Service Parameters

The service parameters control the defaults for how the module processes work order operations, charges, warranty tracking, internal expenses, customer paid charges, work in progress, etc. Please contact your CPA or accountant if the G/L account settings are not clear.

Tab 1 Operational Options

Miscellaneous Group - This group controls the default miscellaneous options.

Days For Past Due Message - Controls when a clerk will receive a message in the Work Order Maintenance program stating a customer is past due on their account. Enter a number of days or press Enter to leave the prompt blank and bypass this functionality.

Mileage Charge per Mile - The rate used when mileage charges are entered in an operation through work order maintenance.

Freight Mark Up - The percent mark up to charge on all freight charges entered on an Operation. When using the Freight Mark Up in Freight Maintenance, enter the freight cost in the prompt provided and the system will then calculate the price to charge the customer by the percentage mark up. The amount to charge the customer defaults in the "Amount" field.

Shop Labor Rate - Acts as the default Labor Rate when labor is entered on a work order and is used in the hierarchal evaluation of labor on a work order. If there is something entered in the Shop Labor Rate, then that will be the default, unless there is a rate defined on the Opcode. Then the rate on the Opcode will override the rate in the parameters. If the labor rate is missing, then the Work Order rate becomes the default. If the Work Order rate is missing, then the Technicians rate becomes the default labor rate. If any of these rates are greater than the Operations’ Maximum rate, then the Max Rate is used. However, if everything still ends up NULL then the price defaults to $0.

Allocate special orders based on quantity – Select quantity "on hand" or "available" from the drop down listing. This parameter will determine if special orders are triggered based on Quantity Available or On Hand when a part is added to a work order.

Default Flat Rate Technician - Controls how a flat rated job charges for "Non-percentage" type operation codes. If charges are added to a Non-percentage type flat rate opcode, the entire flat rate amount will get charged out without actually adding labor to the opcode. Typically with opcodes of this type, you would have to add labor time before the entire flat rate amount would get charged out; this prompt allows the system to add a labor entry to force the system to charge out the entire flat rate amount. Hint: DockMaster recommends that you create an adjustment type technician for this function; an Adjustment Technician allows you to adjust labor time and/or amounts without affecting the time of an actual technician.

Default Rigging Clerk - Controls the Clerk Id assigned to a RIGGING Work Order created using a RIGGING TEMPLATE from the Boat Model File. If you add accessories to a Boat Contract and create a Work Order, the system uses the Rig Template prompt in the Boat Model File to create the Work Order. Since the Clerk Id is required to create the Work Order, this prompt serves that purpose.

Rigging Cost Password - Used in the Work Order Billing program to control whether you can proceed with billing the ACTUAL RIGGING Work Order charges when the total amount that is billed exceeds the ESTIMATED RIGGING charges on the unit being rigged. A password window will appear if the estimate exceeds the actual. Note: You will not see the password as you type.

Cost Line Method - Used to indicate which method of cost calculation to use when there is no part number associated with inventory for an item on a work order. Click on the down arrow to choose either Cost Line (formerly called Fathom line) or Cost Code.

The Cost Line allows you to take a word or a combination of 10 letters to associate a number to figure cost. For example take the word DockMaster. If you use a code of MRR you are saying that your cost is $5.00. A key is shown below, each letter represents the number shown below it. Any 10 character word with non repeating letters may be used.

Cost Line Key


M	A	K	E	P	R	O	F	I	T
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0

A Cost Code is a discount percentage from retail price. A Cost Code can be maintained in Retail Cost Code in File Maintenance.

Default Image Directory - This will be the default directory where the photos are stored when attaching photos to operations on a work order in work order maintenance. The photos can be used for Insurance purposes. It is recommended that the photos are stored on the Server so all client machines have access to the photos. Use the Browse button to find your directory quickly.

Options Group - This group controls the default operational options for the service module.

Parent Opcode Required - Check this box if prior to adding a child opcode on a work order, a Parent Opcode is required.

A parent operation code is any operation code defined by you through the program Operation Code Maintenance. A child operation is by definition, a child of the parent, or main operation. Child operations are designated on a Work Order by a suffix added to the end of a parent operation code.
For example, operation code TUNE is set up for engine tune-ups. However, you also want the technician to check the oil pressure. You can add another operation called TUNE.1 and define the additional task you want the technician to perform. Since it is part of the same operation, you just make it a child operation by adding the suffix .1 to the original operation code.

Print Time in Decimal - Controls the format in which time is displayed in the labor entry programs and printed reports. Enter a check mark to print/display time in decimal format, 1.50 for an hour and a half. Leave the box unchecked to print/display time in the standard format, 1:30 or an hour and a half.

Enter Hours Only - Controls the way you enter labor time either through Time Card Entry or Maintain Labor Charges on a work order. You must choose one of two ways to enter in the labor hours:

Enter a check mark to display the Hours only in the Time Card Entry program or Maintain Labor Charges Maintenance window. Note: The Start and Stop time will be displayed with 12:00am as the start time.
Leave the box unchecked to display and enter a Start and Stop time.

Auto Apply Deposits - Controls whether or not Work Order deposits are automatically applied during the Work Order Billing process. Note: Deposits will only be applied to the RETAIL portion of the Work Order being billed.

Enter a check mark to automatically apply the total deposit balance to the current RETAIL billing. Any deposit amount greater than the billing amount will remain on the Work Order as unapplied and can be applied on another billing, or refunded to the customer.
Leave the box unchecked to force the user to manually apply a deposit during a Work Order Billing.

Default to Scanner Mode - For use with Bar Code scanners in Maintain Parts Charges. This mode is checked by default. If checked, the system skips the date field (defaults current date) in the Parts Entry screen and allows you to scan each part in the Part Number field without having to use the mouse or keyboard to enter in the next part number.

Enter Extended Descriptions - This checkbox controls the ability to type in extended text in the opcode description.

Warranty No Tax to Customer - This checkbox controls the ability to not charge the sales tax on the customer deductible for extended warranty. If checked the total sales tax for the extended warranty work will be billed to the extended warranty customer.

Allow New Operations - If you want to allow operations to be put on a Work Order through the service maintenance sub menus as well as Work Order Maintenance put a check mark in this box. If not checked all new operations must be added through work order maintenance.

Accrue Labor - The Accrue Labor prompt controls whether an accounting entry is made for each day labor time is added to a Work Order. The hourly rate used to accrue the labor dollars can be found in the Technician File. This rate MUST be the employee's actual hourly rate in order to accrue the correct payroll figure. You will also need to have a WIP Labor account in your General Ledger.

Enter a check mark if you want to Accrue Labor on work orders or leave the box unchecked to bypass this functionality. Before answering yes to Accruing Labor, be sure to consult your in house accountant or contact support. By not putting a check mark in the box you are answering "no" to accruing Labor. The system then assumes that you will make the cost of labor entries when you process your payroll. Also, there will be no accounting entries made at the time that labor hours are added to the work order and the WIP Labor account is not needed. The technician’s wages can still be entered in the Technician file even though no accruals will be made. If you would like to get a wages report w/o accruals, you can enter either a burden or average rate in the technician’s file.

Note: In the Technician file from File Maintenance, there is a prompt for Burden Rate. If a dollar amount is entered in the burden rate, then this rate is used for WIP, not the earning rate. If the burden rate is left blank, then the earning rate is used.: In the Technician file from File Maintenance, there is a prompt for Burden Rate. If a dollar amount is entered in the burden rate, then this rate is used for WIP, not the earning rate. If the burden rate is left blank, then the earning rate is used.

Enter A/P for Refund - Controls whether you are given an option during the Refund Deposit function in Work Order Maintenance to create an invoice in Accounts Payable for the amount of the refund.

By checking the box, you are allowing an invoice to be created in Accounts Payable and posted using the 99999 Miscellaneous Vendor functionality. You can select the invoice for payment like any other A/P invoice. Note: The customer information on the Work Order will be used for the Name and Address on the A/P invoice; please check that this information is complete prior to refunding the deposit. If the customer has a vendor number attached to the customer File, then the vendor information will be used for invoice processing (not the 99999 miscellaneous vendor).

Require N for New WO’s - Controls whether you can assign your own Work Order numbers or not in Work Order Maintenance. Work Orders can use numeric or alphanumeric characters. Enter a check mark to make all users initiating Work Orders press the letter ‘N’ to start a new work order.

Time Card - Enter Tech Comments - This checkbox controls whether or not the tech is allowed to enter tech comments when entering time through time card maintenance.

Hide Price when Protected - This checkbox controls whether or not the price field displays the amount. If selected and the field is password protected then the fields will display # marks instead of the amount.

Change Opcode Status - Controls whether an operation code status can be changed while entering time through the Timecard Entry program.

Use % Labor Allocation - Controls the allocation of LABOR INCOME when billing FLAT RATED operation codes. If the system encounters multiple labor departments on a FLAT RATED operation, you can allocate labor income to each department based on the percentage of the total hours. Note: If you have multiple labor departments in your Service Department and you use the flat rate function, we recommend that you answer Yes to this prompt by placing a check mark in the box.

Suspend Clock Entries - Used by the Work Order Time Clock routine to suspend the normal automatic update of work orders when a technician clocks in and out. Important: This prompt only affects clients who allow their technicians to clock in and out of Work Orders; the Timecard Entry routine is not affected by this parameter.

Override Credit Limit - Controls whether or not a clerk can enter a Work Order when a customer has exceeded their credit limit.

Auto-Update Schedule - This box if checked will create a non-assigned schedule entry in the service calendar each time an operation is added to the work order.

Partial Detail Rebuilds - By default this box should always be checked. When selected the system will process cross references faster for the operation code details.

Auto Update Departments - Controls whether the system will update the departments on unbilled operations when a Work Order Category is added or changed. The Work Order Category code can control the default departments for Labor and Parts on all operations if the departments exist in the category code. Important: The system will only update operations when the departments are blank.

Recalculate Prices - Controls whether the system will automatically recalculate prices on Parts and Labor when 1) Charges are transferred to another Operation Code and/or to another Work Order through the Transfer Work Order Charges program or 2) The Operation Type is changed on an Operation Code in the Work Order Maintenance program (i.e. a RETAIL job is changed to a WARRANTY job).

Enter Estimate Pull Date - Controls whether a clerk can enter a part pull date on a Work Order Estimate. This option only affects estimates.

Bill Percentage of Completion - Checking this box turns on the Bill Percentage of Completion in Work Order Billing. The BPOC works in conjunction with estimates. The work order must be generated from an estimate to take advantage of this feature.

Archive WO Billing Data - When checked the system will create an additional backup file for each day that includes the work order billed data. This optional should only be selected when advised by DockMaster support. Additional free space will be required to accommodate the data files.

Punch-Out Time on Save - When checked the system will stamp the time clock entry when the save button is clicked instead of when the tech entered the form to clock out.

Price Columns - This group controls the default price level options for the service module. Each operation type (retail, internal, prep, warranty, assembly, rigging) can be defined with a price level between 1 and 5 or a cost + percentage.

Override Customer Price Column - This check box controls whether or not the work order pricing should override the customer defined price level.

Minimum Retail Price - This dropdown box controls the minimum retail price level allowed. Levels 1 - 5 or cost + percentage is allowed to be selected.

Departments Group - This group controls the default department id's for freight, equipment, miscellaneous charges and mileage. The default department can be overridden at the operation code level on the work order.

Freight - This field should contain the department id that has been configured with the accounting for the service department freight charges.

Equipment - This field should contain the department id that has been configured with the accounting for the service department equipment charges.

Miscellaneous Supplies - This field should contain the department id that has been configured with the accounting for the service department miscellaneous charges. Note this field does not refer to the shop charge fee that may be added to an operation code.

Mileage - This field should contain the department id that has been configured with the accounting for the service department mileage charges.

Tab 2 General Ledger

General Ledger Tab

Income Accounts Group - This group controls the default GL accounts to use for posting income. Unless otherwise designated generally these accounts will refer to labor income. The retail through freight accounts are used only when the departmental hierarchy does not contain a defined GL account number.

Retail - This field should contain the default GL account for retail labor income.

Rigging - This field should contain the default GL account for rigging labor income. If the BMT module is not installed this account will not be utilized.

Internal - This field should contain the default GL account for internal labor income. Generally this account will be the same as the internal labor cost of sales account if the financials should not report on internal labor sales.

Prep - This field should contain the default GL account for prep labor income. If the BMT module is not install this account will not be utilized.

Warranty - This field should contain the default GL account for warranty labor income.

Assembly - This field should contain the default GL account for assembly labor income.

Sublet Purchase Order - This field should contain the default GL account for sublet income.

Mileage - This field should contain the default GL account for mileage charges income.

Equipment - This field should contain the default GL account for equipment charges income.

Miscellaneous Supply - This field should contain the default GL account for miscellaneous supplies and charges income.

Freight - This field should contain the default GL account for freight income.

Environmental Charges - This field should contain the GL account to be used for environmental charges. Departments do not contain fields for this type of charge therefore all work order billings will utilize this account for posting the income.

Other Charges - This field should contain the GL account to be used for other charges, commonly referred to as shop charges or fees. Departments do not contain fields for this type of charge therefore all work order billings will utilize this account for posting the income.

Deposit Forfeitures - This field should contain the GL account to be used for forfeited deposits. This field is utilized to record the deposit income that is forfeited by the customer when terms are not honored for work performed.

Cost Of Sales Accounts Group - This group controls the default GL accounts to use for posting cost of sales (COS). Unless otherwise designated generally these accounts will refer to labor cost of sales. The accounts are used only when the departmental hierarchy does not contain a defined GL account number.

Retail - This field should contain the default GL account for retail labor COS.

Rigging - This field should contain the default GL account for rigging labor COS.

Internal - This field should contain the default GL account for internal labor COS. Generally this account will be the same as the internal labor sales account if the financials should not report on internal labor sales.

Prep - This field should contain the default GL account for prep labor COS.

Warranty - This field should contain the default GL account for warranty labor COS.

Assembly - This field should contain the default GL account for assembly labor COS.

Sublet Purchase Order - This field should contain the default GL account for sublet COS.

Other Accounts Group - This group controls the default GL accounts to use for posting discounts, WIP Closed , accruals, AR, and deposits.

Labor WIP - This field should contain the default GL account for labor WIP. It is only utilized if labor is accrued and works in conjunction with the labor accruals account. If you are unsure whether you should activate labor accruals contact your CPA or accountant to discuss or contact [email protected]

Labor Discount - This field should contain the default GL account for labor discounts.

Labor Accruals - This field should contain the default GL account for labor accruals. It is only utilized if labor is accrued and works in conjunction with the labor WIP account. If you are unsure whether you should activate labor accruals contact your CPA or accountant to discuss or contact [email protected]

Parts WIP - This field should contain the default GL account for inventory WIP. When inventory items are assigned to an operation code in a work order the system automatically makes a corresponding entry in the general ledger to record the WAV cost. The transaction will credit the inventory account and debit the inventory WIP account.

Parts Discount - This field should contain the default GL account for parts discounts.