Alma Fulfillment Resource Guide

Paying a Fine

Note: For Institutions that have an Alma fine integration with a student management system, fines are paid via a process external to Alma. Externally paid fees will not be viewable in Alma.

1. If a patron has a fine, you can facilitate its payment from the Patron Services screen. Navigate to Fulfillment > Manage Patron Services to bring up the Patron Identification screen, then look up the patron's record as if you were going to check out items to the patron.
    
2. ​​You can see the amount the patron owes in the Active balance section under the patron's name.
   
    
3. If the patron would like an email of their circulation activity, including fines and fees, click Send Activity Report.
   
    
4. If they would like to pay at this time, click the Pay button.
   
    
5. The Payment Details screen will open. Select the payment method by clicking on the drop down arrow and choosing from the menu, enter how much the patron wishes to pay at this time in the "Payment amount" field, then click the Send button.
   
    
6. The fine is now recorded as having been paid. You may continue helping the patron from the Patron Services screen, or click Done to exit.
   

Applying a Fine to an Account

1. To apply a fine to a patron account, or to otherwise manage patron fines, begin by looking up the patron with the fixed search bar.
   
    
2. On the User Details screen, select the Fines/Fees tab.
   
    
3. Click Add Fine or Fee.
   
    
4. The "Fee Type" and "Fee Amount" fields are required. Select the fee type from the drop down menu, and enter the fee amount manually. Populate any additional fields as necessary.
   
    
5. If you are adding more than one fine/fee, click the Add button. If you are finished adding information, click the Add and Close button.
   
    
6. The Fine/Fee is now charged to the patron. Click the Save button.
   

Waiving Fines and Fees

1. In the Fines/Fees tab, select the fines/fees you want to waive and select Waive Selected in the table actions list. Alternately, select Waive in the row actions list for the fine/fee that you want to waive. The Waiving Fine/Fee page appears.

   

    

2. Enter the amount of the fee you want to waive in the Fee amount field.
    
3. In Waiving reason select a reason for waiving the fee (this list is predefined by a system administrator; see Configuring Reasons for Waiving Fines/Fees).
    
4. Enter any text/comment for waiving the fine or fee in the Comment field.
    
5. Select Waive and then select Confirm in the confirmation dialog box. The amount that is waived is deducted from the amount of the fine or fee (in the Original Amount column), and the balance owed for the fine or fee in the Remaining Balance column is reduced. The balances shown in the Fines and Fees Summary area for Active balance and Disputed balance are updated.

To view the transactions for any fine or fee, select the amount link in the Remaining Balance column.

Note: If a lost item is waived, there is no reduction in the Remaining Balance value. Instead, the waived amount is displayed as a credit.

Bulk Fine Waiving

The Bulk Fine Waiving option enables you to waive user fines in bulk based on user group, type of fine, and maximum fine. To run this process, you must have the User Manager role.
To waive fines in bulk:

1. From the main Alma screen, go to Admin>> User Management>> Bulk Fine Waiving. The following screen should appear:
   
2. Add a dollar value to the maximum Fine Threshold to Waive field.  If the total amount of a user’s fines is greater than the threshold, none of the user's fines are waived.
    
3. Check the Exclude Users With Overdue Loans if you do not want to waive fines for users who currently have overdue loans.
    
4. Select the user group whose files you wish to waive from the User Group dropdown.  If you'd like to select multiple user groups, cold down the CTRL key and click on each user group you'd like to select.
    
5. Select the types of fines you'd like to waive from the Waive Fines Types dropdown.  If you'd like to select multiple fine types, cold down the CTRL key and click on each fine type you'd like to select.
    
6. Select a waiving reason from the Waiving Reason dropdown and add a waiving comment to the Waiving Comment field.
    
7. Click the Run Bulk Fine Waiving button.