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Billing Checks and Bill Runs for Ad-Hoc Charges in essensys Operate
Billing Checks and Bill Runs for Ad-Hoc Charges in essensys Operate

The Entire Process of Performing Billing Checks and Going through a Bill Run for Ad-Hoc Charges in essensys Operate

Stuart avatar
Written by Stuart
Updated over a week ago

Billing checks are necessary in order to ensure that everything is correct before you go through a bill run. The steps in this guide apply when you bill ad-hoc and fixed, separately from recurring charges. An example use case for this type of billing check would be when you need to invoice clients for one-off charges for products and services; such as for a meeting room booking.

Performing Billing Checks for Ad-Hoc Charges

Before starting your Bill Run for ad-c charges, you need to make sure that all of the charges that will be picked up are correct. Here is a checklist of what to look into:

  • The Unbilled Charges Report - You can find it under Reports > Charge Sheet Reports > Unbilled Charges. Use the report options to filter the data you might need. You can choose to run the report by Organization, Client Type, Location or Account. Choose the billing period and accounts according to your current needs and check what you need from the Product Groups section. Run the report and you should see whether there are any unbilled charges. If the report does not show all of the charges you expect to see, then check your charge sheets and add new ones as needed. 

  • Batch Sheets - To check your batch sheets, go to Charges > Batch Sheets. Click on the Batch Date column header once to sort the column by date. Scroll down the column and check the date range that the Batch Sheets cover, make a note of the earliest and latest dates. If you do not see the Batch Date column, edit your list view and add the field.  

  • Next, select each batch that you need to check and click the pencil icon next to it. This will allow you to edit the batch as needed. Scroll down and check that there are no lines with a zero value under the Unit Price column. This would prevent the whole batch from being transferred. Edit other details as necessary.

  • Make sure that the batch sheet is completed and approved - the checkboxes corresponding to these respective options will need to be ticked. 

  • WARNING: If batch dates are not within the period that you are billing for, your batch sheet will not be transferred for billing. The same occurs if the batch sheet is unapproved.

  • Meeting Rooms and Workspaces - Check your meeting bookings from within the Calendars tab. Filter for your location and group as needed or leave all locations and groups unfiltered to see all bookings at a glance. Select the Monthly view of your calendar and make sure that all of the bookings have a Confirmed status. Unconfirmed bookings (Unassigned, Provisional and Cancelled) will not be billed.    

  • Draft invoices - Go to Invoicing > Draft invoices and make sure that the invoices that correspond to your billing period are final and have been approved. First, click the Due date column header once, to sort your invoices by due date. Look over the ones that fit within your billing period and check the ones that are still in draft. Make any needed changes and approve the drafts so that they can be billed. (If you do not see the Due Date or Invoice Status columns, filter your list view and add the fields.) If any draft invoices should not be billed, you can leave them as-is or delete them.                        

The Bill Run Process for Ad-Hoc Charges

Once you have performed your billing check and you are sure that everything is correct, you are ready to go through the bill run.

  • Start by going to Invoicing > Bill Run. This will take you to Operate's bill run wizard.

  • Click Start Bill Run.

  • Select your Location.

  • Under Ad-Hoc Charges, make sure that both the charge sheets and Batch Sheets\Reservations checkboxes are checked.

  • Under Recurring Charges, uncheck both contract services and rent. Optionally, save these options as a template that you can use during future bill runs. Click Next when you are ready to proceed.  

  • Select Charge Sheets by first choosing a date range for charge sheets - we suggest selecting the 'Up Till Now' option if this is your first bill run  For future bill runs, we suggest selecting the period that has passed since your last bill run. There are preset intervals already available and you can also set a custom date range. Next, select the customers you want to bill. You can choose to bill your entire customer base at once; or choose specific accounts. 

  • Select Batch Sheets/Bookings by selecting a date range as well. Typically, this date range should coincide with the one you have selected for charge sheets. Select customers - Once again, this should be the same as for charge sheets; then select a batch . You can choose to bill one specific batch of charges, or more, depending on what you need. 

  • Complete the Bill Run - You can choose whether to run the Bill Run in the background and be notified when it has completed, or wait on screen while it runs. By default it will run in the background. Deselect the check box if you would prefer to stay on the page while it runs. Please read the on-screen warnings to make sure that nothing unintended occurs. Click the Finish button when you are ready.   

If you choose to let the Bill Run take place in the background, you will receive an email and be notified on screen when it has completed, along with a link to view your Draft Invoices.

  • If you do not choose to run the process in the background, you will be asked whether you want to display draft invoices after transfer. This will take you to the invoice preview screen right after the bill run completes, without sending you any notification.

  • Once you start the Bill Run process, Operate will show the screen below. You do not need to stay on the page - you can navigate away from it and perform other tasks within any area of Operate, including another bill run.  The system will not slow down while processing. You will be notified by email and on-screen when it is done.  

  • You will then see a list and preview of all of your invoices. You can select each invoice and make sure that they are correct and are numbered consecutively, taking into account the prefixes that you have configured. 

  • If you are happy with how it all looks, set a Due Date and Invoice Date, then click Approve All to approve your invoices. 

  • Once approved, your invoices are ready to be sent to your customers. If you have a few invoices and want to send them manually, you can select each one and use the Print or Email buttons to either open a print window or an email editor respectively.

  • If you have a large amount of invoices, you can use the Automatic Invoice Production button, which will either print or email invoices, according to the preference set on each customer's account. If the invoice will be emailed, your customer will receive an email (read more on how to configure this email). If the invoice will be printed, you will see separate browser tabs which will allow you to print the invoice for each customer who prefers so. 

  • Click Close when you have finished your bill run process. 

  • All approved invoices will now be available under Invoicing > Invoices.

If for any reason you need to go through the Bill Run again, it will not duplicate the draft invoices that have already been generated. 

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