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Billing Codes [FM]

Billing Codes​

From the DockMaster menu, select File Maintenance > Billing Codes

Billing codes are used in the application to provide a flexible method of calculating storage-related charges and miscellaneous services. Primarily the Marina Management areas charge for boat storage and related services use billing codes. The codes must be attached to a specific boat via the Customer Boat File or a reservation via Reservation Entry.

Point of Sale allows bill codes to be sold however the use is limited to a miscellaneous service and no calculations are performed automatically. Service Management also use billing codes for miscellaneous services and some limited daily charges capability.

Below is a list of calculation methods available:

  • Per foot based on the boat's length overall (LOA)
  • Per foot based on the boat's length at the waterline (LWL)
  • Per foot based on the size of the slip
  • Per foot based on the longer of the boat or slip
  • Per foot based on the area (Beam x length) of the slip or boat
  • Per foot based on feet of spar
  • Per foot based on Cubic Feet
  • Flat rate charge
  • Flat rate plus per foot over minimum length of slip or boat
  • One-time non-repeating Reservation charges

Rate Schedule​

A Rate Schedule can be added to each billing code that allows you to charge a different rate based on a specified date range. For example, if you would like the system to bill from Jan - June (01/01 – 06/30) at one rate and from July - December (07/01 - 12/31) at another rate, enter this into the Rates grid; the system will perform the calculations automatically based on the BILLING DATE you select in the different modules.

Installment Schedule​

An Installment Schedule can be added to an Annual, Quarterly or Seasonal Bill code. A Seasonal Bill code gives you an option of seasonal billing months or installment billing. If the Seasonal Bill code is defined with billing months, like April (4) and October (10), then the installment grid will be inactivated and may not be defined. If however, the Seasonal Bill code is defined with only 1 billing month, like January (1), then the installment grid will be active and may be defined with installment payment dates. An example of an installment schedule might be that you have a customer that has an annual dockage contract that renews every January. The customer wants to have 4 installment payments: January, February, March, and April. By setting up four installments for 01/01, 02/01, 03/01, and 04/01 at 25% each in the Installments grid, this customer’s statement will reflect a payment due on the installment dates defined.

The Service Management and Point of Sale areas can also bill for storage related charges. Some possible uses are discussed below:

  • Service Billing codes can be attached to a specific Work Order to bill a customer for storage while his boat is being repaired.
  • Freight can be charged to a Work Order via a billing code. This enables you to provide a detailed description of the freight charges.
  • Billing codes can be sold at your point of sale registers by entering a period followed by the billing code ID at the item number field. Billing codes can also be assigned to a button for quick adding to a POS transaction. For instance, a billing code could be set up to charge for fishing licenses, gift certificates, transient storage, haul outs, or miscellaneous labor.

General Information [tab]

  • Billing Code - Enter a new Billing Code ID or use F6 to select an existing code. Any combination of up to 5 letters and/or numbers can be used.
  • Description - Enter a billing code Description; the description will display when a user lists the Billing Code File.
  • Cycle - Click on the down arrow to select a billing Cycle for this code; the default cycle is Monthly. The billing cycle indicates the frequency with which this code will be billed. The available selections are defined below:
    • Daily - Indicates that this code is billed as a daily rate. The rate is multiplied by the number of days in the billing period and processed each time the Process Storage Bills program is run.
    • Monthly - Indicates that this code is billed as a monthly rate. The rate is billed once per billing period and processed each time the Process Storage Bills program is run.
    • Quarterly - Indicates that this code is billed as a quarterly rate. The rate is billed on each month designated in the Billing Months field unless overridden in the Billing / Phone tab of the Customer Boat File. The rate is used when processing storage charges. For example, if the customer is to be billed in March, June, Sept., and Dec., then you must enter 3,6,9,12 in the Billing Months field. If you designate the billable months in the Customer Boat File, that entry will override any entry made in the Billing Months field.
    • Seasonal - Indicates that this code is intended to be billed as a seasonal rate. The rate is billed on each month designated in the Billing Months field unless overridden in the Billing / Phone tab of the Customer Boat File. The rate is used when processing storage charges.
    • Annual - Indicates that this code is billed as an annual rate. The rate is billed once per year on the month designated in the Billing Months field unless overridden in the Billing / Phone tab of the Customer Boat File. The rate is used when processing storage charges.
    • Flat - !! Important !!: This cycle type will not process if used in Generate Proposals or Process Storage Bills. This cycle type can be used in the Point of Sale, Storage Invoice Maintenance, Service, Reservations or anywhere billing codes can be sold. In Reservations, a flat rate billing code indicates that this is a non-repeating charge on a reservation and will only be billed once for the customer’s stay. For example, you may want to add a Fishing Tournament fee to a customer’s reservation, but you only want to charge the fee once, and not each day of the customer’s stay.
  • Billing Month(s) - Enter the default Billing Months for this code. This field is used to designate the billable months for this code. Each month should be entered followed by a space or comma. A maximum of four months is allowed for quarterly cycles, one month for an annual cycle, and unlimited for seasonal cycles. For example, if the customer is to be billed in March, June, Sept., and Dec., then you should enter 3,6,9,12 or 3 6 9 12.
  • Deferred # Months – Enter the number of months that this code should be deferred. This field indicates how many months to defer for this code (e.g. if billing Annually deferred months is 12, Quarterly – 3 (billed 4 times and deferred 3 months), Semi-annually – 6, etc.). See the Storage and Billing help for a full explanation of the Deferred Revenue Process.
  • Per Foot – Each billing code will default to a Per Foot calculation method (checked box). Clear the check mark to charge only the amount in the Billing Rate field each time this code is billed. A Per foot Billing Code will multiply the Billing Rate times the length, area or cubic feet on a customer’s boat.
  • Max Boat Length - Enter the Maximum Boat Length that can be billed by this code. This feature is used when assigning billing codes to a boat in the Customer Boat File or to a Reservation. The software will check the boat length to ensure that the Billing Code is appropriate.
  • Min Boat Length - Enter the Minimum Boat Length that can be billed by this code. This feature is used when assigning billing codes to a boat in the Customer Boat File or to a Reservation. The software will check the boat length to ensure that the Billing Code is appropriate.
  • Department - Enter a Department ID. After you input a department, the Credit Account will default to the Sales account maintained in the General Accounts tab in the Department File.
  • Location - Entering the location code on a bill code will work with the multi-location functionality and determine how storage charges get calculated for customers. If you are not set up for multi-location, then you can leave this field blank.
  • Service Charge - Check the box if the bill code is subject to a service charge when sold at POS. Otherwise leave the box blank.
  • Prorate - Click on the Prorate box to prorate the monthly billing rate if you bill in arrears. Important: Only codes with a Monthly cycle will use the Prorate prompt; therefore, the prompt will be inactive if the cycle isn’t Monthly.
    • For example, prorating will occur if a boat arrives or departs during a billing period and you process billing charges for that period. For example, if a customer arrives or departs on June 15th; he will only be billed for 15 days if you bill for the month of June. Note: If you process storage bills in advance (don’t prorate) of the month services are rendered, then you will have to run a separate bill for any customer who arrives between billing periods.
  • Bill Only Over Minimum Length - This prompt is only applicable if you are billing on a per foot basis. Check the Bill Only Over Minimum Length box to designate this billing code as billable only over the length specified in the Min Boat Length prompt.
    • For example, you may bill all slips a standard fee of 500.00 per month unless the boat exceeds 30’; any boat that exceeds 30’, you bill the customer 10.00 per foot. In this example, you would make the minimum length 30’ and click the Bill Only Over Minimum Length box. Note: If your billing policy is a flat rate charge plus an amount over the minimum length, then two billing codes will be required to perform this calculation.
  • Use Slip, Boat, or Longest - This prompt is only applicable if you are billing on a per foot basis. Click on the down arrow to select the length the software should use when calculating a bill on a per foot basis; the default is Longest. For example:
    • If you bill customers by the length of the slip the boat is in, select Slip.
    • If you bill customers by the length of their boat, select Boat.
    • If you bill customers by the longer of the boat or slip, select Longest
  • Bill by Length, Area, or Cubic Feet - This prompt is only applicable if you are billing on a per foot basis and is dependent on the Use Slip, Boat, or Longest prompt when obtaining the Length for billing calculations. Click on the down arrow to select the calculation method the software should use when billing on a per foot basis; the default is Length.
  • LOA, LWL or Feet of Spar - This prompt is only applicable if you are billing on a per foot basis and is dependent on the Use Slip, Boat, or Longest prompt when obtaining the Length for billing calculations. This prompt is only meaningful if you select Boat or Longest as your billing length.
    • Click on the down arrow to select which Length field to use from the Customer Boat File for your calculation method when billing on a per foot basis; the default is Length Overall. This prompt controls whether to use the LOA (Length Overall), LWL (Length at Waterline), or Feet of Spar field for billing calculations. If you already entered boats, make sure you maintained the appropriate dimension for the designation you make here (i.e. if you maintained the LOA field on your boats, don't choose to bill by LWL). Note: These dimensions can be maintained on each boat in the Customer Boat File.
  • Slip Type - Enter a Slip Type for this Billing Code. This prompt is used in the Reservation Entry program to filter the available Billing Codes that will list on a reservation to match the Slip Type of the reservation.
  • Sell Online - This setting allows you to designate that the bill code is available to the API for use with other third party applications such as Boat Cloud, and Shopping carts. Leave it blank unless you have an integration that uses it.

--Rates--

The Rates grid allows you to define a rate and multiple date ranges for a billing code. If you would like to bill from Jan - June (01/01 – 06/30) at one rate and from July - December (07/01 - 12/31) at another rate, enter this into the Rates grid; the system will perform the calculations automatically based on the BILLING DATE you select in the different modules. Important: If you override the Rate in the Customer Boat File, the software will not use rate schedule.

  • Rate – Click in the Rate column to enter the billing rate for this code. Billing codes can be used to charge on a flat or per foot basis; therefore, enter the rate based on the calculation method desired.
  • Start Date – The Start Date column will default to 01/01; you can override the default if desired.
  • End Date – The End Date column will default to 12/31; you can override the default if desired.

--Installments--

The Installments grid allows a customer to make 4 installment payments for one contracted amount. An example of an installment schedule might be that you have a customer that has an annual dockage contract that renews every January. The customer wants to have 4 installment payments: January, February, March, and April. By setting up four installments for 01/01, 02/01, 03/01, and 04/01 at 25% each in the Installments grid, this customer’s statement will reflect a payment due on the installment dates defined. The Installment schedule will serve as the default when a Billing Code is attached to the Customer Boat File. You will be able to override the Installment schedule on each boat if desired.

  • Month/Day – Click in the Month/Day column to enter the month and day that the billing installment should get generated (the format is MM/DD). Note: The reason we only ask for a Month and Day is to avoid having to change the schedule every time the year changes.
  • Percentage – Enter the Percentage of the total contract amount that you want to bill on this installment date.

Tax & G/L [tab]

  • Tax Schema – Enter the Tax Schema that corresponds with this bill code. If this is a non-taxable bill code, then choose the "NoTax" tax schema. If the Tax Schema is not entered here, the system will calculate tax based on the Postal Code in the location code.
  • Credit Account - The Credit Account number is used to make the necessary accounting entries when Billing Codes are used in the Marina Management module. The Point of Sale and Service modules use the Sales account maintained in the General Accounts tab in the Department File attached to this code to make the necessary accounting entries. Note: This field will be automatically populated when the department is assigned on the General Information tab. It can be overridden if desired, however you must remember that changing the department will update the field with the department's sales GL account.
  • Debit Account - Enter a GL Debit Account number (Accounts Receivable). The Debit Account will default to the Receivables Account maintained in the Accounts Receivable Parameters.
  • Deferred Account - Enter a Deferred Account number (liability) if this code will be deferred. This account automatically defaults from the Storage Parameters if the code is set up to deferred charges.This account will be debited when the Post Deferred Revenue program is run for deferred charges.

Custom Info [tab]

  • Miscellaneous Info - This grid is utilized to maintain custom information about the bill code. The grid tags are defined in System Administration > Utilities > Custom Information