Use this screen to set up system-wide parameters for various billing functions and identify default values for many billing screens. You can set up the structure and automatic numbering of invoices and usage documents. You can also identify several default values for the billing screens including remittance addresses, billing formats, price catalogs, payment terms, sales tax codes, and shipping methods. You can also select system-wide parameters for posting progress payment (Form 1443) invoices, cost of sales accruals, editing of PLCs, billing group usage, and treatment of AP discounts. In the Units Usage User Defined Field Labels group box, you can label the user-defined columns in the Enter Unit Usage screen (Projects » Billing » Units Usage).
Set up this screen before calculating billings or entering unit usage. You can change the information after the bills have been calculated. However, you must be careful when making changes to the Last Company Wide Invoice No or the Last Usage Document No. If you change either of these numbers and the system must reuse a number, you will not be able to save your billings or your usage documents. In general, the only time you will change the last number used is when your documents are numbered by fiscal year; that is, you would change "FY01-000000" to "FY02-000000" at the start of fiscal year 2002 billings.
You can enter a default billing cycle, remittance address, billing format, price catalog, payment terms, sales tax code, and/or shipping method only after you set up each desired default item in its respective maintenance screen. If you make changes to the defaults or system-wide settings after calculating bills, you must recalculate the bills to reflect the desired changes.
You should evaluate the items in this group box when initializing the system. The selections you make here will affect what is included on the bill when it is calculated. Changing these selections after the bill is calculated may require some time-consuming steps to produce an accurate bill.
Enter the last invoice number used, up to 15 alphanumeric characters. This field defines the starting point for the system-generated bill numbers. The system uses this field to automatically number all invoices. All Costpoint invoices must have a unique invoice number, which is used by the system to keep track of all the detail related to an invoice.
You can use a combination of alphabetic characters and numbers for the invoice numbers, but Costpoint will increment only the right-most numeric value. The numeric value to be incremented cannot be followed by any other characters. Please keep in mind the number of invoices your company generates when determining how many zeros to include after the alphabetic characters. For example, you may want to have each fiscal year's invoices start with a new number; that is, fiscal year 2001 would start with "FY01-000000" and would be changed to "FY02-000000" at the start of fiscal year 2002 billings. This would allow you to have 999,000 invoices during each fiscal year.
Enter up to 15 characters to define the numbering scheme and starting point for the system-generated usage document numbers. The system uses this field to automatically number all usage documents entered into Costpoint. All usage documents must have a unique document number, which is used by the system to keep track of all the detail related to a usage document.
You can use a combination of alphabetic characters and numbers, but Costpoint will increment only the right-most numeric value. As with the company-wide invoice numbers, the numeric value to be incremented cannot be followed by any other characters. Please keep in mind the number of usage documents your company generates when determining how many zeros to include after the alphabetic characters. (Please see the numbering example in the documentation for the Last Company Wide Invoice No field.)
Select this check box to have two identifiers for each project invoice, the system-generated company-wide invoice number described above, and the project-specific bill number. The most common use for this is with government contract billings where the agency requires that bill numbers start with one (1) for each project. Select this check box to enable use of project-specific bill numbers.
It is important to understand the difference between the terms "invoice number" and "bill number" as they are defined in Costpoint. "Invoice number" refers to the unique system-generated number used by the system for internal tracking. All bills in Costpoint have an "invoice number," and no two invoice numbers are the same. "Bill number" refers to a number assigned to the document sent to the customer.
Select this check box to suppress previously billed amount information found in the Detail subtask of the Edit Standard Bills screen (Projects » Billing » Edit Billings). If this check box is not selected, the Detail subtask will contain information rows for both current and previously billed amounts. If you select this check box, the previously billed amount rows will be suppressed and you will be able to review only the rows for current amounts to bill in the Detail subtask. Selecting this check box will generally result in faster access times to the Detail subtask. Note that the Inception-to-Date (ITD) columns on the main screen of Edit Standard Bills are not affected by this option.
Select this check box to enable editing of the PLC field in the Labor subtask of the Maintain Open Billing Detail screen (Projects » Billing » Prepare Billings). The PLC is posted to Open Billing Detail when the original journal is posted in Labor, Accounts Payable, or Journal entries. The General Ledger and all other related tables will store the PLC as it existed on the original posting. If you allow the PLC field to be edited, you will get inconsistencies in the database tables. Give careful consideration to this issue before you enable this functionality.
Select this check box to allow processing of ACRN Bills and access to the applicable ACRN Bill tables. Selecting this check box enables the Maintain ACRN Bills screen, where you can establish the ACRN billing information. It also enables the Calculate ACRN Billings screen (Projects » Billing » Calculate Billings), where you calculate ACRN billing amounts based upon the ACRN billing information established in the Maintain ACRN Bills screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master) and invoice amounts calculated by the Calculate Billings screen (Projects » Billing » Calculate Billings). Lastly, it enables the Print ACRN Billing Edit Report screen (Projects » Billing » Print Billings), where you review initialized and/or calculated project ACRN allocation amounts.
Select this check box to post all discounts taken to the Open Billing Detail file (in Costpoint Billing) during the cash disbursement posting process. This enables you to pass along discounts received from vendors to your customers. This feature is relevant only if you are using the Gross method of posting AP discounts. With this method, the discount is taken when the checks are produced and is posted to Open Billing Detail when the cash disbursement is posted, if the check box is selected. If you do not select this check box, the discount will not be posted to Open Billing Detail. If you use the Net method of posting AP discounts, the discount will be posted when the voucher is posted. This check box is not relevant when using the Net method.
Select this check box to assign users to a billing group in the Billing User Groups screen (Projects » Billing » Controls). This check box is selected by default. If you do not select this check box, the system will delete any data already entered in the Billing User Group field in the Project Billing Info screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master or Projects » Project Setup » Revenue Setup). If you leave this check box selected, the Billing User Group field will be required in the Project Billing Info screen. If you select this check box after setting up some of the Project Billing Information screens without the user group information, you will need to enter the correct billing groups for all records previously entered.
Billing cycles group bills according to the time that they should be billed. Cycle codes are generally monthly, quarterly, bi-monthly etc. Once you set up the billing cycles, you can calculate, print, and post bills by billing cycle. Billing cycles can facilitate the billing process if a large number of bills from multiple cycles are being processed at the same time. If you select the Use Billing Cycles check box, the Billing Cycles field in the Project Billing Info screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master or Projects » Project Setup » Revenue Setup) will be required. If you select the Use Billing Cycles check box after setting up some of the Project Billing Information screens, you will need to enter the correct billing cycles for all records previously entered.
If you select this check box, you will be able to assign billing cycle codes to each project in the Project Billing Info screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master or Projects » Project Setup » Revenue Setup). Projects that have billing cycle codes can then be selected and calculated based upon their billing cycles. You must first set up billing cycles in the Billing Cycle screen (Projects » Billing » Controls) before you can enter them in the Project Billing Info screen.
Use the drop-down list to select the default billing cycle for project billings. If the majority of your customers or projects are billed on the same cycle, you can select that cycle as the default. If your projects are billed using many different cycles, you may not want to enter a default. The default cycle you choose must first be set up in the Billing Cycle screen (Projects » Billing » Controls).
Use this group box to choose the default output path for your WAWF files. If you plan to use project product bills (rather than standard bills) as your source for WAWF files, you can also use this group box to enable WAWF entry in the Edit Project Product Bills screen (Projects » Billing » Edit Billings).
Use this button to select a default output path for your Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) files. You can also enter the file path in the blank field to the right. This path is used as the default in the Create WAWF Billing Files screen (Projects » Billing » Print Billings).
If you plan to use project product bills (rather than standard bills) as your source for WAWF files, select this check box to make certain fields and subtasks available for WAWF entry in the Edit Project Product Bills screen (Projects » Billing » Edit Billings). If you do not select this check box, these fields and subtasks will be hidden. See the documentation for the Edit Project Product Bills screen for more information. This check box defaults as cleared.
Your selections in this group box are used as defaults (which can be overridden) when you enter records in the Project Billing Info screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master or Projects » Project Setup » Revenue Setup). Using these defaults to populate the Project Billing Info screen can greatly expedite the billing setup process. These defaults are not required in the Billing Settings screen (Projects » Billing » Controls).
Use the drop-down list to select the default remittance address to which customer payments should be sent. You can set up remittance IDs in the Remittance Addresses screen (Projects » Billing » Controls). Remittance addresses are required in the Project Billing Info screen (Projects » Billing » Billing Master or Projects » Project Setup » Revenue Setup). If you do not select a default, you will have to enter remittance addresses individually in each Project Billing Info record.
Use the drop-down list to select the default billing format that your projects will use. If you have many different formats, you may want to leave this field blank so that you do not accidentally print the wrong format on a given bill. You can set up billing formats in the Generic Billing Formats screen (Projects » Billing » Formats).
If you want to assign default payment terms to your projects, enter, or use the drop-down list to select, the default terms code here. You can set up terms in the Customer Terms screen (Accounting » Accounts Receivable » Customer Controls).
Enter, or use the drop-down list to select, the default sales tax code that you want to apply to your billings. You can set up sales tax codes in the Maintain Sales/Value Added Tax screen (Others » System Administration » System Codes).
Enter, or use the drop-down list to select, the default shipping method you want to use when entering sales order entries. This field does not apply unless you have the optional module, Costpoint Sales Order Entry, located in the Materials folder.
Use this group box to control how invoice postings will be handled. This group box applies to projects that bill using government form 1443, Contractor's Request for Progress Payment.
Select this check box if the 1443 Delivery Invoice posting method is Net (instead of Gross). If you bill using progress payments, you can submit interim bills to recover a percentage of your incurred costs, even if deliveries have not been made. When you ship a finished good to the customer, the bill is a "Delivery" invoice. This invoice shows the value of the shipment, but you must reduce, or "liquidate," an amount for the progress bills that have already been paid. Therefore, the invoice amount that will be paid is always the net amount.
If you select this check box, the system will post the general ledger and accounts receivable reports with the net amount. This means a receivable will be created for the net amount and the liability reduced for the liquidation amount when the bill is posted. When the customer pays the bill, the cash receipt credits the receivable for the net amount.
If this check box is not selected, the system will post the general ledger and accounts receivable reports with the gross amount. This means a receivable will be created for the gross amount of the shipment. When the customer pays the bill, the cash receipt credits the receivable for the gross amount and reduces the liability by the liquidation amount.
In summary, this check box controls the presentation of billed accounts receivable and liquidated progress payments for delivery invoices that have not been paid.
For more information, please see Billing Special Topic BL-6, "Progress Payment Bills."
Select this check box to treat progress payment bills like non-progress payment bills. Progress payment bills are interim bills that allow you to recover a percentage of your incurred costs, even if deliveries have not been made. As such, these bills generate a receivable for the amount of the bill, but they also generate a liability, because you are billing for amounts that have not been delivered.
When you post the bill, not only are the accounts receivable and project billing history files updated, but the general ledger files are also updated. The A/R progress payments account is debited and, instead of using unbilled A/R as the other side of the entry, the system credits the unliquidated progress payments account to create the liability. When the customer pays the bill, cash is debited and the A/R progress payments account is credited. Using this method means that your financial statements will show an A/R progress payments receivable balance for any unpaid progress payment bills. It will also show the unliquidated liability when the bill is posted.
If you do not select this check box, the accounts receivable and project billing history files are still updated when the bill is posted, but no entry is made to the general ledger; consequently, outstanding progress payment accounts receivable are not displayed on your financial statements. When the customer pays the bill and you post the cash receipt, the entry will debit cash and credit the unliquidated progress account. With this option, the A/R progress payments account is not used at all, and the liability is not displayed on your financial statements until you post the cash receipt. You can suppress progress payment bills when printing the Accounts Receivable Aging Report. This will enable you to reconcile the aging report to the general ledger if you do not select this check box.
Use this group box to determine the cost of sales accrual method for units. You can retain the cost of the units on your balance sheet, as a capitalized or inventoried cost, and can recognize a portion of that cost as the units are billed (when the bill is posted) or as they are "incurred" (when the unit usage is posted). Using either method, a transfer is made during the posting to move the unit cost of sales from the balance sheet to the income statement. Note that a warranty expense accrual can be optionally posted as part of this entry.
Select this option to recognize unit cost of sales when the bill is posted.
Select this option to recognize unit cost of sales when the unit usage is posted.
These labels are used as column headings in the Enter Unit Usage screen (Projects » Billing » Units Usage). Next to each data type, enter a label that would be appropriate for that data type. For example, for one of the numeric labels, you may want to enter "Units Remaining." You can enter labels for two numeric fields, one text field, and one date field.
Click this button to open a subtask where you can select the billing formulas you would like to use for your company.
Changes to this screen update the BILL_SETTINGS table.