Field Definitions: SM Assignments Form

The following is a list of field descriptions for the SM Assignments form. Many of the descriptions include links to other topics that provide additional information about or related to the topic.

Assignment

Assignment field on the Info tab of the SM Trips form.

Press F4 for the SM Assignment Lookup from which to select an assignment number. Press F5 to connect to SM Assignments in order to create a new assignment.

Description

Description field on the Info tab of the SM Assignments form.

Enter a description for the assignment.

Lead Tech

Lead Tech field on the SM Assignments form.

Enter a lead technician, or press F4 for the All SM Technicians Lookup from which to select a technician.

Work Order

Work Order field on the SM Assignments form.

Enter a work order number, or press F4 for the SM Work Order Lookup from which to select a work order.

About Craft Templates

If you have different craft/class requirements based on the type of services performed by technicians for a service site, you can use craft templates to determine technician pay rates.

Craft templates are set up in the Payroll module and allow you to override selected craft information, such as reciprocal agreement settings, add-on earnings, and/or deductions and liabilities. The system uses the craft template to determine pay rates, add-on earnings, and deductions and liabilities for employees.

You can assign a default craft template to each customer service site in SM Service Sites so that each time a work order is created for that service site, it defaults the specified craft template you specified. When you enter work completed labor lines, the system sends the labor entries to PR My Timesheet, along with the craft template designation. Once you approve the timesheets and send them to a timecard batch (via PR Timesheet Send), the system uses the craft template to determine the pay rate for the technician based on the craft and class specified on the timecard.

When processing payroll for service technicians (in PR Payroll Process), the system uses the work order's craft template to apply add-on earnings, deductions, and liabilities for the payroll period.

Reciprocal Agreements

Reciprocal agreements are used when employees from one union are working on a job within the jurisdiction of another union, and control which pay rates are used, which deductions and liabilities are calculated, and to which craft they are reported.

There are two types of reciprocal agreements: Partial and Override. When entering SM-related timecards, craft and pay rate defaults are handled as follows:

  • Partial - The system defaults the employee's standard craft and calculates all earnings using the posted craft; however, deductions and liabilities will accumulate under the Job Craft specified on the craft template.

  • Override - The system defaults the Job Craft specified on the craft template rather than the employee's standard craft. The system uses the Job Craft to calculate earnings and accumulate deductions and liabilities.

For information about setting up reciprocal agreements for a craft template, see Set Up Reciprocal Agreements for Crafts.

About Rate Templates and Override Rates

SM uses rate templates to determine the labor, material, equipment, and non-material purchase rates used when capturing work completed on work orders (in SM Work Orders).

You can assign a rate template to a service site and the system will default that rate template each time you create a work order for the service site. If you do not assign a rate template to the service site, work orders will default the rate template as follows:

  • For customer work orders, the system defaults the rate template specified for the customer in SM Customers. If no rate template is specified in SM Customers, no rate template defaults and you must assign a rate template before you can enter work completed lines.

  • For job work orders, the system defaults the rate template as blank and you must assign a rate template before you can enter work completed lines.

If you charge the service site different rates for labor, equipment, materials, and non-material purchases based on specific criteria, you can set up override rates using the SM Rate Override Base form (accessed by clicking the Override Rates button). Override rates will only be applied if the criteria defined for an override rate matches the information entered on a work completed line in SM Work Orders. If no match is found, the system will use the rate template assigned to the service site to determine the rates to use.

Note: Since you can set up overrides at multiple levels (rate template, effective date, customer, service site, and work order quote), the system determines the correct rates to use based on a specific hierarchy. For more information, see Equipment Rate Hierarchy, Labor Rate Hierarchy, or Material Rate Hierarchy.

For more information about setting up override material rates, see Material Rate Overrides.

Customer Sites vs. Job Sites

You can set up both customer sites and job sites for a Service Management customer.

When you set up a service site in SM Service Sites, the Type field allows you to specify whether you are setting up a customer service site or a job service site. Most of the information entered for a service site applies to both customer and job service sites; however, there are fields that are specific to the service site type.

For example, customer-specified fields include (but are not limited to) Customer, Custom Invoice Report, Invoice Grouping, and payroll-related fields such as Local Code, Insurance Code, and Craft Template. Job-specific fields include JC Co, Job, and Costing Method.

Invoices

The Invoices tab in SM Service Sites applies to customer service sites only, and allows you to review the invoice history for the selected service site. Invoices are generated in SM Work Orders or SM Work Order Billing, and are based on work completed equipment, labor, miscellaneous, inventory, and purchase lines on a work order. For each invoice, you can track its status, the date it was created, and the invoice amounts.

Work orders associated with a job are billed in Job Billing (via Job Cost) or directly in Accounts Receivable (if not using Job Billing).

Agreements

The Agreements tab in SM Service Sites applies to customer service sites only, and displays all agreements that are associated with the selected service site. Although agreements are set up by customer, they are associated to service sites via the services that are defined for the agreement; only those agreements with services referencing the selected service site will display here.
Note: You cannot add agreements using this grid; however, you can access the agreement by double-clicking the related grid record. For more information about agreements and services, see SM Agreements Form and SM Service Form.

Closed Jobs

All job sites must be assigned a JC company and job. You can close the contract and job associated with a job service site; however, once closed, the ability to enter work orders and/or work completed for the service site is determined by the Allow Posting to Hard-Closed Jobs and Allow Posting to Soft-Closed Jobs check boxes in JC Company Parameters (for the JC company associated with the service site).

  • If you allow posting to closed jobs (both check boxes are selected), the system allows entry of work orders and work completed for the service site, and updates the costs to Job Cost.

  • If you do not allow posting to closed jobs (neither of the check boxes is selected), the system does not allow entry of work orders or work completed for the service site.

If you close a job after you have already entered work orders for the service site, existing work completed entries are not affected; however, no new entries are allowed, nor will costs be updated to Job Cost.

If work completed labor or work completed purchase entries exist, but you have not posted actual costs to Job Cost (by running PR Ledger Update or AP Transaction Entry), you will be unable to close the job until you have correctly processed the entries.