The Hour Contract Module allows for complete management of the values of hours worked on the ticket, as well as additional expenses (toll, food, fuel). It also enables control of the hours contracted by the client and how those hours are being consumed. It can be used for one or more clients and will determine the hour quota for each activity, as well as the cost of excess hours.
Configuring the Hour Contract
Before starting the hour contract, it is necessary for all initial records to be properly defined.
In the Settings menu > Entries:
In the Settings menu > People > Access Profiles - Entries.
- Administrators
- Agents
- Clients
The Hour Contract is accessed through the menu "Settings >> Agreements >> Hour Contract". To register a new contract, simply click on the [+] icon to display the registration screen.
TIP: Through the "Options" icon, the system allows some conveniences such as cloning a contract, enabling/disabling, and even deleting one or more contracts at the same time.
When cloning a contract, the copy will be created with the "disabled" standard. To enable it, select the contract, provide a client, and click on the "enabled" option. It is important to note that it is only possible to enable a contract if it has at least one client (it is also advisable that each contract has only one associated organization).
In the tab "Main", define a name for the contract. This name does not need to be unique. Just below, provide the base value of the contract, which is the value agreed upon with the client, whether used or not. Then, in the field Renew the contract each month on the day, specify the date to start the new cycle.
The Contract Client can be defined as a person, department, and/or organization, and it can be linked to only one contract. When providing a company, all people related to it will have permission to use the contract. A contract can have more than one client, provided that the client is not in a disabled status (however, this is not recommended as service provided to one will directly affect the hour balance of the other, even if this one is not involved in the ticket).
IMPORTANT!
- When selecting an organization, the people who belong to the same organization will no longer be displayed for selection in the current contract. They will only be available for other contracts.
- When changing the client of a contract, the system removes the contract link with the ticket and recalculates the values/entries for the current period.
Following the configuration, click on the tab Contract Hours, by default, when selecting a tab, the information from the previous tab is no longer displayed. Here, the available hours for the contract are determined, as well as the total contracted hours/quota with their respective activities, types of hours, and values.
Understanding the flag Differentiating hour quota and values by activity and hour types
By selecting this flag, the system allows you to define the amount of hours that will be consumed by activity and:
- Hides the option Deduct hours from contract;
- Enables the Quota(h); field
- The Quota(h) field becomes mandatory.
The Activity field lists all registered activities. The activities specified here will be available in the hour entry.
The Type of hour field lists all registered types of hours. The types of hours specified here will be available in the hour entry.
In the Quota(h) field, specify the number of contracted hours for each activity.
IMPORTANT!
- The values specified in the $R/h (contract) field will be added to the base value of the contract. To not charge anything extra for each worked hour, leave this field blank.
- The Excess Hours field allows for recording hours beyond the contracted amount. If you want to charge a different rate (R$/h) from the value specified in the contract, specify it here. When unchecked and exceeding the contracted hours amount (Contracted hours/month), the system returns a message and blocks the entry.
- The Contracted hours/month field defines the total contracted hours based on the quota field, considering the activity and type of hour.
For this example, 40 hours/month are contracted, of which:
- 30 hours can be used for the On-site activity, with normal hour type, and the rate per hour is R$15.00. If the 30 hours established in the Quota(h) are exceeded, the rate per hour becomes R$30.00.
- 10 hours can be used for the Remote activity, with a Normal hour type, and the value of the worked hour is R$20.00. If it exceeds the 10 hours established in the Franchise(h), the value of the hour becomes R$40.00.
For this example, 40 hours/month are defined, where of these 40 hours:
- 30 hours can be used for the On-site activity, with a Normal hour type, and the value of the worked hour is R$15.00. If it exceeds the 30 hours established in the franchise (h), the system returns a message and blocks the hour entry.
- 10 hours can be used for the Remote activity, with a Normal hour type, and the value of the worked hour is R$20.00. If it exceeds the 10 hours established in the franchise (h), the system returns a message and blocks the hour entry.
Next, let’s uncheck the flag. With this flag unchecked, the system allows you to define a total of contracted hours/month regardless of the activity and:
- Hides the Franchise field;
- Enables the option Deduct hours from contract;
- Enables the field Hours/month contracted.
Important!
- The values entered in the field R$/h(contract) will be added to the base value of the contract. To avoid charging anything extra for each worked hour, leave this field blank.
- The Excess hours field allows hours beyond the contracted ones to be recorded. If you want to charge a different value (R$/h) from the value defined in the contract, specify it here. When unchecked and exceeding the number of contracted hours (Hours/month contracted), the system returns a message and blocks the entry.
- The option Deduct hours from contract checked indicates that the recorded hours will be deducted from the contract. If you want the hours to be accounted for outside of the contracted hours, this option should be unchecked.
- The Hours/month contracted field defines the total contracted hours.
For this example, 100 hours/month are defined, which can be used for both On-site and Remote activities, with a Normal hour type.
- The worked hour value for the On-site activity is R$15.00. If it exceeds the 100 hours established, the hour value becomes R$30.00.
- The worked hour value for the Remote activity is R$20.00. If it exceeds the 100 hours established, the hour value becomes R$40.00.
It is important to highlight that the Differentiating contract hour consumption by hour type flag is used if there is a need for some type of hour to consume the contract hours differently, for example: an Extra hour consuming two hours of the contract.
Finally, the Unused hours tab allows you to define whether the contracted hours not used in the current month can or cannot be used.
When the Accumulate unused hours option is enabled, the Deadline for consumption (months) field is displayed. In this field, you must define how many months the accumulated hours can be accumulated. After this period, they will no longer be counted.
Important!
The system uses the current month's hours and, if exceeded, checks if there are accumulated hours.
Changes and records in the contract
Some changes related to the contract follow rules, such as:
- Editing, deletion, and inclusion of records for closed periods are restricted to the open period or the last closed period. For example: when the open period is June, you can still edit the closed period of May, but only that closed period.
- Changing franchise differentiation or value by activity is only possible for records in open periods of the contract.
- Retroactive records should only generate a value if they are within the open period or the last closed period. If the retroactive record is within a closed period (not the last one), no billing value should be generated, nor should hours be deducted from the closed period even if there is a balance.
- Retroactive records consider the contract definitions of the retroactive period.
- In a new contract, only the records created after the contract's opening are considered.
Consumption chart on the ticket
In the ticket's progress bar, you can check the total available time in the period (fixed package hours + accumulated hours, if any).
In blue on the chart, the consumption of the available hours in total (fixed + accumulated) is displayed. If excess hours (out-of-contract) are consumed, this consumption will be represented in yellow on the consumption bar.
You can see more details by clicking on the consumption bar. This will open a modal with consumption details, including separating by activity and hour type, if there is differentiation in the contract.
You can also find this chart in Reports > Contract hours by period.
If your contract has hour accumulation enabled, the accumulated hours, when available, will be consumed only after the total consumption of the current period.
For example, if you have a 30h contract that renews every 30 days, and on the 20th you have exhausted those 30h, the contract will start consuming accumulated hours. If there are no accumulated hours, excess hours (out-of-contract) will be considered. If the contract or activity does not allow excess hours, the system will not allow the entry to be saved.
When there is differentiation by franchise, the report will present a consumption chart by activity as well, in addition to the general contract consumption chart. If there is no franchise, only the contract hours consumption chart will be shown.
Accumulated hour information is only presented in the contract's open period, i.e., the current period.