17 Set Up System Constants

This chapter contains the topic:

• Section 17.1, "Setting Up System Constants."

17.1 Setting Up System Constants

Navigation

From Work Order/Service Billing Processing (G48), enter 29

From Work Order/Service Billing Setup (G4841), choose System Constants (P48091)

You set up the billing constants to represent your company's decisions on how source transactions and related revenue and billing are processed. The constants control how the system processes:

• Billable costs

• Customer information

• Dates

• Invoices

• Revenue

• Journals

• Default markup percentage

• Multi-currency transactions

• Draft and final invoice numbering

After you set up the constants, you should not change them. The system stores the constants in the Billing System Constants table (F48091).

17.1.1 Considerations for Independent Revenue and Invoice Amounts

When the invoice and revenue amounts are marked up independently, the Journal Generation Control for revenue recognition with or without reconciliation (values 4 and 3, respectively) affects the variance balance that the system maintains in the Unbilled Accounts Receivable and Unearned Revenue accounts.

The Independent Revenue/Invoice constant specifies whether the markup amounts calculated for the workfile transactions must use the same rules for the invoice and revenue amounts. If the constant is set to allow different markup rules for the invoice and revenue amounts, processing invoices and revenue recognition without reconciliation (Journal Generation Control value 3) creates a permanent variance between Unbilled Accounts Receivable and Actual Accounts Receivable (A/R Trade) accounts. Invoice and revenue amounts can be different.

If the Independent Revenue/Invoice constant is set to allow different markup rules for the invoice and revenue amounts, processing invoices and revenue recognition with reconciliation (Journal Generation Control value 4) forces the Unbilled Accounts Receivable and Unearned Revenue accounts to reconcile, but allows the invoice and revenue amounts to be different.

The following results occur based upon the relationships between the system constants and the revenue recognition process.

System Constants	System Constants	Revenue Recognition Results	Revenue Recognition Results	Revenue Recognition Results
Journal Generation Control	Independent Revenue/Invoice	Revenue Amount	Invoice Amount	Unbilled Accounts Receivable
3	0	Same	Same	No Variance
3	1	Different	Different	Variance
4	0	Same	Same	No Variance
4	1	Different	Different	No Variance

Note:

If the Journal Generation Control is 3, process revenue recognition without reconciliation. If the Journal Generation Control constant is 4, process revenue recognition with reconciliation.

If the Independent Revenue/Invoice constant is 0, the revenue and invoice amounts must always be equal. If the constant is 1, the revenue and invoice amounts can differ.

17.1.2 Before You Begin

• Verify that the default document type for invoices is set up on User Defined Codes (UDC) tables 00/DT (Document Type - All Documents) and 00/DI (Document Type - Invoices Only)

To set up system constants

On System Constants

Figure 17-1 System Constants screen

Description of "Figure 17-1 System Constants screen"

1. To specify how you want the system to process billable costs, complete the following fields:

   • Bill Burden

   • Bill Unposted F0911s

2. To specify how the system processes revenue, complete the following field:

   • Independent Revenue/Invoice

3. To specify the dates you want the system to use when processing workfile transactions, complete the following fields:

   • Effective Date Basis

   • Labor Effective Basis

4. To specify the date the system uses when processing accounts receivable transactions, complete the following field:

   • Service Date Basis

5. To specify the address number that the system uses to identify customer information, complete the following field:

   • Customer Number Basis

6. To build an additional audit table for invoice information, complete the following field:

   • Invoice Summary Access Control

7. To specify how the system processes invoices, complete the following fields:

   • Invoice Date Override Control

   • Draft/Final Invoice Generation Control

   • Default Invoice Document Type

8. To specify how the system processes journal entries, complete the following fields:

   • Journal Generation Control

   • Journal Reclassification Control

   • PDBA Code Override

9. To specify how the system processes multi-currency transactions, complete the following fields:

   • Exchange Rate Date Basis

   • Currency Basis Flag

10. To specify the default value that the system uses when workfile transactions do not meet the criteria for any other markup rules, complete the following field:

    • Default Markup Percentage

Field	Explanation
Bill Burden (BBDR)	Burden is any cost that a company incurs as a direct consequence of employing labor (for example, company paid taxes, insurance, and fringe benefits). Burden can also include allowances for small tools, consumables, or other overhead costs that are allocated or assessed as a function of direct labor costs. The Bill Burden constant controls whether the system includes burden during workfile generation for the Service Billing and Contract Billing systems. If you do include burden, be aware of the following: The system processes all burden associated with billable payroll transactions if the burden is recorded in the Burden Distribution File (F0624). The burden account must be a billable account. Valid codes are: 0 – The system does not include burden. 1 – The system includes burden.
Independent Revenue/Invoice (INDI)	A constant that determines whether you can mark up the invoice and revenue amounts in the billing detail transactions independent of each other. Valid values are: 0 – The system ensures that the invoice amounts and the revenue amounts in the billing detail transactions are always equal. 1 – You can manipulate and process invoice amounts without affecting the associated revenue amounts, and vice versa.
Bill Unposted F0911s (BUNP)	A constant that controls whether the system includes unposted billable transactions from the G/L Account Ledger file (F0911) during workfile generation for the Service Billing and Contract Billing systems. Valid values are: 0 – Only posted billable transactions in the Account Ledger will be processed. 1 – Both unposted and posted entries in the Account Ledger will be processed. Note: Since unposted billable transactions are subject to change or deletion, you do not include them during workfile generation. However, if there is very little time between the entry of costs and the recognition of resulting revenue, you might find it helpful to generate revenue for unposted transactions.
Revenue on Contract non-T&Ms (CNTM)	Contract Billing only. Use this flag to control whether the system generates billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for non-T&M contract billing lines prior to the billing process. In addition, the value you enter in this field determines whether or not the system recognizes the Not to Exceed (NTE) rules that you set up for revenue. The following values are valid: 0 – Do not generate billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for non-T&M contract billing lines. Not to Exceed (NTE) rules for revenue are not applicable to the revenue associated with non-T&M contract billing lines or T&M contract billing lines. 1 – Generate billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for non-T&M contract billing lines. Recognize NTE rules for revenue, except for the contract billing lines for fees. NTE rules are not applicable to the revenue associated with T&M contract billing lines. 2 – Generate billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for T&M contract billing lines only. Recognize NTE rules for revenue associated with T&M contract billing lines. NTE rules are not applicable to the revenue associated with non-T&M contract billing lines. 3 – Generate billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for non-T&M contract billing lines. Recognize NTE rules for the revenue associated with non-T&M contract billing lines (except for fees) and T&M contract billing lines. Note: When you choose to generate billing detail transactions to recognize revenue for non-T&M billing lines, the system: Generates revenue amounts for lump sum and unit price billing lines at the time of workfile generation. Generates revenue amounts for fee billing lines during revenue generation.
Effective Date Basis (EBAS)	A constant that determines whether the system uses the G/L date or the service/tax date from a billable source (cost) transaction as the basis for comparison with the effective dates for the tables. Valid codes are: 1 – G/L date 2 – Service/tax date Note: The Service Billing and Contract Billing systems use tables, such as the Cost Plus Markup Table and the Account Derivation Table, during the billing process. A range of dates can control when the table information is valid. The date specified here is used to populate the Table Basis Date (TBDT) field. The Table Basis Date is the basis for comparison with the effective dates for the tables.
Invoice Summary Access Control (ISAC)	A constant that determines whether the system builds and maintains the Invoice Summary Access (F48520) file. This table contains cumulative billing amounts that are summarized by G/L Date, Employee/Supplier, Cost Account Number, and Contract Owner Pay Item. If you choose to maintain this file, it requires extra disk space. You can use the summarized billing information for various reporting purposes, such as displaying billed-to-date amounts on your Service/Contract Billing invoices. Valid values are: blank – Do not build and maintain the file. 1 – Build and maintain the file. The system stores billed-to-date amounts in the Invoice Summary (F4822) file by Owner Pay Item. The Invoice Summary Access (F48520) file stores the billed-to-date amounts in more detail than the Invoice Summary (F4822) file.
Labor Effective Basis (LBAS)	A constant that determines which date, from a billable source transaction originating in the Payroll system, is used as the basis for comparison with the effective dates for the tables. Valid codes are: 1 – G/L date 2 – Service/tax date 3 – Work date 4 – Ending date of the pay period If your billing process does not involve payroll, the system ignores this constant. Note: The Service Billing and Contract Billing systems use tables, such as the Cost Plus Markup Table and the Account Derivation Table, during the billing process. A range of dates can control when the table information is valid.
Invoice Date Override Control (INDO)	A constant that determines whether you can override the invoice date and the G/L date when you use the Invoice Journal Generation and Create A/R & G/L programs. Valid values are: 0 – You cannot access the Date Override window. 1 – The Date Override window is optional. 2 – The system automatically displays the Date Override window.
Customer Number Basis (CNBS)	For Service Billing only, a constant that determines which customer number the system retrieves for a billing detail transaction. Valid codes are: 0 – Owner address number from the Job Master (F0006). 1 – Customer number from the Work Order Master (F4801). If the customer number is blank, the system retrieves the owner address number from the Job Master.
Draft/Final Invoice Gen. Control (ICTL)	An option that determines whether to use draft and final document types and invoice numbers. In some countries, you are required to assign invoice numbers sequentially and without gaps in the numbering. If you choose to assign sequential invoice numbers, you must use two different document types. The system assigns the first document type to preliminary invoices and assigns the subsequent document type when you create final A/R and G/L entries. Valid values are: 0 – Use the same invoice numbers and document types 1 – Assign new invoice numbers and document types The setup for this involves the following: Set up the document types as the following User Defined Codes: Document Type - All Documents (00/DT) and Document Type - Invoices Only (00/DI). Reference the document type for the final invoices to the respective document type for the preliminary invoices. To do this, enter the final document type in the first two positions of the Description 2 field for the respective document type in the user defined code table (00/DI). Set up Next Numbers by Company/Fiscal Year in the General Accounting system so you can assign different document types within the same invoice batch. This applies to all invoices, whether they are preliminary or final. If the Next Number Constant field contains 1, the system automatically enters the document types for the invoices to the Next Numbers table. If the field contains 2, you must manually enter the document types to the table.
Service Date Basis (DSVB)	A constant that determines whether the system uses the G/L date or the invoice date from an A/R transaction as the service/tax date. Valid codes are: 0 – G/L date 1 – Invoice date
Default Invoice Document Type (DCTI)	A user-defined (UDC 00/DI) document type for invoice entry. Any document type set up for invoice-only entry should begin with the letter R (receivables). The default is RI, RR, or RM. Reserved document types have been defined for vouchers, invoices, receipts, and time sheets. The reserved document types are: P_ – Accounts Payable Documents R_ – Accounts Receivable Documents T_ – Payroll Documents I_ – Inventory Documents O_ – Order Processing Documents Note: For invoice entry, if you are using document type DI, you must also set up document type DT in User Defined Codes. Form-specific information A constant that controls the default document type for invoices. The system automatically uses this code when you do not specify the document type on invoice-related forms and programs. If you set the Invoice Numbering Control field in the system constants to renumber invoices, the system uses the default document type for the preliminary invoices.
Date - Exchange Rate Date Basis (ERDB)	A constant that controls the date that the system uses to retrieve the exchange rate. Valid codes are: 1 – Use the last day of the prior calendar month. The system determines this date based on the company date patterns. 2 – Use the date of the billable cost (source) transaction. The system determines this date based on the value of the Effective Date Basis and Labor Effective Date Basis billing constants. 3 – Use the system date. (You should only use this value if you operate in an hyper-inflationary economy.) Note: The Contract Billing and Service Billing modules can recognize TWO exchange rates; the first during the workfile generation process when creating the billing detail transaction and the second during the invoice generation process. This constant controls the workfile generation process. You can override this constant during invoice generation.
Journal Generation Control (PRRR)	A constant that controls the process for journal generation in the Service Billing and Contract Billing systems. Valid codes are: 1 – Invoicing only 2 – Revenue recognition only 3 – Revenue recognition and invoicing, without requiring revenue reconciliation 4 – Revenue recognition and invoicing, requiring revenue reconciliation (Use this value if you are using Independent Revenue/Invoice amounts.) The following functions are also affected: The initial value of the eligibility code (ELGC) for the billing detail transactions The edit for the table type (TBTY) when you enter information on the Account Derivation Table form
Currency Basis Flag (CRRM)	A code that specifies whether amounts are in the domestic currency of the contract or the foreign currency of the supplier. Valid codes are: D – Domestic F – Foreign For conversions, D indicates domestic to foreign, and F indicates foreign to domestic.
Journal Reclassification Control (JRNL)	A constant that controls whether the system performs journal reclassification as a function within the journal generation process. Valid values are: 0 Do not perform journal reclassification. 1 Perform journal reclassification. Note: Journal Reclassification occurs within Service/Contract Billing to allow you to reclassify the original cost entry to a different account and automatically create the correcting entries in the Account Ledger (F0911). If you are correcting a billing entry that originated from payroll, then the system creates an adjusting entry in the Payroll Transaction History file (F0618). Payroll transactions with associated burden transactions cannot be reclassified within the Billing system.
PDBA Code Override (PDBO)	A code that overrides the pay type of the original payroll transaction. During journal reclassification, the system uses this code when creating an adjusting payroll history record. Note: Pay types are numbered from 1 to 999.
Default Markup Percentage (PERT)	The percentage you use to mark up the revenue amount reflected in the billing of professional services, such as draftsmen, engineers, or consultants fees. This percentage rate will not affect the employee's paycheck. Use this field to enter a markup percentage that the system will use as a default value when a source (cost) transaction has no associated Cost Plus Markup Table entry. If the system finds a markup table entry for the source transaction, the table entry overrides this constant. Note: If you leave this constant blank, and the system does not find a markup table entry for a source transaction, the system will process that transaction at cost (without any markup).

17.1.3 What You Should Know About

Topic	Description
Billing burden	If you want to bill for burden, you must set up the appropriate Automatic Accounting Instructions (AAIs) in the Payroll system as well as the system constants for the Billing system. See Setting Up Burden and Premium Labor Distribution Instructions in the JD Edwards World U.S. Payroll II Guide.
Customer numbers	All workfile transactions must include a customer number to bill the transactions. You must identify a customer number on individual jobs or work orders. The address book number on the Single Business Unit form is not the customer number. Assign a customer to a job using Job Master Revisions (P510063, 4/G5111). If you set the Customer Number Basis field to 0 and do not specify a customer number for the job, the system creates an invoice without a customer number.