- The Accounting Entity (AE) Adjust tool should only be available to Team Leads and used for exception transactions only.
- AE Adjust should not be the primary tool to perform transactions.
-
Email Paymentops@upwork.com if
- You have a use case that cannot be performed with any other OBO tool
- The use case is not described in the table (below) and want clarification on how to proceed
Note: AE Adjustments are reviewed by management to ensure correct usage is maintained. Incorrect usage or abuse of the tool is subject to disciplinary action.
The AE Adjust Tool allows Team Leads to enter a credit or debit transaction into a user’s financial account. Due to the wide scope of transactions that can be entered using the AE Adjust tool, it has been difficult for Finance to identify many transactions that have been entered by different Team Leads. This process guide is intended to assist Team Leads in processing adjustments accurately and avoid any problems during a Finance Audit.
|
Description |
Direction of Money Movement |
AE Adjustment Reason (drop down) |
Teams Allowed |
|
Adjustment or reversal of service fees
|
Credit |
Service fee adjustment
|
PayOps, CS |
|
Reversal/Refund of a payment if paid over a year ago and already partially refunded. |
Credit & Debit |
Freelancer Refund |
PayOps, Payment Risk |
|
Manual payment to client PayPal account due to original transaction more than 1 year old Example: Refund to PayPal - funds manually sent to user. |
Debit |
PayPal Adjustment - Client side |
PayOps |
|
Multiple withdrawal reversals cannot be performed in Reverse Withdrawal Tool. Multiple partial refunds must be performed via AE adjust tool. |
Credit |
PayPal Adjustment - Contractor side/ Enter or Reverse Withdrawal |
PayOps |
|
PRO subscription fee charge to a participating client |
Debit |
$500 PRO Search Fee |
PayOps |
|
Payment made via True Accord (collections vendor partner) |
Credit |
Payment Via True Accord |
PayOps |
|
Balance transfer between 2 AE in the same amounts |
Credit & Debit |
Reconcile Account |
PayOps |
|
Debiting Upwork account for arbitration fee. EX 1: FL has enough funds in the account to cover arbitration and a negative $291 adjustment is made. "Adjustment for arb fees on Contract ID# 12345678" EX 2: FL does not have enough funds to cover the arbitration fee and deposits funds into the disputes PayPal account. We deposit the funds and, once the deposit goes through, we place a negative $291 adjustment for the arbitration fees. |
Debit & Credit |
Escrow Dispute Adjustment |
Mediation |
|
Sending available funds to user via check- requires accounts payable to manually initiate a check or wire transfer. |
Debit |
Manual Client Refunds |
PayOps |
|
Reversal of failed ACH refund. Returning funds to the Upwork balance. |
Credit |
Escrow ACH, Check, Wire Deposit |
PayOps |
|
Reversal of failed PayPal refund. Returning funds to the Upwork balance. |
Credit |
PayPal Adjustment - Client side |
PayOps |
|
Reversal of failed credit card refund. Returning funds to the Upwork balance. |
Credit |
Charge or Refund [currency] CC Transaction |
PayOps |
|
Opt out fee to take freelancer off the platform |
Debit |
Misc Fees |
PayOps |
|
Reversal of freelancer membership or connects fee if fee was paid with account balance |
Credit |
Marketplace Memberships |
PayOps |
|
Reversal of freelancer connects fee if fee was paid with account balance |
Credit |
Misc Fees |
PayOps |
|
Debiting user account for escheatment should item skip during mass escheatment run. Manual correction for escheatment file. |
Debit |
Escheatment |
PayOps, Finance |
|
Reversal of client monthly flat fee if paid with account balance |
Credit |
Misc Fees |
PayOps |
|
Correcting an incorrect withdrawal reversal |
Debit |
Enter or Reverse (ACH, GACH) Withdrawal - USD,AUD,CAD,PHP,INR |
PayOps |
- Check AE>Statement to ensure the adjustment has not been processed yet. The AE Adjust tool does not have the ability to identify and restrict duplicate adjustments.
- Check AE to ensure a similar request is not pending escrow approval.
- Go to AE>Adjust
- Enter amount for adjustment -- positive value to credit and negative value to debit.
- Select Adjustment Reason. Refer to table above to determine the correct adjustment reason. Each adjustment reason books the transaction into a specific GL account. If the adjustment to be entered is not included in the table above, please consult with the PayOps team.
- If the adjustment refers to a specific transaction from an Upwork processor or bank (PayPal, Adyen, etc), enter the transaction reference on the Document ID field that identifies the transaction in Upwork’s statement from that processor. This document ID assists the Finance team in matching transactions in OBO with transactions from our payment processor during reconciliation of accounts.
- Enter the Description that will show in the transaction history. If the adjustment is related to an existing transaction, include the Ref ID of that related transaction. This will assist Finance in identifying the nature of the adjustment during audit. Example: when reversing a transaction within the AE, indicate the Ref ID of the transaction that is being reversed.
- Enter the memo using the same format as indicated on CSS Notes guidelines.
- On CSS Notes section, select appropriate reason from dropdown. Copy memo to Notes field which is based on CSS Notes guidelines.
- Click Adjust. The adjustment will be posted on the AE upon approval by an escrow agent.
Additional Guidelines
- When creating an adjustment for a transaction with a counterpart or related transaction on another AE, note that a matching adjustment on that counterpart needs to be created as well. (e.g. Adjustment or reversal of payments to freelancers or freelancer refunds)
- Always include the ZD ticket link on the memo or CSS notes as reference, when applicable. If the request was not sent via ZD, enter details of requester instead.
- If multiple adjustments will be entered on the same AE on the same day, tick the Allow Duplicate box. The system will reject an adjustment of the same amount entered on the same AE on the same day if that option is not selected.
Additional Protections
- Document ID will be required for adjustment reasons of transactions related to our partner bank or payment processors. Team Leads will be required to enter the reference ID of the transaction as it is identified from the processor’s platform.
- Memo field will be required and will auto-populate description, depending on the adjustment reason selected. Team Leads should make sure additional information is added to assist in identifying the nature of the transaction.
- Related Trx field will be added to the tool to allow Team Leads to enter a related transaction that will assist in understanding the transaction.
- If any of the requirements in entering the information was not followed, a warning to the Team Lead that an exception exists upon attempts to submit. The Team Lead will need to enter a justification or explanation to override the exception.
- A daily report will be generated showing all transactions entered by Team Leads with exceptions. Justifications for the exception will be included in the report.