Media Billing - Client Billing

Client Billing is the screen and process used for generating client invoices for all modules.

Select the Invoicing Options button from the Main Menu and double-click the Client Billing option to open the Client Billing screen.

This screen is used to generate Client Invoices. Information in this screen can be filtered down by module using the Agency, Office, Client, Media, Product, Estimate Group, Estimate, and Billing Status Filters. Optionally, you can also filter by Month or by Date Range when viewing information in the grid.

Generating a Client Invoice:

1. Select a Media Module.  Only one Media Module can be selected at a time to generate client invoices for estimates of the associated media types.
2. Select an Agency, Office if not filled in by default.
3. Optionally, select Client, Media, Product, Estimate Group, Estimate, or Billing Status to narrow the search. These are all multi-select filters that are not required. Note - while these filters are not required, you should consider using one or more if your database is rather large to improve the efficiency and speed of displaying the data.
4. Optionally, the information can be filter further by selecting the Billing by: for By Month (multiple months are permitted) or a Date Range. Billing Months or Date Range is not required but allows for filtering the estimates/month on the screen. Note– Bill by Product is available for Network buys.
   1. Date Range Billing is currently available for all modules.  A Date Range must be entered unless there is a single estimate selected.  If there is a single estimate , the flights dates auto-populate.
      1. When billing for Spot, if Date Range is selected and the date range starts in the middle of the week, the date range will default to the beginning of the week.  The start date of the week is determined by the start date of the flight for weekly estimates.  Weekly Spot Estimates are billed by week when using Date Range Billing.
      2. Network Estimates can be billed by day when Date Range Billing is used.
      3. Estimates that are unbilled can be billed by month or date range.  However, once an estimate is billed, it must continue to be billed using the same billing method.
5. Choose the Search button.
6. When the Display Items that are Ready for Billing option is checked, a Ready for Billing tab displays and the program uses the billing rules setup in the Clients screen to populate the data grid on the tab.

   

7. When the Display Items that are Not Ready for Billing is checked, a Not Ready for Billing tab displays and the program uses the billing rules setup in the Clients screen to populate the data grid on the tab. Items would be considered not ready for billing, for example, if the billing rules are setup to estimate bill and recon bill and the invoice was already estimate billed but cannot be recon billed because there are no cleared invoices.

   

8. Hide Items with No Schedule- This option is unchecked by default and grayed out when the Display Items that are Not Ready for Billing option is unchecked. When the option is checked any records that have the reason "No Schedule” will not display on the Not Ready for Billing tab.

   

9. When both options, Display Items that are Ready for Billing and Display Items that are Not Ready for Billing, are unchecked, a Client Billing tab displays and all estimates and months that meet the search criteria will display whether or not there is any billing difference between the previous bills and the billing amount calculated using the billing rules.

   

10. The Client Billing tab and Ready for Billing tab are the only tabs that can be used to generate invoices. Both tabs have the same columns:
    • Client - Client Name
    • Media - Media Name
    • Product - Product associated with the Estimate or for Network the specific product being billed. If multiple products, the field displays Various.
    • Estimate # - Estimate Number
    • Estimate Description – Estimate Description entered in the Estimates screen
    • Market – Assigned market  Note: Only displays when Bill by Market selected in Client Billing Setup and Billing a single Month or Date Range
    • Billing Month (or) Date Range - Billing month based on broadcast month or calendar month depending on the module selected, or the Date Range specified. Outdoor billing months are also determined based on the cycle type on the Outdoor Scheduling screen, 4 week or month.
    • Current Status - Displays the current billing status for the estimate/month. The status can be U for Un-Billed, E for Estimate (Pre-Bill), or R for Recon (Final Bill)
    • Next Bill Based on - Using the billing rules from the Client screen the program displays what the next bill will be based on. The options are: Current Schedule, Frozen Schedule, Original Schedule, Invoices, or Cleared Invoices. This column changes to a dropdown so that users can change what the bill is based on if they do not want to generate a bill based on the billing rules setup by default.
    • Bill Gross - Based on the Billing Rules and Client Billing Options setup for the Estimate/Month, the program will calculate the current Bill Gross for the Estimate Month.
    • Bill Net - Based on the Billing Rules and Client Billing Options setup for the Estimate/Month, the program will calculate the current Bill Net for the Estimate Month
    • Units - Based on the Billing Rules setup for the Estimate/Month, the program will calculate the current units for the Estimate Month.
    • Fee - Current Fee on the invoice
    • Previous Bill Gross - The program will populate this column with the Bill Gross from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    • Previous Bill Net - The program will populate this column with the Bill Net from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    • Previous Units - The program will populate this column with the Units from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    • Previous Fee - Previously billed Fee on the invoice
    • Bill Gross Difference - Difference between the Bill Gross and the Previous Bill Gross.
    • Bill Net Difference - Difference between the Bill Net and the Previous Bill Net.
    • Units Difference - Difference between the Units and the Previous Units.
    • Fee Difference - Difference between Fee and Previous Fee
    • Due Date - Defaults to 30 days after the invoice date unless there are Terms setup in Client Billing Setup. If there are terms setup, they are applied and displayed as the Due Date. The Due Date can be manually overwritten by typing in the field or selecting the calendar button for the cell that should be updated. If estimates/months are grouped on one invoice and the due dates default to different dates for each, the Due Date used is the earliest date.
    • Due Date Comments - Specific text related to payment or payment date can be entered and will display under the Due Date. If estimates/months are grouped on one invoice users are prompted to enter one due date comment for the entire invoice.
    • Invoice Comments - General Comments field for each invoice. If the estimates/months are grouped, the users get a prompt to enter one comment that applies to the entire invoice.
    • Special Amount* – Special Amount entered in Client Billing Setup
    • Previous Special Amount* – The program will populate this column with the Special Amount from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    • Special Amount Difference* – Difference between the Special Amount and the Previous Special Amount.
      
      * Available in Spot and Network only

    NOTE: The Next Bill Based on, Due Date, Due Date Comments, and Invoice Comments columns are the fields on the Ready for Billing and Client Billing tabs that can be edited by the user. In order to make the same update to multiple lines at one time, the user can do the following: Select the lines to be updated, right-click anywhere in the data grid and select Update Selected Items. An update Selected Items window will display and the user can check the columns to be updated (Next Bill Based on, Due Date, Due Date Comments, and Invoice Comments). Update the desired fields accordingly and select OK, the selected records will be updated.

11. To select records to be Previewed, Recorded or saved as a Draft Invoice, click in the Select check-box for the desired Estimate(s)/months/markets/vendors and click the Record Invoice, Preview Draft or Save Draft options.

12.  The Not Ready for Billing tab includes the following columns:
    1. Client - Client Name
    2. Media - Media Name
    3. Estimate # - Estimate Number
    4. Estimate Description – Estimate Description entered in the Estimates screen
    5. Billing Month - Billing month based on broadcast month or calendar month depending on the module selected. Outdoor billing months are also determined based on the cycle type on the Outdoor Scheduling screen, 4 week or month.
    6. Reason - The Reason will display one of the following reasons why the estimate/month is not ready for billing: No Schedules Entered, No Frozen Schedule, No Invoices Entered, No Cleared Invoices, or Invoices Not Fully Cleared.
    7. Current Status - Displays the current billing status for the estimate/month. The status can be U for Un-Billed, E for Estimate (Pre-Bill), or R for Recon (Final Bill).
    8. Next Bill Based on - Using the billing rules from the Client screen the program displays what the next bill will be based on. The options are: Current Schedule, Frozen Schedule, Original Schedule, Invoices, or Cleared Invoices.
    9. Previous Bill Gross - The program will populate this column with the Bill Gross from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    10. Previous Bill Net - The program will populate this column with the Bill Net from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    11. Previous Fee – The program will populate this column with the Fee from the last bill recorded for the estimate/month.
    12. Previous Units - The program will populate this column with the Units from the last bill recorded.
    13. Uncleared Gross - The total gross purchased that has not been cleared for the estimate/month.
    14. Uncleared Net - The total net purchased that has not been cleared for the estimate/month.
    15. Uncleared Units - The total units purchased that have not been cleared for the estimate/month.
    16. Previous Special Amount – The program will populate this column with the Special Amount from the last bill recorded.