Adding block, retainer, or ticket purchases

SECURITY  Manager

NAVIGATION  Open a Block Hour Contract > Blocks > New Block

About block, retainer, or ticket purchases

When you click Finish on the last page of the New Contract Wizard for a prepaid contract (Block, Retainer, Per Ticket), the setup is not yet complete. You have not yet added any block purchases, retainer purchases, or ticket purchases and their corresponding charges that will ensure that you get paid for your work.

We recommend that you immediately add blocks, retainer purchases, or ticket purchases to avoid empty contracts where everything defaults to the overage billing rate or role rate, and is billed in arrears.

You can open the new contract from the Summary page of the New Contract Wizard or from the Contract Search page. If opened from the wizard, the New Block Purchase, New Retainer Purchase, or New Ticket Purchase page will open automatically.

Adding a purchase

To add a (block, retainer, ticket) purchase, do the following:

  1. On the Summary page of the New Contract Wizard, click Open Contract. The contract will open, and the New (Block, Retainer, Ticket) Purchase window will appear automatically.

    If you open the contract from the Contract Search page, select Blocks, Retainer Purchases, or Ticket Purchases from the contract menu and click New (Block, Retainer Purchase, Ticket Purchase).
  2. Complete the following fields:
Field Description
Contract Start/End Date (read-only) Displays the Start and End Date of the contract.

NOTE  If you make a purchase outside the contract date range you will extend the contract end date to the end date of the last purchase.
Create: One (Block, Retainer Purchase, Ticket Purchase) When this radio button is selected, you are creating a single purchase with a start date equal to the value entered in the Start Date of First (Block, Purchase) field and an end date equal to the value entered in the End Date of Last (Block, Purchase) field. The block will contain the number of hours entered in the Hours (per Block) field, and the block's hourly rate will be equal to the value entered in the Hourly Rate field.
Create: Monthly (Blocks, Retainer Purchases, Ticket Purchases) When this radio button is selected, you are creating monthly blocks or purchases (no more than the number of blocks entered in the Number of (Blocks, Purchases) field). The first block or purchase will have a start date equal to the value entered in the Start Date of First (Block, Purchase) field and an end date equal to the last day of that same month (or an end date equal to the value entered in the End Date of Last Block field, whichever comes first). The next monthly block will have a start date of the first date of the following month and an end date of the last day of that month (or an end date equal to the value entered in the End Date of Last (Block, Purchase) field, whichever comes first).

NOTE  If you use the roll-over option described below, the end dates of each block or purchase will be adjusted based on a specified number of days. The start dates remain on the first of the month.
Roll-over unused (hours, amount, tickets) for [ ] days

NOTE  This check box is only available when you have selected Monthly (Blocks, Purchases) because when you select One (Block, Purchase), you can specify the expiration date in the End Date of Last (Block, Purchase) field.

Select this check box to carry over any (hours, amount, tickets) from a purchase that are not used during the month following the purchase's start date. In the [days] field, specify how many days any unused (hours, amount, tickets) should remain available after the end of the month. All (hours, amount, tickets) expire at the contract end date; that is, any rollover that extends past the contract end date will also expire.

EXAMPLE   You create a block hour contract on January 1 with an end date of June 30. You select the Monthly Blocks option and set the Start of First Block Date to January 1. You use the Number of Blocks option to add 6 monthly block purchases of 5 hours each and you specify a roll-over of 7 days.
When you save the purchase, you can see in the list of block purchases that the end of the January block purchase is set to February 7. Because you have specified a 7-day rollover, your customer has until February 7 to use the block hours purchased for the first month.
The next four monthly purchases also have end dates on the 7th of the month following the purchase month (March 7, April 7, May 7, and June 7). But the 6th monthly purchase shows the end date of June 30, because that is the contract end date. The rollover does not apply after the contract end date.

When you select the roll-over option and leave the number of days field empty, all blocks hours will be available until the contract's end date, so the end date for each block will be set to the contract end date.

Start Date of First (Block, Purchase) The date on which the block or purchase becomes effective and available for use. Type directly in the field or click the Date Selector icon and select a date. Defaults to today's date or the contract start date, whichever comes later.
End Date of Last (Block, Purchase)

The date on which the block or purchase becomes ineffective and unavailable for use, even if unused (hours, amount, tickets) remain. Defaults to today's date plus one month, minus one day (if today is 5/15, the end date field will default to 6/14).

NOTE  The End Date of the last (block, purchase) has to be less than or equal to exactly 5 years from the Start Date.
Number of (Blocks, Purchases) If you selected the Monthly (Blocks, Purchases) radio button, you may enter a number of blocks or purchases in the Number of (Blocks, Purchases) field. This field will be disabled and not required if the End Date of Last (Block, Purchase) radio button is selected.
Partial first month

This option allows you to configure how the block or purchase start and end dates are calculated. If the option is checked, the end date of the block or purchase is the last day of the same calendar month as the start date.

Example: The start date of the first block purchase is 5/15.

  • If the Partial First Month option is selected, the first block will start on 5/15 and end on 5/31. All other blocks will start on the first day of the month (the next block will start on 6/1 and end on 6/30). The Partial First Month option will result in an additional full purchase.
  • If the Partial First Month option is not selected, the first block will start on 5/15 and end on 6/14. The start and end date of all other blocks will respect these dates (the next block will start on 6/15 and end on 7/14).
Hours (per Block) (Block Hour only) Enter the number of hours being purchased, per block. You cannot edit the hours when the Billed check box is selected.
Tickets (per Purchase) (Per Ticket only) Enter the number of tickets being purchased (per purchase). You cannot edit the tickets when the Billed check box is selected.
Amount (per Purchase) (Retainer only) Enter an amount for the retainer purchases you are creating (per purchase).
Hourly Rate, Per Ticket Rate The amount charged for a single block hour or ticket.
Price (per Block, per Purchase)

Calculated value:

  • Hours (per Block) x Hourly Rate = Price (per Block)

  • Tickets (per Purchase) x Per Ticket Rate = Price (per Ticket Purchase)
Billed (check box) The Billed flag is read-only. It will automatically be selected when the corresponding contract charge has been approved and posted. If the contract charge is unposted, the flag is cleared.
Status (Active/Inactive) The Active setting will be used in conjunction with the start and end dates to determine if a block or purchase is available. For a block or purchase to be available, it has to be active, it has to have a start date less than or equal to today's date, and it has to have an end date greater than or equal to today's date.
Date Purchased This will be the create date for the corresponding contract charge. It determines when the revenue can be recognized. If you are creating monthly blocks or purchases, this field will automatically display Use (Block, Purchase) Start Date.
Payment Number Enter a payment number value for this block purchase. This is an alpha-numeric field and is for reference only.
Payment Type Select a payment type for this block or purchase. The drop-down list will contain all active payment types. Refer to Payment types.
Note Enter a note for this block or purchase. This field is for reference only.

What happens after saving a purchase?

When a (block, retainer, ticket) purchase is added to the contract, a corresponding contract charge that will be used for billing the purchase to the customer is automatically added. You can access these charges from the Contract Menu > Charges page.

Once a contract charge is created from a (block, retainer, ticket) purchase, it is tied to that purchase. As long as the charge is not posted, it is automatically deleted if the corresponding purchase is deleted. For more information on contract charges, refer to Adding or editing a contract charge.

What if the purchases are not sufficient to cover work done on the contract?

When no active purchase is available to cover time entered against a retainer, block hour, or per ticket contract, each contract type handles the overage differently. Refer to Billing rules when no blocks or purchases are available.

Pre-paid contract notifications and repurchase arrangements can ensure that there are always sufficient retainer purchases available. Refer to Notification Rules.