Creating Auto Credit for a Rental Agreement Line

Prerequisites

• The 'Auto gen credit' setting on 'Rental Agreement Order Type. Open' (STS020/E) determines if an auto credit proposal is to be created when running 'Rental invoice proposal. Create' (STS800).

  If you select this setting, credit proposals are created in 'Rental Invoice Proposal. Update' (STS810) for agreement lines included in the selection of (STS800) and fulfilling the other criteria described below.

  If you do not select this setting, no auto credit proposal is created.

• You must configure the agreement line for advance invoicing. This means that 'Invoicing method' (INVM) on 'Rental Agreement. Open Lines' (STS201/E) must have 'Advance inv' (PRIV) on 'SA Invoicing Method. Open' (SAS430/E) set to yes.
• 'Termination date' (TEDA) must have a value, and this value must be earlier than the 'Invoiced to date' (ITDT) on (STS201/E).

• You must select the 'Termination' (TEDT) setting on (STS020/G) or the 'Check-in dt=End' (ST64) setting on (STS020/F) on the rental order type.

• If you select 'Check-in dt=End', it means that the termination date is updated with the check-in date when check-in is performed.

• If you select 'Check-in dt=End', the agreement line must be in status 90 (returned) before an auto credit can be created. With this setting selected, you cannot create an auto credit before the agreement line has been returned.
• The rental order type may not have 'AM/PM', '24-hour billing', or 'Weekdays to invoice' settings activated.
• If the rate type of the agreement line is equal to 1-'Day' or 9-'Best price', 'Grace period' (GRAP) on (STS201/F) may not have a value. If there is one line with grace period set in combination with rate type 1 or 9, the whole agreement is prevented from auto credit.
• 'Stepped price' (SPRA) must be blank or 0 on the agreement line.
• The agreement line type must be 4, 5, 7, 8, L, or O. Sales lines and internal rental do not create auto credit.

• If partial deliveries or partial returns have been done on the agreement line, this line is not included in the auto credit proposal.

  It is determined in this way:

  If more than one record exists in 'Rental Agreement. Display Line Details' (STS220) per transaction type=0 or 1, this indicates that more than one delivery or return transaction has been made for this agreement line. In this case, the agreement line is not included in the auto credit calculation.

  Also, if only one record exists per transaction type=0 and 1, the quantity of these records is compared to the quantity of the agreement line to ensure that a full delivery and full return have been made. If not, the agreement line is not included in the auto credit calculation.

• An agreement line that has been terminated using the involuntary sale function is not included in the auto credit proposal since the customer now owns the machine. Any necessary credit must be handled manually, such as by lowering the price on the sales line.

Creating auto credit proposal

If all the prerequisites described above are met, the auto credit proposal is created in (STS810) when running (STS800).

For rate type 9-'Best Price', there is one extra check before auto credit is created, since an early termination date does not necessarily mean that there is anything to credit. To find the amount to credit for rate type 9, the simulation function is triggered when running (STS800) to compare the best price for both the full period and the period up until the termination date.

The price difference between these two periods will be the amount to credit. If the difference is 0, no auto credit will be created.

The auto credit proposal created in (STS810) contains a credit for the days between the day after the termination date and the invoiced to date. This is similar to performing a full credit for the entire period and then a new debit until the termination date. The calculation logic depends on factors such as the rate type, days per week, invoicing intervals, and follows the same principles as when creating a debit invoice for part of a period.

Since the amount to be auto credited when using rate type 9-'Best Price' is a calculated value, the presentation on the invoice proposal cannot be done as daily and weekly price. Instead, the 'Qty/Per' column in 'Rental Invoice Proposal. Update Line Detail' (STS812) displays a decimal number, which is calculated by dividing the amount to be credited (displayed in the 'Total Price' column) by the period price (displayed in the 'Price' column).

If the agreement line contains meter readings or any other charges, these are also credited or debited as applicable.

When the auto credit proposal has been invoiced, 'Inv to date' (ITDT) on (STS201/E) is updated with the same value as 'Termination dt' (TEDA). The agreement line is set to status 90, indicating it is fully invoiced.

You cannot change the termination date on an agreement line in status 90. If the termination date must be altered after the auto credit, a full credit must be performed to revert the agreement line status to 40.

The 'AUGC' field in table STAGPL (agreement proposal line) and table STAGHL (rental agreement lines inv) is set to 1 when the invoiced line is an auto credit.

An auto credit uses the SO type set in 'SO type inv' (ST62) on (STS020/F), not the credit order type. This is because an auto credit is not necessarily a credit considering meter readings, charges, and so on. Also, if (STS800) is run with a selection covering non-terminated lines for the same agreement, the regular debit and the lines eligible for auto credit are invoiced on the same invoice number.

The invoice type, 'Itp' in account entries, is set to 00 or 02 depending on whether the invoice total is negative or positive.

If stand-down days exist during the period to be auto credited, these days are excluded from the auto credit calculation since the customer has not paid for them in the first place. If a stand-down rate has been used, this is also considered.

If 'Min days/week' is set on the rental order type on (STS020/E), this value is not considered when calculating the auto credit proposal.

The 'Interactive invoicing' option from 'Rental Agreement. Open' (STS100) and 'Rental Logistics Toolbox. Open' (STS140) is not allowed for agreements with a rental order type configured to create an auto credit proposal.

Auto credit proposal in combination with charges

This is a description of how various charge types are handled during the auto credit calculation:

Additional charges:

• Record types L and 3, in combination with 'Addl chrg calcn' (RACC) set to 1, are included in the calculation of the credit proposal.
• Record type 6 (meter readings) is also considered, but the impact depends on the price schedule type, which is explained in more detail below.
• Record type 2, indicating that the charge is to be included on the last invoice, is debited on the auto credit since the auto credit is typically the last invoice to be created for the line.

Consumption meter:

Debits for the consumption meter are part of the auto credit if the check-in value has been reported before the auto credit proposal is created. If not, it is invoiced on a separate invoice.

Line charges:

Line charges with 'Calc method' (CRME) set to 1 (meaning they are based on a factor of the gross price) and 'Calc method' set to 2 (meaning they are based on a factor of the net price) are considered in the calculation of the credit proposal. If the invoicing period is shortened, the net and gross prices are lower for the agreement line.

Header charges:

Similar to line charges, header charges with 'Calc method' set to 1 and 'Calc method' set to 2 are considered in the calculation of the credit proposal.

Collection charge:

A collection charge, set on (STS201/H), is debited on the auto credit since the auto credit is typically the last invoice to be created for the line.

Auto credit proposal in combination with meter readings

There are three different price schedule types to be used for meter items, and the auto credit calculation works differently based on the connected price schedule type:

Meter readings with price schedule type 14:

Price schedule type 14 is designed to invoice only meters that have in fact been used. As a result, there should typically be nothing to auto credit for this price schedule type.

If meters have been reported in a period that is auto credited, those meter readings are not considered in the auto credit calculation. However, if meters are reported after the initial debit but before the auto credit, they are debited on the auto credit invoice.

Meter readings with price schedule type 15:

When using price schedule type 15, the reconciliation of the agreed meter quantity is performed only once, and that is after the equipment has been returned. This reconciliation involves comparing events 12 and 13. Any over-usage of meters is calculated and charged when creating the final invoice for the rental agreement line. This approach remains the same even if the auto credit invoice is created after the check-in has been made.

Meter readings with price schedule type 16:

When using price schedule type 16, the reconciliation of agreed meter quantity is performed for each invoice interval. Any over-usage during the invoicing period is calculated and charged when invoicing the rental agreement line. Since you can use the auto credit functionality only in combination with advance invoicing, the allowed hours for a period are invoiced in advance, and any over-usage from the previous period is charged with the suffix 72. If an auto credit is then created, it means that the allowed hours and any over-usage must be recalculated.

This is done by comparing the allowed hours for the full period with the allowed hours per day for the shorter period. The difference is credited with the set price for allowed hours.

Any over-usage is also recalculated and charged based on the auto credit period and the set price for over-usage.

The allowed hours, price for allowed hours, and price for over-usage, which are configured in 'Rental Agreement. Update Meter Prices' (STS121), are used when calculating the auto credit. This process follows the same principles as when calculating a regular debit invoice.

Let us consider an agreement with these parameters:

Days per week: 5

Rental order type: Invoice until termination date

Agreement start date: 1st of September 2023

Invoicing interval: 1 month

Rate type: Month

Agreed hours per month: 215 hours

Agreed hours per day: 8 hours

Now, let us review the actions taken on the agreement line:

Event 12 (Check Out) on 1st of September:

Meter reading: 50 hours

Invoice for September:

Allowed hours: 215 hours for September, charged on the invoice

Event 40 on 15th of September:

Meter reading: 150 hours

Event 40 on 27th of September:

Meter reading: 280 hours

Invoice for October:

Allowed hours: 215 hours for October

Over usage: 15 hours (from September), charged on the invoice

Event 40 on 16th of October:

Meter reading: 400 hours

Event 40 on 23rd of October:

Meter reading: 550 hours

Terminated on 24th of October 2023:

With a days per week setting of 5, this means the customer should be credited for 5 days.

When running (STS800) for this agreement line, an auto credit proposal is created, with meter usage calculated in this way:

Suffix 70:

• Initial allowed hours for the full period: 215 hours
• Minus allowed hours for the shorter period (8 hours x 18 days): 144 hours
• Result: 71 allowed hours to be credited

Suffix 72:

• Last meter reading found using the 'AMVI' field in table SINMTR: 550 hours
• Minus the total of what has been invoiced (found using the 'UTIP' field in table STPMTR): 495 hours
• Plus the hours that were credited as suffix 70 (71 hours)
• Result: 126 hours to be debited as over-usage

In summary:

• The customer used the machine for a total of 500 hours (last reading 550 hours minus check-out reading 50 hours).
• The customer had already paid for 215 hours on the first invoice and 215 hours plus 15 hours on the second invoice.
• Left to pay is 500 - 215 - 215 - 15 = 55 hours.
• However, the initial debit of 215 allowed hours for October was based on allowed hours for a full period. With early termination, the allowed hours for October are lower, and more hours should be paid as over-usage instead.
• 71 hours were initially charged as allowed. With these deducted, the customer should pay 126 hours as over-usage (126 - 71 = 55 hours).

Creating credit on an auto credit

To create a credit on an auto-credited agreement line, follow these steps:

1. Open 'Rental Invoice. Display/Credit' (STS350).
2. Ensure that you use sorting order 2 to handle auto credit situations.
3. Select the auto-credited agreement for which you want to create a credit.
4. Proceed with creating the credit as needed.

When a full credit is made on an auto-credited agreement line, these changes occur:

'Invoiced to date' (ITDT) on (STS201/E) is reversed to its previous value, which is the value before the auto credit was applied.

The status of the agreement line on (STS201/E) is also reversed to its previous status, which is the status before the auto credit was made.

This allows you to effectively reverse the auto credit and return the agreement line to its original state.

Exchange

If an exchange is done and a termination date is set on the new line before it has been invoiced, the 'Invoiced to date' (ITDT) on (STS201/E) for the original line is compared to the termination date on the new line to decide if auto credit is valid when running (STS800).

On the invoice proposal, both the original line and the new line are included, which is also the case if not using the auto credit function. The difference, if auto credit is utilized, is that the new line is only debited up until the termination date.

With rate type 9: Price simulation is done to determine the price to invoice on the new line. Any meter usage (allowed and over usage) is invoiced according to the best price period found for the rental price.

With all other rate types: The price to invoice on the new line, including any meter usage, is calculated according to regular exchange functionality. This entails the price (or meter allowance) being divided by the number of days in the full period and multiplied by the new, shorter period. Therefore, there can be discrepancies in the split between allowed and over-usage meters depending on how the meter price list is configured.

If, instead, an exchange is done and the new line is invoiced before termination, the auto credit behaves in a similar manner as when auto credit is performed for an agreement line that has not been exchanged.