This best practice outlines how to add a service loaner equipment record to a customer's contract while keeping the out of service equipment on the contract but only having one equipment billable to the customer.
Jump to a specific section by clicking a link
Overview | Best Practice Steps | Other Helpful Info | Related Alerts
Overview
Overview
Best practice is to treat the loaner as temporarily contract-covered for meters/service tracking but make sure only one piece of equipment is “billable” on the SLA at a time by using start/end dates (and, if needed, a non-billable bill code), not by leaving two active, billable detail lines.
* * *
Best Practice Steps
Best Practice Steps - start to finish
Recommended workflow (keeps the faulty unit + its rates intact, prevents double billing):
1) Leave the customer’s SLA/contract and rate structure alone
-
Do not delete the original equipment from the contract permanently and do not remove/replace the contract’s rate schedules. The contract “rates” should remain the governing pricing.
2) On the service contract, end-date the faulty machine for the loan period
-
Edit the existing contract equipment detail line for the faulty unit:
- Enter an End Date = the date the unit was pulled / stopped being in service.
- Enter the final meter reading as of that end date.
-
This preserves historical billing and the original rate relationship but makes the unit inactive for billing during the loan window (so it shouldn’t be billed concurrently).
3) Add the loaner to the same contract with a start date
-
Add the loaner equipment to the contract:
- Enter a Start Date = the date the loaner went live.
- Enter the starting meter reading.
-
Add it to the appropriate meter group(s) so clicks flow correctly for billing/meter tracking.
-
This approach is explicitly described as a common dealer best practice for longer-term loaners: end-date the original, start-date the loaner, include the loaner in meter groups, then reverse when the original returns.
4) Prevent accidental “two machines billed” scenarios (controls)
- The risk happens when both pieces of equipment are active/billable on the contract over the same billing period.
-
Controls to use:
- No overlapping active dates: ensure the faulty unit’s End Date is before (or at least not after) the loaner Start Date.
-
If your contract setup supports it, set the loaner’s contract detail/bill code to a $0 / no-charge / loaner bill code (so it can be tracked but not billed as an additional fixed asset). Many dealers create a dedicated loaner contract/bill code for this purpose.
5) When the repaired unit is back
- End-date the loaner on the contract and enter its final reading.
-
Add the original equipment back onto the contract as a new line (or re-activate per your process) with:
- Start Date = return date
- Start reading = return reading
* * *
Other Helpful Info
Other Helpful Info
Another method that some dealers use is to just remove the faulty equipment from the meter group and add the loaner to the meter group in its place. That way it won't get billed for overages and they don't have to end date it. But still use the start date on the loaner as the day they put it in place.
* * *
Related Alerts
Related Alerts
None.
0 Comments