.Billing Group v2020.3

Billing Group

Billing Groups within PCR-360 are used if you want to separate your customer population into separate categories. Examples of Billing Groups may be Admin and Resale. Both categories will have services from the organization but they may be handled differently in terms of how any charges they have incurred are processed at month end. The items on the Billing Group grid populate the drop-down list of selections available when a User encounters a 'Billing Group' data field elsewhere in the application.

Billing Groups (specific groupings of related customers for billing purposes) are associated to a specific GLA Format. GLA Format defines how the General Ledger Account is setup, and how it is billed. By changing the GLA Format for a specific Billing Group, you are effectively adjusting how that group will be billed.

To get the GLA format to change, select a user with the correct Billing Group associated with the desired GLA format. Selecting that Owner allows you to choose the new GLA format from the picker.

• A bug identified within 2.1.4.4 prevents this from occurring. At present, it is not yet resolved.

Billing Groups are also associated to various Charges based on the owners of the Services and Equipment. Most of the time these Charges represent the expenses for the group that will appear on their bill (based on how the Expense GLA is setup). However, Billing Groups can also be associated to a Revenue GLA. Revenue GLAs determine how the Billing Group is generating income based on what it supports, that is billable.

For more details on GLAs, please see the Catalog:G/L Accounts page. For more details on Charges, please see the Catalog:Charges page.

Depending on your Organization's internal terminology, there may be confusion on the difference between a GLA and a Department. Please see our terminology article for the difference within PCR-360.

How Billing Groups are Used

Accordingly, Admin Users can manage available selections on these drop-down lists by adding or removing items from the Billing Group grid.

Billing Groups are assigned to Owners (Contacts or Departments) and are extended to the Services and Equipment owned by these Contacts and Departments. When Billed, Charges associated with these Services and Equipment will pass on the assigned Billing Group. This allows the bill data to be categorized by the Billing Group.

Additional uses of Billing Group include:

1. Association to GLA formats allowing distinct or shared formats per group
2. Association to Charge Catalog to allow for Billing Group Pricing
3. Assignment to Tax Rates allowing distinct or shared rates per group
4. Assignment to Call Rates allowing distinct or shared rates per group
5. Association with default Revenue GLA
6. Grouping Bill Records for Export Feeds

Adding a New Billing Group

Navigate to Admin > Billing > Billing Group.

To add a new Billing Group to the grid, click the button located immediately above the grid.

In the Billing Group data entry form (see image above), the User is prompted to define a 'Name' for the group.

Revenue GLA

The Billing Group can have the Revenue GLA set on it, depending on the configuration option USE_CATALOG_REVENUE_GLA. If the configuration option is False, then the field on this form will be read-only. The Billing Group form maintains the default Revenue GLA for the billing systems. This default Revenue GLA is assigned during billing to all Bill records associated to the specific Billing Group. This Revenue GLA will be selected based on a number of criteria. These criteria are listed in the FAQ page "How the Revenue GLA is selected for a Charge".

Saving the New Billing Group

Once the single Required field has been satisfied, click the button located at the bottom of the Billing Group data entry form. The new Billing Group will appear as an item on the original Billing Group grid.

Users can then select the new Billing Group from drop-down lists elsewhere in the application.

Editing Existing Billing Groups

Admin Users can edit Billing Groups by double-clicking on any item on the Billing Group grid or by selecting an item and clicking the button located immediately above the grid.

This action opens the item's Billing Group data entry form, at which point the User can define the item's inputs by following the protocol established earlier in this section. Once all Required fields have been satisfied, click the button at the bottom of the form.

Admin Users can delete existing Billing Groups by selecting the appropriate item on the Billing Group grid and clicking the button located immediately above the grid. The deleted Billing Group will no longer appear as an option on the drop-down lists that accompany the Billing Group data fields throughout the application.

Bill History

A history of all the Bills that have been generated on a Billing Group will be associated and accessible by double-clicking or clicking the  button on a Billing Group. This will open the 'Manage Billing Group' form.

The Bills that have been generated on the Billing Group will be grouped by month on the grid of this form. From here, a User can select and click the button to view a Bill.

Related GLA Format Updates

Change GLA format from a Service or Equipment:

• Changes to the Charges take effect on the day you make the change.

Change GLA format using an Owner Action on a Service Order:

• Changes take place if you select NOT PRORATE at the beginning of the next billing range.
• Changes take place if you select PRORATE on the date you choose to finalize the Service Order.