Meter Setup and Examples

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This is the crucial component of setting up a contract and determines how the customer will be invoiced.

 

Stock must be set up prior to adding meters, including macro descriptions on the Contracts tab.

 

Example Macros

{{Project.Meter.Counter Name" "}}{{"Last Read – "Project.Meter.Job.Previous Job.Meter Read" "}}{{"Last Estimated Read – "Project.Meter.Job.Previous Job.Estimated Meter Read" "}}{{Project.Meter.Job.Previous Job.Date Due" "}}{{"Current Read – "Project.Meter.Job.Meter Read" "}}{{"Estimated Read – "Project.Meter.Job.Estimated Meter Read" "}}{{"Prints – "Project.Meter.Job.Qty" "}}{{"Estimated Prints – "Project.Meter.Job.Estimated Qty" "}}

 

Quality

As the meter setup cannot be easily changed after transactions have commenced, it is strongly recommended that a couple of different contracts be fully set up and tested in the training database to ensure the desired outcomes are obtained.

 

Go to the Meter Setup tab on the contract and commence adding as follows:

 

mach1 meter setup

1.Meter ID – Automatically populated by the system.

2.Meter Name – Enter name for this meter.

Note: if using the Description Macros, this will appear on the invoice.

3.Meter Type – Determines how the meter functions (choose from drop down list).

 

Meter Type

Description

Min Charge

The minimum charge for each billing cycle. For example, if this is $40 and the copy counts come to $20, the invoice will show Min Charge of $20 and Copy Count of $40

Base Charge

A base charge, for example, rental, that is independent of the copy count.

2nd Party Billing

This is the second part of a linked meter for charging part to the customer and part to a 2nd party, for example an uplift component. It is not used where the whole of the meter is being billed to someone other than the Cust# detailed on the contract.

Black

The black meter.

Colour

The colour meter.

Total (Linked)

The total of two linked meters (see below).

A4 Ratio

Used when calculating a Total Black (Calculated), Total Colour (Calculated) or Total Calculated meter. This allows an A3 meter to be provided a heavier weighting, such as 1.5 or 2 pages when compared to an A4 page. Also used in three tier colour coverage.

 

Note: This field must be populated.

4.Billing Stock Code - The billing stock associated with this meter. Billing stock interprets the meter reads and calculates the resultant charge that will appear on the invoice. All billing stock must be created prior to commencing meter setup.

5.Service Stock Code - The service stock associated with this meter. Every billing meter must have a corresponding but different code to record the meter reading when a service job is completed.

mach1 service meter

6.Customer To Invoice – The customer who is paying for this meter reading. By default, it will be the Cust# already set on this contract but it can be changed to a second party.

7.Current Meter Count – Automatically populated from job.

8.Start Meter Read – The reading that this meter will start from when the next billing cycle is run.

9.Rate TF – Rate the customer is charged per copy in dollars and cents – excluding GST.

10.Rate TP – Rate the customer is charged per copy in dollars and cents – including GST. Only one or the other is required to be entered.

11.Free Counts - The number of free page counts per billing cycle.

12.Last Billed By – Automatically populated from job.

13.Hide On Invoice – Tick if the billing stock is to be hidden on the invoice.

14.Hide Service – Tick if the service stock is to be hidden on the invoice.

15.Linked Meter – Where two or more meters form part of the same billing function, they are joined by entering the Meter ID of the first function of the group in the Linked Meter field – this will then automatically change the Meter ID of that row to match the meter of the first function.

 

Repeat the process for each additional meter.

 

Info

Use Create Similar to speed up the entry process.

 

mps create similar

 

Further along you will see the following fields that are normally populated from the contract header:

 

On Day

Select a particular day for which billing is due, ie. 1st of the month, 15th of the month.

 

Next Bill

Scheduled date of next billing. This will be automatically updated after the first billing cycle. This field can be changed if required.

 

Info

Note: If the Next Bill date is after the 28th of the month, you will be required to enter a value in the On Day field as well. This will allow Jim2 to correctly deal with shorter months when advancing the next bill date. This also applies to the meter setup.

 

Further information

Standard B&W and Colour Cost per Copy Contract

Print Management Plans

PMP Contract with Quarterly Bi-Annually Yearly Overs Reconciliation

Simple Meter Examples

3 Tier Colour Coverage

Advanced Meter Setup

Base Charge

Base Charge and Base Rate

Black A3 and Black A4 Meter Min Volume Over the Two Meters

Black A3 and Separate A4 Meter

Clawback Meters

Contract with Total Meter

Estimate Meter Reads

Free, Prepaid Block and Page Billing

Minimums Examples

PMP Plan Meter Setup

Split Meter Setups

Unders and Overs Meter Setup