Using Contracts to Track Maintenance Agreements for Customers
Contracts include a user-definable service type that identifies the level of service that the customer purchased. You can set up multiple units (serial-tracked service items) under one contract, in situations where a customer wants to receive only one invoice.
The pricing of a contract is set by one of these methods:
- Fixed amount: This is determined by specifying the annual amount of the contract.
- Calculated amount: This is determined by accumulating the amounts for each contract line item, and lets you charge different rates for different types of units or services under one contract.
Contracts can be billed monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. You can run a report that lists customers whose contracts are up for renewal. When the contract is invoiced, standard A/R information is created so the invoice flows directly into the customer's outstanding balance in the back office system.
For more information about Contracts, see Using Contracts to Track Maintenance Agreements for Customers.
After a customer purchases a level of service, you can use contracts to track the maintenance agreement for the customer. You can set up multiple units with contract lines under one contract so that a customer receives only one invoice.
Follow the steps in Adding a Contract and Adding Contract Lines to set up a contract.
Scheduled Maintenance
You can create a pre-configured maintenance schedule for each item on the contract. This functionality facilitates the creation of service orders to trigger and track expenses for the recurring maintenance.
Amortizations
Using amortizations allows you to extend an expense over a predefined period of time. Use amortizations with contracts to prorate the cost of the unit or item associated with the contract. The amortization process debits the sales account from the distribution account associated with the contract, and credits the designated expense account.
See Using Amortizations for more information.
Rentals
You can create a rental contract agreement for items to be rented. Open the Service Rental Contract Agreement form from the Service Contracts form to set up the rental agreement.