UPDATE OPEN BILLING DETAIL RECORDS

With this utility, you can update your Open Billing Detail file from either your General Ledger Detail file or your Units Usage History file. Normally, when establishing a project on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow, you select the Billable Project check box (the default is selected) to enable the Manage Project Billing Information screen to be initialized. To compute billings, a transaction-based formula must exist on the Manage Project Billing Information screen. When you complete the Manage Project Billing Information screen, transactions, when posted, populate the Open Billing Detail file and subsequently can be included on a bill. However, if you do not initialize the Manage Project Billing Information screen with a transaction-based formula before posting transactions, Open Billing Detail is not updated, and transactions cannot appear on the bills. Use this utility to update your Open Billing Detail file for transactions that you posted before initializing the Manage Project Billing Information screen.

Before using this utility, initialize the Manage Project Billing Information screen for all projects that to be updated. Take care not to select transactions that have been billed manually. (Initialize these amounts on the Manage Billing History screen instead.) Therefore, it is important to know which transactions have been billed and which have not.

If you are posting labor at the summary level (if you selected the Post Labor Distribution to GL as Summary Entry check box on the Configure General Ledger Settings screen), your general ledger does not store the detailed information required to run this utility for timesheet data. In that case, you must enter labor information manually on the Manage Open Billing Detail screen.

You should exercise caution when using this utility. This utility does not check for transactions that have already been billed or for transactions that already exist in the Open Billing Detail file.  If you inadvertently run this utility for a project in error, the recovery from this error can be time consuming.

Location

Identification

Use the fields in this block to create a new parameter ID or to retrieve a previously saved parameter ID. A parameter ID represents a set of screen selection parameters. After you have saved a parameter ID and its related parameters, you can retrieve them using Query.

You can use the retrieved parameters to produce reports and run processes more efficiently and with greater consistency. The saved parameters are also useful and necessary when you want to run the process as part of a batch job. Many users save a unique set of parameters for each different way they run a report or process. When you select a previously saved parameter ID or parameter description, the associated saved screen selection parameters automatically display as selection defaults. The page setup and print options are also included in the saved parameter ID if there are any. You can change any of the associated selection defaults as necessary.

Parameter ID

Enter, or click to select, a parameter ID of up to 15 alphanumeric characters. Choose characters for your parameter ID that help identify the type of selections you made in the screen, such as PERIOD or QUARTERLY.

When you save your record, all the selections made in the screen are stored with the parameter ID. Later, you can retrieve the parameter using Query.

You can use the parameter to run the process more efficiently because you can select the parameter ID with its previously defined screen selections. After the default selections display in the screen, you can override the defaults.

Description

Enter, or click to select, a parameter description of up to 30 alphanumeric characters.

Selection Ranges

Projects

Use this group box to limit the projects that are updated. Please note that projects selected here are updated with all the transactions in the GL Detail or Units tables. It is important to determine whether transactions in these tables were already billed. This utility does not check for previously billed transactions. If you use this utility to populate Open Billing Detail and the transactions have already been billed, duplicate billing results.

Option

Use this drop-down list to select the range of projects you want to update. Available options are:

The default for this field is All.

Start

The value entered in this field varies, depending on the Option that you have selected. If you selected All projects, this field is inactive. If you selected One project, enter the project in this field. If you elected to update a Range of projects, enter the starting project for the range in this field. If you selected a range beginning from a specific project (To End), enter that project in this field. If you elected to update a range up to an ending project (From Beginning), this field is inactive.

You can use to select values from the appropriate table.

End

The value entered in this field varies, depending on the Option that you have selected. If you selected All projects or one project, this field is inactive. If you elected to update a Range of projects, enter the ending project for the range in this field. If you selected a range beginning from a specific project (To End), this field is inactive. If you elected to update a range up to an ending project (From Beginning), enter that project in this field.

You can click to select values from the appropriate table.

Accounts

Use this group box to limit which accounts should be updated. 

Option

From this drop-down list, select the appropriate range of account(s) to be updated. Valid options are:

The default for this field is All.

From

Enter, or click to select, a valid starting account to update. If you select All or From Beginning in the Option field, this field is inactive.

To

Enter, or click to select, a valid ending account to update. If you select All, One, or To End in the Option field, this field is inactive.

Accounting Periods

Use this group box to select the periods you would like to update. Exercise caution when selecting All. If you select All, all the transactions from all periods in the GL Detail table are inserted into the Open Billing Detail table.

Option

Use this drop-down list to select the range of periods you want to update. Valid selections are:

The default for this field is All.

Start Fiscal Year

Enter the fiscal year for the periods you want to update.

Start Period

Enter the period for the periods you want to update.

Start Subperiod

If you have selected One, Range, or To End in the Option field, enter the subperiod with which you want to start.

End Fiscal Year

Enter the fiscal year for the periods you want to update.

End Period

Enter the period for the periods you want to update.

End Subperiod

If you have selected Range or From Beginning in the Option field, enter the subperiod with which you want to end. The period end date displays in the field to the right.

Source

You must select at least one source option to run the update.

General Ledger Detail

Select this check box to update the Open Billing Detail file with transactions from the General Ledger tables, specifically the Transaction Posting Detail and the Transaction Posting Summary tables. This selection updates the Transaction Amount and Transaction Hours fields of the Manage Open Billing Detail screen. For projects with units, use this selection to bill the cost of the units. The program inserts records in Open Billing Detail, assigns them a Transaction Type of COST, and completes the Cost group box on the Manage Open Billing Detail screen.

Units Usage History

Select this check box to update the Open Billing Detail file with transactions from the Unit Usage tables, specifically the Units Usage History and the Units Usage Transaction Line tables. This selection updates the Transaction Units field on the Manage Open Billing Detail screen.

For projects with units, select this check box to bill the unit usage (price times quantity). The program inserts records in Open Billing Detail, assigns them a Transaction Type of UNITS, and completes the Units group box on the Manage Open Billing Detail screen. Note that the transactions, when recorded on the Manage Unit Usage screen, must have the Post to check box selected to allow insertion into Open Billing Detail.

For projects with units, selecting both of these check boxes could result in the insertion of both unit cost and unit usage into Open Billing Detail. Be sure to review your setup to ensure the correct transaction types are inserted into Open Billing Detail.

Continue Transactions

Select this check box to continue to update the transactions even if the transactions already exist in closed billing detail.

Process

Click to update the Open Billing Detail file based on the parameters entered. When you update process is complete, you can review the updated transactions on the Manage Open Billing Detail screen. In that screen, you can enter, modify, or delete any individual transactions, if necessary.