Service Contracts: To Process a Service Contract with a Beginning-Period Fixed Billing Type

In this activity, you will create a service contract with fixed billing at the beginning of the period, and you will generate appointments for the service contract.

Attention:
This activity is based on the U100 dataset. If you are using another dataset, or if any system settings have been changed in U100, these changes can affect the workflow of the activity and the results of the processing. To avoid any issues, restore the U100 dataset to its initial state.

Story

Suppose that the GoodFood One Restaurant customer has decided to sign an annual maintenance contract with the SweetLife Service and Equipment Sales Center for a fixed price, which will be billed at the beginning of each billing period (a month). The contract will cover the full assistance during the contract period. The list of services covered by the service contract has been agreed upon; it includes the cleaning of a customer's equipment twice a week on Tuesday and Friday.

The service manager (Maia Davis) needs to create a service contract with fixed billing at the beginning of each month, and to add schedules for the generation of appointments.

Configuration Overview

In the U100 dataset, the following configuration tasks have been performed to prepare the system for this activity to be performed:

  • On the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, the Equipment Management feature (under Service Management) has been enabled.
  • On the Branch Locations (FS202500) form, the WEST BRIGHTON branch location has been configured.
  • On the Service Order Types (FS202300) form, the MRO service order type has been configured to generate sales orders to bill customers for provided services. That is, the Sales Orders option has been selected in the Generated Billing Documents box in the Billing Settings section. Also in this section, the IN sales order type has been selected as the Order Type for Invoice so that the processing of sales orders does not require shipments.
  • On the Billing Cycles (FS206000) form, the following settings have been specified for the AP AP billing cycle:
    • Run Billing For: Appointments
    • Group Billing Documents By: Appointments

    Based on these billing cycle settings, a separate billing document is generated for each appointment; this document presents the details of each service of the appointment.

  • On the Customers (AR303000) form, the GOODFOOD (GoodFood One Restaurant) customer has been defined. The AP AP billing cycle has been specified for the customer on the Billing tab.
  • On the Non-Stock Items (IN202000) form, the CLEANING and TRAINING non-stock items have been created. For the items, Service is selected in the Type box on the General tab, and Time is selected in the Billing Rule box on the Price/Cost tab.
  • On the Non-Stock Items (IN202000) form, the DEPOSIT non-stock item has been created.
  • On the Equipment (FS205000) form, the FSE00007 (Commercial citrus juicer with a production rate of 1.5 litres per minute) target equipment has been defined.
  • On the Employees (EP203000) form, EP00000040 (Maia Davis) has been defined, and the Staff Member in Service Management check box has been selected on the General Info tab.
  • On the User Profile (SM203010) form, the SWEETEQUIP default branch and WEST BRIGHTON default branch location have been specified for Maia Davis.

Process Overview

In this activity, you will create a service contract on the Service Contracts (FS305700) form. Next, you will create two schedules for appointment generation on the Service Contract Schedules (FS305100) form, and activate the contract on the Service Contracts form. You will then generate a billing document for the first billing period on the Run Service Contract Billing (FS501300) form. Finally, you will review the scheduled appointments on the Appointment Summary (FS400100) form.

System Preparation

Before you begin performing the steps of this activity, do the following:

  1. Launch the MYOB Acumatica website, and sign in to a company with the U100 dataset preloaded. You should sign in as a service manager by using the davis username, and the 123 password.
  2. In the info area, in the upper-right corner of the top pane of the MYOB Acumatica screen, click the Business Date menu button, and select the 1/30/2025 date. For simplicity, in this activity, you will create and process all documents in the system on this business date.

Step 1: Creating a Service Contract with Fixed Billing at the Beginning of the Period

To create the service contract with fixed billing at the beginning of the contract period for the GoodFood One Restaurant, do the following:

  1. On the Service Contracts (FS305700) form, click Add New Record.
  2. In the Summary area, specify the following settings:
    • Customer: GOODFOOD - GoodFood One Restaurant
    • Description: Juicer cleaning contract
  3. On the Summary tab (Contract Settings section), specify the following settings for the contract:
    • Start Date: 1/30/2025
    • Expiration Type: Expiring
    • Duration: 1 Year
    • Schedule Generation Type: Appointments
  4. In the Billing Type box of the Billing Settings section, select Beginning-Period Fixed.
  5. In the Period of the Billing Type Settings section, make sure that Month is selected.
  6. On the Services per Period tab, add a row and specify the following settings in the added row:
    • Line Type: Non-Stock Item
    • Inventory ID: DEPOSIT
    • Recurring Item Price: 150
  7. On the form toolbar, click Save.
  8. On the More menu (under Processing), click Activate.

    The system changes the status of the contract from Draft to Active.

The first billing period for the contract is 1/30/2025–2/27/2025, as the following screenshot shows.
Figure 1. The active billing period


Step 2: Creating an Appointment Schedule for the Cleaning Service and Generating Appointments

To add a schedule for the cleaning service to the contract and generate an appointment for the first billing period, do the following:

  1. While you are still viewing the service contract on the Service Contracts (FS305700) form, on the Schedules tab, click Add Schedule.

    The Service Contract Schedules (FS305100) form opens.

  2. In the Summary area, do the following:
    • In the Service Order Type box, ensure that MRO is selected.
    • In the Scheduled Start Time box, select 12:00 PM.
  3. On the Details tab, add a row and specify the following settings in the row:
    • Inventory ID: CLEANING
    • Target Equipment ID: FSE00007
  4. On the Recurrence tab, in the Frequency box, select Weekly, and do the following in the Weekly Settings section:
    • Leave Every 1 Weeks.
    • Select the Tuesday and Friday check boxes. Clear Sunday.
    • Leave the check boxes cleared for the remaining days of the week.
  5. On the form toolbar, click Save.
  6. On the form toolbar, click Generate from Service Contracts.

    The Generate Maintenance from Contract Schedules (FS500300) form opens.

  7. In the Customer box of the Summary area, select GOODFOOD - GoodFood One Restaurant.
  8. In the Generate Up To box, select 2/27/2025.
  9. In the table, select the check box in the row with the schedule you have created (with the Juicer cleaning contract description).
  10. On the form toolbar, click Process.

    The system opens the Processing dialog box, in which you can see the status of the processing.

  11. After the processing has successfully completed, in the Processing dialog box, click Close.
  12. Close the Generate Maintenance from Contract Schedules form and the Service Contract Schedules form.

The system has created a schedule and added it to the Schedules tab of the Service Contracts form.

Step 3: Reviewing the Generated Appointments

To review the generated appointments for the service contract, do the following:

  1. On the Service Contracts (FS305700) form (to which you returned), on the More menu (under Inquiries), click Appointment History.
  2. On the Appointment Summary (FS400100) form, which opens, in the Selection area, specify the following settings:
    • Staff Member: Cleared
    • To Scheduled Date: 2/27/2025

    The list of appointments generated for the selected service contract is shown in the table. The appointments for the cleaning services are generated to be performed each week on Tuesday and Friday during the billing period (1/30/2025–2/27/2025). Open the first appointment by clicking its reference number in the Appointment Nbr. column. The Appointments (FS300200) form opens. In the appointment, notice that the CLEANING service has been added on the Details tab and the Free Item check box is selected for it, indicating that this service is covered by the service contract. Notice that in the Summary area, the appointment total is set to 0.

Step 4: Running the Service Contract Billing

To run service contract billing at the beginning of the contract period, do the following:

  1. On the Run Service Contract Billing (FS501300) form, in the Billing Customer box, select GOODFOOD - GoodFood One Restaurant.
  2. In the Up to Date box of the Summary area, select 1/30/2025.
  3. Select the unlabeled check box next to the Juicer cleaning contract you have just created.
  4. On the form toolbar, click Process.
  5. Once the processing is finished, in the Processing dialog box, click the link in the Service Contract ID column.
  6. On the Service Contracts (FS305700) form, which opens, on the Billing Documents tab, ensure that the generated invoice for the first billing period of the contract is listed.
  7. Click the invoice number in the Reference Nbr. column. The Invoices and Memos (AR301000) form opens.

    In the Summary area, review the invoice's total balance, which is 150.00. This is the fixed price specified in the service contract to be paid in each billing period for the services covered by the contract.

  8. Close the Invoices and Memos and Service Contracts forms.

Step 5: To Run Billing for the First Appointment of the Billing Period

In this step, you will run billing for the first appointment of the billing period and review the generated billing documents. Do the following:

  1. Open the Appointment Summary (FS400100) form.
  2. In the Summary area, specify the following settings:
    • Customer: GOODFOOD - GoodFood One Restaurant
    • Service Contract ID: FCT00000007 - Juicer cleaning contract
    • Staff Member: Cleared
    • To Scheduled Date: 2/4/2025
  3. In the Appointment Nbr. column, click the link of the appointment in the list (the appointment scheduled for 1/31/2025).

    The appointment opens on the Appointments (FS300200) form.

  4. On the form toolbar, click Start.
  5. On the Details tab, in the row with the CLEANING service, notice that the Free Item check box is selected.
  6. On the Settings tab, in the Actual Date and Time section, enter the actual start and end times (for simplicity in this training, set them to match the scheduled start and end times). Select the Finished check box.
  7. On the form toolbar, click Complete. (You perform this action on behalf of a staff member.)
  8. On the form toolbar, click Close. (You perform this instruction and the remaining instructions on behalf of an accountant.)
  9. On the form toolbar, click Run Billing.
  10. On the Invoices (SO303000) form, which opens, notice that the total of the invoice is 0. Close the form.