Cost Per Use

Overview document (not a LeasePak menu item)
Corresponding End of Period process: None

Describes Cost Per Use meters, a feature that allows the user to attach a meter definition to either a pending/booked asset or an application/lease, then enter meter readings and assess cost per use charges. Requires the optional Cost Per Use module.

 

 

Asset- vs. Lease-Level Meters

When you attach one or more meters (up to 4) to an individual pending or booked asset at the asset level, LeasePak tracks meter readings and assessed charges for the individual asset, using an asset-level general ledger assessment account.

When you attach one or more meters (up to 4) to an entire application or lease at the lease level, you can still associate meters with particular assets on the application/lease (up to 4 per asset), but LeasePak tracks meter readings and assessed charges for the whole lease, using a lease-level general ledger assessment account.

Do not use both asset- and lease-level meters on the same application or lease. This will result in unexpected and erroneous LeasePak behavior.

 

 

Portfolio [U0212]: Miscellaneous Customizations

Before attaching meters to an asset or application/lease, you must first specify the assessment(s) to use for meter charges.

For asset-level meters, use the field Cost Per Use Assmt Code in Portfolio [U0212]: Miscellaneous Customizations to specify an asset-level assessment. The following choices are available:

For lease-level meters, use the field Lease Cost Per Use Assmt Code in Portfolio [U0212]: Miscellaneous Customizations to specify a lease-level assessment. The following choices are available:

You can use Sales Tax on Assessments with any of these assessments. If your LeasePak license includes the Name Assessments module, you can change the names of these assessments through Assessment Customizations, and you can modify the names used for the accounting transactions through Office G/L Change.

 

 

Application Tracking [U08]

For asset-level meters on pending assets, use Asset Meter Maintenance from the Application Tracking [U08] menu. This starts the Asset Meter Maintenance [U0231] update for pending assets.

For lease-level meters on applications, use Application Meter Maintenance from the Application Tracking [U08] menu. This starts the Lease Meter Maintenance [U0233] update for applications.

For booked assets and leases, you can access the appropriate meter maintenance updates from the LeasePak main menu.

 

 

Asset Meter Maintenance [U0231]

To add, change, or delete asset-level meter definitions, use Asset Meter Maintenance [U0231], either through Application Tracking [U08] (for pending assets), or directly from the LeasePak main menu (for booked assets in inventory or attached to a lease).

 

 

Lease Meter Maintenance [U0233]

To add, change, or delete lease-level meter definitions, use Lease Meter Maintenance [U0233], either through Application Tracking [U08] (for applications), or directly from the LeasePak main menu (for booked leases).

 

 

Tier-Based Pricing

The Cost Per Use module employs a tier-based pricing system. The following are setup and assessment examples of 4-tier pricing.

Setup

Base Allowance = 3,000

TierStart RangeEnd RangeCost Per Use
13,0018,000$0.00090
28,00112,000$0.00080
312,00120,000$0.00070
420,001-1$0.00060

 

Assessment

Previous Meter Reading: 112,000
New Meter Reading: 136,000
Difference: 24,000

Number of UsesCost Per UseAssessment
0 - 3,000$0.00000$0.00
3,001 - 8,000$0.00090$4.50
8,001 - 12,000$0.00080$3.20
12,001 - 20,000$0.00070$5.60
20,001 +$0.00060$2.40
Totals24,000N/A$15.70

 

 

Tier-Based Service Credits

Using the same setup as assessments, service credits are divided appropriately among the tiers and converted to corresponding credit amounts. In the event that there are more credits than uses during a cycle (month or time between meter readings), the excess service credits will roll over and become available for the next cycle, unless the number of uses during a cycle are less than the Base Allowance. In that case, all uses are charged at the base ($0.00000 per use) rate and no service credits roll over for the next cycle.

Example 1: (based on the tiers described in the previous section)

number of uses > the Base Allowance
number of service credits < number of uses.

Previous Meter Reading: 112,000
New Meter Reading: 136,000
Difference: 24,000
Service Credits Available: 8,000

Number of UsesService CreditsCost Per UseAssessmentCredit Amount
Base3,000N/A$0.00000$0.00$0.00
15,0005,000$0.00090$4.50$4.50
24,0003,000$0.00080$3.20$2.40
38,0000$0.00070$5.60$0.00
44,0000$0.00060$2.40$0.00
Totals24,0008,000N/A$15.70$6.90

Assessment - Credit Amount = $8.80

 

Example 2: (based on the tiers described in the previous section)

number of uses > the Base Allowance
number of service credits > number of uses over the Base Allowance.

Previous Meter Reading: 112,000
New Meter Reading: 136,000
Difference: 24,000
Service Credits Available: 23,000

Number of UsesService CreditsCost Per UseAssessmentCredit Amount
Base3,000N/A$0.00000$0.00$0.00
15,0005,000$0.00090$4.50$4.50
24,0003,000$0.00080$3.20$3.20
38,0008,000$0.00070$5.60$5.60
44,0004,000$0.00060$2.40$2.40
Totals24,00020,000N/A$15.70$15.70

Assessment - Credit Amount = $0.00
Service credits rolled over to the next cycle: 3,000

 

Example 3: (based on the tiers described in the previous section)

number of uses < the Base Allowance

Previous Meter Reading: 112,000
New Meter Reading: 114,500
Difference: 2,500
Service Credits Available: 8,000

Number of UsesService CreditsCost Per UseAssessmentCredit Amount
Base3,0008,000$0.00000$0.00$0.00
Totals2,5008,000N/A$0.00$0.00

Assessment - Credit Amount = $0.00
Service credits rolled over to the next cycle: 0

 

 

Assess Meter Charge [U0131]

To enter meter readings and assess charges to either asset- or lease-level meters interactively, use Assess Meter Charge [U0131].

You can also assess readings and charges in batch mode using LeasePak Utility 224: Cost Per Use Import File, described later in this document.

Invoicing Assessed Charges

LeasePak will place the meter charge assessment on the next invoice to be accrued for an asset tied to a lease. For users without the Off-Lease Billing module, if the lease has stopped accruing, LeasePak will place the assessment on the most recent invoice; in this case, multiple assessments may be placed on the same invoice over time.

For users with the Off-Lease Billing module, LeasePak will only place multiple assessments on the same invoice if accruals are stopped due to the lease being in a non-accrual hold status.

The following is an example of how meter assessments appear on the invoice scratch file:

<inv #1>     213
<due #1>890506
<cm #101>N
<asm #101>FED HIWAY USE TX FEE
<asm type #101>FHUT
<asm amt #101>0000000850

(METER TRANSACTION BEG)
<meter unit>        81
<meter id>  BW
<meter desc>Black and White
<meter prv read>0000000000120000
<meter new read>0000000000137000
<meter usage beg>890316
<meter usage end>890416
<meter base allow>0000004000
<meter prv credit>0000000000
<meter new credit>0000003000
<meter apl credit>0000003000
<meter charge>0000000760
<meter item tier#01>00004000
<meter rate tier#01>00000090
<meter item tier#02>00004000
<meter rate tier#02>00000080
<meter item tier#03>00005000
<meter rate tier#03>00000070
(METER TRANSACTION END)

(METER TRANSACTION BEG)
<meter unit>        81
<meter id>  BW
<meter desc>Black and White
<meter prv read>0000000000137000
<meter new read>0000000000142000
<meter usage beg>890416
<meter usage end>890516
<meter base allow>0000004000
<meter prv credit>0000000000
<meter new credit>0000000000
<meter apl credit>0000000000
<meter charge>0000000090
<meter item tier#01>00001000
<meter rate tier#01>00000090
(METER TRANSACTION END)

 

Notes

You must use one of the Cost Per Use updates to either assess or reverse meter charges. Once you specify an assessment to use with Cost Per Use, you cannot assess or waive charges for that assessment through other LeasePak assessment/waiver updates, such as Assessment [U0105] or Batch Assessments [U0418].

 

 

Reverse Meter Charge [U0132]

To reverse meter assessments on either asset- or lease-level meters interactively, use Reverse Meter Charge [U0132].

You can also reverse readings and assessments in batch mode using LeasePak Utility 224: Cost Per Use Import File, described later in this document.

 

 

Reversal Procedures

These are examples of different procedures you can use when reversing and reassessing multiple meter charges. Each example uses the following set of assessments:

Invoice DatePeriod StartPeriod EndMeter Reading
04/15/201003/15/201004/15/20101,000,080
05/15/201004/15/201005/15/20101,001,111
06/15/201005/15/201006/15/20101,002,002

 

Example 1: combine all charges into one period.

  1. Reverse all payments made to the three invoices
  2. Reverse all meter charges, including the first one with the meter reading 1,000,080
  3. Assess a new meter charge using a new meter reading of 1,002,002
  4. Reapply reversed payments.

 

Example 2: re-assess charges on the original invoices.

  1. Reverse all payments made to the three invoices
  2. Reverse all meter charges, including the first one with the meter reading 1,000,080
  3. Reverse accruals to remove all three invoices
  4. Re-assess a meter charge for the 04/15/2010 invoice with using a new meter reading of 1,000,080 (or the corrected reading)
  5. Accrue the lease
  6. Reverse accruals to remove just the two most recent invoices
  7. Re-assess a meter charge for the 05/15/2010 invoice with using a new meter reading of 1,001,111 (or the corrected reading)
  8. Accrue the lease
  9. Reverse accruals to remove just the most recent invoice
  10. Re-assess a meter charge for the 06/15/2010 invoice with using a new meter reading of 1,002,002 (or the corrected reading)
  11. Accrue the lease
  12. Reapply reversed payments.

 

Example 3: re-assess charges individually on the next invoice.

  1. Reverse all payments made to the three invoices
  2. Reverse all meter charges, including the first one with the meter reading 1,000,080
  3. Assess a meter charge using a new meter reading of 1,000,080 (or the corrected reading)
  4. Assess a meter charge using a new meter reading of 1,001,111 (or the corrected reading)
  5. Assess a meter charge using a new meter reading of 1,002,002 (or the corrected reading)
  6. Reapply reversed payments.

 

For best results, NetSol recommends using the procedures described in Example 2 or 3. For more information about reversal procedures, contact your NetSol representative.

 

Batch Meter Charge [U0133]

Processing of meter assessments in a batch requires an input file containing all the assessment entries in a pre-defined format. This file is processed by End of Period when it runs. The End of Period process will process each of the particular records and either assess or reverse new cost per use meter reads. It will also generate an audit and exception report.

The users need to manually create the input file and place it in the data directory of the environment in which the End of Period process is to run. The name of the file must conform to the convention - pn_btchcpu.dat. Where, 'n' in the file name is the portfolio number.

Using Batch Meter Charge [U0133]

When using Batch Meter Charge [U0133], LeasePak displays a dialog requiring the user to select the portfolio for which to process the assessments.

After you have selected your required portfolio and clicked OK, LeasePak will search for the batch file at the previously mentioned location. If LeasePak is successful in finding the file and reading its content, it will load the assessments into its database and will make them available for the next scheduled End of Period process. You will see the following dialog if the assessment file was successfully found and loaded.

However, if LeasePak was unable to find the file at the correct location for some reason, you will receive the following message:

It is also important to know that LeasePak deletes the batch input file after processing it. Therefore, take a backup copy of the file at a different location if you may have any future need for it.

Batch File Format

This section provides detail about the format of the batch input file for meter assessments.

Each line of the Cost per Use input file will contain the following mandatory elements:

Example 1:

422000, 09/15/06, 125,BW01,12500,-20,BW02,7500,-15,CL01,5000,-5,CLO2,3500,0

Directs the Cost per Use End of Period module to charge an assessment for lease number 422000 with meter end period date of 9/15/06 for asset 125 for meter BW01 with a reading of 12500 and service credit 20, meter BW02 with a reading of 7500 and service credit of 15, meter CL01 with a reading of 5000 and service credit of 5, meter CL02 with a reading of 3500 and no service credit.

Example 2:

427909, 09/15/06, 89,BW01, 750109,-50

Directs the Cost per Use End of Period module to charge an assessment for Lease 427909 with meter end date of 09/15/06 for asset 89 meter BW01 with a reading of 750109 and service credit of 50.

Example 3:

427909, 09/15/06, 89,BW01, -750109,50

Directs the Cost per Use End of Period module to reverse the latest assessment for Lease 427909 asset 89 meter BW01.

LeasePak Utility 224: Cost Per Use Import File

The LeasePak utilities are options of the program $uexe/lpautil.exe. You must have direct access to the LeasePak server, either as the LeasePak administrative user (lpadmin) or as the NetSol release administrator (msiadmin), in order to run this program. Many of the utilities can severely corrupt LeasePak and its databases; consult your NetSol representative before running any of them.

Terminal emulation: you must use one of the supported terminal types. Refer to System Requirements in the System Administration Guide for more information.

Use this utility to load meter charge assessment and reversal information into the RBM table for processing by the End of Period (Sequential Updates, Daily) module Batch Meter [U0448] (described later in this document).

To use the utility, create a batch input file named p*_btchcpu.dat (where * is the portfolio number) and place it in the data directory of your LeasePak environment. Each line of the batch input file must contain the following three elements separated by commas:

For assessment transactions (type 'A'), you may also include the following:

These additional elements are also separated by commas. You can specify them in any order as long as you place them after the required elements.

Example 1

A,U12245,M0001,V12500,E040115

This line assesses Asset 12245, Meter 0001 with a meter reading of 12,500 and a meter period end date of 01/15/04.


Example 2

A,SSER#124912-23133,M0002,V550000,C2300

This line assesses an asset with serial number SER#124912-23133, Meter 0002 with a meter reading of 550,000 and 2,300 service credits.


Example 3

R,SSER#124912-23133,M0002

This line reverses the most recent meter charge made to the asset with serial number SER#124912-23133.


Once the batch input file is successfully loaded, the Batch Meter module (if set to run) will process it during the next End of Period.

 

 

Batch Meter [U0448]

This End of Period (Sequential Updates) module assesses and reverses meter charges loaded into the RBM table through LeasePak Utility 224: Cost Per Use Import File. The update produces two reports, Batch Meter Exception [U0448A] and Batch Meter Audit [U0448B]. If you wish to use this module, you must first turn it on in Portfolio [U0212]:End of Period Customizations, Modules and Reports.

 

 

Meter Transaction Journal [R0925]

Use the Meter Transaction Journal [R0925] to report on meter assessments and reversals. This is an interactive report--it does not have an End of Period counterpart.