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Creating Billing Labor Codes

The billing labor code is a code that you can associate with an advanced bill code in e-automate to define how labor is billed on a service call. Service calls use bill codes and hence billing labor codes to determine how labor is charged on service calls. You create a billing labor code and connect it to the bill code to define labor billing rules.

You use the billing labor code to define a regular labor rate as well as an overtime rate in which e-automate can use for labor billing outside of company hours. The billing labor code can define a minimum number of hours to bill on a service call. You specify the minimum number of hours and even if the technician spends less time on the call than your defined minimum hours, e-automate bills the customer for at least the minimum. Exact costs are posted by e-automate to the general ledger even if the billing to the customer is at the minimum. When calculating the minimum number of hours you can configure the billing labor code to consider both overtime and regular time in calculating the minimum.

In addition to defining the number of hours, you also use the billing labor code to direct e-automate to bill labor hours using the actual amounts after a minimum period or to bill in increments. You can configure the billing labor code to combine regular and overtime hours before calculating the increments or to keep the regular and overtime separate when figuring increments and then define an increment for each.

When technicians work on service calls, they can perform a variety of activities. You can use e-automate to change the rate you bill for each activity as you define the different activities performed on a service call. You use the activity code rate overrides section of the billing account code to define activities different than regular and the rate for each activity code both regular and overtime. This allows you to configure a billing labor code to not charge for regular labor but charge for IT or other kinds of labor. When using activity code overrides, you are required to identify the technician activities on the service call so e-automate can properly assign the rate. When you log a service call, the call type defines the default activity code for the service call but adds additional labor records for other activities.

Use the following sections to better understand the functionality identify in the billing labor code window.

Bill Actual Amounts After Minimum Period

When you select to bill in actual amounts after the minimum period, e-automate bills by the minute for regular and overtime hours after the service call has met the minimum number minutes specified in the Minimum period to bill field.

Bill Combined Regular and Overtime Hour in Increments

When you select to combine regular and overtime hours in increments, e-automate combines the total number of hours on the call and then determines the number of full increments that exist in the total number of hours. It then determines how many full increments end in regular time and how many increments end it overtime. Then e-automate charges for each increment based on increment ending time. If there are full increments that end before the overtime cut off, those increments are billed at the regular time rate. If there is an increment that begins in regular time and ends in overtime that increment is billed at the overtime rate plus any additional increments that end in overtime.

Bill Regular and Overtime Hours in Separate Increments

When you select to bill regular and overtime hours in separate increments, e-automate applies the increment rules to regular and overtime separately. You can define the same of different increments for regular and overtime.

Round Regular Hours to:

Nearest: When selected, e-automate rounds regular hours to the closest increment. If for example you are billing using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the increment, e-automate would round down when this choice is selected because the lower increment is closer than the next highest increment.

Next highest increment: When selected, e-automate rounds regular hours to the next highest increment. If for example you are billing using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the increment, e-automate would round up to the next increment when this choice is selected because the selection specifies that you round up to the next highest increment.

Next lowest increment: When selected, e-automate rounds regular hours to the next lower increment. If for example you are billing using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the increment, e-automate would round down to the lower increment when this choice is selected because the selection specifies that you round down, giving up the six minutes.

Round Overtime Hours to:

Nearest: When selected, e-automate rounds overtime hours to the closest increment. If for example you are billing overtime using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the overtime increment, e-automate would round down when this choice is selected because the lower increment is closer than the next highest increment. If the tech had completed eight minutes, e-automate would round up to the next overtime increment because it is closer.

Next highest increment: When selected, e-automate rounds overtime hours to the next highest increment. If for example you are billing overtime using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the overtime increment, e-automate would round up to the next overtime increment when this choice is selected because the selection specifies that you round up to the next highest overtime increment.

Next lowest increment: When selected, e-automate rounds overtime hours to the next lower increment. If for example you are billing overtime using 15 minute increments and the tech completes six minutes of the increment, e-automate would round down to the lower overtime increment when this choice is selected because the selection specifies that you round down overtime, giving up the six minutes.

Getting to the TransactionGetting to the Transaction

From the Tools menu, select Lists and Codes to open the Lists and Codes window.

In the Select a list or code type field, use the drop-down menu to select Billing labor codes.

Click [New] to open the New Billing Labor Code window.

Basic InformationBasic Information

Complete the following fields as appropriate.

Billing labor code: Name of the billing labor code being created.

Description: Brief description of the billing labor code being created.

Regular hourly rate:Type in the rate you want to charge customers on service call labor within your company defined regular hours. Contracts can be configured to alter the regular and overtime ranges for a service call.

Overtime hourly rate: Type in the rate you want to charge customers on service call labor outside your company defined regular hours. Contracts can be configured to alter the regular and overtime ranges for a service call.

In the Minimum period to bill field, use the drop-down menu to select the minimum number of hours that can be billed when using advanced bill codes associated with this billing labor code.

If you want to combine regular and overtime hours when calculating minimum hours, check the Combine regular and overtime hours for minimum billing checkbox.

Define incremental billing rules by selecting one of the following:

If you want to bill actual minute amounts after the minimum period, select Bill actual amounts after minimum period.

If you want to combine regular and overtime hours in increments, do the following:

Select Bill combined regular and overtime hours in increments.

In the Regular increments of field, use the drop down arrow to select the time increment you want to use to bill regular time.

In the Round regular hours to field, use the drop down menu to select the rounding rule you want used.
Note: Additional information about the rounding rules can be found in the Overview for this topic.

If you want to aggregate labor records before applying billing increments, check the Aggregate labor records before applying billing increments checkbox and, using the down arrow in the Group labor records by field select Rate to group records by just rate or Rate and activity code to group records by both rate and activity code.
Note: This option is only available if you have enabled this functionality in Service Call Options. See Setting Service Call Options for more information.

If you want to bill regular and overtime hours in separate increments, do the following:

Select Bill regular and overtime hours in separate increments.

In the Regular increments of field, use the drop-down menu to select the time increment you want to use for regular time (inside the call company hours).

In the Round regular hours to field, use the drop-down menu to select the rounding rule you want used for regular time calculations.
Note: Additional information about the rounding rules can be found above.

In the Overtime increments of field, use the drop-down menu to select the time increment you want to user for overtime (outside call company hours).
Note: Additional information about the rounding rules can be found above.

In the Round overtime hours to field, use the drop-down menu to select the rounding rule you want used for overtime calculations.
Note: Additional information about the rounding rules can be found above.

Activity Code Rate OverridesActivity Code Rate Overrides

If you want to specify an alternate rate for regular and overtime hours for an activity code, do the following:

In the Activity code field, use the lookup to select the activity code for which you want to identify an override rate.

In the Regular hourly rate field, type the regular rate you want used for this billing labor code and the specified activity code.

In the Overtime hourly rate field, type the overtime rate you want used for this billing labor code for the specified activity code.

Click [QuickAdd] to add your rates for the list for the specified activity code.

Repeat steps a – d to add additional activity codes and their associated regular and overtime rates.

To remove an activity code rate, select the activity code and associated rates and click [Remove].

To modify an activity code rate, select the activity code, make the necessary changes and click [Update].

Completing the TransactionCompleting the Transaction

Click [OK] to save the billing labor code.