Contract Classes are used to group contracts for reporting and set-up options. If using Items from Contract Classes RB Setup, each Item need to have Contract Class assigned. More about adding items to Contract Class can be found in Item Maintenance section.
To access Contract Classes, either select Contract Classes from the RB Main Menu or navigate to the window using Microsoft Dynamics GP >>Tools >> M4 Recurring Billing
>>Setup>> Contract Classes, or from: Sales Home – Setup section >> M4 Recurring Billing Select Add Contract Class to define a new contract class or select a class listed in the scrolling
window and select Open Contract Class to amend the settings for a preciously defined contract class.
For each contract class key fields are:
Contract Class – required, identifies the class throughout the system.
Description – text field where a description of this class can be defined
Contract Prefix - this is user-defined prefix to be concatenated with incrementing number to form the main contract ID for all contracts within this class. It must be unique, i.e. other classes may not use same prefix - this is to ensure that all contracts have a unique ID
Next Contract ID– next number for a new contract within this class. Every time a new contract is created this number automatically increments by 1. It may be changed in order to fit in with existing sequence or to change a sequence. Concatenates with the prefix to form a unique contract ID – each class therefore has its own sequence of numbering
Next Contract No – next contract number to be used with this class
Invoice SOP Type – default SOP Invoice type to be used for contracts within this class; if left blank Default SOP ID from price tables used
Return SOP Type - default SOP Return type to be used for contracts within this class; if left blank Default SOP ID from price tables used
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Use Contract Class Addresses – checkmark option if checked Bill To and Ship to Addresses can be added; If it is marked addresses have to be populated and these addresses will be used on the contract header; If it is not marked addresses are greyed out and customer addresses will be used on the contract header
Default Bill to Address – default address ID indicating which address should be used for addressing Invoices for contracts within this class
Default Ship to Address – default address ID indicating on Invoices where the service was delivered to for contracts within this class
Notice Period - default period in months or days (as defined in setup) to be used for contracts before cease can be performed; if left blank; the notice period from price tables is applied
Tip: Cease Requested Date + Notice Period = Cease Date
Minimum Period - period in months or days (as defined in setup) in which contract cannot be ceased (from Live date) which must elapsed
Referral email – email used for Referring Contracts – this is recipient email
Allow line zero amount – contract lines with zero amount can be created, this is allowed by default
Default Starting Day of Week – Drop down list holds 7 days of the week, Day selected in this window will be defaulted to line on creation
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Anniversary Rule – if this is ticked then this is the means that the contract renews each year. Anniversary rule is not to apply to one-off items." (If frequency is once then do not apply the rule). For item frequency see Contract Lines. For further information
concerning applying an Anniversary rule see the Cease section in this guide
Default Use Pro-Rata - for Default if this should be ticked or not on contract line. If ticked, When user adds a new line this should be defaulted
Enter Price Manually – checkmark box –if this option is marked on the class
maintenance screen contracts that belong to this class will have this option marked by default on each new contract line
Bill Period Include Today Date – user date will be included (see example below) in billing time span, for periodic contract that will be end of current period like end of month or end of year, this setting exists on Contract Header too
Final Bill Calculation (based on Price Type) - If option is marked then RB will only allow prices to be entered manually on the contract line and will not allow price changes once the line has been billed for the first time. For any Price Changes - user must cease line and then add a new line. In case of price change, a warning message will pop-up and prevent change)
Pricing Method
Price Levels - billing calculation will be performed according to Price Level/U of M/
Currency ID for the contract line (From/To dates will not be considered)
Date Sensitive Pricing - standard RB pricing which includes From/To dates
Note: This needs to be the same as for Debtors, which will be used for contracts inside this class.
Override Item Deferral - deferrals are defaulted based on Item Class Master, can only be overridden in line if option is enabled within setup
Note: If Deferral account is not set on Item master and overwrite is not enabled deferral account will be greyed out and not populated.
Deferral Method - ability to define the deferral to be based on "Days in Period" method or “Equal per Period”
Enable/Disable Billing Frequency
This checkmark shows ability to enable/disable Billing Frequencies by Contract Class. When creating new Contract Class, all frequencies will be enabled by default. More about Billing Frequencies can be found in Billing Frequency chapter.
Note: Monthly (Weekly) frequency is disabled by default for new Contract Class, but can be enabled; this is by design.
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Tip: There is a Clear button added – use it to clear the screen for new entry.
Important - Delete button - only classes that are not used on contracts or items can be deleted.
Important Notes for Final Bill Calculation
For Final Bill calculation, two fields are introduced to Contract Line:
1. Total Billed To Date 2. Original Live Date
Final bill Calculation is performed only when line is ceased.
FB Billing Period is calculated from ‘Original Live Date’ to ‘RB Cease Date’
Billing Period cycle date is ‘Original Live Date’
Final Bill Calculation founds number of whole periods contained in ‘FB Billing Period’, bills period price amount for periods found. Outstanding days are calculated by daily price.
Because Cycle Start Date for this calculation is different from RB Start Cycle Date, then difference in amounts calculated in Final Bill and those billed in RB can be significant.
For more information, please refer to FBC examples inside this user guide.
Note: Final Bill calculation can be used only for Price Levels Pricing Method
Note: For Final Bill Calculation, after cease is performed a warning message will be displayed in red.