An overview of our latest release features.

Hey there,

We have optimized our rates module to further automate how rates are populated onto invoices. The steps below will guide you on how to take advantage of this new capability.

If you have any questions, please contact support@utilizecore.com or message us using the chat on the upper right of the menu!

Step 1. Ledger Accounts

The first step in taking advantage of this new automation, is to ensure you have your income and expense accounts set up in Accounting > Ledger Accounts tab and. If you have an accounting integration (ie QuickBooks Online / QuickBooks Desktop) turned on, your ledger accounts will automatically populate into UtilizeCore.

Please note that if you do not have your default income / expense account defined, when you create a new Item from a bulk upload, then the system will automatically create default accounts for you (Default Income Account | Default Expense Account).

Step 2: Default Income / Expense Accounts

To simplify navigate to Gear Icon > Workflow > Accounting > Ledger Accounts (formerly Chart of Accounts). Here you set up your default income / expense accounts. These defaults will pre-populate the accounts when you create a new Trade.

Income / Expense Hierarchy: The system will use the Income / Expense accounts at the service level first, then the Trade level, and then the Company Settings level.

1. Service
2. Trade
3. Default income and Expense Account (Workflow > Accounting)

Step 3: Services

Trade, Services, Tasks and Rates all now live in a single page, which makes it significantly simpler to consume and set these up. Navigate to the Product & Services > Services tab.

The first level of this listing are your Trades. Click the down arrow (on the far right) of a Trade to open up its Services. Click on the down arrow on the far right of a Service to open up its Tasks.

Creating a New Service

Now, all Services will require the following fields:

• Income / Expense Account
• Description
• TaxJar Code
• Work Order Level -- Default Priority, Generate Client Invoice
• Trip Level -- Default Client Billing Method, Default Vendor Billing Method

Work Order + Trip Level Defaults

We added new default value configurations to make it even easier to create WOs and Trips:

Please note that if more than one service is selected on a work order then these default options will not be applied to the WO.

Step 4: Defining Rates

After setting up your Trades, Services and Tasks, it’s time to set up your Rates. Navigate to Products & Services > Services > Rates & Assignees. There you define rates for the following Billing Methods (which are in Tabs):

1. Per Hour
2. Per Service
3. Per Task
4. Equipment Task, Time & Material
5. Per Event

Each row is a specific rate definition. Clicking on a Client, Site or Vendor and you will go to that specific page for updates.

When you create a new Rate, a new Item Name will be automatically generated and saved against the rate type, which will populate the Item Descriptions on Invoices, Proposals and Purchase Orders.

Rates follow the following hierarchy when populating Invoices, Proposals and Purchase Orders:

1. Site Assignee
2. Site Generic
3. Client Assignee
4. Client Generic
5. Vendor Assignee
6. Vendor Generic
7. Generic

Client & Site Rate Setup

Upon clicking "+Trade Service & Billing Method" a new modal will appear:

Previously, you had to select a service and then all the billing methods would appear. Now, while adding your service, you have the ability to define your billing methods that you provide to your clients.

Billing methods define how you pay and get paid. For example, a per task billing method for your client, means that you will get paid for each task that you perform.

A time and material billing method for your vendor means that you will pay your vendor hourly and for the materials they use.

Derived Items

We introduced “Derived Items” which are associated with generic items. Derived Items further detail the Rates by Trade Service, Client, Vendor, Labor Type, Billing Method, Union Status, and Rate Type. A Derived Item is created for each unique combination of the Inputs listed above.

Example:

If you are billing snow plowing (Trade Service) per Service (Billing Method) for a skid steer (Labor Type) you will have Regular, Overtime, and Double Time (Rate Type) for both Union and Non Union workers (Union Status). There will be both client (what you sell your service for) and vendor (what you buy your labor for) rates. Each combination will be a single Derived Rate.

Item Name:

Regular - NonUnion - Skid Steer - Snow Plowing - Demo Client

This enables further automation of ad-hoc Invoices and Proposals, you will have the ability to select any Derived Rates when building either.

Please note that any existing rates that have never been generated into a client or vendor invoice/proposal or purchase order will not have an item association. If so, you will be required to "link and item" where you can choose an existing item or type a new item into the modal that appears. You can no longer freeform create Item Names directly from proposal, invoice or purchase order generation.

Step 5: Generating Resources

Generating Invoices

When generating an ad-hoc client or vendor invoice if there is no Item linked to the Rate selected, then you will see an option to easily associate an Item with that Rate.

You are not able to save or send Invoices, Proposals or Purchase Orders if the Item Name is not linked to an actual Item. The system will notify you if you need to take an action to link an item with a hyperlinked message.

Upon clicking the “Link Item” you will see the following pop up:

You will now have the ability to customize your items based on your business's needs. Upon clicking the dropdown, you will see a list of items that you had previously used. Please select one for Preventative Maintenance and On Demand rate. In terms of your income and expense accounts (Step 1) these should automatically populate based on your previously defined settings.

Once you complete this screen, you will be able to save and send.

Step 6: Bulk Upload Templates

The bulk upload templates are now available for all billing methods which will be available on the Services Module and Sites Module

1. Per Hour
2. Per Service
3. Per Task
4. Equipment Task, Time & Material
5. Per Event

The filtered excel template is available at the Site module:

Apart for the ability to upload as per the old upload templates the enhanced upload files now allow the upload of:

• Generic Rates
• Assignee Rates
• CIWO/TIWO Yes/No
• Item Name
• Item Code
• Tax Code
• Income Account
• Expense Account
• Assigning Team Members and Regional Team Members
• Remove Assignee

This can be done for the following rates:

• Site Generic Rate
• Site Assignee Rate
• Client Generic Rate
• Client Assignee Rate
• Vendor Generic Rate
• Vendor Assignee Rate
• Generic Rate

The bulk uploaders will work as they always have, but some enhancements have been made.

If a new Item Name is uploaded from the Rates bulk upload, then the system will assign an Income / Expense account following the hierarchy below:

1. Service
2. Trade
3. Default Income and Expense Account (defined at company settings)

Paid Companies Only: If there are no Income and Expense accounts defined at the Trade, Service and Default levels, then the system will automatically create general accounts for that specific item.

If you have any questions, please reach out to support@utilizecore.com or message us on the platform via our Live Chat!