Option Charges

OPTIONAL CHARGES

The Option Charges subwindow is used to examine and edit Optional and Mandatory Charges that are not defined as "taxes" (Optional charges that are defined as taxes appear on the "Other Charges Subwindow").

To access the Optional Charges Window, type C (RET) at the "OPTION:" field on the Main Window. An example of the window is illustrated below:

OPTION: ___ OPTIONAL & MANDATORY CHARGES Page: 1

Option Qty Days/Rate Weeks/Rate Mths/rate Xdys/Rate Hrs/Rate Charge
1 CHILDSEAT 1 5/5.00 1/30.00 */* */* */* 55.00
2 BOXES 5 */2.50 */* */* */* */* 10.00
3 LDW 1 12/15.99 */* */* */* */* 191.88
4 SLI 1 12/7.99 */* */* */* */* 95.88
5 DRIVR 1 14/15.00 */* */* */* */* 210.00
6 APCONFEE 1 */2.5 */* */* */* */* 5.88

F2 NEXT 4 F4 PREV 4

Data is displayed in the columns as follows:

OPTION	The Option Codes for the items being charged are shown in the first column.
QUANTITY	For those items that can be sold in quantity, the quantity is shown here. Otherwise, a "1" is displayed. Additional Driver Exception: Because of the unique way that charges for multiple additional drivers are calculated, the quantity for the additional driver option will always be "1" -- even if 2 or more additional drivers on the RA. When additional drivers are added to a RA, the date and time is recorded. The additional driver fee is effective at the time the driver is entered -- which may be several days after it opens. Therefore, all the days are added together for all additional drivers. In the example above, note that there are 14 chargeable days (on a 12-day rental) because the second additional driver was added on the 10th day of the rental. Additional driver option is the only option that is computed this way. If a child seat was added on the 10th day of the rental to a 12-day RA, the child seat would be charged for all 12 days. Minimum Days Exception: A field in the Option Rates program allows an option to be defined as chargeable for a minimum number of days. When the option is applied to a RA, and the minimum number of days is not met, the quantity for that option will be the minimum number of days charge from the Option Rate file. Therefore, if the minimum days charge is 4 days, but the RA is only for 2 days, the quantity for that option will be 4 days.
DAYS/RATE	This column shows the number of days for which the item is charged. If the item is not charged on a daily basis (i.e., percentage or flat fee), an asterisk (*) is displayed. After the slash, the rate is also displayed. Remember that options can either be charged on a per day basis, as a one time amount, per item, or as a percentage of other items. Additionally, options can be set up to be requoted at Close using the effective rate on the closing date of the RA rather than the opening date.
WEEKS/ MONTHS/ XDAY	For those options that are charged on a daily basis, weekly, monthly and extra day charges can also be established. If those are applicable, they will display in these columns.
HOURS	Some options have a rate for extra chargeable hours as well as simply an hourly rate. If applicable, the rate will display in this column..
CHARGE	These fields are used for calculating the charges for optional charges and mandatory charges. The following rules relate to the editing of these fields: Rates for the options are set up in the Edit Optional Item Rates program and are flagged there as being editable or not. If a rate is editable and the option has been selected by entering a "C" in Column 2, the cursor will advance to the rate column where it can be edited. However, the amount of the edit to the option rate may be restricted by a percentage field in the User Access record. If the restriction is in place and the edit is greater than the percentage restriction, the following message will display: RATE CANNOT BE EDITED TO LOWER THAN XXXX (where XXXX is the lowest possible rate allowed by the percentage restriction.) If the option rate is not editable; the cursor will not access the rate column. Those users who have been given authorization in the User Access File to delete mandatory charges can remove these charges by using the "F3" key in the appropriate fields. For the automatic option charges of additional driver and underage driver, if multiple charges should be made, the days column will display the total number of chargeable days and the rate fields will display the charge per day or per unit. For example, if the additional driver rate is $10 per day, there are 2 additional drivers, and the contract was for 4 days, the chargeable days would be 8 days and the per day rate will display as $10 -making a charge of $80.00. When an additional driver is added sometime after the contract opens, only the days from that point until the close of the contract are chargeable days. If a quantity field on a time sensitive charge (amount per day) is edited, pressing the "F4" key afterwards will cause the quantity to revert back to its pre-edited value.

Gas Surcharge Calculation: A unique method is used for this particular Option (reserved option code GASSR.). The rate set up for the Option is multiplied by the elapsed mileage. An example of the Gas Surcharge is illustrated below.

OPTION: ___ OPTIONAL & MANDATORY CHARGES Page: 1

Option Qty Days/Rate Weeks/Rate Mths/rate Xdys/Rate Hrs/Rate Charge
1 GAS SRCHG 1 581/.05 */* */* */* */* 29.05
2

Note that the elapsed mileage is shown under the "Days" column. The charge of $29.05 is the result of multiplying 581 miles by the rate of $.05.

Adding Additional Charges at the Time of Close

New options can be added from the Closing screen by pressing Shifted F/5 while the cursor is at the C Subwindow's Option field (Options can also be added in the Main Window if the system is so configured in Edit Misc Control Fields). This will call the Option Pop-Up window and additional options can be selected via that screen (see RA Open chapter for instructions on this window). Note that options can be linked. When an option (referred to as the "main" option) has another one linked to it, adding the main option causes the linked option to be added also. If the main option is removed, the linked option is also removed. The linked option can be removed only by removing the main option. To add a Miscellaneous change go to the E subwindow.

Note: If the damage report logic is being used, the damage option cannot be manually removed from a contract in this subwindow. It must be done through the Damage Entry program.