Write Off a Balance

When you know you will not receive payment for a patient balance or you are sending the debt to collections, you need to write off the balance. Here's how to do this in Tops Ortho:

1. Open the patient's chart: go to View > Patient Info... or press Command I.
2. If the contract is not yet deactivated, see the related articles below: Deactivate a Contract Without Insurance and Deactivate a Contract With Insurance. If the contract is already deactivated and the entire balance is in the patient's Due Now, proceed to step 3.
3. In the example below, the patient never paid for her treatment. We deactivated her contract and the full $5000.00 treatment fee is in her Due Now.

4. We need to write off the entire $5000.00 balance.
5. Open the New Transactions window: go to Action > New Transaction or press Command T.
6. Ensure that you are on the correct Account holder; this field is to the right of the patient's name in the New Transactions window.
7. In the Fee/Payment type field, select [-] Account Adjustment. You will have to enter your Tops Ortho password.
8. In the window that displays next, select the most appropriate description of this adjustment.
9. Click Use Selected Adjustment Type.

10. Enter the amount to write off. Press Tab.
11. Enter a note explaining what happened. It's always a good idea to include your initials.

12. Press Tab.
13. Click Process Charges and Payments.
14. The Due Now should now be zero. You will see the transaction in Matrix > Financial Day Sheet under [-] Account Adjustments. This adjustment will factor into your Net Production. See related article Calculate Net Production and Net Collections below.