Checklist: Setting Up Intercompany Billing

Use this checklist to set up intercompany billing.

Step Description
1 Decide on your intercompany billing approach.
2 Agree on an internal transfer price.
3 Set up new general ledger accounts to be used for journal entries (if you plan to move revenue or overhead).
4 Create an intercompany suspense account. When a transaction involves another company, some time will pass between the transaction posting and the point at which you actually run the intercompany billing process. To support the need to balance accounts in the meantime, Vantagepoint posts to the intercompany suspense account.

Running the intercompany billing process and posting the transaction entry files created by intercompany billing clears this suspense account and allocates amounts to intercompany accounts payable and intercompany accounts receivable accounts, according to the setup information that you specify. Depending on your configuration settings, you may also create invoices, vouchers, labor adjustments, journal entries, and/or cost transfers.

5 Specify an intercompany organization so that Vantagepoint knows how to handle implicit entries.
6 Configure the settings for intercompany billing in Settings > Accounting > Intercompany Billing in the desktop application. Select the options that support your intercompany billing approach:
  • Reclass Intercompany Suspense as Receivable/Payable only
  • Create Labor Adjustment to transfer labor to originating Company
  • Create Journal Entry

Specify debit and credit account numbers.

Select the global rate methods and related settings, such as multipliers, and, if necessary, enter override settings for specific pairs of companies. (You can override these global settings on a project-by-project basis, and you can also override multipliers at the organization level.)

7 If you select the Create Labor Adjustment to transfer labor to originating Company and/or Create Journal Entry options for any project types on the tabs of the Intercompany Billing Setup form, you also need to set up "transfer to" and "transfer from" projects, on the Intercompany Billing tab of Settings > Organization > Individual in the desktop application.
8 Create one or more special projects for use in intercompany billing. The journal entry and labor adjustment transactions use special projects to direct accounting entries to a company's general ledger. The special project's charge type, specified on the Accounting tab of the Projects form in the Projects hub, must match the type of entry made for the project:
  • If the special project is used to move overhead, its charge type must be Overhead.
  • If the special project is used to move revenue, its charge type must be Regular.

Assign each project to a single company; that company is responsible for leading the project even if it does not "own" all the phases and tasks. When labor is posted, the labor cost is charged to this company. You assign projects to companies through your organization structure.