Low Volume Billing

The Low Volume approach to cycle billing assumes that you have 30 or fewer contracts which need billing each month (or every 28 days). Because of the low volume, it is best to bill each contract on a one by one basis. You would follow the steps outlined below once every month (or once every 28 days). The staff pulls the original contract out manually, then creates a billing just for that contract. The staff member will observe the billing, to ensure the correct amounts are charged.

The Low Volume approach to cycle billing follows these steps:

Step 1

When the contracts are entered using Contracts, your staff enters the DATE OUT on each item. When the contract is three to four weeks old, it is ready to be billed.

Step 2

To identify contracts that are at least three to four weeks old that are ready to be billed, print Overdue Contracts & Cycle Billings or O/S Contracts By Date Out using a CUT-OFF DATE of three to four weeks ago.

Step 3

Your staff should use the O/S Contracts Report to manually pull out the original contract numbers and check the following:

•That the equipment on the contract is actually still out. If the equipment was returned but not marked returned in the software, close the contract now using Rental Return. It will no longer be eligible for Cycle Billing.

•Determine if the contract was for CASH Customer # Blank, i.e. someone who is expected to pay immediately for any billing from a contract. If the customer was setup as Cash but now qualifies for an Account, setup the new Account in Customer Information .
 Next, alter the contract to reflect this new customer number using Contracts. In CHANGE mode, Down Arrow to the Customer # prompt and type in the new Customer number, then press ACCEPT Key.

•If the contract was for a Cash customer that was assigned a Customer number, you will need to set ON ACCOUNT = Y in Customer Information

•If the contract is to remain as a cash contract, do NOT proceed with Step 4 until the customer pays for the billing. The billing program will produce a monthly invoice which will be expected to be paid IMMEDIATELY upon making the invoice. You will have to select a Method of Payment and indicate how much was received.
If desired, you can apply the Contract Deposit against the billing invoice, but you will need to manually input this deposit amount on the invoice. The software will NOT automatically apply the deposit to the monthly billing for you, since it is assumed that the deposit is supposed to remain open on the contract as a security until the equipment is returned.

Step 4

Now that you have identified which contracts need billing, bill each contract using Cycle Bill A Single Contract - Standard Version. Each contract must be individually billed. At the end of each contract billing, the invoice prints out.

Step 5

The invoices generated from the billing will be posted with the next Daily Close run.

Topic Keyword: BO000703