Accrual Report

How CARS+ Accounts for RA Revenue

All revenue on a RA is attributed to the DBR date on the RA. When a RA is closed "on line" (using the RA Close program), the closing date and the DBR date are the same. When a RA is closed using Batch Close, the closing date and the DBR date may be different. For example, a RA that was Batch Closed February 1 with a closing date of January 31 will have a DBR date of February 1 (the day the data was entered in the Batch RA Close program.)

Let's consider a RA that opens January 16 and closes February 2 (with a DBR date of February 2). It will have all of the revenue for the RA attributed to February. Although 15 days of the RA were in January and only 2 in February, ALL of the revenue posts to February when the the Accounting DBR for February 2 is posted.

There are two ways of looking at this type of situation:

1. Some operations feel that the number of RAs spanning the end of the month is about the same each month, so they do not bother to make an accrued revenue entry for accounting.

2. Other operations want to be sure to match the revenue 'earned' in each month to the expenses incurred each month. To do that, they must do an entry in the accounting records for the revenue accrued at the end of the month. (Revenue earned, but not yet booked.) This is the purpose behind the Accrual Report - to determine the amount of that revenue.

Use this program to:

Produce a report that accrues revenue on all RAs that are open or unposted as of the end of a specified period.
The option is available to generate this report for all RAs, just RAs involving tour vouchers, or all RAs except those involving tour vouchers.
RAs are sorted by their opening locations thus providing estimated earnings for each rental office.

Due to the way CARS+ accesses the RA file, this program can be executed days, weeks or even months after the end of a period.

A CSV file can be created from this program. If run in summary mode, a row is written for each GL account for all RAs summed together.

Each entry on the report is identified by a "Type" number which refers to the calculations for accrued revenue. The Type numbers are:

1. Type 1

Type 1 RAs are those opened prior to the period end and are still open at the time of running the report. For these, the following calculation is used:

a. Revenue calculations are made using the expected return date and time as the closing date.

b. Using the range from the Open Date/Time to the expected Return Date/Time as the total life of the RA, the program calculates the fraction of the total life which elapsed from the Open Date to the report's Period End Date/Time.

c. Finally, the revenue calculated in Step (1a) is multiplied by the fraction arrived at in Step (1b) to produce the estimated revenue accrued through the end of the period.

2. Type 2

Type 2 RAs are those that were opened prior to the period end but were closed before running this report.The actual closing revenues are used for Step (1a).

3. Type 3

Type 3 RAs are those that have a Closing Date in one period and a DBR Date in a following period. For example, if a customer returns the rental car after hours on the evening of the last day of the period, it is possible that the RA involved could have a closing date in one period and its DBR Date in the next period. In this case the entire revenues from the closed RA will appear on the Accrual Report while the actual revenue will be posted in the following period.

4. Type 4

Type 4 RAs are closed RAs with pending (incomplete) insurance vouchers. These RAs are ineligible for posting until either the voucher is completed or deleted.

Other calculations:

A RA might have its expected Return Date before the Period End but it is overdue and, therefore, still open at the time the Accrual Report is run. In this case, the choice is to either accrue the revenue through to the end of the period or calculate only through to the promised return date (Field 5). In addition, some of the overdue RAs may be defined as "Questionable" by CARS+. If the choice is to accrue the overdue revenue, the choice can be refined even further to include overdue revenue only if it is not questionable (Field 7).
RAs that involve revenue splits (one way rentals to or from non-owned locations) are handled as described above without regard to adjusting accruals due to revenue splits.

This report may be configured to run automatically at night. Contact Thermeon's Customer Support Dept. for further information.

To access this program: To access the Accrual Report, type ACCRUE(RET) at any menu "OPTION:"field or the appropriate line number on the Month End Menu. The screen will then display:

OPTION: __ ACCRUAL REPORT

1 End Date 04-20-16
2 End Time 1159P
3 Location ALL
4 Detail/Summary D
5 Incl Overdue Revenue N
6 Incl Mileage Revenue N
7 Extend Questionable RA N
8 Print/Display/CSV P
9 Printer PDF
10 Create File? N
11 Detail Type 1
12 Incl Open Lease RA's N
13 Class ALL
14 Incl Cross Boarder N

1BEGIN 2 3 4 5BACKUP 6 7HELP 8

Enter data as follows:

1. END DATE

Using the selected date format, enter the Ending Accrual Date. All time sensitive revenues are accrued on open RAs up to this date. Press RET to default to today's date.

EXAMPLE: Type 033116 (RET)

2. END TIME

Using the selected time format, enter the Ending Accrual Time. Press RET to default to one minute before midnight.

EXAMPLE: Type 1159P (RET)

3. LOCATION

Enter:

Up to 6 alphanumeric characters to select a single location where RAs were opened.
A Group Name representing several locations (see the Chapter Edit Group Names for a discussion on location groups).Remember, the first character of a Group Name is the plus sign "+".
Press RETURN to default to ALL locations.

Note: User access may limit the locations for this report. If access is restricted andan attempt is made to enter a location or location group which is outside the allowed parameters, the following message will display at the bottom of the screen and the selection will be ignored:

RESTRICTED REPORT LOCATION

EXAMPLE: Type TUS (RET)

4. DETAIL/
SUMMARY

Select the report format.

D = Detailed Report, one row for each RA

S = Summary Report, a row is written for each GL account for all RAs summed together.

EXAMPLE: Type D (RET)

5. INCL OVERDUE
REVENUE

Indicate whether or not the report is to include revenue earned after the return date and time specified in the open R/A.

Y = Yes, include overdue revenue.

N = No, do not include overdue revenue.

EXAMPLE: Type Y (RET)

NOTE: This feature can be further restricted by Field 13.

6. INCL MILEAGE REVENUE

Mileage revenue can be included on RAs that fall under Types 2 and 3. There is no way to estimate mileage charges on a Type 1 RA.

Indicate whether or not the report is to include revenue from mileage for Type 2 and 3 RAs.

Y = Yes, include mileage revenue.

N = No, do not include mileage revenue.

EXAMPLE: Type Y (RET)

7. EXTEND QUESTIONABLE RA

If overdue revenue is to be included (Field 5), enter 1 alpha character to indicate whether or not the report is to include the overdue revenue if it is on a "questionable" RA.

Y = Yes, include questionable RAs in the overdue revenue.

N = No, do not include overdue revenue from "questionable" RAs.

EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)

8. PRINT/
DISPLAY/CSV

Enter:

P = Print a hard copy of this report on your terminal's assigned printer or send it as an e-mail. See the Edit Terminal Records chapter for instructions on how to assign printers and send reports as e-mails.

D = Display this report on your terminal screen. See the General Data Entry Instructions chapter on how to control the screen display.

C = CSV. In order to get the CSV file, field 9 below must be set to a value that causes the output to be opened or saved as a file. For most users, the value of CSV or EDITOR will work for this purpose. The current CARS+ Report Printer setting is displayed and may be changed in the next field. Please refer to the chapter for Edit Terminal Records or Change User Environment for more information on setting up printing to a file and/or opening a file in the default program for that file. If run in summary mode, a row is written for each GL account for all RAs summed together.

EXAMPLE: Type P (RET)

9. PRINTER

This field defaults to the printer that will be used if either "P" or "C" is requested in the Print/Display/CSV field above. Examples are PDF (for printing to PDF), CSV (for receiving the CSV file) or /dev/tty (for printing directly to a printer).

Ask Thermeon’s Customer Support Dept. for details.

EXAMPLE: Press (RET)

10. CREATE FILE?

This field causes a CSV file to be written to disk. It is independent of the CSV option in field 9 above.

Enter:

N = No, there is no need to create a CSV file.

Y = Yes, create a CSV file. It will be comma delimited and have rows that match the printed report. One row will be exported for each RA.

D = Create the same CSV file produced by "Y" above plus with additional columns attached at the end of each record for every item defined in the Optional Items File. (Example:Time, Mileage, Drop, Discount, LDW, PAI, Additional Driver, etc.) Under this mode:

The first revenue column of these additional columns is "TIME"

The second column is "Mile"

The next columns are reductions to time (Discounts, Customer Service Adjustments, Promos)

The "L" type (LDW) options are next with each option in a separate column.

The "C" type (coverage) options are next. Again, each option is in a separate column.

All other options are next, each in a separate column.

The ASCII file can be created in both the Print or Display modes.

The name of the file will contain the Location Code or Location Group Code.

EXAMPLE: Press (RET)

The CSV file will be written to a subdirectory called "accrl" under the CARS+ base installation directory and the file name will be in the format:

LLLLLL_YYYYMMDDHHMM.csv

where:

LLLLLL = Default location of user who ran the report

YYYYMMDDHHMM = the End Date and End Time entered into fields 1 and 2 of the report.

User tip: For Thermeon Customers other than Hertz Canada, if the report is run in detail mode, the ASCII file will be in detail (data for each RA). If the report is run in Summary mode, the ASCII file will be in summary. For Hertz Canada, the ASCII file is always in summary mode.

11. DETAIL TYPE

Select the report format for printed reports. Because of the limited size of a standard sheet of paper, not all accrual data can print for each RA. This field allows the user to select the type of data to be included on a printed report. This field is meaningless when a csv file output is selected as there is not the same column limitation in that output.

1 = Revenue format, columns of accrued revenue will print for specific options or option types.

2 = RA format, more detail on the RA will print. Only a single column of total accrued revenue will print.

The formats are described in detail in the "Reading the Accrual Report" section below.

EXAMPLE: Press (RET)

12. INCL OPEN LEASE RA'S

Enter:

Y = Yes, include lease RAs

N = No, do not include lease RAs

EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)

13. CLASS

Enter:

Up to 4 alphanumeric characters to report a single vehicle class.
A vehicle Class Group code representing several classes. (see the chapter Edit Class Groups for a discussion on vehicle class groups). Remember, the first character of a Class Group code is the plus sign "+".
Press RETURN to accept ALL vehicle classes.

EXAMPLE: Type MVAR (RET)

14. INCL CROSS BOARDER

This field is active only for Hertz users in Canada.

On overdue rentals, a "Yes" in Field 5 above tells the Accrual Report not use the expected due in date and time but rather accrue revenue right up to the moment that the report is run. Field 13 puts a limit on this logic. If an RA is overdue and it's anticipated check in location is a US city rather than a Canadian location, this field control how it's revenue will be accrued. Enter:

Y = YES, accrue revenue on overdue rentals bound for US location up through the current system date and time.

N = NO, only accrue revenue on overdue rentals bound for the US through to the expected return date and time.

EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)

The screen will then display:

OPTION: __ ACCRUAL REPORT

1 End Date 03-31-16
2 End Time 1159P
3 Location TUS
4 Detail/Summary D
5 Incl Overdue Mevenue Y
6 Incl Mileage Mevenue Y
7 Extend Questionable RA N
8 Print/Display/CSV P
9 Printer PDF
10 Create File? N
11 Detail Type 1
12 Incl Open Lease RA's N
13 Class MVAR
14 Oncl Cross Boarder N

1BEGIN 2 3 4 5BACKUP 6 7HELP 8

PRESS "F1" AT THE "OPTION:" TO BEGIN PRINTING.

READING THE ACCRUAL REPORT

The following notes refer to the data columns on the printed report. The first 7 columns are the same regardless of whether Detail Type 1 or Type 2 is chosen.

RA#	Rental agreement number. RAs that have been flagged as "Questionable" are indicated by a question mark. See the Introduction to the RA Menu for further discussion on "Questionable" RAs.
Out Date/Time	Opening date and time
Return Date/Time	For RAs that are still open, this is the expected return date. For RAs that have been closed since the period end date, this is the actual date and time the RA closed.
Type Code	Type Codes are identified on the header of the report.They correspond to the first three conditions outlined on Page 1 of this chapter.Overdue RAs are considered Type 1.
Days	Number of days that have elapsed between the Open Date/Time and the Period End Date/Time.
Percent	Ratio between the elapsed days from the previous column and the total life of the RA expressed as a percentage.This percentage is used by the program to calculate the revenue figures.For each RA, the program calculates an estimate of the rental charges (as can be done from the RA Open screen using the "F8" key.)It then multiplies the estimated revenue by the percent of time that has elapsed as of the requested date.For example, if the RA has an estimated Time revenue of $100 (2 days at $40 a day plus 2 extra chargeable hours at $10 an hour) and 75 percent of the time has elapsed as of the requested accrual date and time, then $75.00 is shown as the Time accrual.
Time	Accrued time revenue and mileage/kms.(Mileage/kms is accrued if charged on closed RAs)

The remainder of the columns are as follows:

Detail type 1

LDW	Accrued revenue from LDW and an LDW buy-down.
Other Coverage	Accrued revenue from coverages other than LDW
Fuel	Fuel charges either assessed on an exchange, Fuel purchase option,or fuel assessed at Close on Type 2 and 3 RAs.
Drop	Accrued drop charges.
Miscellaneous	Accrued revenue from optional charges where the "Report As Revenue" field in the Edit Optional Items file is set to "N".
Option	Accrued revenue from optional charges (other than the ones with special columns such as LDW) where the "Report As Revenue" field in the Edit Optional Items file is either blank or "Y". Options whose Report as Revenue field is set to "X" are excluded from the report all together.
Total	The total of all accrued revenue.
Wsale	Accrued time and mileage revenue covered by insurance vouchers or tour vouchers.

Detail type 2

Wsale Rev	Accrued time and mileage revenue covered by insurance vouchers or tour vouchers.
Veh Class	Vehicle Class
Src Code	Source Code on the RA
RA Type	Type Code on the RA
Rate Prod	Rate Code on the RA
Rate	For tiered rates, the appropriate tier rate based on the length of the rental; for non-tiered rates, the daily rate.
Disc %	Discount percentage from the RA
Total	Total of the accrued Time plus the accrued Wholesale less accrued discount.

Hertz Australia version - For Hertz users in Australia, the variations have been made:

1. Columns are formatted as follows

Discounted T & M

All "L" type coverages

Prepaid Fuel

VRR

ACFR

Other (all other options that are defined as to be "reported as revenue" in the Optional Items File.

2. When run in detail mode:

The out date and return date columns show the day in full (including the year)

Subtotals are not shown for each location; instead only a grand total is shown.

3. When run in summary mode:

Subtotals by transaction type are not shown; instead the total number of RAs is shown.

The locations are listed in alphanumeric order according to their location code.

General Ledger and Financial Statements:

Totals from this report do not automatically interface with General Ledger. To have accrued revenue appear on your financial reports, you must make the appropriate journal entry in your General Ledger.

Alternate Version

An alternate version of the csv file applies to a specific client and is activated when the GVT code SAPUAE is in place. This version does the following:

The accrual ratio is applied separately to each item in a RA Charge row.

When run in detail mode, the revenue on each RA individual RA is exported to the csv file as follows:

Field #	Field Description	Value
A		The characters up to the first comma in the alpha field of the GVT record SAPUAE
B		The characters between the first and second commas in the alpha field of the GVT record SAPUAE
C	Report date	System date in format: CCYYMMDD
D	DBR date	The report cut off date in format: CCYYMMDD
E		The characters after the second comma in the alpha field of the GVT record SAPUAE
F	Cust # and Trx #	Customer number, a hyphen, the RA number
G	Reference Number	RA number
H	Debit/Credit	Accrued amount from a RACHRG row; if greater than zero, "50"; otherwise "40"
I	Posting Ref #	First 6 characters of the GL account for the RACHRG option code
J	Amount	Accrued amount without a plus or minus sign
K		If the 7th character of the GL account for the RACHRG option code is 'x', the value here is "C"; otherwise "P"
L		The characters up to the first comma in the alpha field of the GVT record SAPUAE plus the last 3 digits of the GL posting reference of the AR distribution account number.
M		The word "ACCRUE", a hyphen, the GL account number, a hyphen, the description from the GL Account

In addition to a row for each GL account in a RACHRG row, a balancing debit row is written to balance out the total for the sum of each RA. The balancing account is taken from the numeric field of the GVT record SAPUAE.

WARNING CONCERNING COMPARING REPORTS

The Accrual Report can only use the data available to it at the time it is run, and as that data can and does change, that makes this report a “point in time” report. It’s only accurate as of the moment you run it. There is no way you can even attempt to compare a report using the same cut-off date but run on different dates. The more time that elapses between the two reports, the further apart they will be. Basically, for the Accrual Report, you just have to decide how long to wait after your cut-off date before running it. The longer you wait before running it, the greater the chance that “problem” RAs will have been resolved and the more accurate it will be. The
“problem” RAs aren’t just the type 1 RAs, any closed or close/posted RA can be edited to change the return date, add or remove a charge, a discount or whatever that will result in a change to the revenue on that RA. Accrual
reports run before and after that edit will be different. So, all you can do is pick the amount of delay between your cut-off date and the day you run the report, then run the report and don’t look back. Because things can and do change — especially on open RAs, — accrued revenue is always, at best, an educated guess.