Media Billing - Client Billing Setup

Client Invoices can be customized with any number of monthly or date range billing options. Media Billing reports all Spot and Network buys, regardless of status and all Print/Out of Home and Digital buys that do not have a status of Draft.

The initial step of using this program is to set up Client Billing parameters.

• Agency/Office – If all Clients under an Agency/Office will be billed in the same way, Client Billing Setup can be set by Module once and will be used for all Clients, Media, and Estimates under that Office.
• By Client – Setup can be entered by Client for each Unique Criteria.
• By Module – Each media module will have unique options for billing.
• By Media Type – A specific Media under each module may also have a unique setup.
• By Estimate – Estimate level can be entered if a specific buy will be invoiced in its own unique way.

The following are typical Client Billing set up options for your Client Invoices:

• Bill based on Station Gross, with the industry standard 15% agency commission
• Bill based on Station Net plus your agency commission based on Station Gross or Station Net, or some other negotiated base cost
• Client pays the Stations/Vendors Directly (Direct Pay) and you bill them a Fee based on Station Gross or Station Net, or some other negotiated base cost
• Bill based on a Custom Client Cost set up within the buy that is neither the Station Gross nor the Station Net

Other considerations for your Client Billing set up include:

• Will I Pre-bill the client before the schedule runs (called an Estimate Bill in Media Billing)?
• Will I want to send multiple versions of my Estimate Bill as changes/makegoods occur within the buy?
• Will I only bill the client after the schedule has run (called a Reconciliation Bill in Media Billing)?
• Will my base Estimate Bill reflect either the Frozen Schedule, Original Schedule (the Schedule which includes any updates/changes made OUTSIDE the Makegood Module (e.g. the Original Buy plus any changes that were entered either in the SBMS Scheduling Screen or changes re-submitted from VIEW to SBMS) or the Current Schedule (includes any type of change made to the schedule)?

Client Invoices can be customized with your Client Billing set up and label preferences. Reconciliation Bills can only be generated when an Invoice has been "cleared” for payment in SBMS.

Client Billing Setup

Select the File Cabinet Options button from the Main Menu and double-click the Client Billing Setup option to open the Client Billing Setup screen. You will be able to see any current billing setup by module, media, client, and estimate in the grid below the dropdown filters. Billing Options for the client or estimate must be setup before any invoices can be generated in Media Billing.

To Setup Client Billing Options:

1. Click "new” and select an Office name from the pull down list boxes. Default Office level billing options must be setup first for each media module (see the select buttons at the top of the screen). Billing options can also be setup at the Office & Media, Client, Client & Media, or Client & Estimate levels by selecting the appropriate filters.
2. Choose Bill Options, Pricing Options, and Other Options (as needed) specified in the sections below.
3. Choose the Save button to save the selected options and close the screen or select Cancel to exit the screen without saving any selections.

Note: If there are no saved options for the Client, the screen will show the default options that appear when Client Billing Setup is initially opened.

Bill Options (for all modules)

Adjust Fee
This option is checked by default and when it is checked and the Fee is based on a percentage of the buy and the Fee amount due increases or decreases based on changes to the amount of the buy. When the Adjust Fee option is unchecked, the Fee amount will never decrease. If the amount of the buy decreases after an invoice is sent to the client, subsequent bills will show a fee amount due of $0.00, instead of a credit.

Apply % Fee to Media Total
Apply % Fee to Media Total is unchecked by default and is only available when Adjust Fee is selected. Select Apply % Fee to Media Total to calculate the Fee on the total media on the invoice. When Apply % Fee to Media Total is not selected, the Fee is calculated at the station or insertion level and the fee for each station is added together to find the total invoice Fee amount. (*) Available for Billing by Month Only.

Bill by Market
When selected, separate invoices are generated for each Market; otherwise, only one Client Invoice will be created for the estimate, and all the Markets will be included on the invoice.  Note: Geotarget field will be used to determine Market for Digital Invoices.

Direct Pay
Direct Pay when Station invoices will be sent directly to the client, allowing the agency to bill the client only the fee for their services. This option will show only Fee amounts in the Total Amount Due on the Client Invoice; otherwise the Total Amount Due will include the media costs and fee.

Include Tax
Include Tax will add tax amounts as specified in the Tax by Market option in the Media Billing File Cabinet area or Tax by Vendor as specified in the SBMS File Cabinet at the Vendor level. When the option is unchecked, tax is not included on the client invoice even if a tax percent is setup for the market or vendor.

Recon Bill Only
Recon Bill Only to generate a Client Invoice only when Vendor Invoices have been entered and cleared (reconciled) in SBMS; otherwise a Client Invoice can be created for pre-billing purposes.

Separate Media/Fee Invoices
Separate Media/Fee Invoices creates two separate Invoices, one for Media and one for Fee. The Media Invoice and Fee Invoice will use the same base Invoice Number but be appended with "-Media” or "-Fee” at the end. For the Fee Invoice, the Amount Due represents Fee related costs only. For the Media Invoice, the Amount Due represents Media related costs only.

Apply % Withholding To *
When this option is selected, the withholding % setup for the client on the SBMS Clients screen will be applied to the client invoice. The user has the option to apply the % Withholding to the Media and Fee costs on the invoice, Media only costs, or Fee only costs. If Direct Pay is selected, only the Fee option is available for % Withholding. When the % Withholding is setup, the program will automatically subtract the % Withholding from the Estimate bill’s Amount Due. The Recon bill automatically adds that amount back to the Amount Due on the client invoice.

(*) Available for Billing by Month Only.

Recon Bill When:

All Markets/Stations are Cleared
A recon bill can be created only when all Vendor Invoices are cleared.

Partial Markets/Stations are Cleared
A recon bill can be created when at least one Vendor Invoice has been cleared.

Terms
Terms are setup under the File Cabinet. The selected terms will be used to determine the due date for the Client Invoice; otherwise, the due date can be manually set on the Client Billing screen at the time of billing.

Bill Options - Media Module Specific

The following Bill Options will only appear on the Client Setup screens for the media type identified as different media types may have some specific billing considerations.

Spot

Exclude Trade from Tax Calc
The Exclude Trade from Tax Calculation option is only available for Spot.  When including tax on an invoice, this option will allow for trade lines to not be included in the calculated total tax amount.

Network

 

Include Integration
The Include Integration option is only available for Network. When selected, the integration costs associated with Network TV estimates will be included on the client invoice. Either the Gross or Net Integration costs can be added to the client invoices. When the option is unchecked, the integration costs are not included on the client bill.

Invoice Based on Broadcast Month*
This option is only used with Network module and when it is checked, the client invoice will always be based on broadcast month even if the vendor invoices come in as calendar month. This option cannot be changed after the first invoice is recorded for an estimate. (*) Available for Billing by Month Only

Print/Outdoor

Bill by Vendor
When selected, separate invoices are generated for each vendor on a print or outdoor estimate.

Bill by Insertions in the First Month (Outdoor)*
Outdoor insertion lines can cross multiple months, so when this option is selected the total for all months of the insertion line is always billed in the calendar month of the start date for the insertion line. When the option is not checked, insertion lines that cross multiple months will have their monthly total cost calculated using either 4 week or month cycles for outdoor so that the corresponding amount can be billed to the client in separate monthly invoices. If the Bill Insertions in the First month option is changed, the change does not apply to any estimates that have at least one invoice record for at least one month. The change only applies to Estimates that are completely unbilled.

Digital

Bill by Vendor
When this option is selected, separate invoices are generated for each vendor on an digital estimate.

Exclude Media Module Fees (For Direct Pay)
This option is only available when Direct Pay is selected allowing the agency to bill the client the Media Billing fee for their services and any associated Ad Server or Fee Vendor Fees applied to the Media Plan. This option will show all Fee amounts in the Total Amount Due on the Client Invoice.  This option cannot be selected if Separate Invoice for Media Module Fees and/or Separate Media/Fee Invoices is selected.

Separate Invoice for Media Module Fees
When the option is selected, the program will display and/or record one Invoice for regular Media Vendors only and one Invoice for Fee Vendors only.  This option cannot be selected if Bill by Vendor or Separate Media/Fee Invoice option is checked.

Bill by Insertions in the First Month
Ditial insertion lines can cross multiple months, so when this option is selected the total for all months of the insertion line is always billed in the calendar month of the start date for the insertion line. When the option is not checked, insertion lines that cross multiple months will have their monthly total cost calculated using Effective Daily Rates for digital so that the corresponding amount can be billed to the client in separate monthly invoices. If the Bill Insertions in the First month option is changed, the change does not apply to any estimates that have at least one invoice record for at least one month. The change only applies to Estimates that are completely un-billed.

Partial Markets/Stations are Cleared
A recon bill can be created when at least one Vendor Invoice has been cleared.

Include Unbilled Current Schedule for Uncleared Vendors
This option can only be checked when Partial Vendors are Cleared is also checked.  The option would allow for a Recon Invoice to be recorded for cleared vendor invoices while including any updated current schedule costs for vendors that do not have cleared invoices for the specified month or date range.

Pricing Options:

Bill Gross Cost
Bill Gross Cost identifies one of the following costs to be used as the Gross Amount on the Client Invoice: Vendor Gross, Vendor Net, Client Gross, or Client Net. These costs are the 4 basic costs available from the SBMS schedules.

Bill Net Cost
Bill Net Cost identifies one of the following costs to be used as the Net Amount on the Client Invoice: Vendor Gross, Vendor Net, Client Gross, or Client Net. These costs are the 4 basic costs available from the SBMS schedules. Optionally, % of Bill Gross Cost can be used to calculate a Bill Net Cost based on a percentage of the Bill Gross Cost. When this option is selected, a Commission % must be entered.

Fee
The Fee on the Client Invoice is calculated using one of the following the Fee options.

Spot: Separate Fee for Cable Scheduled on TV Estimates - For clients that are charged a different fee % bymedia type, the user can setup the % that should be used for cable when cable is included on TV estimates.
Network: Include Integration in Fee Calculation - When selected, the integration cost will be included with the other media costs when calculating the Fee on the invoice.

• % of Bill Net Cost: The fee will be calculated based on a percentage of the Bill Net Cost. When this option is selected, a Fee % must be entered.
• % of Gross Cost: The fee will be calculated based on a percentage of the Vendor Gross from SBMS. When this option is selected, a Fee % must be entered.
• % of Net Cost: The fee will be calculated based on a percentage of the Vendor Net from SBMS. When this option is selected, a Fee % must be entered.
• % of Client Gross: The fee will be calculated based on a percentage of the Client Gross from SBMS. When this option is selected, a Fee % must be entered.
• % of Client Net: The fee will be calculated based on a percentage of the Client Net from SBMS. When this option is selected, a Fee % must be entered.
• Flat Fee: The fee will be the dollar amount entered in the Fee Amount field. The default is no Fee. When there is no Fee, the Flat Fee option is selected with $0.00 in the Fee Amount.

Separate Fee for Cable Scheduled on TV Estimates
When selected, this option will display Cable and TV fees separately when Cable is included on a TV Estimate.  This option is available for Spot Only.  When the Separate Fee option is not selected and only Cable vendors were scheduled on the TV estimate, the Fee% would be recorded as 0.00.

Include Integration in Fee Calculation
When the option to include integration is selected, integration costs are included in the calculation of the fee.  This option is available for Network Only.

Special Amount
Special Amount Billing can only be used at the Estimate Level for Client Billing Setup.  It is available for Spot and Network Only and allows a user to create an invoice for a designated amount by Month before a schedule has been entered for that Estimate/Month(s).  It cannot be used when Apply % Withholding option is selected.

Other Options:

AR Link Setup:
The two options affect the way that AR Link information is created when a Media Invoice is generated.
The "Use Agency/Office/Client as Client” and "Use Office/Client as Advertiser" option specifies which Invoice Address information from SBMS will be associated with the Media Invoice, and both options specify which information will be displayed as the Client and Advertiser information that can be retrieved using an AR link. The information based on these settings does not appear on the regular Media Invoices generated from Media Billing. The defaults for the two options on this screen are "Use Client as Client" and "Use Client as Advertiser".

Original Bill Based on:
This option is used when the Original Order Gross column option on the Invoice Format Setup screen is selected to display on the invoice. If the Original Bill Based on Original Schedule is selected, the Original Order Gross column uses the gross from the Original Schedule. If the Original Bill Based on Frozen Schedule is selected, the Original Order Gross column uses the gross from the Frozen Schedule. Since Print/Outdoor and Digital do not have Original schedules, the Original Bill Based on options are Current Schedule and Frozen Schedule instead of Original Schedule and Frozen Schedule.