Contract Rates

Contract rates define the rate details that apply to a service, freight or finance contract. Service and freight contract rate details can be entered according to a given rate period, and can be structured in tiers. For finance contract rates, no rate period is required, and tiers are not applicable.

Costs are like contract rate details, but are configured without setting up a service, freight or finance contract.

Rate Detail Basis

The basis for calculating the rate detail for a service or freight contract is selected from:

  • By Container—The value multiplied by the number of package groups (including child package groups at any level) that are associated with a container, or have a container type specified, and are associated with the despatch.
  • By Dry Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the dry mass amount.
  • By Gross Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the gross mass amount.
  • By Loaded Dry Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the dry mass amount loaded onto the transport.
  • By Loaded Gross Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the gross mass amount loaded onto the transport.
  • By Loaded Wagons—The value multiplied by the number of loaded wagons, for despatch by rail. When the rate detail is based on a despatch order, the number of wagons is determined as those loaded for the entire despatch order. When the rate detail is based upon a despatch, the number of wagons is determined as those loaded for the train despatch. The number of wagons field in the loading transaction is used to determine the actual number of wagons loaded. Note that when a wagon is partially loaded, it is counted as loaded.
  • By Loaded Wet Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the wet mass amount loaded onto the transport.
  • By Lot—The value multiplied by the number of lots associated with the despatch.
  • By Number of Package Groups—The value multiplied by the number of top-level package groups that are loaded onto or unloaded from the despatch. Child package groups are not included.
  • By Number of Package Units—The value multiplied by number of units that are in packages or package groups loaded onto or unloaded from the despatch.
  • By Number of Packages—The value multiplied by the number of packages that are loaded onto or unloaded from the despatch, or are contained in package groups loaded onto or unloaded from the despatch.
  • By Unloaded Dry Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the dry mass amount unloaded from the transport.
  • By Unloaded Gross Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the gross mass amount unloaded from the transport.
  • By Unloaded Wagons—The value multiplied by the number of unloaded wagons, for despatch by rail. When the rate detail is based on a despatch order, the number of wagons is determined as those unloaded for the entire despatch order. When the rate detail is based upon a despatch, the number of wagons is determined as those unloaded for the train despatch. The number of wagons field in the unloading transaction is used to determine the actual number of wagons unloaded. Note that when a wagon is partially unloaded, it is counted as unloaded.
  • By Unloaded Wet Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the wet mass amount unloaded from the transport.
  • By Wet Mass—The value or calculated value multiplied by the wet mass amount.
  • Calculated Mass—A calculated value that can be used to emulate tiered rates when all possible tiers must be displayed on the invoice.
  • Demurrage/Despatch—A value or calculated value as specified in the associated demurrage/despatch details.
  • Fixed Amount Per Despatch Order (default for despatch orders; and sales and purchase contracts)—A flat fixed value or calculated value per despatch order. Not applicable to rate details on a despatch.
  • Fixed Amount (default for despatches, cost templates; service, freight, finance and repurchase contracts; and sets of mark-to-market terms)—A flat fixed value or calculated value per despatch.
  • Percentage Current Freight/Service Value—A value determined as a percentage of the freight or service value; that is, the sum of the freight or service line items in the freight or service invoice. Demurrage/despatch or dynamic invoice line items are not included in the rate detail calculation.
  • Percentage Current Invoice—A value determined as a percentage of the current invoice total.
  • Percentage Invoice Value—A percentage value, which is multiplied by the value of the latest locked sales or purchase invoice total or the latest revenue snapshot (for a cost or service charge in a snapshot) or by the value of the latest locked sales or purchase invoice total (for a service invoice).
  • Percentage Previous Rates—A value determined as a percentage of the amount charged for this rate of the same name in the previous invoice.
  • Tiered—A value determined by a calculation specified by the defined tier structure.
  • Time—The value multiplied by the duration.
  • Time And Dry Mass—The value multiplied by the duration multiplied by the dry mass amount.
  • Time And Gross Mass—The value multiplied by the duration multiplied by the gross mass amount.
  • Time And Wet Mass—The value multiplied by the duration multiplied by the wet mass amount.

The basis for calculating the rate detail for a finance contract is selected from:

  • Fixed Amount Per Despatch Order—A flat fixed value per despatch order. Not applicable to rate details on a despatch.
  • Fixed Amount—A flat fixed value.
  • Fixed Interest Rate—A percentage value plus an optional bank fee percentage, which are divided by the contract interest basis and multiplied by the loan duration and the loan amount.
  • Interest On Gross Value—A percentage value, which is divided by the contract interest basis and multiplied by the gross value of the invoice and the loan duration. The gross value is the total invoice value minus any taxes and service/freight/finance rates.
  • Interest Rate Series—A percentage value derived from an interest rate series plus an optional bank fee percentage, which are divided by the contract interest basis and multiplied by the loan duration and the loan amount.
  • Percentage Invoice Value—(As described above.)
  • Percentage Of Loan Amount—A percentage value, which is multiplied by the loan amount.

Note: The loan duration is the number of days from the finance contract start date to the actual or estimated payment date. You can specify a different duration if you override the rate details in a service charge.

Rate Detail Configuration

Note: Applicable fields of the rate detail are used in combination to determine the value of the rate. Not all fields are required in each context where a rate detail can be configured. The following list describes all possible rate detail fields.

Activity—As applicable for the contract type, select from the Service Activity, Freight Activity and Finance Activity list items defined in the List Editor.

Name—Name of the rate detail. A contract rate (period) or service charge may have multiple rate details. The maximum length is 100 characters.

Rate Detail Basis—Basis for calculating the rate detail. See the list above for information about which options are available and how they are calculated.

Type—Select from the Rate Detail Types list items defined in the List Editor.

Invoice Types—Optionally limit the rate detail to the invoice types selected from those defined on the Invoice Types screen.

Transaction Type—Whether the rate detail is for Standard or Accrual invoices, or for Both.

Previous Rate Details—A previous rate detail to which a percentage, defined by the Value, is applied. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Percentage Previous Rates. Example: A broker fee is based on 5% of the previous rate.

Invoice Scope—How the rate detail affects Despatch Order Snapshots and invoices. Select from:

  • Freight/Services Invoice—The rate detail affects cost snapshots and trade profit and loss (P&L) and is invoiced with service/freight invoices.
  • Sales/Purchase Invoice—The rate detail affects revenue snapshots and is included in sales/purchase invoices but not in trade P&L.
  • Despatch/Demurrage Invoice
  • All—The rate detail affects both revenue and cost snapshots and trade P&L, and is invoiced with service/freight invoices and included in sales/purchase invoices.

Defaults:

  • Rate Detail Basis of Demurrage/Despatch—Despatch/Demurrage Invoice
  • Rate Detail Basis of Time, Time And Dry Mass, Time And Gross Mass or Time And Wet Mass—Freight/Services Invoice
  • Freight and service contracts—All
  • Finance contracts—Freight/Services Invoice (This setting is not displayed or editable for finance contracts.)

Rate Tier Group—Name of the tier group. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Tiered. Select from the tier groups on the Tier Groups sub-tab. This tab is not available when overriding service charge rate details.

Use Calculation—Whether to use a complex calculation created in the Expression Editor to determine the Value of the rate detail. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is By Dry Mass, By Gross Mass, By Loaded Dry Mass, By Loaded Gross Mass, By Loaded Wet Mass, By Unloaded Dry Mass, By Unloaded Gross Mass, By Unloaded Wet Mass, By Wet Mass, Calculated Mass, Fixed Amount Per Despatch Order or Fixed Amount. However, if the Rate Detail Basis is Calculated Mass, the expression is used to calculate the mass, and the Value (which will be multiplied by the mass) must be specified.

Calc Expression—Calculated expression to use if Use Calculation is checked.

Interest Rate Series—The interest rate series from which to derive the percentage value. Select from the interest rate series defined in the Interest Rate Editor. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Interest Rate Series.

Value—Rate detail value or percentage. Not applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Interest Rate Series. If the applicable despatch order has an assigned Mark To Market, the value is inverted in line items on sales invoices and trade profit and loss (P&L). For example, if a rate detail is entered with a positive value and the Invoice Scope is All, the sales invoice includes the rate detail as a negative line item. Likewise, if a rate detail is entered with a positive value and the despatch order is in a trade, the P&L includes the rate detail as a negative line item. However, the Impact on the Service Charges » Costs tab of the despatch order does not display this negation.

Currency—Select from the currencies defined in the Currency/Exchange Editor. Alternatively, the currency of the rate detail can be the Contract Default currency.

Bank Fee—Optional bank fee percentage value, which is added to the rate detail Value or interest rate from the Interest Rate Series. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Fixed Interest Rate or Interest Rate Series.

UOM—Unit of measure associated with amounts of material for determining the rate detail. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is By Dry Mass, By Gross Mass, By Loaded Dry Mass, By Loaded Gross Mass, By Loaded Wet Mass, By Unloaded Dry Mass, By Unloaded Gross Mass, By Unloaded Wet Mass, By Wet Mass, Calculated Mass, Time And Dry Mass, Time And Gross Mass or Time And Wet Mass. Select from the Mass units defined in the Unit Conversion Editor.

Duration—The duration of the service, freight or finance, in the specified Time Basis. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Time, Time And Dry Mass, Time And Gross Mass or Time And Wet Mass. For Fixed Interest Rate, Interest On Gross Value, Interest Rate Series, the duration cannot be entered in the finance contract; however, the duration can be specified when overriding a service charge in a purchase contract or despatch order. If not specified, the duration is assumed to be the length of the finance contract.

Time Basis—Time basis for the duration of the service, freight or finance. Select from Day, Month or Week. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Time, Time And Dry Mass, Time And Gross Mass or Time And Wet Mass. Set to Day if Rate Detail Basis is Fixed Interest Rate, Interest On Gross Value or Interest Rate Series.

Step—Number by which to divide the quantity indicated by the rate detail basis. Not applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Demurrage/Despatch, Percentage Current Freight/Service Value, Percentage Current Invoice, Percentage Previous Rates or Tiered. Example: If an inspection fee is by wagon, Step is the number of wagons to which the inspection fee applies.

Pro Rata Option—Option to distribute the rate between multiple despatch orders (DOs). Only applicable if the Rate Detail Basis is Fixed Amount or Calculated Mass. Select from:

  • None—The rate is calculated for each DO.
  • Per Despatch Order—The rate is divided evenly between the DOs on the despatch.
  • Per Mass—The rate is divided between the DOs on the despatch pro-rata according to each despatch order's loaded mass.

For example, a despatch has one DO for 500 t and one DO for 1000 t:

  • For a fixed amount rate with a value of $100, the total rate is $100.
    • Per Despatch Order—The rate for each DO is $50.
    • Per Mass—The rate for DO1 is $33.33 and the rate for DO2 is $66.67.
  • For a calculated mass rate with a value of $100/t, the total rate is $150,000.
    • Per Despatch Order—The rate for each DO is $75,000.
    • Per Mass—The rate for DO1 is $50,000 and the rate for DO2 is $100,000.

Important: The pro rata option should only be used for costs or service charges that are on a despatch.

Quantity Decimals—Number of decimal places to which to round the mass before calculating the value of the invoice line item.

Rate Decimals—Number of decimal places to which to round the rate detail value (that is, the invoice line value) before calculating the invoice line quantity or invoice item value.

Demurrage/Despatch—Applicable demurrage/despatch for the line item. Select from the demurrages/despatches defined on the Demurrage/Despatch tab of the same service or freight contract. Only applicable if Rate Detail Basis is Demurrage/Despatch.

Allow Override—Whether the following details can be changed when creating a service or freight invoice: Locations, Rate Detail Basis, Value, Duration, Time Basis, Use Calculation and Calc Expression.

Is Commission—Whether the rate detail is a commission. To include a commission rate detail in an invoice, it must be selected in the Service Rates field group on the Invoice screen. This is different from specifying an Address Commission Percentage, which is used to create a separate freight commission invoice. Commission rate details:

  • Are deduction line items on the freight or service invoice
  • Are not applicable to sales or purchase invoices
  • Are calculated as a percentage of the specified Rate Detail Basis (typically Percentage Current Invoice or Percentage Current Freight/Service Value)
  • Can affect the invoice value or just the instalment value, depending on which Commission Method is specified

Commission Method—Calculation method for the commission. Select from:

  • Affect Due Amount in Full (default)—The invoice total is unaffected, but the instalment due amount is reduced by the full amount of the commission. For example, the instalment due amount may be a percentage of the invoice total. That percentage is calculated first, and then the due amount is reduced by the full amount of the commission.
  • Affect Invoice Value and Due Amount—The invoice total is reduced by the commission before the instalment due amount is calculated. Therefore, the commission amount is also affected by instalment percentages.
  • Affect Invoice Value and Due Amount in Full—The invoice total is reduced by the commission before the instalment due amount is calculated. However, the instalment due amount is reduced by the full commission amount.
  • No Invoice Effect—Neither the invoice value nor the instalment due amount is affected by the commission. The commission is merely an informative line item on the invoice.

Locations—Optionally limit the rate detail to the selected locations, based on the destination location of the despatch route. Select from the locations defined on the Supply Chain panel of the Solution Explorer.

Fixed Exchange Rates—Fixed exchange rates to use instead of rates from the specified Exchange Rate Source. Click the ellipsis (...) to open the Fixed Exchange Rates screen where rates can be created, edited and deleted as required.

Contract Rate Detail Overrides

The contract rate detail in the service, freight or finance contract can be overridden when the contract rate is added as a service charge to a:

If the same rate detail has multiple overrides, when the despatch order snapshot or invoice is calculated, any override on the despatch has highest precedence, followed by an override on the Service Charges tab of the despatch order, followed by any overrides in the contract terms (at quota, product or contract level).

However, if rate details are overridden on the Contract Term Overrides tab of the despatch order, only those rate details are included in snapshot and invoice calculations. Any costs and service charges added on the Service Charges tab of the despatch order or on the despatch are ignored.

Copying and Pasting of Contract Rates, Rate Periods and Rate Details

One or more contract rates can be copied and pasted between contracts of the same type (service, freight or finance). A copied contract rate includes its rate periods and rate details. As applicable, right-clicking a contract rate or in a Contract Rates table displays the Copy Contract Rate(s) and Paste Contract Rate(s) menu options. To copy multiple contract rates, check Selected for each required contract rate before right-clicking. This right-click menu also includes options to Select All and Deselect All.

A single rate period can be copied and pasted between contracts of the same type. A copied rate period includes its rate details. As applicable, right-clicking a rate period or in a Rate Periods table displays the Copy Rate Period and Paste Rate Period menu options.

If the rate periods do not already cover up to the end date of a service or freight contract, the last rate period can be copied as the next rate period. The new rate period has a start date one day after the end date of the last period; and an end date either 12 months later, or the end date of the contract (whichever is earlier). Right-clicking in the Rate Periods table displays the Create Next Period menu option if appropriate.

A single rate detail can be copied and pasted between contracts of the same type. As applicable, right-clicking a rate detail or in a Contract Details table displays the Copy Rate Detail and Paste Rate Detail menu options.

This copying is not the same as the Copy To Clipboard menu option, which copies the entire table to the clipboard, so that the table can be pasted into another application, such as Excel.