Once you create a new Company Rate Change batch, you may save it and continue working with the batch making changes up until the point the batch is posted. Once a batch has been posted, no further changes can be made to the batch, however, you may view posted batches by selecting the check box at the bottom of the Company Rate Change List ‘Include Posted Increases’.
Navigate to the Client Management menu and select the Company Rate Change menu option. The Company Rate Change List will be displayed. Click the New button located at the bottom of the form to start a new batch. Once the Company Rate Change Form opens, enter a Description for the batch at the top of the form. Proceed on to the next section, Setup Information.
Setup Information
Effective Date – select from the drop-down list, the month/year the rate change will become effective.
Use Recurring Renewal Dates – select this option button.
Effective Date is – select from the greater than or less than value.
Percentage Rate – enter the default percentage rate that will be used to increase recurring lines. If the recurring line has an override percentage, the override percentage rate on the recurring line will be used; otherwise, the default rate will be used.
Update Rate Increase Date months – enter the number of months that will be used to update the Rate Increase date and the Renewal date fields on the increased recurring lines once the rate change batch is posted.
Next Cycle Date – This field is optional. If you only want to increase rates on recurring lines that will cycle again in a certain month/year, then make a selection from the drop-down list.
Setup Information
Customer Types – select Commercial, Residential, or Both. Only customers with the type selected will be eligible for a rate change.
Save As New Setup – If this check box is selected, the selections made on the Setup Information will be saved and a new Company Rate Change batch is automatically created with the same setup parameters for use as the basis for future rate changes.
Branches
Select which branches to include in the batch. You may check the box All Branches located at the bottom of the form if you prefer to evaluate all customers recurring in all branches. You must select at least one branch.
Notes
The Notes form is provided to track information regarding this rate change batch. Notes are permanent and may not be modified or deleted once saved. To enter a new note, type the note into the lower tier of the Notes form. Each note may be up to 256 characters long. When finished, click the Add Notes button located at the bottom of the form to save. Notes can be added at any time up until the time the batch is posted.
Customers
Once all selections have been made on the Setup Information form and branch selections have been made on the Branches form, navigate to the Customers form and click the Get Customers located at the bottom right.
The Customer form displays the customer number, site name, Invoice Item code, the current monthly rate, the amount the recurring will be increased, and a column displaying the new monthly rate that will go into effect if the batch is posted. A total of all proposed rate increases is displayed at the bottom of the form.
A list of all recurring lines will be listed that are eligible for a rate increase according to your selection criteria from Setup Information and branch selections. You may review the list to make any further exclusion determinations. If recurring lines are on the list and you do not want to rate change them, you would need to enter a date in one of the evaluation date fields that would eliminate the customer recurring line(s) from the batch. After making changes to any customer, system, or recurring dates, you would then return to this customer form and click the Get Customers button to refresh the list. You may do this as many times as you desire until you have the desired list of customer recurring lines to rate increase.
Once you are satisfied with the results and are ready to post the rate increases, proceed to the Post Rate Change form.
Post Rate Change
Once a Rate Change has been posted, it CANNOT be reversed. You must first perform a backup of your database BEFORE posting the Rate Increase Batch. If you post a batch and immediately find you have made an error, you will be able to restore your database to the original condition with your database backup. It is highly recommended that you use a Sandbox company to practice your rate increases before applying to your main company database.
Company Rate Change batches should be posted after the cycle invoicing has been posted for the month before the Effective Date of the rate change. For example, if the Rate Change Effective date is 04/01/2013, do not post the Rate Change Batch until the March 2013 cycle invoicing batch(es) have been posted.
After making a backup copy of your database, you will be ready to post the batch. Posting the batch will mark the end date of each recurring line being increased to one day before the Effective date of the Rate Change. The program then creates a new recurring line with the new rates that were posted.
RMR Reason – You must select an RMR Reason code from the drop-down list. Typically the Rate Increase reason code is selected.
Invoice Memo (optional) – You have the option of creating an invoice memo that will print on the next cycle invoice for all of the customers in the Company Rate Change batch being posted.
Post – Once an RMR reason code has been selected and the invoice memo has been entered (optional), click the Post button located in the center of the form. After clicking the post button, a message will be displayed confirming you are ready to post; click the Yes button to proceed with the posting process.
