Estimate Common Tabs - WebTMA 7

Charges can be added to this Tab only when the following conditions are met:

• The Charge or Chargeable check box on the Identity Tab is marked.
• A credit Account Number is entered where costs are normally incurred.
• Costs have been entered on the Identity Tab or the Work Order / Costs Tab.

Costs are entered on the Identity Tab of windows that have a Billing Info Tab, and they are also displayed by default; however, Work Orders are an exception. After costs are entered on the Work Order / Costs Tab, they are displayed by default on the Billing Info Tab. The optional Utility module allows you to divide charges among several accounts on the Billing Info Tab.

If an account number has been entered in the Account #, Account Charged, or Charge Account Code fields on the Identity Tab, the account number will be displayed on the Billing Info Tab. It is designated as a type of charge, and the full amount of any costs are applied to the single account.

The Billing Info Tab displays charge account entries only. Credit accounts cannot be added or edited using this Tab.

The charge and credit items on the Tab must be in balance in order to successfully use Accounting > Post Charges.

The totals of the Credit and Debit lines on this Tab must balance or the charges cannot be posted when Post Charges is run.

The following define the columns in the Charges or Posted Charges Section on this Tab.

• Account # – the number in this field represents either the account charged or credited. The amount for the billing account is shown in the Credit column, and the amount for the credit account is shown in the Debit column.
• Charge Line Type – an entry of material, labor, fuel, etc. indicates a credit amount, and entry of a charge indicates a charge amount.
• Transaction Sub ID – a further description of the charge.
• Credit – the amount credited to an account.
• Debit – the amount debited from an account.
• Posted – the date and time amounts were posted.
• Date or Transaction Date – the date a charge is added to this window.

Tiered accounts are useful when you have complex Work Orders with charges to many accounts; however, use of tiered accounts is not required.

The window displays one or more tiers and accounts within each tier. Tiers apply to the Billing Info Tab of the Estimate, Change Order, Project Requisition, and Work Order windows and give you more control over when each account is applied. Note that the Project Requisition window only displays the Billing Accounts and Posted Charges Sections and tiered billing when the Project Requisition record applies to a Project linked to an authorized Estimate record.

If you use multiple tiers, you choose the sequence that determines when each tier is applied as well as the sequence in which accounts are applied within each tier. Tier 1 funds are used first; Tier 2 funds next, then Tier 3 funds, etc. Within Tier 1, funds are taken from Account 1, then from Account 2 (if used), etc. and then from subsequent tiers in sequence.

WebTMA does not allow you to enter tiers and accounts on related records. For example, if you have created a Work Order with tiers/accounts and attempt to do the same on the related Estimate / Billing Info Tab, an alert tells you that you must remove accounts from one of the records before you can authorize the Estimate.

The Tier line includes three columns: Active?, Deactivated By, and Deactivated Date. By default, the Active? check box is marked. These columns show the tier’s status (active or deactivated), because, at times, you may need to make changes to a tier that can no longer be edited, i.e., billing or encumbering has occurred (or is deemed to have occurred). See Deactivated Tiers, for complete information about this feature.

Typically, accounts and tiers on the Work Order / Billing Info Tab are inherited from the attached authorized Estimate or a linked Project with an authorized Estimate. Inherited accounts on the Work Order / Billing Info Tab are read-only.

When you first open the Billing Info Tab, all tiers are collapsed by default.

In Add or Edit mode, choose the Deactivate link on a line to disable a tier. The change from Active to Inactive is permanent. An alert gives you the option to re-think your choice. Depending on other circumstances, you may be reminded to take other actions before the tier can be deactivated. For example, if account distribution percentages are out-of-balance or if billing accounts will be underfunded, you are advised in the alert to correct the accounts before the tier can be deactivated.

Once deactivated, a tier cannot be reactivated. In addition, any remaining balance, overage balance, and encumbered balance are set to zero. Any transactions that attempt to post to the tier are considered out-of-balance due to inadequate funds.

When you deactivate a tier, you also have the option to add a new tier. Note that a transaction that has been authorized must be re-authorized if you add a new tier. An alert warns you if this is the case. When authorization is not required, a tier can be added at will; however, new tiers cannot be inserted above an existing tier if the upper level tier already has billing against it.

The Estimate > Records / Billing Info Tab reflects tiers from both the Estimate and Change Orders windows. Tiers inherited from the Change Orders window are read-only.

On Estimates when a funding amount is specified, the full amount must be equal to or greater than the value found on the Estimate / Identity Tab. If not, you receive an under-funded warning.

On Change Orders when a funding amount is specified, the full amount must be equal to or greater than the value found on the Change Orders / Identity Tab in the Total column.

When a Project Requisition is linked to a Project with an attached authorized Estimate, the Project Requisition / Billing Info Tab inherits read-only account lines from the Project Estimate, and the Billed Account field on the Project Requisition / Identity Tab is disabled.

When you use multiple accounts and tiers, the Account # field on the Work Order / Identity Tab is enabled or disabled based on the following rules:

• If Billing Info Tab accounts are inherited from Estimates, the Account # field is disabled.

When the accounts are not inherited:

• With only ONE account on the Billing Info Tab, the Account # field is enabled.
• With NO accounts on the Billing Info Tab, the Account # field is enabled.
• With more than one account on the Billing Info Tab, the Account # field is disabled.

The Billing Info Tab displays two links in Edit mode: Add Tier and Add Account. When you select Add Tier, WebTMA automatically creates the next tier.

Expand the tier to see the Add Account link. Select the link to open the Adv. Billing Entry flyout. Note that the Distrib % must equal 100% for each tier. If not, an alert tells you the distribution percentages are out of balance.

If you use funding Amounts, the total must be equal to or greater than the estimated cost.

For Work Orders with an authorized Estimate, the estimated cost is equal to the total cost from the Estimate record. Otherwise, the Estimate cost comes from the Total Estimated Cost field on the Work Order / Identity–Estimate section.

During Post Charges, debit amounts are distributed among the accounts listed on the Billing Info Tab first by tier sequence number, then by account sequence number within each tier. When the first tier is used up, WebTMA moves on to the second tier, etc. Work Orders and Project Requisitions follow this same process. Distributions within each tier follow the rules previously established and published.

The following example illustrates how the tiers work.

Assume a work order has $1,000 Labor and the Billing Info Tab displays the following tiers and accounts inherited from an Estimate record.

Estimate Tier 1

• Account 1 50% $300 (Fund Amount)
• Account 2 50% $300 (Fund Amount)

Estimate Tier 2

• Account 3 50%
• Account 4 50%

Change Order Tier 1

• Account 5 100%

When the work order is posted, $1,000 is distributed as follows:

• Account 1 $300
• Account 2 $300
• Account 3 $200
• Account 4 $200

WebTMA prevents you from authorizing an Estimate if both the Estimate / and Work Order /Billing Info Tabs contain tiers/accounts. If you know a Work Order will have an advanced Estimate, do not add Account Numbers on the Work Order / Billing Info Tab. The tiers and accounts on the Estimate are inherited in read-only format on the Work Order / Billing Info Tab. Regardless of the window where added, accounts must have sufficient funds or limit amounts.

In addition, a Work Order tied to a Project with a Project Estimate is controlled by the Project Estimate Distribution rules.

The following list summarizes the various rules that are applied on the Billing Info Tab.

• The tiers and sequence of the accounts listed on the Tab are critical because amounts are applied starting with the first tier/account in the list. This is especially important if you do not use a Percentage Distribution or if you use a mixture of percentage and limited accounts.
• You can edit the Sequence numbers for both Tiers and Accounts on the Billing Info Tab to arrange them in the order of importance.
• Percentage lines must equal 100% within each tier, even if you use mixed limit and percentage accounts. For example, assume Tier 1 has a total of three accounts where the first two are limit lines and the third is a percentage line. The percentage line must read 100%. If you have two percentage lines of 50% each with no limit and these are followed by a third limit line, this third line would never be used.
• If an Estimate and a Change Order both include tiers/accounts, the Estimate accounts are used first.
• Accounts on an authorized Estimate can be changed if there are no associated Change Orders. However, a changed account causes the Estimate to revert to unauthorized and related settings no longer apply. Part of an Estimate is the funding. If the funding changes, the Estimate is not valid.
• A tier can be deactivated; however, it cannot be reactivated. If deactivated, it is no longer considered during post charges and the remaining balance, overage balance, and encumbered balance are set to zero.
• A new tier can be added; however, if the transaction requires authorization and is already authorized, the new tier de-authorizes the transaction.
• New tiers cannot be inserted above a tier that already has billing against it. For example, if you have two tiers and billing has already occurred on both tiers, you cannot adjust the previous tiers in any way except to deactivate them. On the other hand, if you have two tiers and billing has only occurred on tier one, you can adjust tier two to make it tier three and add a new tier two. Note that doing so may cause the transaction to become unauthorized.