About Account Masking
Account masking is a way of automating the process of distributing rental income and expenses to different accounts. If you decide to use account masking on your rental agreements, the system will allocate funds to an account that is specific to the branch or division used on the agreement, without you having to enter the specific account.
Account masking uses the following:
- Account Mask
The account format associated with a specific branch or division. Masks contain absolute segments that are the same for all accounts, and variables that are resolved per the summary account. - Summary Account
The base account that is entered on an agreement and can be masked to distribute funds to an actual account. - Actual Account
The specific account used to invoice an agreement. The format of an actual account is a combination of the summary account entered on the agreement and the absolute segments of the account masks associated with the branches and divisions entered on the agreement.
If the default distributions have been set up use masked accounts, you will not have to allocate funds every time you create a new agreement. Rather, the system will automatically apply masks to the summary accounts that default, and the funds are automatically allocated to the actual accounts.
If default distributions have not been set up to use masked accounts, you can manually enter the distributions using masked base accounts, and funds will be allocated to the appropriate accounts based on the rental percentage on ownership that was specified for each owning and renting branch and division.
If you are using account masking and you make changes to the summary accounts or the owning/renting branches and divisions, the actual account distributions will be recalculated.
How Account Masking Works
An account mask is the default account format associated with a specific branch or division. Masks contain both absolute and variable segments.
An account mask might look like this for a branch we will call Branch A:
001-????-??
Another mask may look like this for a division we will call Division B:
???-????-20
The "001" and "20" are absolute, which means that for all the accounts associated with Branch A, the first segment will always be 001. Likewise, the last segment in all Division B accounts will always be 20. The question marks in the remaining segments indicate the variables that need to be resolved at the rental agreement level.
How Are the Variable Segments Resolved?
You may have a base account associated with each account type (Rate, Insurance, Overage, and Markdown). The GL base account for the Rate account type might look like this:
000-4300-00
If this base account has been entered into a rental agreement associated with Branch A and Division B, marking it to be masked will resolve the account as follows:
001-4300-20
The 001 comes from the branch, the 20 comes from the division, and the 4300 is part of the base account set up for that rate type. If an account exists that combines the numbers of the base account with the absolute segments of the account masks for the branches and divisions used on the agreement, the funds will be distributed into that account.
For a base account to be masked successfully, the resulting actual account (in the example above, account 001-4300-20) MUST already exist in Microsoft Dynamics GP (Account Maintenance window). Using account masking will not automatically create the account.
Later in this section, you will have the option of setting up default account distributions. If you decide to use masked base accounts as your default accounts, they will automatically filter into each agreement you create. The system will then automatically resolve the accounts and allocate funds per the specific branches and divisions used on the agreement.
Account masking eliminates the need to enter new or edit default account distributions every time you create a new agreement.
Summary vs. Actual Accounts
When allocating accounts or setting up default account distributions, you may encounter a drop-down menu that allows you to view two different types of accounts:
- Summary accounts
These are the base accounts that can be masked to automatically distribute income to the actual accounts. When you enter account distributions, they should always be entered as summary accounts. Actual accounts default based on the summary accounts. - Actual accounts
These are the accounts that the system uses to distribute funds and create invoices. They are based on the base accounts, and, if account masks have been set up, they are based on the account masks as well. If account masks have not been set up, or if the summary account on a specific price line is not marked to be masked, the actual account and the summary account will be the same.
If you are using account masking and you make changes to the summary accounts or the owning/renting branches and divisions, the actual account distributions will be recalculated.
Account Masking and Rental Percentage on Ownership - Sample Scenarios
This section contains several sample scenarios to illustrate how rental distributions work with masked accounts and rental percentage on ownership.
If the owning and renting branches are different, branches take precedence over divisions for the percent on ownership calculation. If the owning and renting branches are the same, the owning division percentages will be used.
Scenario 1: Owning Branch & Division and Renting Branch and Division Are ALL Different
- Owning Branch of MADISON: Account mask = 002-??-, rental percentage on ownership = 25%
- Rental Branch of MILWAUKEE: Account mask = 003-??-, rental percentage on ownership = 30%
- Owning Division of EQ RENTAL: Account mask = ?-??-30, rental percentage on ownership = 20%
- Rental Division of EQ SALES: Account mask = ?-??-20, rental percentage on ownership = 10%
Let's say that we set up the distributions with a rate type of Rate with:
base account of 000-4300-00 at 90%, (masking)
base account of 000-4304-00 at 10%, (not masking)
Total Percentage = 100% for the Rate. Assume the masked accounts exist. Above is what shows in the Summary view.
The resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:
002-4300-30 at 22.50%
003-4300-20 at 67.50%
000-4304-00 at 10.00%
Calculations
000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. The rental percentage on ownership for the branch of MADISON is 25%. We are using this because the owning branch and renting branch are different. Take the 25% * 90% to get 22.50%.
000-4300-00 is masked by the renting branch of MILWAUKEE and the renting division of EQ SALES, resulting in 003-4300-20. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. Take the 90% - 22.50% (from the previous account) to get 67.50%.
000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.
It is important to note that marking an account to be masked will not create an account that does not exist; rather, the system will make substitutions.
In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 003-4300-20 would have been used at the full 90% instead. If the masked account of 003-4300-20 did not exist, the accounts of 002-4300-30 at 22.50% and 000-4300-00 at 67.50% would have been used. If both 002-4300-30 and 003-4300-20 did not exist, the base account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.
Scenario 2: Owning Branch & Division Are the Same, but Renting Branch and Division Are Different
Using the same setup as before but changing the renting branch to MADISON to match the owning branch, the resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:
002-4300-30 at 18.00%
002-4300-20 at 72.00%
000-4304-00 at 10.00%
Calculations
000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. The origin percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. The rental percentage on ownership for the division of EQ RENTAL is 20%. We are using this because the owning branch and renting branch are the same but the owning division and renting division are different. Take the 20% * 90% to get 18.00%.
000-4300-00 is masked by the renting branch of MADISON and the renting division of EQ SALES, resulting in 002-4300-20. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. Take the 90% - 18.00% (from the previous account) to get 72.00%.
000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.
In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 002-4300-20 at 90% would have been used. If 002-4300-20 did not exist, the account of 002-4300-30 at 18.00% and 000-4300-00 at 72% would have been used. If both 002-4300-30 and 002-4300-20 did not exist, the account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.
Scenario 3: Owning and Rental Branches Are the Same, Owning and Rental Division Are the Same
Set the renting and owning branch to MADISON and the renting and owning division to EQ RENTAL. The resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:
002-4300-30 at 90.00%
000-4304-00 at 10.00%
Calculations
000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. Since the renting and owning branches are the same as is the renting and owning divisions, we just take the percentage assigned in the Summary distribution and apply it to the Actual distribution. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90% so this is what the Actual distribution line is too.
000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.
In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.
Account Masking for Branches and Divisions
You can set up account masks in the setup for each branch/division; you can also specify a rental percentage on ownership if you want to split revenue between different branches and divisions.
Owning branches and divisions are defined within the Equipment Manager for each piece of equipment, when applicable, and renting branches and divisions are defined at the agreement type setup or general rental setup levels.