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Overview

Brokerage Programs are used to accrue brokerage expenses to the general ledger as well as make entries to a subsidiary payable ledger. When a transaction that contains a brokerage program is posted, a journal entry is created to Debit the Brokerage Expense account and Credit the Brokerage Payable account. The Credit is added to the Brokerage Settlement tables. Then, at a later date, someone can review the brokerage payables and approve them for payment via the Settlements page in the Sales Programs module. When a brokerage payment is approved one of two things happens: 1) an AP Invoice is created so a check can be cut on the next check run or 2) an AR Credit Memo is created that can offset an AR balance due.

Prerequisites

Required Prerequisites

  • Program Class Setup
    • To assign to the Sales Program for categorical purposes.
  • Item Set Setup
    • Item Sets contain groups of items that are part of the Brokerage Program.
  • Customer Address Setup
    • Brokerage Programs are assigned to one or more customer addresses.
  • UOM Setup
    • To assign the UOM for any brokerage rate set to a calculation of $/UOM.
  • Account Setup
    • If the Brokerage Programs accounting rules are set to Use Item Debit Accounts, Use Item Credit Accounts, or Specify Both Accounts, a GL Account must be manually select to determine the debit and/or credit account for the accounting of the Brokerage Accrual, thus requiring that these accounts be setup.
  • Default Vendor Checkbook ID  
    • To assign the checkbook for the settlement transaction batch. 
  •  Payment Terms Setup
    • To assign payment terms to the settlement transactions.
    •  Payment terms are primarily retrieved from the vendor record and secondarily from the Sales Order Preference 'Default Payment Terms'. 

Optional Prerequisites

  • Set the ‘Enable Real Time Transaction Integration’ Sales Order preference to ‘Yes’
  • Set the ‘Summarize AP Documents by Vendor’ Sales Programs preference
    • Setting this preference to ‘Yes’ will summarize all settlements in a batch by Broker and send a single AP Invoice to the host system as opposed to sending individual AP Invoices for each Sales Transaction.
  • Set the ‘Summarize AR Documents by Customer’ Sales Programs preference
    • Setting this preference to ‘Yes’ will summarize all settlements in a batch to send a single AR Credit Memo to the host system per Customer as opposed to sending an AR Credit Memo for each settlement transaction for the same customer.
  • Customer or Vendor Setup
    • If the Settle To method is ‘AR Credit Memo’, a customer must be selected for the AR Credit Memo to be created for, thus requiring the customer is setup. However, if the Settle To method is ‘AP Invoice – Paid In Full Orders’ or ‘AP Invoice – All Orders’, a vendor must be selected for the AP Invoice to be created, thus requiring the vendor is setup.

Understanding the Data Flow

A Brokerage Sales Program will automatically be applied on any eligible Sales Order transaction, as determined by the program’s assigned Item Set(s), Customer Address(es), and date range, and will calculate automatically based on the program’s calculation method and rate for the applicable item set(s). When the Brokerage Sales Program is applied to a Sales Order transaction, it will not display as a line item on the invoice but it will create a separate journal entry with distributions for the brokerage determined by the Accounting Rules selection made on the Brokerage. The brokerage’s journal entry will be created when the corresponding invoice is saved as ready to post. In addition, the brokerage amount will create a settlement in the Sales Programs Settlement list view, to be settled in a separate step, most likely at a later date.

Step 1: Creating the Brokerage Sales Program

To create a Brokerage Sales Program, navigate to the Sales Programs module in NorthScope, open the Programs page, click the New toolbar icon, and select Brokerage.

This will open the ‘Sales Programs: New Brokerage’ window with the Brokerage ID automatically assigned based on the Sales Programs preference for ‘Next Program ID’.

Completing the Properties

When creating a new Brokerage Sales Program, the following base properties will display for data entry:

  • Description: Enter the description of the program. This will display in the Programs list view and will help differentiate the sales program from all other Brokerage programs. This field is displayed in the header section of the record. 
  • Program Class: Select the Program Class to assign to the Brokerage. This is for categorical purposes and the lookup will only include those program classes assigned a program type of ‘Brokerage’. This field is required.
  • From: Enter the date as of which the Brokerage is eligible. This field is required.
  • To: Enter the date as of which the Brokerage is no longer eligible.  This field is required.
  • Settle To: This field defaults to ‘AP Invoice – Paid in Full Orders’ but is editable for the user to select the method by which the brokerage is settled. The available options include ‘AP Invoice – All Orders’, ‘AP Invoice – Paid In Full Orders’, and ‘AR Credit Memo’. This field is required.
    • AP Invoice – All Orders: This option will create an AP Invoice when any of this brokerage’s settlements are paid. Because this option creates AP Invoices, the brokerage record will display a Vendor header field that is required to determine whom the brokerage’s settlement invoices are created for. This option will identify all settlement records, for transactions with this brokerage ‘Settle to’, flagged as eligible to pay regardless of whether or not the sales transaction has been paid in full by the customer.
    • AP Invoice – Paid In Full Orders: This option will create an AP Invoice when any of this brokerage’s settlements are paid. Because this option creates AP Invoices, the brokerage record will display a Vendor header field that is required to determine whom the brokerage’s settlement invoices are created for. This option will identify all settlement records, for transactions with this brokerage ‘Settle to’, flagged as eligible to pay only if the sales transaction has been paid in full by the customer..
    • AR Credit Memo: This option will create an AR Credit Memo when any of this brokerage’s settlements are paid. Because this option creates AR Credit Memos, the brokerage record will display a Customer header field that is required to determine whom the brokerage’s settlement credit memos are created for. This option will identify all settlement records, for transactions with this brokerage ‘Settle to’, flagged as eligible to pay only if the sales transaction has been paid in full by the customer. This option would most likely be used for bill backs.
  • Frequency: This field defaults to blank but displays a drop-down menu of options to determine the frequency the brokerage gets settled. The available options include Annually, As Needed, Monthly, Quarterly, and Weekly. This field is only used for information purpose and does not have any functionality tied to it.
  • Program Rate Currency: This field defaults to blank, but displays a drop-down menu of currencies configured in the system. This field is always required and cannot be edited after saving the program record. The currency determines the addresses displayed in the Addresses tab. Only customers with the corresponding currency are displayed in the Addresses tab and can be assigned to the program.
  • Assign Addresses By: This field defaults to Address and determines if the program is assigned to individual Addresses or Address sets. This field is required and cannot be edited after saving the program record. 

Once the base properties have been assigned and the program record is saved, the following properties are displayed:

  • Vendor/Customer: This field updates to display the correct entity type depending on the Settle To method selected. If the Settle To method is set to ‘AR Credit Memo’, this field will display Customer. If the Settle To method is set to ‘AP Invoice – All Orders’ or ‘AP Invoice – Paid In Full Orders’, this field will display Vendor. This field will display a lookup of all Customers for the user to select the Customer to which the AR Credit Memo will be created for settling the brokerage is created or this field will display a lookup of all Vendors for the user to select the Vendor to which the AP Invoice will be created for settling the brokerage.
  • Accounting Rules: This field is automatically updated based on the Debit/Expense Account and Credit/Accrual Account values selected. The field is never editable and displays one of the following values: 
    • Use Item Accounts: Will use the Brokerage Expense and Brokerage Accrual accounts of each individual item in the assigned Item Set(s) to account for the Brokerage via the journal entry created from the brokerage when the transaction is posted. This value is displayed when both Debit/Expense Account and Credit/Accrual Account are set to (From Item).
    • Use Item Debit Accounts: Will use the Brokerage Expense account of each individual item in the assigned Item Set(s) to account for the Brokerage’s expense and will use the selected account for the Credit/Accrual value to account for the Brokerage’s accrual.This value is displayed when the Credit/Accrual Account is set to other than (From Item). 
    • Use Item Credit Accounts: Will use the Brokerage Accrual account of each individual item in the assigned Item Set(s) to account for the Brokerage’s accrual and will use the selected account for the Debit/Expense value to account for the Brokerage’s expense. This value is displayed when the Debit/Expense account is set to other than (From Item).
    • Specify Both Accounts: Will use the selected account for the Debit/Expense value to account for the Brokerage’s expense for all items and will use the selected account for the Credit/Accrual value to account for the Brokerage’s accrual for all items. This value is displayed when both Debit/Expense Account and Credit/Accrual Account are set to other than (From Item). 
  • Debit/Expense Account: This field defaults to (From Item), but is always editable. The drop-down menu displays all active GL Accounts configured in the system. This field determines the debit account for the program settlement. 
  • Credit/Accrual Account: This field defaults to (From Item), but is always editable. The drop-down menu displays all active GL Accounts configured in the system. This field determines the credit account for the program settlement.
  • Inactive: This field allows users to inactivate the program. When the program is set to inactive, it is not assigned to Sales Order transactions. 

Once completing the header fields, click Save.

Then, assign the Item Set(s) eligible for the Brokerage.

Assigning Item Sets

To assign an item set, open the Item Sets tab within the Sales Program record and click the New grid toolbar icon.

This will open a single line item for data entry with the following fields:

  • Seq: This field defaults to the next number in the sequence and is not immediately editable. However, once the Item Sets tab is saved, each Item Set can be dragged and dropped into the correct order of hierarchy.
  • Item Set: Select the Item Set to assign to the brokerage. Duplicate Item Sets are not allowed to be assigned to the same sales program. This field will display a drop-down menu of all Item Sets assigned a ‘type’ of ‘Sales Programs’ or ‘All Modules’. This field is required.
    • To setup Item Sets, go to Inventory>Item Sets and click new. Enter the Item Set name and description and select the item set’s ‘Type’. By default, all new Item Sets include all items. To limit the items included in the item set, apply as many filters as necessary to include only the items meeting the filtered criteria. Filters can be placed on the following item values: Item ID, Item Type, Attribute Class, UOM Schedule, Item Class, all Item Attributes, and Inactive. Once the desired filters have been applied to the Items list grid, click Save. When a new item is added to NorthScope that fits the filtered criteria of an Item Set, that item is automatically added to the Item Set and therefore assigned to any sales program the Item Set is assigned to. 
  • Calculation Method: Select the method by which the brokerage will be calculated. This field displays a drop-down menu of calculation methods including the following:
    • $/UOM: Calculates the brokerage based on the rate assigned to the item set for the brokerage and the UOM assigned to the item set for the brokerage. This calculation is the rate times the quantity (of the Brokerage UOM) that exists on the invoice for all items belonging to the item set. If this calculation method is selected, the UOM field is required.
    • % Gross $’s: Calculates the brokerage based on the percentage rate assigned to the item set for brokerage and the total dollars of all items on the item set. This calculation is the percentage rate times the sum dollar amount of all items belonging to the item set on the invoice.
    • % Net $’s: Calculates the brokerage based on the percentage rate assigned to the item set for brokerage and the total dollars of all items on the item set. This calculation is the sum dollar amount of all items belonging to the item set on the invoice less the charges from all other sales programs times the percentage rate.
    • % off Total Invoice $’s: Calculates the brokerage based on the percentage rate assigned to the item set for the brokerage and the invoice’s total amount. This calculation is the percentage rate times the total invoice dollar amount, including items not belonging to the assigned item set(s).
  • Rate: Enter the rate by which to calculate the brokerage. If the Calculation Method is set to $/UOM, the rate being entered must be a dollar amount to be charged/discounted per 1 unit of the selected UOM. If the Calculation Method is set to anything other than $/UOM, the rate being entered is a percentage to be charged/discounted.
  • UOM: Select the unit of measure by which to calculate the brokerage. If the Calculation Method is set to $/UOM, the UOM field is required and will determine the unit by which the rate is charged/discounted. If the Calculation Method is set to anything other than $/UOM, the UOM field is disabled and will display %.
  • # Items: This field is never editable by the user and will automatically update once the Item Set is saved to display the number of items on the item set, which are now assigned to the Sales Program.

Once entering all the Item Set fields, click the Save grid toolbar icon.

Multiple Item Sets can be assigned to a single Sales Program. To assign additional Item Sets, follow the steps above for each additional Item Set.

Assigning Customer Addresses

To assign a Customer Address, open the Customers tab within the Sales Program record.

The Customers tab will display all customer addresses with a check box, allowing the user to select the address(es) to assign to the brokerage. Each column within the list is filterable, allowing the user to easily narrow down the addresses that display to select the appropriate address(es) to assign.

Once finding an address to assign to the brokerage, select the checkbox that corresponds to the address and click the save grid toolbar icon. This will sort the selected address(es) to the top of the list to easily identify the address(es) currently assigned to the brokerage.

Assigning a customer address specific brokerage start date

Each customer address displays with a Start Date field, allowing the user to enter a unique start date, separate from the brokerage’s ‘From’ date, that is specific to that customer address.

If a Start Date is entered for a Customer Address, it must be between the From and to date of the brokerage for it to be recognized on a transaction. If no Start Date is entered for a Customer Address that is assigned to the brokerage, that Customer Address will inherit the start date of the brokerage.

Click the Customers tab Save grid toolbar icon to save any unique Start Dates.

Step 2: Entering a transaction with the Brokerage

Every  Sales Order line item is evaluated against every active brokerage program to determine what programs apply. For a Brokerage program to apply each of the following must be true:

  • The Order date must be within the Brokerage Program date range.
  • The Order Item must be included on one or more of the Item Sets assigned to the Brokerage Program.
  • The Customer Address must be assigned to the Brokerage Program

For each Brokerage Program where all of these are true, the brokerage will automatically be applied to the transaction and calculated accordingly.

To view the program’s effect(s) on the transaction, click the transaction’s Program Details header toolbar icon and open the Accruals tab.

This tab will display all information regarding the effect(s) of the Brokerage on the transaction, per item affected, with the following details:

  • GL Account: Displays the GL account that is used to create the journal entry. The Sales Program’s Accounting Rules field determines the GL Account.   
  • Gross $: Displays the item’s total gross dollar amount.  
  • Item Set: Displays the name of the Item Set assigned to the program to which the corresponding transaction item belongs to.
  • Item: Description: Displays the item and item description of the transaction item affected by the program.
  • Method: Displays the calculation method of the program.
  • Net $: Displays the item’s total net dollar amount.  
  • Program Amt.: Displays the amount of the program as calculated for the corresponding line item.
  • Program Group: Displays the Sales Program type, ID and Description. This field is not in the system view.
  • Program ID: Displays the Program ID of the Sales Program. This field is not in the system view.
  • Program Name: Displays the name of the Sales Program. This field is not in the system view.
  • Program Type: Displays the type of the Sales Program. This field is not in the system view.
  • Rate: This field displays the sales program rate as defined on the sales program record. This field is editable and the Program Amount is re-calculated after clicking Save. Note: Updating the rate on this window impacts only this transaction and it does not update the Sales Program record.
  • Unit UOM: Identifies the unit UOM of the item that is affected by the sales program.  
  • Units: Displays the total number of units ordered of the item that is affected by the sales program.
  • UOM: Displays the UOM upon which the program was calculated.
  • Weight: Displays total weight of the item that is affected by the sales program.
  • Wt. UOM: Identifies the weight UOM of the item that is affected by the sales program.  

Step 3: Posting the transaction with the Brokerage Sales Program

If a Brokerage exists on a Sales Order transaction, no additional work is needed for the program to be posted with the transaction. Simply follow the steps to post the transaction and the program will be posted with it. Steps for posting Sales Order transactions can be found here.

However, the program rates cannot be adjusted once the transaction is in a status of Approved or greater.

Once the invoice is saved as Ready to Post, the invoice will be sent to the host system, so long as the ‘Enable Real Time Transaction Integration’ Sales Order preference is set to ‘Yes’, the Brokerage’s journal entry will be sent to the host system, and a settlement record will be added to the Sales Programs Settlement page for the transaction.

Step 4: Settling Brokerage transactions

To process a brokerage settlement, navigate to Sales Programs> Broker Balances. This list view displays the current balances of Settle To Name entities.

Select Process Settlements from the toolbar to settle Sales Program transactions. The default filters in this view are

  • Eligible To Pay: Yes
  • Settle To: AP Invoice.

The following filtering criteria can be used to narrow down the search results:

  • Customer: This is the customer name.
  • Invoice: This is the invoice ID assigned to the transaction.
  • PO#: This is the Purchase Order number assigned to the transaction.
  • Settle To Name: Displays the customer/vendor name assigned to the Sales Program.
  • Eligible To Pay: Yes or No. Yes, if the sales transaction has been paid in full by the customer. No, if the sales transaction is not paid in full by the customer. Both values can be selected simultaneously.
  • Invoice Year and Month: The invoice creation year and month.
  • Closed Year and Month: The year and month when the transaction was closed.
  • Invoice Date Range: The date range of the invoice creation.
  • Closed Date Range: The date range of the invoice closing.
  • Settle To: The Settle To method of the settlement (AP Invoice – All Orders, AP Invoice – Paid In Full Orders, AR Credit Memo).

Settling Brokerage in Full

Use the filtering fields to find the settlement record(s) to be fully settled. Refresh Data toolbar icon updates the grid based on the filtering criteria.

By default the Amt. to Pay field populates with the settlement's Remaining Amt.  

Click Validate to validate the settlements. An informative message is displayed if e.g. settlement accounts are missing. Validate toolbar icon also updates the Total Settlement amount that is displayed on the upper right corner. Once Validation is completed, the Validate toolbar icon is changed to Process. Click Process to process the settlement(s). This will create the corresponding settlement document(s) in the host system, within a batch, ready to be posted. Several settlements can be processed simultaneously and the batch ID of settlement transactions is the date and time of the settlement process event. If the brokerage is settled to an AR Credit Memo, an AR Credit Memo will be created in the host system for the Customer on the brokerage program. If the brokerage is settled to an AP Invoice, an AP Invoice will be created in the host system for the Vendor on the brokerage program.

Be sure to post the settlement transaction’s batch in the host system for all accounting to hit the GL.

 

Settling Brokerage Partially

To partially settle a transaction, use the filtering criteria on the Process Settlements view. Check the line item’s corresponding checkbox. Several line items can be selected simultaneously. Once the line item(s) have been selected, click Edit Amounts. This opens a new window, where the settlement amount can be entered. The Amount to Pay column defaults to the Open Amount. The Amount to Pay field can be edited, but the amount cannot be larger than the Open Amount. Enter a value to the Amt to Pay field. The Remaining Amt field is updated accordingly (Open Amount minus the Amount to Pay).

Confirm the amount by clicking Save and closing the editing window or simply clicking Save & Close.

On the Process Settlement view the Amount to Pay column now displays the entered amount for the line item(s) that were selected for Editing.

Click Validate to validate the settlements. An informative message is displayed if e.g. settlement accounts are missing. Validate toolbar icon also updates the Total Settlement amount that is displayed on the upper right corner. Once Validation is completed, the Validate toolbar icon is changed to Process. Click Process to process the settlement(s). This will create the corresponding settlement document in the host system, sent in the corresponding batch, to be posted. If the brokerage is settled to an AR Credit Memo, an AR Credit Memo will be created in the host system for the Customer on the brokerage program. If the brokerage is settled to an AP Invoice, an AP Invoice will be created in the host system for the Vendor on the brokerage program.

Once the transaction has been partially settled, the Open Amount is updated accordingly (Program Amount minus previously Settled and/or Written Off amounts). This column displays how much unsettled amount the transaction has.

Be sure to post the settlement transaction’s batch in the host system for all accounting to hit the GL.

 

Writing Off Brokerage

To write off all or partial brokerage, use the filtering criteria on the Process Settlements view. Select one or more transactions by checking the checkbox next to the Transaction and click Edit Amounts.

The Amt Pay field defaults to the Open Amount. To enter a Write Off Amount, delete the Amt to Pay and enter a Write Off Amt.  The system will auto-calculate the Remaining Amt field to display the sum of the Open Amt minus the Amt to Pay minus the Write Off Amt.

Settlement can be partially paid and partially written off at the same time. To do this, simply enter the amount to be paid in the Amt to Pay field and the amount to be written off to the Write Off Amt field. The WriteOff GL Account defaults to the Item Brokerage Write Off account if configured. If the account is not configured on the item record, the GL Account defaults to the Sales Program Preference 'Default Account - Brokerage Write Off'. The GL account can always be changed and the account is required to record write offs. 

Once all values are entered correctly, click Save and close the Edit window or click Save & Close. The Edit window is closed and the Amount to Pay and the Remaining Amt columns are updated accordingly. Click Validate to validate the settlements. An informative message is displayed if e.g. settlement accounts are missing. Validate toolbar icon also updates the Total Settlement amount that is displayed on the upper right corner. Once Validation is complete, the Validate toolbar icon is changed to Process.

To settle the transactions, click Process. This will create the corresponding settlement document in the host system, sent in the corresponding batch, to be posted. If the brokerage is settled to an AR Credit Memo, an AR Credit Memo will be created in the host system for the Customer on the brokerage program. If the brokerage is settled to an AP Invoice, an AP Invoice will be created in the host system for the Vendor on the brokerage program. The transaction sent for the settlement will include distributions to the Brokerage Write Off account for the write off amount.

Be sure to post the settlement transaction’s batch in the host system for all accounting to hit the GL.


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