Billing Groups

You use billing groups with payment plans so you can invoice a percentage of a particular billing group within each payment plan step. For example, you can invoice room rental items for 100% in the first payment plan step while invoicing catering items for 25% in the first step.  

Before using billing groups, you need to determine how you organization plans to structure the payment plans and what services you need to invoice together. Common billing groups are Space Rental, Food & Beverage, Equipment and Personnel.

Configure the Billing Groups

Once you determine the billing groups your organization needs, you need to configure them and assign them to the items within the billing group. To configure billing groups:

1. Click the Billing Groups link from the Main Menu. The Billing Groups screen opens.
2. Click the Add button. The Add Billing Groups screen opens.
3. Enter the necessary information:
   • Description - Name of the billing group.
   • Code - Unique alphanumeric code.
   • Status - Active billing groups are available for selection when assigning resources and payment plans.
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat steps 1 - 4 to add additional billing groups.

After you configure the billing groups, you need to assign them to the resources (items). To assign resources to a billing group:

1. Click the Resources link from the Main Menu. The Resources screen opens.
2. Select the resource to assign to the billing group.
3. Right-click and select Edit. The Edit Resource screen opens.
4. Select the Additional Information tab.
5. Expand the Groups section.
6. Select the billing group from the Billing Group drop-down.
7. Click OK.

To update multiple resources with a billing group: 

1. Click the Resources link from the Main Menu. The Resources screen opens.
2. Select the resources to assign to the billing group. Use Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click to select multiple resources.
3. Right-click and select Edit Multiple. The Edit Multiple Resources screen opens.
4. Check the Billing Group check box.
5. Select the billing group to assign to the resources from the Billing Group drop-down.
6. Click OK.

Configure the Payment Schedules to Use Billing Groups

You can add billing groups to existing payment schedules or you can create a new payment schedule to use billing groups. The steps below assume you are creating a new payment schedule. See Payment Plans for more details on each available field.

1. Click the Payment Schedules link from the Main Menu. The Payment Schedule screen opens.
2. Click the Add button. The Add Payment Schedule screen opens.
3. Enter the necessary information for the payment plan. 
4. Click the Save (disk) button.
5. Select the Payment Schedule Steps tab.
6.  Click the Add button. The Add Payment Schedule Steps screen opens.
7. Select Use Groups from the Type/Amount drop-down.
8. Enter the additional information for the payment plan step.
9. Click the Save (disk) button.
10. Select the Groups tab. 
11. Click the Add button. The Add Payment Schedule Billing Group screen opens.
12. Enter the necessary information:
    • Billing Group - Billing group to invoice with the step.
    • Type - Determines how to invoice the billing group for the step.
      • Fixed - The billing group is invoiced using the amount entered into the Amt/Pct field.
      • Fixed Percent - The billing group is invoiced using the fixed percentage entered into the Amt/Pct field of the total for all billing group items.
      • Percent - The billing group is invoiced using the percentage entered into the Amt/Pct field of the total for all the billing group items.
      • Remainder - The remaining amount for the billing group is invoiced. Best practise is to use this for the pre Event and Actual payment plan step to include any order changes.
13. Repeat steps 11 and 12 for each billing group to invoice with the step.
14. Click OK.

When using the payment plan on an event with items assigned to the billing group(s), the payment plan step(s) uses the billing group configuration to calculate the amount due for the payment plan step(s).