Setting up Task Based Expense Accounting

Provides the ability to set up costs for unbilled tasks to post to an expense account assigned to the task rather than the cost of goods sold assigned to the division. This new functionality is for standard service calls only.

The following rules apply to task-based expense accounts:

• The cost always inherits the task-based expense account status of the service call task.
• If changes are made to the task-based expense account status, a message displays similar to "Changing the Task-Based Expense Account status will update all non-invoiced posted and unposted transactions. Do you wish to continue?" If Yes, changes are rolled down. If No, the task-based expense account status reverts to its original state. Both posted and unposted transactions are affected.
• The task-based expense account status cannot be changed if there are saved invoices.
• Costs with a task-based expense account status of non-billable will not display or print on invoices.

Task-Based Expense Account Validation

Task-based expense accounts are validated at the time the invoice is saved or posted or when the service call is manually closed.

• Invoicing and manually closing
  As Receivables Management distributions are created when you save or post a service invoice, this process will trigger the validation of the non-billable expense accounts. If the non-billable account number entered in Task Code Setup does not exist, a message will display indicating the account number does not exist and will specify the task code. If more than one error exists, the error will be repeated the next time you attempt to post or save.
• Manually closing service calls
  When you attempt to manually close a service call where costs exist, the system will validate that the non-billable account exists in the system. If the account does not exist, the service call cannot be closed.
• Batch Service Invoicing
  The create process will validate the expense accounts at the point of creating the distributions for the Receivables Management document. If the accounts do not exist, a message will display regarding General Ledger accounts for non-billable tasks on the specific service call that are missing and the invoice will not be created.

Visual Indicator

A visual indicator has been added to several windows to alert you that non-billable costs are present.

• Added Costs
  The visual indicator has been added next to Billing Amount that will only display when the task has been set to non-billable and the Billing Amount field has been disabled. The Billable and Taxable checkboxes are disabled and unmarked and the billing amount is set to zero dollars and disabled.
• Service Invoice
  As non-billable costs are not included on invoices, the non-billable costs are not displayed on the Service Invoice window. A visual indicator will display next to any cost category when non-billable task code-based costs are present on the invoice. If you zoom in on the cost category, the Cost window displays all costs as standard. The task code is flagged with the visual indicator.
• Adjustment to Costs
  The task code field has been added to this window. The visual indicator has been added next to Billing Amount that will only display when the task has been set to non-billable and the Billing Amount field has been disabled. The Billable and Taxable checkboxes are disabled and unmarked and the billing amount is set to zero dollars and disabled.

If you remove or change the non-billable task code to a billable task code, the taxable reverts to default, and the billing amount is enabled and recalculated.

Enabling Task-Based Expense Allocation

You must enable task-based expense allocation in Service Options to view the appropriate fields in Task Code Setup. If the Use Task-Based Expense Allocation checkbox is not marked, the fields related to task-based expense accounting will not be visible in any of the windows related to task-based expense accounting.

To enable task-based expense allocation:

1. Go to Service Options. (Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Service Management > Module Setup > Service Options)

2. Mark Use Service Debit Accounts for Microsoft Dynamics GP Costs.
3. Mark Enable Task-Based Expense Entry.
4. Select OK.

Setting up a Task Code as Non-Billable

When using task-based expense accounting, the account entered to use as non-billable will overwrite the division accounts based on the task or cost billing status.

To set task codes as nonbillable:

1. Go to Task Code Setup. (Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Service Management > Lookup Setup > Tasks > Task Codes)
2. Complete the fields as necessary to set up the task code.
3. Under Task Based Expense Accounting, mark Non Billable.
4. Enter the required Non Billable Expense Account. You can enter the entire account number to be used, or enter a portion of the account for account masking. The missing segments will be populated based on the Cost of Goods Sold account.

If you unmark Non Billable, the account number remains in the Non Billable Expense Account field. As the Task-Based Expense Accounting options are the "defaults" that copy down to the service call, it is important to set up the task with the most likely status. If, for example, replacing a tire is most often a billable task, then you may not want to mark the Non Billable checkbox. However, if on the service call, the user marks the task as non-billable, the required non-billable account mask defaults from the setup. This can save time from having to look up the non-billable account number.

Using Task-Based Expense Allocation on a Service Call

Tasks can be marked as non-billable in Task Code Setup. When the task code is added to a service call task, the service call task will inherit the task-based account settings from the task code. However, you can unmark Non Billable or change the non-billable expense account.