This chapter contains the topic:
Billing lines define the billing information for a contract. Each billing line that you set up on a contract defines specific billing terms. The system uses the billing lines to calculate the billing amounts on customer invoices.
A billing line includes a combination of the following information:
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Schedule of values | The total amount for non-T&M billing lines. |
| Pay type | A code that determines the overall billing terms for the billing line. |
You can set up independent and dependent billing lines on a contract. The pay type determines whether the billing line is independent or dependent.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Independent billing lines | When you use independent billing lines, each billing line includes all of the information that the system needs to calculate a billing amount. |
| Dependent billing lines | When you use dependent billing lines, you must associate the billing line with one or more independent billing lines. The system calculates the billing amount based on the relationship between the dependent billing line and its associated billing lines. |
You set up independent billing lines for most of your contracts. For example, you might want to bill your customer for time and materials based on the actual costs that are incurred to complete the job. You set up the time and materials billing line as an independent billing line and specify the accounts that include the costs that you want to bill. When you create an invoice for the contract, the system calculates the billing amount, based on the billing line, and creates one line for the specified amount on the invoice.
Typically, you set up dependent billing lines for a contract when you want to include the additional details that make up a billing amount on an invoice.
For example, if the amount that you want to bill for time and materials includes costs for union dues, you might set up a dependent billing line. The dependent billing line represents the portion of the billing amount for time and materials that is union dues. You associate the dependent billing line for union dues with the independent billing line for time and materials. Then, when you create the invoice, the system calculates the billing amounts based on the relationship between the dependent billing line and the independent billing line. The system creates the billing amount for the independent time and materials billing line and the dependent billing line for union dues as two separate lines on the invoice.