Flat Fees

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"Flat fee" refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. These can be set in the Flat Fees section of Rental.

In the Flat Fees screen, there is a link to Add New Flat Fee.

The user will be prompted to provide the following information:

• Name - This is a name visible by the TrackAbout user. This name is never seen by the customer.
• Name Shown on Bill - This is the name the customer will see when they receive their rental bill.
• Accounting Code - Used for reporting. This is typically the General Ledger (GL) or Charge Code from the accounting system.
• Type - Several options are accessible via the drop-down list:
  • Single Surcharge - Applies one flat rate for the entire bill IF there are rental charges on the bill. (Sometimes, due to Agreements or rate overrides, a customer can have a rental balance, but no rental charges.)
  • Replaces All Rental - This fee will be charged in lieu of any rental which may be calculated for the customer. This might be used in cases where a customer has negotiated a flat rental every month regardless of their quantity of rental assets.
  • Per Each Asset of Type - Applies a flat fee for each asset of given asset type(s) or of given rental class(es). For example, if this flat fee is set for asset type Acetylene, and the customer has a balance of ten Acetylene assets, this fee will be charged ten times. The charge is based on the customer’s balance at the end of the rental billing period.
  • For Asset Type - (Previously called Per Asset Type) This fee is charged once if the customer has at least one of given asset type(s) or given rental class(es) on balance, regardless of how many of that type of asset the customer has. For example, if this flat fee is set for asset type Acetylene, the customer will be charged one set amount for Acetylene, whether they have one asset in this asset type or one-hundred assets in this asset type. The customer is charged this flat fee only once per bill, even if the customer has multiple qualifying assets on balance for the billing period.
  • Equipment Recurring Charge - A charge which will show up on every rental bill for that asset.
  • Equipment Delivery Charge - This fee will show up only on the rental bill which includes the delivery, which is the first rental bill for that asset.
  • Equipment Return Charge - This fee will show up only on the rental bill which includes the return, which is the last rental bill for that asset.
    

For the flat fee types of Per Each Asset of Type and For Asset Type, after the flat fee has been saved, there is a link to Add New Asset Type and a separate link to Add New Rental Class. Clicking on these links will open the Add Flat Fee Asset Type window or the Add Flat Fee Rental Class window, respectively. Multiple asset types and/or rental classes may be added.

If Single Surcharge, Per Each Asset of Type, or For Asset Type has been selected from the Type drop-down list, three other options are available:

• All Customers With Rental Charges - Any customer with a positive dollar amount on their rental bill will be charged this flat fee in addition to the rental.
• Specific Customers with Rental Charges - This flat fee will be applied only to selected customers, and only if those selected customers have a positive dollar amount on their rental bill. Customers will be charged this flat fee in addition to their rental.
• Specific Customers whether or not they have Rental Charges - This flat fee will be charged only to selected customers, regardless of whether or not they have incurred any rental charges for the month.
  

Additionally, if For Asset Type is selected, the All Customers Whether Or Not They Have Rental Charges Applies To option is available.

If Per Each Asset of Type has been selected from the Type drop-down list, a field in which to enter the Maximum Amount Per Bill will appear. If the total flat fee calculated in any given month is more than the Maximum Amount Per Bill set here, then TrackAbout will limit the flat fee charges per bill to the amount in the maximum field.

If Equipment Recurring Charge, Equipment Delivery Charge, or Equipment Return Charge has been selected from the Type drop-down list, the Accrues Revenue to Asset option will become visible: When a check mark is placed in the box in front of this option, all revenue from this flat fee is tracked to this specific asset.

• Tax Category - The Tax Category is used to determine if the Flat Fee is taxable. Some Tax Regions exclude some Tax Categories from sales tax. The choices from the drop-down list come from Accounting. They are set up in the database and are not set up from the website. Contact TrackAbout with a list of Tax Categories which need to be set up.
• Rental Billing Period Types - Select to which Rental Billing Period Type(s) this flat fee applies.
  

For example, Cylinder Rental or Equipment Rental. Once the Flat Fees are created, extra setup will need to be performed to ensure that specific customers either are or are not charged the different Flat Fees. If the Flat Fee applies to all customers, then by default all customers will be charged this fee and specific customers can be exempted from the Flat Fee. If the Flat Fee is set to apply to specific customers, then by default no customers will be charged this Flat Fee but specific customers can be set to be charged this flat fee. In either case, the customer setup is completed from the Rental section of the Customer Detail View. Here, a link to Edit flat fees opens the Assign Flat Fees page.

In this page, flat fees which apply to all customers may be disabled and other flat fees can be enabled for this customer. Furthermore, a Custom Rate and/or a Custom Maximum Amount Per Bill may be set for this customer only. This rate and/or maximum would override the rate and/or maximum set in the Add New Flat Fee screen.

In the Rental > Flat Fees screen, there is a link to View Customers which have been assigned to each flat fee.