DSM Fuel Surcharge

DSM has the ability to add a fuel surcharge to every invoice.  This feature must be turned on and configured before use.  Because applying extra fees can strain customer relationships, carefully evaluate your strategy before implementing.

Note that there are settings both on the customer and the jobsite to specifically exclude those entities from fuel surcharges.

 

This document will cover:

ü Fuel Surcharge Configuration

ü Applying the Surcharge

ü Excluding Customers and Jobsites from Fuel Surcharges

ü Setting the GPS Location of your Business

 

Fuel Surcharge Configuration

To begin, navigate to File > Administration > Company Configuration and select the Billing tab.

Select the checkbox for ‘Charge A Fuel Surcharge At Invoice Generation’.

Select the [Configure] button to be taken to the Fuel Surcharge Configuration screen.

How To Apply: Choose between DSM applying the charge automatically or receive a prompt at each invoice.  We recommend you use the prompt option until you have experience with DSM’s behavior.  If the calculation method selected is unsuccessful, you will get a prompt no matter what the setting.  The auto method is ideal for a fixed fee you want to apply to all invoices.

Line Item For Fee: This is a fee code which will be added as a line item for the fuel surcharge code.  You will need this fee to be unique because if it already exists in the line items on the invoice being generated, DSM will skip adding a fuel charge.  This is done because you may want to add a fuel charge manually to the line items which represents a quoted value.  In this case you would not want DSM to add an additional surcharge.  Important:  If you create an invoice with a fuel charge, the line item is added but not removed if you delete the invoice (it’s requeued for invoicing).  The fuel surcharge line item can be deleted by editing the job ticket and removing it there.

Fee Method: This determines how the surcharge will be calculated.

-         Fixed Cost is simply a set dollar amount added to every invoice

-         % of Invoice calculates the subtotal multiplied by the percentage specified

-         Mileage From Shop.  This uses the GPS coordinates of your shop (set on the Company Configuration screen / General tab) and the GPS coordinates of the job which happens automatically with every job.  If the job address resolution fails, you’ll get a prompt during invoice generation for instructions.  Mileage is multiplied by your specified rate and rounded to the nearest dollar.

-         Manually Enter At Invoice.  Use this to simply enter the amount each time if your calculation method is not supported and you need finer control.

-         Maximum Fee: As a safety, you can put a maximum fee so DSM doesn’t add an exorbitant amount.

 

Applying The Surcharge

During the regular DSM invoice run, if you are set to prompt or DSM cannot calculate your fee method correctly (typically with a mileage charge missing GPS coordinates or a % of invoice that exceeds your maximum fee), DSM will show the following prompt.

The system will default to the method you specified in your configuration; however, you can alter it here on an invoice-by-invoice basis.

[OK, Add Fuel Charge]: Adds the charge shown in the Fuel Surcharge To Add field above Fee Calculation box and generates the invoice.

[Skip, No Fuel Charge Added]: Skips adding the fuel surcharge, but generates the invoice normally.

[Cancel, Do Not Generate Invoice]: Use this option to skip generating the invoice.  It will remain in your billing queue.  This gives you an opportunity to fix GPS coordinates or research other information. 

Tip:  you can preview the invoice to see how the surcharge will apply prior to creating the actual invoice.

 

Excluding Customers and Job Sites from Fuel Surcharges

It’s likely, you will have some preferred customers you don’t want to add fuel surcharges to and Jobsites which represent contract work where the price is fixed.  DSM allows you to exclude that customer or jobsite from added fuel surcharges. In the case of a customer, you will navigate to the Customer Screen > More [F3] tab, and select the check box for ‘Do Not Charge This Customer Fuel Surcharges’.

 

To exclude fuel surcharges on a Jobsite, navigate to the Jobsite Screen > Other [F8] tab, and select the check box for ‘Do Not Charge Fuel Surcharge On This Jobsite’.

 

Setting the GPS Location of your Shop

To set the GPS location of your shop, navigate to File > Administration > Company Configuration and select the General tab.  Press the [Recalc] button.  If it fails to generate valid Latitude and Longitude coordinates, check your address.  If you use a PO box, temporarily change that to your physical address and press [Recalc] before returning it to your PO Box address.

 

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