Step 2: Mock Billing

Note that Mock Billing works best after month-end, but you can do it at any time. Those doing it before the end of the month might not have success running an actual PDF printout of the client statements. Plan on using it to review the projected revenue, audit household-level billing settings in the payable summary file, and prepare cash as needed via the cash funding audit.


It is highly recommended that you run at least one mock bill prior to running your live quarterly or monthly billing so you can have a chance to review the estimated billing amounts and confirm that all accounts are set up properly for billing.



Lets get started!

Running mock bills starts in the Bill Generator app within the Bill Instance section from the left sidebar menu. From here select Actions from the top right corner - create forecast bill instance.

This will then open the Billing Wizard that contains four steps. Use the Next option on the bottom right corner or the Back option on the bottom left corner to navigate through these steps.


  • Step 1 Audits: This page will show you an audit of the billing settings. Please review to confirm that all accounts are set to the correct Valuation Method, Bill Style, and Fee Schedule.
  • Step 2 Time Frame: Here you will name your billing instance and Update the End of Period field. The End of Period will automatically populate as the last day of the previous quarter. If you are running mid quarter billing please update this date to the day you are generating the bill.
  • Step 3 Selection and Filter: This screen allows you to select the groups that you would like to run the bill instance for. Most commonly you will select the All Households Option.
  • Step 4 Create Instance: If you are billing in Advance you will have the option to include any marked cash flows in this screen. If you bill in Arrears you will just need to select the Create Bill Instance from the bottom right corner.

Once you have completed the steps in the Billing Wizard you will need to click the Generate All option from the right sidebar menu. This will allow Orion to start calculating the bills and you can track the progress in the Pending Generation and Generated options at the top of the screen.

Helpful Tip: if the bills have been generating for about a minute without progress refresh your screen to allow it to catch up. Also, you don't have to stay on this page while the bills are generating. A blue pop up box will appear in the bottom right corner of your Orion screen to let you know once it is finished.


Once the bills have finished generating review any that are in the error section. The most common errors and what they mean are below.

Bill Already Exists: This means that there is already a live bill that has been generated for this Household in the same billing cycle. Simply re-run a new forecast bill and check Allow Duplicate Mock Bills.


No Receivables with Value: The account(s) did not have value based on the end of period date entered when running the bill. This account might be new and wasn't funded at that time, or this might be an old account that no longer had value by that time.


Once the errored bills have been reviewed, click Create in the Review Bills section on the right sidebar menu. This will bring you to a new page where you will find four different audit files.

  1. The Reconciliation Data file points out some common errors that can occur in your bill run, and it is best practice to review this first. This file should be blank, indicating that there are no results, and you can disregard this file. If there are results, always refer to the last four columns in the spreadsheet. A TRUE or FALSE result populates in the applicable column letting you know which error was recognized. Below are some common reasons why there would be a TRUE result and where to make the correction. A FALSE result indicates that is not the issue. 

  1. Once you review the Data Reconciliation file and make any necessary corrections, open the Payable Summary file. This file is broken out by each rep, and Columns F-I displays the billed market value, net fees, adjustments, and the total net due for each client and their accounts. To the right of the sheet, starting in Column M, displays the payout splits for each account.

  1. The Billing Data replicates the fee file and displays the accounts that the fee is deducted from. This file is used to verify that the fee on the indirect account (meaning another account pays it) transferred correctly over to the direct account (the account paying the fee) and that the accounts are all aggregating correctly. Use Column C (Account ID) to verify that the correct fee is coming out of the direct paying account. Run Query ID 9290 - Account Pays For Audit to see a list of All Accounts that have Account Pays For Relationships. Carefully review the information below to learn how to audit the accuracy of the Billing Data and Payable Summary files.

    Once you verify that the fee and payout totals on the Payable Summary match, open the Billing Data file. It is best practice to verify the total Net Due amount in Column I on the Payable Summary, matches the same total in Column N (Balance Due) on the Billing Data.


  1. The Billing Audit file is used for auditing, compliance, and historical purposes. This file doesn't show any fee information and isn’t used to reconcile the fees. It is a snapshot of all your accounts with value and the settings assigned when you ran the bill, whether the account was billed on or not.

    Important Note: As a best practice, do not delete this file, as this file cannot be created again.


Once you have reviewed the audit files you are able to run a cash funding report to confirm that all accounts have enough cash in the account to cover their management fees. If you are running mid quarter billing and don't need to review the cash you can skip this step and are finished with the mock bill process.


Cash Funding Report

Navigate back to the Bill Generator app and select Cash Funding from the left sidebar menu.

The page will be blank at first since you will need to update the time frame in order for results to populate.

Select the blue calendar in the top of the right panel > change the start/end dates to be the date that you ran the forecast bill instance > select "Forecast' bill type > Refresh Grid

Scroll to the Difference column and click the header to sort the values. Any account with a negative value in this column may need to be addressed at the custodian since they do not have cash available to cover their full billing balance due. This page can be exported to Excel in the Actions option at the top right if you would like to review the accounts at a later time.