Amount Calculation (User Guide)
Serhii Toropov avatar
Written by Serhii Toropov
Updated over a week ago

With this guide, you will learn how service amount is calculated based on price type, price policy, and price adjustment settings, and how the subtotal amount and the total amount of inspections and work orders is calculated based on the amount of selected services.

Service Price Types

  • Money 

  • Labor

  • Parts

  • Percentage

  • Price Matrix

  • Bundle

  • Fee Bundle

Service Price Policies

  • Service

  • Vehicle

  • Panel

  • Flat Fee

Service Price Adjustment

  • Retail & Wholesale Prices

  • Package Price

  • Area Price

  • Team Price

  • Client Price

  • Job Price

  • Discount & Fee Prices

Amount Calculation

  • Main Services

  • Surcharges

  • Discounts

  • Taxes

  • Fees

Service Price Types

Service price type defines how service amount is calculated as well as whether a service can include other services. 

When you create a new service, you can select one of the following price types:

  • Money

  • Labor

  • Parts

  • Percentage

  • Price Matrix

  • Bundle

  • Fee Bundle

Note The list of available price types depends on the features your Back Office application is subscribed to. 

  • The Labor price type requires the LaborPriceType feature.

  • The Parts price type requires the Basic Parts feature.

  • The Price Matrix price type requires the Hail Damage Package feature.

  • The Bundle price type requires the Bundles feature.

  • The Fee Bundle price type requires the FeeBundles feature.

There are simple price types and complex price types. 

  • Services with a simple price type, such as Money, Labor, Parts, and Percentage, don’t include other services or subitems. 

  • Services with a complex price type, such as Price Matrix, Bundle, and Fee Bundle, include other services or subitems.

For example, the Tire Balance service is a service with a simple price type (Money), so when you tap it on the Services screen, you can see and edit its details only…

...while the Oil Change Bundle service is a service with complex price type (Bundle). so when you tap it on the Services screen, you see the list of services it includes. 

Money

The Money price type can be used for services with a fixed price. 

For example, if your company offers tire balancing for a fixed price, you can create the Tire Balance service with the Money price type.

Note Services with the Money price type can be also used as surcharges, discounts, and taxes with a fixed price, but while calculating inspection amount or work order amount they will be calculated the same way as all other services with the Money price type. 

The amount of money services is calculated as price multiplied by quantity. 

For example, if the price is $8.00 USD and the quantity is 4, then the money service amount is $32 USD (8*4).

Important! If your Back Office application is subscribed to the Price Policy feature, the dollar amount of services with the Money price type is calculated based on their price policy.

Labor

The Labor price type can be used for services charged per hour. 

For example, if your company technicians provide services which amount depends on the number of hours spent on work, you can create the Labor Rate service with the Labor price type.

The amount of labor services is calculated as price per hour (rate) multiplied by the quantity of hours (time).

For example, if the rate is $60 USD and the time spent by a technician is 2 hours, then the labor service amount is  $120 USD (2*60)

Note If the Use Labor Time settings are entered for service with the Labor price type... 

...then its default time is automatically adjusted based on vehicle type when the appropriate vehicle part is selected.

Parts

The Parts price type can be used for services that allow selecting a particular spare part from a  built-in parts catalog.

For example, if your company offers replacement of damaged parts, you can create the Part service with the Parts price type.

Note You can create uncategorized, partially-categorized, and categorized part services.

  • If service category, subcategory, and part are not specified, technicians must select service category, subcategory, part, and part position (if available) on the device.

  • If the service category is specified, or both category and subcategory are specified, but part is not specified, technicians must select part and part position (if available) on the device.

  • If service category, subcategory, part, and price are specified, technicians must select only part position (if available) on the device.

Important! You can set the service price only if the service part is specified. If the service price is not set, technicians can enter it on the device. If the service price is set, technicians can still change it on the device.

The amount of part services is calculated as price multiplied by quantity. 

For example, if the price is $50.00 USD  and the quantity is 4, then the part service amount is $200 USD (50*4).

Percentage

The Percentage price type can  be used for services that increase or decrease the dollar amount of main services  in inspections and work orders: 

  • Surcharges

  • Discounts

  • Taxes

Surcharges

Surcharges are percentage services with a positive value.

For example, if your company is open on Saturday or Sunday, you can create the Weekend Surcharge service with the Percentage price type and a positive Percentage value. 

The amount of surcharge services is calculated as percentage from the dollar amount of main services. 

For example, if the surcharge percentage  is 25%, and the amount of main services is $120.00 USD, then the surcharge service amount is $30.00 USD (120*25/100)

Discounts

Discounts are percentage services with a negative value.

For example, if your company offers discounts to regular customers, you can create the Returning Client Discount service with the Percentage price type and a negative Percentage value.

The amount of discount services is calculated as percentage from the dollar amount of main services. 

For example, if the discount percentage  is -10%, and the amount of main services is $120.00 USD, then the discount  service amount is -$12.00 USD (120*-10/100)

Taxes

Taxes are percentage services with a positive value and selected “Is Tax” checkbox. 

For example, if your company wants to add tax to inspections and work orders, you can create the Tax service with the Percentage price type, a positive Percentage value, and selected Is Tax checkbox.

The amount of tax services is calculated as percentage from the dollar amount of other services. 

For example, if the tax percentage is 5%,  and the amount of main services is $120.00 USD, then the tax service amount  is $6.00 USD (120*5/100)

Note The Sales Tax Services and ServiceSalesTaxDatabase features provide additional settings for Avalara Sales Tax subscribers.

If the Use Sales Tax Database checkbox is selected... 

...then the tax rate of percentage service can be adjusted automatically based on customer location (ZIP Code).

Tip If the Tax  Rate Can Be Overridden checkbox is also selected, tax rates on the service detail screen can be changed on the device.

Price Matrix

The Price Matrix price type can be used for dent repair services.

For example, if your company provides hail damage repair, you can create the Dent Removal service with the Price  Matrix price type.

Tip The Wholesale Price and the Retail Price settings are not taken into account while calculating the price matrix service amount, so you can disregard them.

The amount of price matrix services is calculated based on price matrix settings and the dollar amount of additional services assigned to vehicle parts.

For example, if repairing nickel-sized dents of moderate severity on the hood costs $40.00 USD, and repairing nickel-sized dents of light severity on the decklid costs $25.00 USD...

...and if the hood can be made from aluminum which increases dent repair price by 25.00%, or if there can be oversized dents on the decklid which increases dent repair price by $50.00 USD...

...then the cost of dent removal for the hood is $50.00 USD (40+10(25% from 40)) and the cost of dent removal for the decklid is $75.00 USD (25+50)...

...and the price matrix service amount is $125.00 USD (50+75).

Bundle

The Bundle price type can be used for services that can group multiple services.

Note Only services with the  Money, Labor, Parts, and Percentage (except for Taxes) price types can be included in a bundle service. 

For example, if your company encourages customers to buy the whole Oil Change package, you can create the Oil  Change Bundle service with the Bundle price type. 

Tip Enter the Wholesale Price and the Retail Price settings after calculating the total of included services.

The amount of bundle services in a work order is calculated as the total amount of services (bundle service items) they include. 

For example, if the Oil Change bundle package includes the Oil Change service which price is $20.00 USD, the Oil service which price is $15.00 USD, the Oil Filter service which price is $5.00  USD, and the Bundle Discount service which price is -10.00%...

...then, if all bundle service items are  selected, the bundle service amount is $36.00 USD (20+15+5 is 40; 10%  from 40 is 4; 40 - 4 is 36)

Note When you add bundle services to an inspection, they do not have bundle service items...

...and if you create a work order from an inspection with a bundle service, you need to select bundle service items for the copied bundle service.

Fee Bundle

The Fee Bundle price type can be used for services that automatically add a fee amount if certain services are added to work orders.

Important! Fee Bundle services are not supported in inspections (only in work orders).  

Note The fee bundle can contain services with the Money price type and the Percentage price type.

For example, if your company charges disposal fee for changing oil, you can create the Oil Change Fee Bundle service with the Fee Bundle price type. 

Tip The Wholesale Price and the Retail Price settings are not taken into account, so you can disregard them.

The amount of fee bundle services is calculated as the total amount of selected services (fee bundle service items) which are added to their fee bundle package.

For example, if the Oil Change Fee Bundle includes the Oil Disposal Fee service which price is $5.00 USD and assigned service is the Oil service and the Oil Filter Disposal Fee service with which price is $5.00 USD and assigned service is the Oil Filter service...

...then when the Oil service is added to a work order, the Oil Disposal Fee $5.00 USD is added to the total,  and if the Oil Filter service is also added to a work order, the Oil Filter Disposal Fee $5.00 USD is added to the total, so the fee bundle service amount is $10 USD. 

The same way the total amount of work order is increased by $10 USD when the Oil Change bundle service, which includes both the Oil service and the Oil Filter service, is added.  

Service Price Policies

Price policy defines how service amount is calculated based on service price and quantity, as well as how work order amount or inspection amount is calculated based on service amount and number. 

Note You can set price policy for services with the Money price type only. Services with other price types have the Service price policy by default. 

When you create a new service with the Money price type, you can select  one of the following price policies:

  • Service

  • Vehicle

  • Panel

  • Flat Fee

Note You can change the quantity of a service on the device only if the Multiple checkbox is selected for the given service.

Also, if the Multiple checkbox is not selected for a service, you can add this service to a work order or an inspection only one time (added service will not be shown in the list of available services). 

Service

When you add a service with the Service price type to a work order or  an inspection

  • Service amount depends on service quantity

For example, if the service price is $100  USD and the quantity is 2, then the service amount is $200 USD (2*100).  

  • Work order amount or inspection amount depends on how many times this service is added.

For example, if you add this service again with quantity 3, then work order amount or inspection amount is $500 USD  ((2*100)+(3*100)).

Vehicle

When you add a service with the Vehicle price type to a work order or an inspection 

  • Service amount does not depend on service quantity 

For example, if the service price is $100 USD and the quantity is 2, then the service amount is still $100 USD (only service price is taken into account)

  • Work order amount or inspection amount does not depend on how many times this service is added. 

For example, if you add this service again, then work order amount or inspection amount is still $100 USD (only one of the services is taken into account).

Note If the price of a service, which is added multiple times, is different, only the service with the biggest price is taken into account.

For example, if the price of one service is $100 USD and the price of another service is $50 USD, $50 USD are not added to work order amount or inspection amount.

Panel

When you add a service with the Panel price type to a work order or an inspection

  • Service amount does not depend on service quantity

For example, if the service price is $100 USD and the quantity is 2, then the service amount is still $100 USD (only service price is taken into account).

  • Work order amount or inspection amount does not depend on how many times this service is added for the same panel.

For example, if you add this service for this panel again, then work order amount or inspection amount is still $100 USD (only one service for the same panel is taken into account).

Note If the price of a service, which is added multiple times for the same panel, is different, only the service with the biggest price is taken into account.

For example, if the price of one service is $100 USD and the price of another service is $150 USD, $100 USD are not added to work order amount or inspection amount.

Flat Fee

When you add a service with the Flat Fee price type to a work order or an inspection

  • Service amount does not depend on service quantity 

For example, if the service price is $100 USD and the quantity is 2, then the service amount is still $100 USD (only service price is taken into account).

  • Work order amount or inspection amount depends on how many times this service is added.

For example, if you add this service again, then work order amount or inspection amount is $200 USD (100+100).

Service Price Adjustment

Price adjustment defines how service price can be automatically changed based on the price category. 

You can set up automatic adjustment for the following categories of  service price:

  • Retail & Wholesale Prices  

  • Package Prices 

  • Area Prices

  • Team Prices

  • Client Prices 

  • Job Prices

Note The categories list is sorted by priority from low to high, so when price adjustment is set for more than one price category, the price category with the highest priority is used.

For example, if both area prices and team prices are set, the team prices are used. 

Tip You can create multiple prices with different effective dates for each category. 

For example, if you want service price to be automatically changed for the summer season, you can define appropriate prices and dates when these prices become effective. 

Important! Besides price categories, you can also configure Discount & Fee Prices.

Retail & Wholesale Prices

You can set a different service price for wholesale clients and retail clients, so that when you add a service to an inspection or a work order, service price can be automatically adjusted depending on the client type. 

For example, if the wholesale price of a  service is $100.00 USD, while the retail price is $125.00 USD...

...when you add this service while creating a work order for a wholesale customer, the service price is $100.00 USD…

...however, when you add the same service while creating a work order for a retail customer, service price is $125.00 USD. 

Package Price

You can set a different service price for various service packages which can be assigned to inspection types and work order types, so that when you add a service to an inspection or a work order of a particular type,  service price can be automatically adjusted depending on the assigned service package.

For example, if the package price of a service is $75.00 USD...

...when you add this service while creating a work order to which this service package is assigned, the service price is $75.00 USD.

Area Price

You can set a different service price for different areas, so that when technicians from a particular area add a service to inspections and work orders, service price can be automatically adjusted.

For example, if the area price of a service for wholesale customers is $70.00 USD... 

...when technicians from this area add this service while creating an inspection or a work order, the service price is $70.00 USD.

Team Price

You can set a different service price for different teams, so that when technicians from a particular team add a service to inspections and work orders, service price can be automatically adjusted.

For example, if the team price of a service for wholesale customers is $60.00 USD…

...when technicians from this team add this service while creating an inspection or a work order, the service price is $60.00 USD.

Client Price

You can set a different service price for different clients so that when you add a service to an inspection or a work order, service price can be automatically adjusted depending on the selected customer. 

For example, if the client price of a service is $50.00 USD...

...when you add this service while creating a work order for this customer, the service price is $50.00 USD.

Note You can specify different price for different clients if your Back Office application is subscribed to the PricesPerCustomer feature.

Job Price

You can set a different service price for jobs so that when you select a particular job while creating a work order for a particular wholesale client, service price can be automatically adjusted. 

For example, if the job price of a service is $25.00 USD...

...when you add this service while creating a work order to which this job is assigned, the service price is $25.00  USD.

Discount & Fee Prices

You can set a service discount or fee, so that when you add a service to an inspection or a work order, service price can be automatically adjusted depending on the discount or fee rate.

For example, if the wholesale discount rate of a service is -20.00 %...

...when you add this service while creating a work order for a wholesale customer, the service price is $80.00 USD  ($100.00 USD - 20% is $80.00 USD).

For example, if the wholesale fee rate of a service is 20.00 %...

...when you add this service while creating a work order for a wholesale customer, the service price is $120.00 USD  ($100.00 USD + 20% is $120.00 USD).

Amount Calculation

Subtotal amount of inspections and work orders is the summary amount of main services, while total amount is the sum of subtotal amount and surcharges, discounts, taxes, and fees, if any.

  • Main services are services with the Money price type, the Labor price type, the Parts price type, the Price Matrix price type, and the Bundle price type.

  • Surcharges, discounts, taxes, and fees are services with the Percentage price type and the Fee Bundle price type.

Note Adding surcharges, discounts,  and taxes to inspections and work orders without at least one main service doesn’t make sense. 

For example, if you select the Returning  Client Discount service only, the total amount of an inspection or a work order doesn’t change until you select the Tire Balance service.

The total amount of inspections and work orders is calculated according to the formula (((main services) + surcharges)  + discounts) + taxes + fees, which means that the following operations  are performed in the following order:

  1. Main services

  2. Surcharges

  3. Discounts

  4. Taxes

  5. Fees

Main Services

If there are only main services, the amount of main services is summed up. 

Note In this case subtotal amount equals the total amount.

For example, if the Tire Balance service amount is $10.00 USD, the Labor Rate service amount is $60.00 USD, the  Oil Change Bundle service amount is $40.00 USD, and the Dent Removal service  amount is $90.00 USD, then the amount of main services is $200.00 USD  (10 + 60 + 40 + 90 is 200)

Surcharges

If there are also any surcharge services, the amount of surcharge services is calculated from the dollar amount of main services, and then added to the total amount.

For example, if the Weekend Surcharge service amount is 25%, then the amount of main services with surcharge is $250.00  USD (25% from 200 is 50; 200 + 50 is 250).

Discounts

If there are also any discount services, the amount of discount services is calculated from the dollar amount of main services with applied surcharges,  and then added to the total amount. 

Note The discount amount is a negative value, so “adding” discount amount actually means “deducting” it). 

For example, if the Returning Client  Discount service amount is -$10.00, then the amount of main services,  surcharge service, and discount service is $225.00 USD (-10% from 250  is -25; 250 - 25 is 225). 

Note The dollar amount of discount services is not calculated from the main services with the Discount Exempt setting. 

Important! Discount is also not calculated from surcharges of main services with the Discount Exempt setting. 

For example, if the Tire Balance service and the Dent Removal service are discount exempt, the discount is not applied to both the amount of these services and their surcharges.

Taxes

If there are also any tax services, the amount of tax services is calculated from the dollar amount of main services with surcharges and discounts, and then added to the total amount. 

For example, if the Tax service amount is  5%, then the amount of main services with surcharge, discount, and tax is $236.25 USD (5% from 225 is 11.25; 225 + 11.25 is 236.25).

Note The amount of tax services is not calculated from the main services with the Tax Exempt setting.

Important! Tax is also not calculated from surcharges and discounts of main services with the Tax Exempt setting.

For example, if the Labor Rate service and the Oil Change Bundle service are tax exempt, the tax is not applied to both the amount of these services and their surcharges and discounts.

Fees

If there are also any fee bundle services, the amount of fee bundle services is calculated, and then added to the total amount.

Note Fee Bundle services are not shown in the list of services on device. 

For example, if the Oil Change Bundle service  includes $5.00 USD of Oil Disposal Fee and $5.00 USD of Filter Disposal  Fee, then the amount of main services with surcharge, discount, tax, and fee is $246.25 USD (236.25 + 5 + 5 is 246.25)

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