renew & Credit tool.

  2. When invoices are Non-renewed & Credited, a copy of the credited invoice is not automatically sent to the member.

  3. Credits issued directly in QuickBooks Online do not trigger the Non-Renew status in Novi.

    1. This is intentional, as there may be times a credit memo is used, but not as a write-off. Please consult your bookkeeper/accountant for further information on the accounting side of things.

  4. You can only Non-Renew & Credit once per dues invoice.

    1. If a member wants to renew later, leave the old invoice untouched.

    2. Instead, click the Renew button from their Details tab to generate a new invoice.

  5. If batch emailing transactions, and Non-Renewed invoices are selected in the batch, Novi will ask for confirmation before sending the Non-Renewed invoices.


Troubleshooting

This feature is available only for open dues invoices. If a dues invoice has been fully or partially paid:

  • You’ll need to refund their payment (if necessary) and adjust the member's expiration date back.

When batch processing, Novi will skip paid and partially paid invoices, and list the ones not processed in the status bar on the Transactions page:

There are possible exceptions if the member types have any optional dues rules that use the create an offsetting credit memo setting. That setting prevents Non-Renew & Credit of the invoice.


A Note on Seat-Based Dues Invoices

If you're making changes to a member company that has seat-based dues, please refer to the corresponding articles for more detailed information:


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