Overview
After each storm, you pay your snow subcontractors from the auto expenses their reported work generates. You don't pay subcontractors through payroll. You pay them through a purchase receipt, the same way you'd pay any vendor, and you check it against the invoice they send you.
How the expenses reach you depends on the invoice type. T&M and Per Service work generates expenses on its own. Seasonal (Fixed Payment) work needs you to trigger them. From there, every subcontractor is paid the same way.
Things to know
T&M and Per Service expenses reach the Purchasing Assistant after you accept the subcontractor’s time and the ticket is in Pending Approval or Complete.
Seasonal tickets aren't completed until the season ends, so nothing generates until you select Trigger Auto Expense Creation.
Expenses only generate from time a subcontractor reports. Work your in-house crews log on the same service doesn't generate a subcontractor expense.
Each subcontractor needs a company record for auto expenses and a vendor record for purchase receipts.
The Vendor column is blank for auto expenses in the Purchasing Assistant. The subcontractor's name appears in the Item Name column with the service and fee.
Two dates matter. The trigger date is the last day of the storm. Use the first day of the storm as the received date, so it's on or before the date the work was done.
Requirements
To generate seasonal expenses, you need the Trigger Auto Expense Creation permission.
To open the Purchasing Assistant, you need the View Purchasing permission.
To create, receive, and approve the purchase receipt, you need the Add Receipt, Receive Receipt, and Approve Receipt permissions.
To correct an approved receipt, you need the Unapprove Receipt permission.
Steps
Work through one storm at a time. Have each subcontractor's invoice in hand before you start.
Accept your subcontractors' time
Review and accept the time and materials your subcontractors reported for the storm in Time Entry. Time that isn't accepted doesn't generate an expense. For more information, visit Reporting Time and Materials in the Field or Subcontractors Reporting in the Portal.
Trigger expenses for seasonal work
Skip this section if none of your subcontracted snow services are seasonal (Fixed Payment).
Go to the Work Tickets module.
Filter the list to your seasonal snow tickets. Save it as a list you can reuse each storm:
Division: Snow
Invoice Type: Contract | Fixed Payment
Service Abr: does not contain "T&M"
Work Ticket Status Code: not in Open or Canceled
Branch Name: your branch, if you run more than one
Select Apply.
Select the tickets you want to generate expenses for.
Select Bulk Actions > Trigger Auto Expense Creation.
In Anticipated Start Date, enter the last day of the storm. Aspire generates expenses up through this date.
Select Save.
Note: Triggering again doesn't create duplicates. Aspire only picks up visits it hasn't already generated an expense for. If a subcontractor reports a visit late, accept the time and trigger again.
Find the storm's expenses
Go to the Purchasing module. The Purchasing Assistant opens.
Apply these filters:
Auto Expense: Yes
Service Division: Snow
Scheduled Start Date: custom, from the first to the last day of the storm
Item Quantity Remaining: greater than 0
Item Quantity Allocated: equals 0
Branch Name: your branch, if you run more than one
Select Apply.
Create one purchase receipt per subcontractor
Add a filter: Item Name contains the subcontractor's company name.
Review the quantities. Seasonal hours build up across every visit on the season's ticket, so one line can cover many visits.
To pay a set amount instead of the hours, change the quantity, such as "1" against a $125 hourly rate to pay $125.
Select the lines you owe. Leave off any lines with no cost.
Select Bulk Actions > Create Purchase.
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Verify the Branch. If your selection spans branches, select one. The Vendor field stays unavailable until you do.
Select the subcontractor's Vendor.
Select Purchase.
Aspire creates one receipt with a line for each expense. To see which tickets a line came from, select its Purchase Allocations icon. If your company uses purchasing approvals, the receipt may need approval while it's in New status before you can receive it.
Receive the receipt and approve it
On the purchase receipt, set Received to the first day of the storm.
Enter the Invoice Date and Invoice # from the subcontractor’s invoice.
Compare the receipt to the invoice.
Select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Receive.
Select the three-dot icon again, then select Approve.
Important: Use the first day of the storm as the received date, not the last. If the received date is after a ticket's completed date, Aspire records the cost as added after the ticket was completed instead of with the work.
If the receipt and invoice don't match, check with your operations team before you approve. Then have the subcontractor correct their invoice, or correct the receipt.
What happens next
The cost posts to the work tickets it came from and shows in job costing.
If your accounting system is connected to Aspire, approving the receipt sends it over as a bill so you can pay your subcontractor.
To print a record for your subcontractor, open the receipt, select the three-dot icon, then select Print Receipt. Use a Detail Purchase Receipt layout if they should see the amounts.
Troubleshooting
For snow problems, visit Snow Troubleshooting.