Cost Processing

Costs can be allocated to a Job based on the equipment that is currently dispatched and assigned to the Job. The system will also process costs against a Job. This means that there is a cost of having a piece of equipment on the Job. An opportunity cost exists for not being able to have the equipment on another Job, and the company can process a recovery for maintenance costs, depreciation, etc. against that equipment. The system has a routine which can go through and look at all the items allocated to a Job and assign a cost value for the days that the equipment is on the Job. This provides a more accurate profitability of that project.

The processing of the cost is initiated by a user when they login Eralis Job. They will then receive a prompt asking if the user would like to post costs. The system will go through and process the costs for all the Jobs since the last time the processing was carried out. When the system posts the costs, it will post a consolidated line against the Job per Subjob cost center and GL code combination. A journal entry is processed for the costs which will debit the work-in-progress and credit a designated recovery account. This recovery account is marked on the Rental Equipment Master and the user can identify which account needs to be used.

Costs are calculated and posted daily, and each cost rate is specified on the Rental Equipment Master. When setting up the Rental Equipment Master, there is a cost rate and a cost frequency. The cost frequency is there to define how the value of the cost is made up. It relates to the time period associated to the cost. The system will then convert the cost rate to a daily rate when posting the costs.

For example, if a user specifies that it is a cost of $700 on a weekly basis, the system will look at their definition of that weekly frequency and convert the value into a daily rate. With the system set to $700 for a weekly value, it will charge $100 a day for that piece of equipment.

The processing will always be done daily but when the cost is defined, the user can choose which rate and which period that particular cost is related to. The system will then convert it back to a daily cost rate.