Universal Application: Auto Configure Installments

The Auto Configure feature for an installment form allows administrators to add a default installment date, number of installments, and interval between installments for each opportunity. When a request is approved, installments are automatically configured based on those defaults, eliminating the need to manually set up installments for each award.

User Role: Administrator

Use Auto Configure Installments When:

• Opportunities follow a typical award pattern, such as four-year awards paid annually, and manually configuring installments for each approval is adding time to the process.
• Approvers need to move through a high volume of approvals efficiently without referencing a separate spreadsheet or tracking award lengths per opportunity.
• Follow up forms are attached to installments and installment-level reporting is needed, particularly for organizations that export award data to financial software outside of CommunitySuite.

When each opportunity in a universe has a default installment configuration that matches its award type, approvers do not need to recall which opportunities are one-year awards versus four-year awards or reference external tracking during the approval process. The auto configured installments is a starting point and can be adjusted for a specific student during the approval process without changing the opportunity's default configuration.

For organizations that do not use CommunitySuite, this setup is especially important for reporting. When follow up forms are attached to installments, it is possible to generate a one-row-per-installment report that includes follow up data alongside installment data. This structure is required for organizations that need to export that combined data into separate financial software. CommunitySuite-integrated organizations also benefit from this setup for reporting purposes.

For guidance on connecting follow up forms to installments as part of a complete award structure, refer to Universal Application: Follow Up Configuration Options. 

Auto Configure an Installment Form

To set up auto configure for an installment form in a universe, navigate to the installment from in the Decision stage and configure the due date type, number of installments, and interval.

1. Click Tools on the upper navigation bar, and then click Process Manager.
2. Click the universe name.
    
3. Click the Decision tab.
    
4. Click the installment form name.
    
5. Select the due date type to configure the due date for the first installment. 
   • Time Span - Set the first installment due date based on a certain period of time before or after the decision date or award date.
     • The number of days, before or after the date, and the choose date need to be selected.
     • For example, the administrator could configure this to be one month after the decision date. Even if awards for the opportunity/universe are approved on different dates, the first installment due date for each award will always be set to one month after the decision date.
        
   • Specific Date - Set the first installment due date to a specific date.
     • For example, if there is a specific date that all awards for this opportunity/universe will receive their first installment, this would be the appropriate option.
        
   • Sliding Date - Set the first installment due date to the beginning or end of the month, quarter, year, or a specific month, based on the decision date.
     • For example, the administrator can set the date to the end of the month and approve an award in March, which means the first installment due date will auto configure to March 31st.
     • If the administrator sets the date to the end of October, the first installment due date for awards will auto configure to October 31st of the same year as the decision date.
        
6. Enter the number of installments to add automatically and the number of months between each installment.
    

To manually add installments and due dates for each award, select Not Using.