In the Main Menu, select Tools | Billing. Or starting with version 4.0, click the Billing button in the Manage module.
The filter section on the left half of the window controls which patients get included in the billing list. After you change the settings, you can click the Save As Default button to save them for the next time you run the billing. A typical office will bill on the first of every month. When you do it this way, the date at the upper left will show the first of the previous month. This causes everyone who has not been billed in the last month to be included. It's a good idea to put at least $1 in the exclude box. It's a waste of money to send a bill to someone who owes less than $1.
Cycle Billing
Rather than billing once a month,
consider printing a few bills every day. The patients don't get billed more
often than once a month, but it still helps get the bills out in a more timely
manner and improve cash flow. Check the box at the top to include accounts with
changes since their last bill. This causes a bill to get sent for anyone who has
had an insurance payment come in or work performed, but did not yet get a new
bill showing the change.
If you don't want to use cycle billing, then you can still just bill once a month on the first of the month. The automation works well for both methods.
Dunning Messages
The right side of the window
shows a list of optional dunning messages. A dunning message is a message that
shows at the bottom of a statement based on the age of the account and some
other factors. Double click on an existing message or click add.
Create the List
Once you have your options set,
click the Create List button.
Normally, of course, the list would be much longer than this sample. All the rows will start out as highlighted and you would normally just click the Print button. But, sometimes, you might want to only print a few statements, so you can manually select which rows to print. Every time a statement is printed, an entry is made into that patient's account stating that the statement was sent.
See the Monthly Billing Reports for information on the recommended monthly reports to run.