Billing Engine (In-Depth)

Overview

While you have the ability to create and update static fees in your Billing Library, it is possible to build more advanced formulas and create dynamic billing fees and billing rules that update automatically based on the size and scope of your moves through our Billing Engine feature. By using billing engine, you can customize your Supermove experience by creating automated items, such as:

• Tariff-based fees calculated from the inventory weight and distance traveled
• Fees based on the number of steps or flights of stairs climbed 
• Fees based on double-drive time or portal-to-portal timesheet calculations
• Weight-based fees that can dynamically update if either an estimated weight, in-person walkthrough weight, or final weight is inputted
• Valuation fees based on the declared inventory value for the job
• Hour minimum billing rules that vary depending on the size of the inventory

Please see our guide below on how you can customize our billing engine feature to meet your needs.

Identifying and Creating Variables for Your Calculations

The first step in using our billing engine is to determine whether the variables you need to make your calculation currently exist or if they need to be created. You can do this with the following steps in the Office App:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to View/Edit Billing Settings
3. Go to Variables

You will then see a screen that looks something like this:

The items in System Variables are ones we have immediately available to you. So if you need to make a calculation based on the true weight of a customer's inventory, the Actual Weight variable is already at your disposal. If you need to make a calculation based on the distance in miles between your warehouse and customer's origin location, there's a variable already called Job Warehouse Origin Mileage.

Here are some explanations of other system variables we provide:

• PROJECT_WEIGHT=ACTUAL_WEIGHT If no Actual Weight is listed, then the system will refer to the input in INVENTORY_WEIGHT. If no Inventory Weight is listed, then the system will refer to the input in ESTIMATED_WEIGHT
• PROJECT_TOTAL_REVENUE= total amount to be charged on the project
• PROJECT_TOTAL_COST= total of all costs from the cost and compensation section
• PROJECT_TOTAL_PROFIT= total revenue minus total cost

If you do not find your needed variable in the Systems Variable list, you can create one from scratch by clicking the blue +Create Variable button in the top left of the screen.  Doing so will take you to a pop-up window that looks like this:

Let's say I want to create a variable where I can indicate the number of stairs that need to be climbed in order to access the client's home. This type of variable can look like this:

Please note, you do have the ability to have your variable reference a table or chart (e.g. transportation fee table based on mileage and inventory weight, valuation coverage table, etc). If this is required for your variable, you can toggle on the Calculate variable with table and then indicate which table you want to apply.

Please also note that variables labeled Kind: Project can be enabled to display automatically on the Project Create page. To do this, please see the following steps in Office App:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to View/Edit Project Types
3. Click the Project Type you're interested in
4. Then click Variables

You'll then see a screen that looks like this:

You can proceed to click the blue pencil icon next to each item to edit and make them available on the Project Create page. 

For example, if I indicate "Yes" on Show on Create Project for the variable Number of Stairs, the Project Create screen will look like this:

Creating Formulas Using Your Variables

Once you've identified and/or created your necessary variables, you will then need to create the formulas using your variables. To navigate to the Formula Builder, please follow these steps in Office App:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to View/Edit Billing Settings
3. Go to Formulas

Here you will find a screen that looks like this:

To start making a new formula, click the blue +Create Billing Formula button in the top left. It will take you to a pop-up window that looks like this:

If you are familiar with Microsoft Excel, the Supermove Billing Formula builder follows the same logic for creating formulas. You can add, subtract, multiply, and use those familiar Excel operators to construct a formula. You can look for and identify your operators using the Search or scroll bar in the left hand corner of that pop-up window. Furthermore, now that you have your custom variable, you can find this, too.

Let's say, for example, I want to create a formula that charges a customer $1.00 for each step needed to climb to access the home. I may have a formula that looks like this:

Please note, currencies need to be expressed in values of 100 -- for example, $1 needs to be expressed in the formula builder as 100, $2.50 would be expressed as 250, $10 would be expressed as 1000, etc.

Once you are satisfied with your formula, you can click Save.

Linking Your Formula to a Billing Fee or Rule

To associate your formula with an actual Billing Fee or Billing Rule, please navigate to the following in Office App:

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to View/Edit Billing Settings
3. Click into the Billing Library you want to use
4. Click into Bill Items or Bill Rules

For the purpose of this explanation, we'll use the example of creating a Bill Item using your newly created formula. To get started, click the blue +Add Fee button:

A pop-up window will emerge that looks like this: 

You can then proceed to enter in the basic details of your fee. Most importantly, the Value field will allow you to select the formula that you created. By selecting your formula, you are instructing your fee to process that formula calculation to determine the value. For example, if I want to create a Fee based on the number of stairs, it may look something like this:

Accessing and Applying Your Billing-Engine Fees/Rules on a Project/Job

As with any fee or rule, you can access these on the Billing section of the Job Page:

Please note, if you need to edit the value of the fee, you need to go to Edit >> Edit Billing Values. A pop-up window will emerge where you can find the variable field to edit. In this case, the number of stairs:

Wrapping-Up

Now that you know how to create a single-fee using the Billing Engine, you can create even more and apply them to different Project Templates you have. By doing so, you'll be able to further customize your Supermove experience so that a Local Residential move will trigger certain fees, while other moves, like Interstate, will trigger different ones.