Accrue/Post Dividends by Type

System Management System Management Accrue/Post Dividends by Type

This document provides technical guidance for using the “Accrue/Post Dividends by Type” program within the FLEX system. This program enables credit unions to accrue or post dividends to a single share type outside of the normal dividend posting frequency.

Accessing the Program

The “Accrue/Post Dividends by Type” program is located within the FLEX Main Menu under:

  • System Administration > System Utilities > Accrue/Post Dividends By Type

Program Overview

The program offers two primary functions: Accrue Dividends and Post Dividends.

Accrue Dividends

This function allows the credit union to apply multiple dividend rates within a single dividend period, while still adhering to the normal dividend posting date.

  • Purpose: To calculate and record accrued interest based on varying rates throughout a dividend period, without immediately posting the dividends to member accounts.
  • Example: If dividends on regular shares are paid quarterly, but the credit union wishes to use different rates for January (0.50%), February (0.45%), and March (0.25%), the accrual program can be run at the end of each month.
  • Process:
    • Each accrual posting calculates interest due from the last dividend calculated date, based on the rate used during that specific accrual posting.
    • The calculated amount is entered into the Accrued Dividend field.
    • The Last Dividend Calculated Date is reset to the date the program was run.
  • Prerequisite: Dividend rates must be updated in the “Maintain Dividend Rates” program prior to running this accrual program.

Post Dividends

This function allows the credit union to post dividends to a specific share type outside of its regular posting schedule.

  • Purpose: To disburse dividends to member accounts for a particular share type on an ad-hoc basis.
  • Example: For Christmas Club accounts that normally post dividends quarterly, if the credit union plans to transfer all funds on November 1st, they can use this function to post October’s dividends on October 31st, even though November is not a normal posting month. This ensures dividends are applied before the club disbursement.
  • Prerequisite: Dividend rates must be updated in the “Maintain Dividend Rates” program prior to running this posting program.

Program Parameters

When running the “Accrue/Post Dividends by Type” program, you will encounter the following input fields:

  • Accrue or Post Dividends:
    • Description: A dropdown or selection field to choose between “Accrue Dividends” or “Post Dividends.”
    • Action: Select the desired operation based on your objective (accruing interest or posting dividends).
  • Share Type To Accrue or Post:
    • Description: A field to specify the share type for which dividends will be processed.
    • Constraint: Only one share type can be processed at a time.
    • Action: Enter or select the relevant share type.
  • Update Share File:
    • Description: A toggle or checkbox to indicate whether the program should actually update the share files or generate a worksheet for review.
    • Recommendation: FLEX highly recommends running a worksheet first to carefully review the output before proceeding with an actual file update.
    • Action: Select “No” (or equivalent) to generate a worksheet for review, or “Yes” (or equivalent) to directly update share files.
  • Effective Date:
    • Description: The date for which the accrual or posting will be calculated.
    • Calculation Logic: The system calculates dividends due from the last dividend calculated date through the date entered here.
    • Impact on Share Files: If share files are updated, the system will reset the “Last Dividend Calculated Date” to the date shown here.
    • Action: Enter the desired effective date.
  • Submit to Batch:
    • Description: A setting to determine if the program should run in batch mode (releasing the session) or immediately.
    • Consideration: Running immediately against a share type with many records may take a significant amount of time, as the program reads history for all designated share types to calculate the dividend.
    • Action: Select “Batch” for background processing or “Immediate” for real-time execution.

Running the Program

  1. Enter Choices: Fill in all the required parameters as described above.
  2. Click Process: Initiate the program by clicking the Process button.

Output

Upon successful execution, the program will generate one of the following:

  • Worksheet: If “Update Share File” was set to generate a worksheet, a detailed report will be produced for review.
  • Accrual/Posting and Report: If “Update Share File” was set to update files, the accrual or posting will be processed, and a corresponding report will be generated.