Using Caps with Charge Rules

With time-based charge rules, you can create caps that allow you to limit the amount of work a charge rule is applied to.

For example, you might apply a different rate to any time entered beyond your initial project estimate. You could create a time-based rule with a cap on the hours it is applied to. This cap would equal the hours of the project estimate. A second time-based rule would be applied only to hours beyond the estimate.

Time-based charge rules can split time transactions when fulfilling billing caps. Billing caps for time-based rules are honored and do not require an exact match from time transactions.

For example, you create a time-based charge rule with a billing cap of 10 hours. Your project resource tracks eight hours and six hours toward the project on two consecutive days. When you generate charges, the rule will generate charges for the eight hours plus two additional hours from the second day. The remaining four hours from the second day are listed on the time transaction as remaining time. If additional time-based rules are used to generate charges, the remaining four hours will be used to fulfill any new rules.

When a time transaction has time remaining or generates charges from multiple rules, the Charges subtab is displayed on the time transaction with a list of the corresponding charges.

Caps are applied for the life of the project. When using caps, it is essential that you set the order that time-based rules are applied in the Rule Order field. When an rule has reached its cap, it is no longer applied.

Billing for Time in Advance

If you bill for a portion of a project up front, you can use a charge rule cap to keep from billing for the time the customer pays for at the beginning of the project. For example, you create a project with an estimated 200 hours of work. You bill for the first 40 hours up front before work begins on the project.

In this example, the up front charge would be generated by a fixed date rule. You would then create a time-based rule for the up front charge. This rule would have a cap of 40 hours, have Rule Order set to 1, and a Rate Multiplier of 0 so that the customer is not billed again for the up front charge. Additional time-based rules would be created for the time beyond 40 hours.

General Notices