Inclusion of Open Items

Manual billings (such as corrections to bills) are automatically included in invoicing. You do not need to make additional settings in Customizing.

Paid budget billing amounts are automatically included and posted in statistical budget billing. In the debit entry procedure, the budget billing amounts remain and are not reposted.

During the invoicing process, FI-CA items can be processed using settlement control. To allow this, you have to configure settlement control accordingly in Customizing. For example, payments on account could be settled against receivables from the annual consumption billing. Cash security deposits should also be settled in a final billing.

You can also use settlement control to settle remaining credit against the first or next budget billing amount.

The due dates of outstanding receivables are not grouped with the first or next budget billing amount as there is nothing to settle (both are receivables). For this reason, the due dates are grouped in a separate Customizing table in invoicing.

Sub-items (open items in the contract account) can be displayed on the bill. However, you must note that these items are not part of the contract accounting document, and still have separate due dates. Therefore, you should check if you really want to include the items in the account balance.

You can define the following for each settlement type and category:

• Account maintenance: you must activate account maintenance in invoicing if you want to use settlement control, such as settlement with the first budget billing amount, settlement of cash security deposits in the final billing, settlement of payments on account.

• Interest calculation of debit items in invoicing

• Interest calculation of cash security deposits in invoicing

• Dunning in invoicing

• Charge (LPC – late payment charge) for late items in invoicing.

• Charge (LPC – late payment charge) for installment plan items in invoicing.

• Debit entry for statistical items in invoicing, such as for dunning charges (only for statistics key G)

In the course of invoicing the contracts of a contract account, reminders can be sent out for any business partner items which are due to the contract account.

The dunning text has to be taken into account when you create the billing form.

Dunning charges cannot be posted if the dunning is triggered during invoicing.

Dunning in invoicing is mostly used by North American customers, as meter reading and billing generally occur every month.

Sub-items are open items that you wish to include in the printed bill. You can print the last unpaid bill on the current bill.

There are two ways of printing the sub-items on the bill:

• You include the sub-items in the balance of the bill. In this case, you must make sure to print a new due date for the old open item on the bill (implies that due date is moved forward). This is not permitted in every country and should be verified. Another problem is that the changed due date is not reflected in the account. Programs such as the dunning program continue to use the old due date. Exception: credit memos can, however, be included in the bill balance as they do not have a due date (for example a payment on account).

• In this case, information about the open item is printed on the bill, but the open items are not included in the bill balance.

You select the open items to be printed on the bill in the item selection procedure in invoicing.

This table also allows you to deactivate statistical items (such as dunning charges) in invoicing (for example, during final billing).

In "Item Selection for Bill Display" you can select the open items to be printed. You can decide whether or not items are included in the final amount.

You can also trigger various actions for the individual items in invoicing:

• Debit entry of statistical items: Once you have activated the debit entry in the additional functions, you can select the items here.

• Transfer of items to a credit or receivable for invoicing. For example, you can transfer a cash security deposit to the final bill.

• Clearing without subsequent posting: This indicator is recommended for statistical requests (for example, dunning charge or down payment requests), which are to be waived after invoicing.

• Defer items: The open item contains the due date for invoicing as a deferral date.

• Calculate interest for items: Once you have activated the interest calculation in the additional functions, you can select the items here.

The due date adjustment offers another option for including items in the bill. An open item with the clearing restriction 8 is included during invoicing and is given the same due date as the invoicing.