The Manage Project Billing Information screen is the main screen for the initialization of project billing. Use this screen to choose a billing formula, confirm the customer for the project, select a billing format, identify the billing currency, and establish some controls over the billing for this project. The level of the project you enter in this screen establishes the billing level for this project. When you post the bill, Costpoint posts the receivable at the billing level of the project. If you want detail bills for each lower level task of the project, you can enter them on the Detail Levels subtask. You cannot bill a project unless you have established a record for it in this screen.
If you are using a transaction-based billing formula, you should set up the Manage Project Billing Information screen before charging any transactions to the project to ensure that all transactions are recorded in the Open Billing Detail table. In a transaction-based billing formula, the invoice for the project is based on the transactions that have been charged to the project. The Open Billing Detail table is populated when transactions are posted to the general ledger. However, transactions are not inserted into the Open Billing Detail table unless you have set up the project on the Manage Project Billing Information screen. In order for the posting programs to insert data into the Open Billing Detail table, the billing formula must be other than "Unit Price Transactions Only" or "Enter Bill Manually." Costpoint uses the Open Billing Detail Table in the calculation of transaction-based billings. If you do not set up the billing information before you post transactions, you can enter the transactions manually into the Open Billing Detail table or use the Update Open Billing Detail Records screen. This utility copies the transactions from the general ledger into the Open Billing Detail table.
You do not need to populate the Open Billing Detail table if you intend to use a manual billing formula.
The Manage Project Billing Information screen is required when using manual billing formulas, but you do not need to set it up before posting transactions to the project. The Open Billing Detail table is not used in the manual billing process. You cannot enter a bill in the manual billing screens unless you have previously set up the Manage Project Billing Information screen. You can enter manual bills on the Manage Manual Bills, Manage Project Product Bills, Manage Milestone Percent Complete Bills, and Manage Customer Product Bills screens. You should select the formulas Enter Bill Manually or Unit Price Transactions Only for projects that you intend to bill using one of the manual billing screens. This will prevent the Update Open Billing Detail Records screen from being populated with transactional data that is not needed for billing. The only exception to this occurs if you are using the "Pay When Paid" feature. This feature requires the Open Billing Detail table to determine whether or not the client has paid the bill. If you wish to use this formula and intend to bill manually, use the Manual Bills with Unbilled Detail formula. This formula will allow you to bill manually and populate the Open Billing Detail table.
You can select a variety of special features for your bills on the Manage Project Billing Information screen. You can have the invoice calculated in a currency that differs from the functional currency of the database, have the invoice calculated on a cash basis, enter information for production of Progress Payment bills, establish retainages, set up scheduled billings, and select a format for your bill.
You must select the format of your bill in this screen. You can set up a unique billing format and assign it to your project, or you can use a standard formula. You can set up these formats on the Manage Generic Billing Formats screen. Generic bills allow flexibility for the bill heading, line groupings, and totals on the bills. Standard formulas are grouped by function code and have some flexibility in the bill heading. See the Manage Generic Billing Formats screen documentation for more information on setting up generic billing formats.
You can set up scheduled bills on the Schedule subtask of the Manage Project Billing Information screen. In the subtask, you enter an amount to be billed, a date to bill, and a description. If you run the Calculate Standard Bills screen for a fiscal year/period/subperiod that includes the date to bill, Costpoint produces a scheduled bill with the correct description and amount. When billing by schedule, you should select the Unit Price Transactions Only billing formula to prevent the Open Billing Detail table from being populated with unnecessary data.
You can select a discount method to be used when invoices are calculated on the Other Info tab on the Manage Project Billing Information screen. There are seven methods of discounts and each has additional setup that must occur to ensure calculation.
PLC Discounts — You establish a company-wide PLC discount percentage on the Billing Rates subtask of the Manage Project Labor Categories (PLC) screen. After you select PLC discounts, you can also enter a discount percent in the project-specific PLC rates screens (Link Project Labor Category Rates to Projects screen and the Link PLC Rates to Employee/Vendor screen).
Discount Defaults — If you elect to use PLC discounts, certain discount default fields become available. Using these fields, you can link a T&M project that has been established on the Link Project Labor Category Rates to Projects screen to the project you are setting up. When you save the record, Costpoint copies the Link Project Labor Categories to Projects screen and the Link Project Labor Category Rates to Projects screen using the T&M Project and discount percentage entered.
Account Discounts — If you decide to use account discounts, you must determine the discount percentage by account or account range on the Manage Account Discounts screen. You can establish account discount percentages by account range and enter summary level accounts. You can enter account discounts at multiple levels of the project. However, the account discount percent record that resides closest to the transaction level project are used, if possible. If there are transaction accounts within the invoice that have no rows at this level, Costpoint checks for account discount records at each level of the project (up to the invoice level project) until a record is found that contains the account. If no record is found, no discount is applied to the account.
Account Discounts w/Burden — This discount method is identical to the Account Discounts method, except that when discounts are computed, any burdens associated with the account are included before the discount is computed. For example, if there is a labor charge of $1,000, a burden of $250, and a discount of 3%, the computed discount is $37.5 ((1,000+250)*.03).
Aggregate Volume by Customer — This method gives you an opportunity to give discounts to customers based on sales volume (total funded value) and limit the accounts that receive the discount. If you decide to use this discount method, you must have accurate contract funded values on the Manage Modifications screen, select the Include in Aggregate Volume check box on the Manage Government Contract Information screen, and complete the Customer field on the Basic Info tab on the Manage Project User Flow. You also need to specify the discount percentage on the Manage Customer Volume Discounts screen and determine which accounts receive the discount.
If you use this method, Costpoint sums the total funded value for all projects where the Include in Aggregate Volume box is selected and that have the same customer in the Customer field on the Basic Info tab on the Manage Project User Flow. The resulting funded value is compared to the rows on the Manage Customer Volume Discounts screen to find the row where the resultant value is between the starting and ending sales volume. The discount percentage on that row is applied to accounts on the Accounts subtask.
Aggregate Volume by Customer w/Burden — This discount method is identical to the Aggregate Volume by Customer Method except that, when discounts are computed, any burdens associated the account are included before the discount is computed.
Aggregate Volume by Project — This method gives you an opportunity to give discounts to customers based on sales volume (total funded value), limit the accounts that will receive the discount, and set project-specific discount rates. If you decide to use this discount method, you must have accurate contract funded values on the Manage Modifications screen, select the Include in Aggregate Volume check box on the Manage Government Contract Information screen, and complete the Customer field on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow. You also need to specify the discount percentage on the Manage Project Volume Discounts screen and determine which accounts will receive the discount.
The calculation for this discount method is identical to the Aggregate Volume by Customer, except the discounts are held by project rather than by customer. This allows you to aggregate the sales volume by customer but give specific discounts by project. You can enter aggregate project volume discounts at multiple levels of the project. However, the discount record that resides closest to the transaction level project is used, if possible. If there are transaction accounts within the invoice that are not included on the Accounts subtask at this level, Costpoint checks for discount records at each level of the project (up to the invoice level project) until a record is found that contains the account. If no record is found, no discount is applied to the account.
Aggregate Volume by Project w/Burden — This discount method is identical to the Aggregate Volume by Project method except that, when discounts are computed, any burdens associated the account are included before the discount is computed.