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Billing Approval is designed to automate the process of approving client billing and some related billing processes through an interactive set of applications. Through these applications, billing batches are established where assigned approvers can review jobs and related charges, make decisions, enter comments, and completely design client billing for multiple time periods. Billing decisions and instructions are then carried over to various billing applications and executed. Billing Approval reports may be printed for review. Communication between Billers and Approvers is automated and a complete history is kept for future reference.
Approved billing can serve as a forecast of billing and gross income. Using special features available in the Billing Approval application, net and gross billing approved is stored and my be used in other areas such as Client Budgets and Budget Viewpoint where comparisons to budget, forecasted and actual are made.
Billing Approval consists of two applications found under the Finance menu, Billing Approval Batch and Billing Approval.
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The Billing Approval Batch application allows the biller (or other user) to control the job/components and related records that are selected for approval and assigns the batch to an Approver. A batch is not limited to jobs for a single AE, Project Schedule Manager or client/division/product but can be tailored to include jobs for a single Approver. The batch includes date and posting period cutoffs which are used to limit the records that appear in approvals. It also includes other criteria to help determine which jobs to include. These selection options are carried over to Billing Selection (in the Billing Command Center) when selecting by Billing Approval Batch. When a batch is saved, all qualifying job/components are marked with the Batch ID and are not available for selection on another batch until the batch is finished. If necessary, the batch criteria can be modified at various stages of approval to provide flexibility and continuity between biller and Approver.
Billing Approval displays batches that have been created for the Approver signed in. A Billing Approval employee code and password are required. The Approver will select a batch and review billing approval records for each client which can contain any number of job/components. Billing approvals are created by reviewing individual job/components and all related details down to the item level, entering approval instructions and comments, and saving.
Individual job approvals are available for the biller to process but an 'approved' option at the batch level allows the Approver to communicate with the biller electronically when all job/components in the batch have been approved and are ready for billing. Using this method, the biller can make appropriate adjustments and then select completed batches for billing and bill all the approved jobs/components at once.
A job/component may have multiple, unbilled approval records. Billing approval records may be created in advance (if desired) and used for reporting, forecasting, and billing purposes. The only restriction is that a job can only be part of one unfinished batch at a time.
Important Note: The Advantage version of Billing Approval can continue to be used in its original state but job/components approved in the Webvantage version of Billing Approval will be unavailable for processing from within this application.
Billing Approval Password Maintenance is used to enter and maintain approver passwords. Any active employee may have a Billing Approval Password. Use this application to establish approvers prior to using the Billing Approval application. Using a generic Billing Approval Employee Code and password allows for multiple employees to view and approve selected jobs.
The Advantage version of Billing Approval can continue to be used in its original state but job/components approved in the Webvantage version of Billing Approval will be unavailable for processing from within this application. This is due to a major difference in how the records are stored in the billing approval application tables. Certain features provided in related billing applications such as Advance Billing and Billing Selection will not be available for use with Advantage Billing Approval Records.
The following billing applications include the use of Billing Approval Records to aid in processing:
Billing Command Center
Select billing by Billing Approval Batch ID - This allows the biller to select all approved jobs that are part of an approved Billing Approval Batch at once, without selecting them individually. Batch criteria is copied into the billing selection screen automatically and cannot be edited.
Select billing by Billing Approval ID - Select individual billing approval records. If more than one exists for a job, only one may be selected for billing at one time. This option is also available when selecting by Billing Approval Batch, to narrow approval records within a batch. Only approve billing approval batches will be available for selection.
Select by Job without selecting a specific Billing Approval record - The billing command center automatically selects the earliest (first) unbilled billing approval record for processing.
Production Review - Displays Bill Hold Request, Advance Bill Request, Approved Amount, Approval Comments and Approval Client Comments for the Job/Component. Client comments may be modified and printed on invoices.
Bill Hold Action - Displays the bill hold status of every job and displays the specific bill hold instructions from the approver. Automatically changes the bill hold status of the job based on the approvers instructions, as an option.
Reconcile Approved - If items are marked to bill/reconcile in Billing Approval, those individual records may be interim reconciled automatically in the billing command center by using the Reconcile - Interim Reconcile Approved option.
Production Job Details - Review the approver's billing instructions and comments at the job details function and item-level grids to aid in the adjustment of actual records. Client comments may be modified and printed on invoices. Note that some item level approvals will not be displayed once changes are made to the actual records that contain the instructions.
Assign Invoices - When invoice numbers are assigned, the billing approval record is updated with the actual invoice number generated. This is done so that the billing instructions and comments can be directly associated with the invoice generated.
Print Invoices - Standard invoices can include the Billing Approval Client comments at both the job and function level.
Finish BCC Batch - When a billing command center batch is finished, related billing approval batches that are approved and fully billed are also finished automatically.
Job Jacket (Webvantage) - The Job Jacket displays billing information in the Job Status section of the Project Management Dashboard. Information displayed:
Process Control - Indicates the current processing control.
Billing Approval Batch - Indicates the job/component is part of an active batch and provides the ID and description.
Batch Created By - Displays the User who created the batch.
Batch Date - Displays the batch date.
Selected for Billing By - Indicates if the job/component is selected for billing by displaying the User ID.
Advance Bill - Indicates whether the job/component is setup in Advance Billing.
Quote vs Actual Query (Webvantage) - Displays unbilled (open) billing approval totals. Displays the latest billing approval record (only) and only if it is unbilled.
Adassist Billing Report (original summary and detail versions) - Includes billing approval instructions and amounts.