When a customer makes a duplicate payment, it is placed “On Account”(an Oracle term) indicating the amount is due to the customer. The credit is available for the customer to use against future invoices or to apply to the net balance reflected on their monthly statement.
An AR cash applicator reviews the customer’s account each month to determine if the “on account “ credit has been or may be used against current charges. If, at the end of three months, the credit has not been applied to any charges, the amount will be refunded or held for another thirty days. The decision whether to hold for an additional amount of time is made by the applicator and is dependent upon the likelihood of new charges being incurred. The cash applicator determines this likelihood by reviewing historical account activity. Note that this policy applies only to individual accounts. If a corporate account issues a duplicate or erroneous payment, AR will refund it immediately.