Billing: Fines and Fees

Owned by Johnny Weyand
Last updated: Feb 08, 2024 by Kara Young
5 min read

Fines & Fees at Harvard

  • Standard Overdue Fines: None
  • Recalled Materials: $3.00 per day, maximum of $45 per item
  • Reserve Materials (items in RES locations) and Non-Reserve 3-hour Short-term loans (item policy 11): $3.00 per hour, maximum of $45 per item (with 1 hour grace period) for overdue items
  • Replacement Fee for Lost Materials (automatically applied after 45 days overdue): Standard fee is $100 replacement cost per item
    • Note: There are some exceptions to this. Art books from Design or medical books from Countway can cost more depending on the value of the item.
  • Claimed returned items: no fines/fees. These items currently remain indefinitely at Claimed Returned status (never go to Lost).

Student Fines & Fees sent to Termbill:

  • Overdue items flip to lost after 45 days and students receive bill via Alma (see Fullfillment Notices and Letters, FulOverdueAndLostLoanLetter)
  • Exports to Termbill: Minimum fine/fee age for export is 7 days; minimum threshold for export is $10.
    • i.e. If the fine/fee is less than $10, or the total fines/fees on the user's account is less than $10, the fine/fee will not meet the threshold for export.
  • Fine/Fee type exported: Lost item replacement fee, overdue fine, recalled overdue fine
  • Job to export runs in Alma on Sunday evenings and is delivered to Termbill on Monday morning.
  • When fines/fees export from Alma, they no longer appear as "active" in Alma, but appear as "closed" in Student's Fines/Fees tab

Non-student Fines & Fees sent to AR (Includes Resource Sharing Partners)

  • Overdue items flip to lost after 45 days and non-students receive bill via Alma (see Fullfillment Notices and Letters, FulOverdueAndLostLoanLetter)
  • Exports to Accounts Receivable (AR): Minimum fine/fee age for for export is 30 days; minimum threshold for export is $20
    • i.e. If the fine/fee is less than $20, or the total fines/fees on the user's account is less than $20, the fine/fee will not meet the threshold for export.
  • Fine/Fee type exported: Lost item replacement fee, overdue fine, recalled overdue fine, Resource sharing receive fee (used to bill Resource Sharing partners)
  • Job to export runs in Alma on Sunday evenings and is delivered to AR on Monday morning.
  • When fines/fees export from Alma, they no longer appear as "active" in Alma, but appear as "closed" in non-Student's Fines/Fees tab

Patron Credits

Student Credits (sent to Termbill):

  • No minimum age or threshold for export
  • Job to export runs in Alma on Sunday evenings and is delivered to Termbill on Monday morning. 
  • When credits export from Alma, they no longer appear as "active" in Alma, but appear as "closed" in Fines/Fees tab of student's account
  • Resource Sharing lost item credits are not automatically credited, and a student needs to contact Resource Sharing (ill@harvard.edu) about the credit

Non-student Credits (sent to Library Billing):

  • No minimum age or threshold for export
  • Job to export credits runs in Alma on Sunday evenings and is delivered via LTS script to library_billing@harvard.edu on Monday morning.
  • HL Access and Borrowing must manually apply any credits from this export in AR/Oracle. 
  • When credits export from Alma, they no longer appear as "active" in Alma, but appear as "closed" in Fines/Fees tab of non-Student's account

View "Closed" Fines/Fees and Credits in Alma

When fines/fees or credits are exported (or failed to export) to Termbill or AR, the credits and fines are "closed" in Alma, but it is possible to see the history of credits and fines levied by changing the filter in the Fines/Fees tab of user's patron record:

  1. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services
  2. Scan in the patron's ID number
  3. In the patron record, click on the ID number in the header area to go to User Details
  4. Click on the Fines/Fees tab
  5. From the Status filter, choose All to see complete transaction history

Add a Fine or Fee

  1. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services
  2. Scan in the patron's ID number
  3. In the patron record, click on the ID number in the header area to go to User Details
  4. Click on the Fines/Fees tab
  5. Click Add Fine or Fee on the right side of the screen
  6. Select a Fee Type from the drop-down
  7. Enter a Fee amount
  8. Enter the item barcode, if applicable
  9. Add a Comment if needed
  10. Click Close to add another fine or fee, or Add and Close to complete

Dispute a Fine or Fee 

(This section is technically correct but disputes are not done in Alma)

If a patron disputes a fine or fee, look up the patron and go to the Fines/Fees tab (steps 1-4 under "Add a Fine or Fee").

  1. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) for a fine/fee and select Dispute
  2. Add a Comment describing why it's being disputed
  3. Click Dispute, then Confirm to complete

Waive an Active Fine or Fee

Note about the display of waivers: The fine waiver type does not display on the main patron screen of fines unless you click on the remaining balance (the blue hyperlinked number).

This section is only for ACTIVE fines and fees: Old fines and fees cannot be waived in Alma, and patrons should contact Access and Borrowing (hl_accessborrowing@harvard.edu) for Harvard items, and Resource Sharing (ill@harvard.edu) for Interlibrary Loan and Borrow Direct items.

To Waive a Single Active Fine or Fee

To waive an active fine or fee, look up the patron and go to the Fines/Fees tab (steps 1-4 under "Add a Fine or Fee"). 

  1. Click the row action item list icon (the ellipsis) for a fine/fee and select Waive
  2. Choose the amount to waive
    1. To waive the entire fine or fee, leave the field as is
    2. For a partial waiver, enter the amount to waive in the Fee amount field
  3. Choose the Waiving Reason from the drop-down
  4. Add a Comment if needed
  5. Click Waive, then click Confirm to complete

To Waive Multiple Active Fines or Fees for the Same Reason

In the case where active fines/fees for multiple items are being waived for the same reason (such as loss due to fire), you can waive in batch as well.

From the User Details - Fines/Fee tab:

  1. Click the check box to the left of one or more fines or fees
    • You can select all fines and fees by clicking the check box in the blue bar at the top of the column
    • You can then de-select any unrelated fees (such as a lost card fee if you're waiving materials fines) by clicking the box next to that one item. In other words, select all to do most of the work, then de-select any that should not be waived.
  2. Click on Waive selected at the top right of the list
  3. Choose the amount to waive, as with a single item
  4. Choose the Waiving Reason and add a Comment if needed. The reason and the comment will be the same for all fines waived together in this batch.
  5. Click Waive, then click Confirm to complete

Pay a Fine or Fee

(This section is technically correct but this is not done in Alma.)

Note: Patron must have an active balance greater than $0.00 in order to accept payment for library fines.

  1. Go to Fulfillment >> Manage Patron Services

  2. Scan in patron's ID number

  3. Click Pay button next to patron’s Active Balance

  4. Identify the fines or fees to be paid:

    • Choose All fines to pay the entire outstanding amount

    • Choose Specific fines and check respective item boxes for paying selected outstanding fees

  5. Choose Payment method (cash, check, credit card)

  6. Click Send