Billing Rules: To Configure a Time and Material Rule

The following implementation activity will walk you through the process of configuring a time and material billing rule.

Story

Suppose that you, as the project accountant of the SweetLife Fruits & Jams company, need to configure a billing rule to be used for billing customers for the materials that have been spent on providing services as part of the project, and for the time that has been spent by SweetLife's employees performing work for the project.

Configuration Overview

In the U100 dataset, the following tasks have been performed for the purposes of this activity:

• On the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, the Project Accounting feature has been enabled to support the project accounting functionality.
• On the Account Groups (PM201000) form, the following account groups have been configured:
  • The MATERIAL account group of the expense type, which aggregates the amounts posted to the 50000 (GOGS – Inventory) account
  • The LABOR account group of the expense type, which aggregates the amounts posted to the 54100 (Project Labor Expense) account.

Process Overview

You will create a billing rule for time and material billing on the Billing Rules (PM207000) form, and add to this rule two steps for billing different account groups.

System Preparation

Before you start configuring a billing rule, you need to launch the MYOB Advanced website and sign in to a company with the U100 dataset preloaded. To sign in as a project accountant, use the brawner username and the 123 password.

Step 1: Configuring a Billing Rule and Adding a Step

To configure a billing rule to be used for time and material billing and then add a step for billing for materials, perform the following instructions:

1. On the Billing Rules (PM207000) form, add a new record.
2. In the Summary area, specify the following settings:
   • Billing Rule ID: MATTIME
   • Description: Billing rule for materials with markup
3. In the left pane, add a row for the billing rule step, and specify the following settings in the row:
   • Active: Selected
   • Step ID: 10
   • Description: Billing for materials (cost with markup)
4. In the right pane, specify the following settings for the step (which is selected in the left pane because it is the only step):
   • Billing Type: Time and Material
   • Account Group: MATERIAL

     This step of the billing rule will be used for processing project transactions related to the account group, which includes expenses for materials.

   • Invoice Description Formula: ='Invoice for '+[PMProject.ContractCD]

     The system uses this formula to define the description of the invoice created based on the billing rule. The PMProject.ContractCD data field stores the project identifier.

   • Line Quantity Formula: =[PMTran.BillableQty]
   • Line Amount Formula: =[PMTran.Amount]*1.25

     The invoiced amount is calculated as the amount of a project transaction multiplied by 1.25.

   • Line Description Formula: =[PMTran.Description]
   • Use Sales Account From: Inventory Item
   • Create Lines with Zero Amount and Quantity: Cleared

     You clear this check box to add to the created invoice only lines with a nonzero amount and quantity.

5. Save your changes.

Step 2: Adding One More Step to the Billing Rule

To add and configure a step for billing for labor, do the following:

1. While you are still viewing the MATTIME billing rule on the Billing Rules (PM207000) form, In the left pane, add a row for the second step of the billing rule, and specify the following in the row:
   • Active: Selected
   • Step ID: 20
   • Description: Billing for employee time
2. In the right pane, specify the following settings for the new step (which is selected in the left pane):
   • Billing Type: Time and Material
   • Account Group: LABOR

     This step of the billing rule will be used for processing project transactions related to the account group, which includes expenses for employee labor.

   • Invoice Description Formula: ='Invoice for '+[PMProject.ContractCD]

     The system uses this formula to define the description of the invoice created based on the billing rule. The PMProject.ContractCD data field stores the project identifier.

   • Line Quantity Formula: =[PMTran.BillableQty]
   • Line Amount Formula: =[PMTran.Amount]*1.25

     The invoiced amount is calculated as the amount of a project transaction multiplied by 1.25.

   • Line Description Formula: =[PMTran.Description]
   • Use Sales Account From: Inventory Item
   • Create Lines with Zero Amount and Quantity: Cleared
3. Save the created billing rule.

You have configured the billing rule that can be used for billing the cost-plus project for the time and material spent on the services related to the project. To bill a project by using this rule, you need to assign the rule to the project tasks. To review how a project is billed when you use a time and material billing rule, complete the Project Billing: To Bill a Project for Time and Material activity.