Accounts Receivable: Automatic Job Billing Accounts Receivable: Automatic Job Billing
The accounting system has the capability of billing any job automatically. This means that once a billing structure has been entered into the system, billing the customer for work done involves only selecting this Automatic Job Billing feature from the Accounts Receivable Main Menu and instructing the system to bill the customer.
In order to carry out this billing, the system needs to have certain information about how the job is to be billed. This step is taken in the Job Costing module using the Billing Phases tab in Job Setup. Within that program, it is specified how this customer will be billed using the Automatic Job Billing feature. See the Job Setup section of this manual for instructions on setting up billing phases.
Select Automatic Job Billing from the Accounts Receivable Main Menu. The following screen will appear:
Following is a description of each of the limits. When all desired limits have been set, press the Proceed button.
The name of the Job and the ID number are listed here.
Select Fiscal Periods (check box)
This option activates the ranges defined on the next lines. This option may be used to limit fiscal periods to a particular period or range of periods. To limit fiscal periods to a particular period, enter the first and last period numbers of the desired range. To limit transactions to a single fiscal period, enter that period number in both the From and To fields.
From
Selects the first period in a range of fiscal periods or a single fiscal period. Enter the fiscal period number.
To
Selects the last period in a range of fiscal periods or a single fiscal period. Enter the fiscal period number.
Select Transaction Dates (check box)
Activates the ranges defined on the next lines. This option may be used to limit transactions to a particular date or range of dates. To limit transactions to a particular range of dates, enter the first and last dates of the desired range. To limit transactions to a single date, enter that date in the From and To fields.
From
Selects the first period in a range of fiscal periods or a single fiscal period. Enter the fiscal period number.
To
Selects the last period in a range of fiscal periods or a single fiscal period. Enter the fiscal period number.
Tag, Tag All, Untag All
Select, or deselect the desired Job ID and Name. For more information, see Tag buttons.
Pressing this button will allow the user to view transactions that have been posted to the highlighted job. The following screen will be displayed:
This list shows all the transactions that have been charged to the job. The transactions with a green check mark icon in the first column have already been billed. The transactions with a red check mark are currently being billed by an invoice in an Accounts Receivable invoice batch. Any transactions that have not yet been billed are candidates for auto job billing.
Mark/Unmark as Billed (button)
The status of any listed transaction (with the exception of the red check marked transactions) can be changed by clicking the Mark/Unmark as Billed button. The status of the highlighted transaction will be switched to Billed or Unbilled accordingly.
View Transaction Information (button)
Clicking this button will open the Reviewing a Transaction window, displaying all the information about this transaction.
View Associated Billing Information (button)
If the highlighted transaction has a check mark, clicking this button will display the associated invoice. If the check mark is green, the associated invoice has been posted and the system will display the Open Receivables Invoice Overview window. If the check mark is red, the associated invoice has not been posted, and resides in an unposted invoice batch. The system will open either the Trade Invoice Entry window or the Progress Billing Entry window in Read-Only mode.
This button closes the program and returns to the main screen.
Help (button)
see How to use help
Show Auto Billing Jobs Only (check box)
Select this box to limit the jobs listed to only those with Auto Billing.
Select the desired Jobs, Dates and Fiscal Periods and press the Proceed button. The following screen will come into view.
This screen allows the user to choose between creating one line item for each billing phase or creating one line item for each transaction. If Create One Line Item for Each Billing Phase is selected the fields beneath it will be available. The user can choose to include Quantities and/or Unit Prices on the Billing. The Create a Separate Line Item for Markup option is available whether line items are created for Billing Phases or for Transactions.
These options will help determine what the end-product billing will look like.
Include Quantities (check box)
This box will only be availabe if one line item is being created for each billing phase. Check this box and each billing line item will include the total quantity being billed.
Include Unit Prices (check box)
This box will only be availabe if one line item is being created for each billing phase. Check this box and each billing line item will include the unit price, which will be calculated by dividing the total billing amount by the total quantity..
Create a Separate Line Item for Markup (check box)
As the billing is calculated, each billable transaction can be marked up according to settings created for this job. The billing amount will likely be higher than the transaction amount. If this box is checked, the actual GL Transaction amount will be included in the billing line item, and the markup amount will be included in a separate line item at the bottom of the billing. If this box is not checked, each billing line item will include the marked up amount.
AP Invoice Detail Descriptions (drop-down list)
Select from the drop-down list the style of information desired for transactions resulting from Accounts Payable Trade Invoice Line Items.
Timesheet Detail Descriptions (drop-down list)
Select from the drop-down list the style of information desired for transactions resulting from Payroll Timesheet Line Items.
User-Defined Invoice Number (radio button)
Select this radio button to assign a user-defined invoice number to the invoice(s) created during this process. The default invoice number is "Auto-Bill".
Next Available Invoice Number (radio button)
Select this radio button to have the system assign the next available AR Invoice Number to the invoice(s) created during this process. The next available number will be displayed in the prompt.
Enter the AR Invoice Batch Number, or press the lookup button and the following screen comes into view. Highlight the desired Batch and press the Select button. For more information on this screen, see Batch Management.
Press the Proceed button when the desired Batch number has been selected. The Job billing is then created and the following screen comes into view. This screen displays the amount of the billing and the Job number.
Non-Auto Billing Jobs Tagged
If a job is tagged that is not set up to generate Automatic Job Billings, it is necessary to edit the Billing Phases tab in the Job Setup program; specify that this is an Automatic Billing job.
No Phases Set
If no Billing Phases were set in the Billing Phases Tab in the Job Setup screen, the following warning screen will come into view. Press the OK button. Billing Phases must be set up before this job can be automatically billed.
No Transactions Found
If no transactions have been posted to the selected cost code, a message to that effect will come into view. It will be necessary to post transactions to this cost code before a billing may be created. This can be done in Invoice Entry, GL Transactions, or Timesheets.