Fines and Fees

Owned by Sarah Griffin
Last updated: Jul 02, 2024
4 min read

DRAFT PAGE - please contact @Sarah Griffin with any questions.

Basic Information on Viewing Fines and Fees:

Overdue fines are assessed and registered when the item is returned or renewed. Fines are calculated by the hour or day, depending on the loan parameters.

All details of the patron’s transactions relating to fines and fees are stored in the patron record. From the patron record, an authorized staff user can manually Add, Dispute, or Waive library fines and fees.

We will continue to transfer fines to the Bursar’s office for undergraduates and graduate students. Fines will transfer once a week on an automated schedule. https://duke.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AgA7Bw All credits will transfer on this schedule; debits over $5.00 will also automatically transfer unless disputed.

Alma supports both automatically generated charges and manually added charges.

Automatic fines and fees include:

  • Lost Item Replacement Fee

  • Lost Item Process Fee

  • Recall Overdue Fee

  • Overdue Fines (for short loans)

Manual fines, fees, and credits can also be assigned for the above categories, as well as a Damaged Item Fee or a Credit. Manual fines and fees should always be associated with an item barcode.

Remember that a scanned barcode includes the automatic “enter/return” function, which will trigger the “Add” button on a manually added fine or fee. If you need to add a Comment, make sure to do so before scanning the item barcode.

For each fine or fee, Alma records information including Creation Date, Status (Active, Closed, In Dispute), Status Date, Comment (if added), Fee Owner, Title, Barcode, Original Amount, and Remaining Balance.

  • Click Remaining Balance to see the Fee/Fine Transaction List

Note that manual fines or credits do not require an Item Barcode, but it should always be included. The barcode can also be added later: click the Row Action Items […] and choose Link to Item, then enter the item’s barcode.

Once a fine or fee has been exported to the external Bursar system, it will display as Closed in Alma.

Fines can also be paid via check or the online system, in which case details related to the manual Payment can be recorded in Alma.

Payment can be accepted for all or part of the total amount of fines on a patron’s account, or for specific fines associated with particular items.

alma user details active balance.png

These transactions can then be viewed by clicking the patron’s Active Balance from Manage Patron Services or from the Fines and fees tab of the User Details Record. Click on the Remaining Balance for any Closed fine to see the transaction history.

alma user details closed fines.png

The staff member who registered the payment is recorded, as well as the Transaction Date and Payment Method, and any Comments added at the time of the transaction.

This information can also be generated by a report in Alma Analytics.

When registering online payments manually in Alma, the Transaction ID field is mandatory, and not auto-generated. Whenever possible, this should match the identifer attached when a patron submits the credit card payment through the DUL site.

A Transaction ID is not mandatory for payments by check.

Fines/Fees/Credits transferred to the Bursar will automatically be given a Bursar Transaction ID. Ensure this column is turned on in your view, using the Gear icon.

The Fines and Fees Report is of limited use. It is a downloadable Excel file that includes a report of the fines and fees transactions that have been performed over the previous 1- to 7-day period.

Instead, we expect to use an Alma Analytics custom-built report for increased functionality for reporting on Fines and Fees. More to come.

It is possible to dispute or waive a fine from the Fines and Fees tab of the user record. Click on the Row Actions button […] or on the hyperlinked fine amount to Waive or Dispute, and add Comments as needed.

Disputed fines do not count towards a patron’s Active Balance and also will not be included in the scheduled transfer to the Bursar. These should be cleared - either by waiving or restoring the fine - as soon as communication with the patron has been concluded.

Restore re-charges the fine amount to the patron’s account, while Waive removes the fine amount from the patron’s total balance.

Note that comments persist in the item history, and cannot be changed or edited after the fact.

Any restored fines and fees will transfer to the Bursar in the next transaction.

Although similar, this process is not the same as declaring an item as Claimed Returned.