A common task for association staff is keeping up with open balances, especially for dues since it's the main revenue stream for many associations. In Novi, there are several ways to view a list of members with open and overdue balances:
Transactions - A pre-built report from Novi's Accounting section that includes more about the transaction than other areas, including transaction date and number.
Groups - Use information about members with open balances to sync to your email platform or lockdown content/pricing
Members - An easy and quick pre-built Novi report with the basic membership fields
Custom Reports - Pull a report based on open balances with specific fields that can't be pulled elsewhere
Keep reading below to see what data can be viewed and downloaded from each section listed above, how to build the report, plus the pros and cons of each. For example, only Groups can be synced over to Mailchimp and Constant Contact, but Custom Reports have more information available.
Novi Tip: Once you've determined the best way to pull your information, add a note in your Novi Notes for future reference.
Please Note: If any of your dues invoices were created in QuickBooks Online, they will not be included in lists that are based on "Open Dues Balance" or "Overdue Dues Balance" because only Novi-generated dues invoices are recognized as "dues invoices" in Novi.
Transactions Page
You can filter the Accounting > Transactions list by open/overdue invoices and export or print as a report.
To view a list of open dues invoices in the Transactions list:
1. Go to Accounting > Transactions
2. In the Filters drop-down
3. Click Quick Filter
4. Select Open Invoices or Overdue Invoices
In addition to all of the available columns listed in the Members List, the Transactions list also includes the following available columns under the gear icon:
Transaction Details:
Date
Transaction Type
Revenue Type
No.
Due Date
Balance
Total
Status
Last Sent Date
Payment Dates
Final Payment Date
Related Event
Related Products
Auto-Pay Status
Note: If you're looking for this information related to a specific member, the same information that is listed above can be viewed and downloaded from the Transactions tab on the member's record.
Pros
Reports from the Transactions list include more details about the transaction itself (e.g. Transaction Date & Number).
You can print and/or email the open dues invoices in bulk, using the Batch Action drop-down.
If you'll be sending open dues invoices via email:
You can customize the messaging in the Smart Renewal Notice.
In the Transactions list, you can click the gear icon to add the Last Sent Date as a display column to see if the invoice has already been sent to the member and how long ago.
Cons
If you want to sync the email addresses from Novi over to MailChimp or Constant Contact, you'll need to create a group instead.
Groups
Did you know? You can create a group of members with open dues balances, or just an open balance in general, and even sync the list to MailChimp or Constant Contact to email these members. You could also create a group of members who do NOT have an open balance and lock down your members-only event tickets to this group.
To create and view a group of members with an open balance:
1. Go to Members > Groups
2. Create a new group or copy an existing group. Learn more about creating groups in Novi.
3. Set the Condition(s) for the group.
This can be as simple as Open Dues Balance is greater than 0 (zero), to pull all members with open dues invoices, or any other dollar amount you're looking to pull. This condition refers to the balance on open dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.
If you're specifically looking for dues invoices that are open and have a due date in the past, use the Overdue Dues Balance condition. This condition refers to the balance on past-due membership dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.
You can also go beyond just membership dues and pull members with an Open Balance (due date in the future) or an Overdue Balance (due date in the past). Both of these conditions include invoices for the member record, plus their sub-companies and staff.
Example: Open Dues Balance
4. Set the Group Beneficiaries - There are several options here, depending on whether or not you want to include only the members or also their family members. Learn more about Group Beneficiaries.
5. Set the Email Sync, if applicable - If you are connected to MailChimp or Constant Contact, you can select an existing contact list or create a new one.
In addition to all of the available display columns in the main Members List, each Group in Novi has a section for Group Details under the gear icon. In this section, the following fields are available:
Group Details
Type (indicates if the record is a company, a person with a user account, or a person without a user account)
Group Member Status (Primary Group Member or Beneficiary)
Note: Only Name, Email, and Company are automatically synced over to MailChimp and Constant Contact. You can optionally sync other fields over using Merge Fields for both Mailchimp and Constant Contact.
Pros
Groups can be synced to MailChimp and Constant Contact. This is a great way to send a mass communication to unpaid members, asking them to log in to their Member Compass and pay their open invoice(s).
Groups are quick and easy to build! If the information you need is included on the Members tab of the group list, then you're all set and there's no need for a custom report.
Cons
If you need information about a group's members and the field(s) are not included in the display columns, then you may need to create a custom report instead.
Groups will not show you the specifics of the transaction details.
Novi Tip: Using groups based on open/overdue dues balances to lock down content and members-only pricing is a great idea, but dropping them from membership via the Non-Renew & Credit process is the ultimate way to remove member benefits when members don’t pay their dues on time.
Members
If you need to pull a list of members with unpaid dues and it does not need to be synced to MailChimp or Constant Contact, but the Transactions section is missing some of the member info you need, then pulling the list from the Members section may be the way to go!
To pull a list of open dues invoices from the Members list, follow these steps:
1. Go to the Members section on the backend.
2. In the top area, click the yellow square for Open Dues or the red square for Overdue only. This will display the same list of people as the Transactions tab but will provide different information (e.g. Parent Company). Note: The yellow and red squares only show open and overdue DUES invoices - they do not include other invoice types.
There are several available display columns in the main members list, including Member Data, Contact info, Personal Info, Related Records, Member custom fields, Activities & Engagement, Accounting, User Account, and System fields.
See the full list: Members List available display columns.
Pros
The results are easy to get by clicking the yellow or red dues boxes.
Add additional columns to display using the gear!
Cons
While the Members list does include their Open Balance, it does not list any other details about the invoice(s), such as Transaction Date & Number. Also, keep in mind, the Open Balance amount represents all open invoices, not just membership dues.
If you need to sync members with an open/overdue dues balance to MailChimp or Constant Contact, then you'll need to create a group instead.
Custom Reports
If the built-in reports explained above are missing some information that you need, you can create a Custom Report of members with open and/or overdue balances.
Custom Reports have a ton of fields available, for the conditions as well as the display columns. To view a complete list, check out the list of available fields for custom membership reports.
To pull a custom report of members with an open balance, follow these steps:
1. Go to Reporting > Custom Reports
2. Set the Condition(s) for the report.
This can be as simple as Open Dues Balance is greater than 0 (zero), to pull all members with open dues invoices, or any other dollar amount you're looking to pull. This condition refers to the balance on open dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.
If you're specifically looking for dues invoices that are open and have a due date in the past, use the Overdue Dues Balance condition. This condition refers to the balance on past-due membership dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.
You can also go beyond just membership dues and pull members with an Open Balance (due date in the future) or an Overdue Balance (due date in the past). Both of these conditions include invoices for the member record, plus their sub-companies and staff.
3. Select the Columns to Display - There are many options here, depending on what information is needed for the report.
Pros
If you need information from members' records that is not available in groups or the Members list, custom reports have the most available member fields and custom fields so you can get all of the data you need in order to customize your outreach for dues collection.
You can include Primary and/or Billing Contacts for company members and Parent Companies for individual members.
Cons
If you need to sync members with an open/overdue balance to MailChimp or Constant Contact, or if you need to lock down content and/or pricing, then you'll need to create a group instead.
Custom reports can include Open Balance, but they do not have any other details about the invoice, such as Transaction Date & Number.
While having a lot of options is listed above as a benefit of custom reports, if you're feeling overwhelmed check out our Custom Reports Tips & Tricks, or see if a group would provide the information you need.
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