Contract Records

Contracts identify the services and associated charge amounts you provide on a customer-by-customer basis (in Billing, the Customer refers to the party that owns the inventory stored and processed in your facility). The system uses information from the contract record to determine when, how, and for how much to accrue charges for a specific customer.

You must create a contract for each customer to whom you provide services.

The contract record is used by the system when:

• Inventory is received into the facility

  When inventory is received, the system finds the contract for the inventory owner. The system looks at the event groups listed on the contract for any recurring rules. Based on the recurring rule information, the system determines the next bill date for recurring charges and maintains that date information on an inventory date record.

• A system transaction occurs

  When a billing-related transaction type occurs on the system, the system reviews the event groups on the contract record to determine if there are any matching events listed. If it finds matching events, the system then checks the rate group to find the rate for the associated charge codes. The system then uses the information from both the event group and the rate group to calculate charges for the transaction.

• A billing period elapses

  A regular system process searches through the inventory records to determine when recurring charge types are ready to accrue. When the system finds inventory that has reached the next bill date, it review the contract record to find the rate and charge details and then calculates the recurring charges.

The contract header has an effective date so that contract details can be configured for a future date. The system will seamlessly switch over to a new contract on the effective date.

The details of the contract will look for the matching criteria in the Bill Group, Billing Event Group, and Facility. When a match is found on the order or periodic charge, the Rate Group will determine how much is charged. The Bill To customer will be the entity receiving the charge.