You can affect multiple product lines when you record activity in CAR. These product lines can be one of the following: the WIP product line, charge product lines, and the revenue product line.

You can use the same product line for WIP, charges, and revenue. Depending on how you separate accounts, you can set up and implement product lines ranging from simple to complex.

Accounting in CAR summarizes the accounts affected by recording activity and posting call invoices.

See Charge and Revenue Management.

In CAR, the system uses the WIP account of the call item’s product line for all WIP transactions for the line item. You specify this product line when you select a call item in Call Activity Recording.

The system determines the default product line for the WIP account based on the value of Use Item Prod Line in SSM Accounting Control. If Use Item Prod Line is Yes, the WIP product line defaults from the item’s product line. If No, it defaults from the service type’s product line. You can change the default when you begin recording activity for a call line. After you record activity, you cannot change the WIP product line.

The system uses only the WIP account from this product line, as one general holding area. During CAR processing, the system records amounts to the WIP account. When you post the invoice, the system transfers these amounts from the WIP account to the correct charge and revenue product line accounts.

Since call reports are similar to work orders, you can view financial transactions using two reports in the Work Orders module. Enter the call report number in the Work Order field of the following reports:

You cannot add a memo item to a standard work order. You can add memo items to calls unless Items Must Exist is Yes in Service Management Control. For CAR work orders with memo items, the system uses the service site’s cost set. If none exists, the system uses the cost method in Inventory Accounting Control to generate a work order cost report.

The charge product line determines accounts for the cost of activity and appears on the item, labor, and expense detail frames in Call Activity Recording. You can relate charge codes to charge product lines to direct costs to accounts depending on the type of coverage: warranty, contract, billable.

The service accounts of the charge product line are important in CAR. The cost of goods accounts are also used: COGS-Material, COGS-Labor, COGS-Burden, COGS-Overhead, COGS-Subcontr. To isolate service costs from manufacturing costs, use different Cost of Goods Sold account numbers, or use sub-accounts and cost centers to permit distinct reporting.

During invoice post, the system searches for alternate cost of goods accounts from Inventory Account Maintenance (1.2.13) for the combination of product line, site, and location.

The revenue product line determines the sales and sales discount accounts used for the income from service activity. You specify the revenue product line per line item in Call Invoice Recording.

After you enter a charge or revenue product line, the system first looks for alternate sales or inventory accounts. If these are not defined, it uses the accounts defined in Product Line Maintenance.

Call Activity Recording searches for product line accounts the same way the rest of the system does. For an Inventory account, the system searches for GL accounts set up for the combination of product line, site, and location with Inventory Account Maintenance (1.2.13). If accounts for site and location do not exist, the system searches for a match on product line and site with a blank location. If these do not exist either, the system uses the default GL accounts in Product Line Maintenance.

You can set up alternate Sales and COGS accounts with Sales Account Maintenance (1.2.17), based on site, customer type, and channel. You normally set these up for sales orders, but the system checks for these alternate accounts when you post the call invoice.

You can define distribution channels in Generalized Codes Maintenance. Channel normally refers to the distribution channel originating the service activity.

Invoice Post and Print searches for accounts based on the revenue product line of the item repaired, the site associated with the call line item, the customer type of the end user’s customer, and the channel specified on the header in CIR. The system searches for GL sales accounts in the following order: