Lesson 1: Invoicing Rental Time

Rental time can be configured to be entered by the individual users, by management, or by either.  See the user instructions for instructions specific to user entry - although the procedure is virtually the same as for managers.  Managers can enter rental time via link on the Flight Management screens or via the Dispatch Queue.  Rental time should never be entered via the Invoice/Credit Memo screen since this screen does not allow for entry of the meter.  It also does not associate the rental with the schedule.  The following article shows how to enter rental time via the Dispatch Queue.

 The image below shows the Dispatch Queue and the menu navigation for getting there.  In this screen, managers will see all outstanding preflights and postflight.  (General users would only see their own.)  Click on the date/time of the schedule that you wish to invoice. 

Notes: If the user did not schedule the aircraft, scroll to the bottom of this article for additional instructions.  If the schedule was a no-show, it should still be postflighted in order to mark the schedule as a 'No Flight.'  Otherwise, it will show up as a missing entry in the flight management queues.

Clicking on the date/time for the 3rd entry in the outstanding postflight list brought us to the following screen. The manager should enter the start and end time if the resource was used.  Other fields may be optional.  When the form is complete, click on Calculate Charges to proceed.

Various configuration option include:

• Maintenance meter time (usually tach) can be entered or hidden.  It can also be required or optional for users and/or managers.
• Displaying the previous hobbs and tach time, which can be helpful for entering time with no gaps.  This is shown below. 
• Defaulting the start or end time if the previous or following entry are already entered.  This saves keystrokes, but it can cause errors if users blindly leave the defaults without verifying.
• Aircraft receipts and coupons are optional entry fields.  This section will not be displayed unless configured to show.

The suggested charges will be displayed as shown below.  If there was sales tax, that would be displayed as an additional line item.  And, if there were any entered fuel receipts or other credits, they would also be displayed as additional line items.  If the quantity, rate, or any credits are incorrect, click the blue 'Edit Inputs' button to return to the input screen displayed above.  If everything is OK, go ahead and click 'Accept Charges.'  (There is an additional warning screen that may be displayed before this one if the inputs look unreasonable - for example if 10 hours of flight time is entered against a 1 hour schedule.)

Depending on the payment options available, you may either be directed to the payment screen or to a statement/receipt screen.  The payment screen is shown below.  Payment options for a manager might include cash, check, or credit card.

If the user did not schedule the aircraft...

for rental time that you need to enter, you can enter an after-the-fact schedule from a link on the Dispatch Queue.  Scroll to the bottom to see a link labeled 'Click here for postflight with no schedule' (as shown below).

Select the aircraft (or boat) and the user.  Enter the start and end date and time.  Then click Save.  This will take you to the same screen sequence as described above for scheduled flights.