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Common Billing Questions
A billing group is a collection of accounts that all have the same billing settings. In the billing group, you specify details such as the accounts in the group, billing periods, payment distribution, adjustments, and statement display options.
For more information on creating billing groups, visit Creating billing groups.
A billing definition defines how you want to calculate fees in Advisor View. In the billing definition, you define items such as the billing method (arrears or in advance), the billing cycle, prorations, rate tiers, adjustments, minimum fees, and service tax amounts.
To export all billing definitions and details of each, contact your dedicated Support Team.
For more information on how to create a billing definition, visit Working with billing definitions.
A payment account is an account in a billing group that will pay part or all of the bill. You set up payment accounts when you set up billing groups. For more information, visit Creating billing groups.
To set up billing in advance, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, choose an existing billing spec. If you haven't created a billing spec, visit Billing definitions.
Under Bill in, click Advance.
Click Save.
To set up billing in arrears, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing spec list, choose an existing billing spec. If you haven't created a billing spec, visit Billing definitions.
Under Bill in, click Arrears.
Click Save.
To do this, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click Edit next to the billing group where the child is assigned.
Add the father's account to the billing group. To do this, select his account in the Available Accounts column and then click Add Selected Accounts.
TIP
If the only reason you added the account to the billing group was to use it as a payment account, select Exclude ALL Securities from Billing on the account's Excluded Securities Panel.
On the Payment Distributions tab, click Add account under the child's account.
In the list that appears, click the father's account.
Specify the applicable payment distributions and then click Save. In the example below, the father (Michael) will pay half of his daughter's (Georgia) bill.
Yes, average daily balance billing includes weekend days and holidays.
We take the summation of the daily ending value of billed securities for the days on which the account is to be billed (adjusted for custom/start end dates and billing inception/close dates) and divide by the number of days in the billing period.
Do one of the following:
Discount Type Actions to Take Specific account discount
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click Edit next to a billing group where the user is assigned.
Click the Adjustments tab.
In the Adjustments box for the account, specify the discount amount as a dollar amount or as a percent. To specify a discount, type a dash (-) before the dollar amount or percentage - for example, type -10.00 to give a discount of $10.00 to all accounts assigned to the billing group.
In the Description box, type a description for the discount. This description will print next to the discount amount on the billing statement.
Click Save.
Billing group discount
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click Edit next to a billing group where you want to specify a discount.
Click the Adjustments tab.
- Click Create Adjustment.
In the Adjustment box, specify the discount amount as a dollar amount or as a percent. To specify a discount, type a dash (-) before the dollar amount or percentage - for example, type -10.00 to give a discount of $10.00 to all accounts assigned to the billing group.
In the Description box, type a description for the discount. This description will print next to the discount amount on the billing statement.
Click Save.
Discount to all accounts assigned to a billing definition To give a discount of a set amount at the billing definition level, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, choose the billing definition where you want to specify the discount.
On the General tab, type the discount amount in the Adjustment amount box. You can specify the discount amount as a dollar amount or as a percent. To specify a discount, type a dash (-) before the dollar amount or percentage - for example, type -10.00 to give a discount of $10.00 to all accounts assigned to the billing group.
Click Save.
To give a discount as a rate at the billing definition level, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, choose the billing definition where you want to specify the discount.
On the Rates tab, type the discount amount in the Annual Rate amount box. To specify a discount, type a dash (-) before the dollar amount or percentage - for example, type -10.00 to give a discount of $10.00 to all accounts assigned to the billing group.
Click Save.
To apply a credit to a billing group/billing account, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click the billing group you want to credit.
In the Edit Billing Group window, click the Adjustments tab.
Click Create Adjustment.
Select whether to apply the adjustment to the billing group or to a specific account. If you select Account, select an account from the list.
To apply a credit, enter a negative amount in the Adjustment field.
If the adjustment should only apply to a specific time period, enter the billing inception date and end date in the Dates fields.
Enter a reason for the credit in the Description field. This information will show on the statement.
Click Create, then click Save.
Adjustments are deducted or added after the minimum fee is calculated.
Let's say you have the following billing situation:
The minimum fee amount in your billing definition is $250.00.
Advisor View calculates a fee of $270 for a client.
There is a $60 credit on the client's account.
Advisor View will not apply the minimum fee amount of $250 because the calculated amount of the bill is more than the minimum fee amount. Advisor View will then apply the credit amount of $60. The total calculated bill will be $210.
Yes, you can turn off prorations at the billing definition level.
To turn off proration of cash flows, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, click the billing definition where you want to turn off the proration of cash flows.
On the Prorations tab, clear the Prorate capital flows check box.
Click Save.
To set up your billing periods, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click Edit next to the billing group where you want to specify the billing period. If you haven't created a billing group, visit Billing Groups.
Click the Billing Periods tab and complete the following:
Field... More information... Use billing inception date
Select this option if you want to set the billing start date as the date that the account was created. The billing inception date is determined by the billing inception date specified in PortfolioCenter.
Use custom billing period
Select this option if you want to specify a custom billing date. If you select this option, choose a start date for the account by clicking in the Billing inception box and then clicking the billing start date on the calendar. If you do not complete this entry, Advisor View will set the start date as the inception date.
You can also specify an end date for the account in the end date box. However, this an end date is not a required entry.
Click Save.
To exclude small capital flows from billing, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, choose the billing definition where you want to exclude cash flows. If you haven't created a billing definition, visit Billing Definitions.
On the Prorations tab, specify the maximum amount you want to exclude in the Exclude flows under box.
Click Save.
To bill at a single rate, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Definitions.
In the Select a billing definition list, choose a billing definition. If you haven't created a billing definition, visit Billing Definitions.
Click the Rates tab and select the Bill at single rate check box. When you select this option, Advisor View assigns one billing rate to the entire account.
Example
Let's say you set up the following rate tiers:
With single rate billing, a portfolio with the value of $1.5 million would be billed at a rate of .20 percent and a portfolio with the value of $5.5 million would be billed at a rate of .10 percent.
If you do not use single rate billing, a portfolio with the value of 1.5 million would be billed like this: the first $1 million would be billed at a rate of .25 percent, and the remaining $500 thousand would be billed at a rate of .20 percent.
Click Save.
To extract management fees, simply export the data that appears on the Billing History report.
To export the data on the dynamic Billing History report:
On the Billing menu, click Billing History.
In the Find Data For list, start typing the number or name of the account for which you want to run the report. Click the desired record. The report appears on your screen.
In the Report View list, choose a report view. If you haven't created a report view, visit Create a Billing History report view. The report appears on your screen.
Click Export Data.
In the File Download dialog, click Open. You can open the comma-delimited file in Microsoft Excel or any program that is capable of opening comma-delimited files.
The Billing History report shows the time periods, adjustments, paid amounts, and billing amounts for each portfolio. On this page you can start an auto-reconciliation, export your management fees, perform a custodian export of your billing information.
To run the dynamic billing history report, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing History.
In the Find Data For list, start typing the number or name of the account for which you want to run the report. Click the desired record. The report appears on your screen.
In the Report View list, choose a report view.
Do any of the following:
Custodian Export of Billing Information. To perform a custodian export of your billing information, click Custodian Export.
Export Management Fees. To export your management fees, click Export Data at the top of the page.
Auto-Reconciliation. To perform an auto-reconciliation, in the More Actions list, click Auto-Reconciliation. For more information on auto-reconciliation, visit Billing Reconciliation.
Delete Billing History. To delete an item from billing history, select the check box next to the item you want to delete, and then click Delete History in the More Actions list.
To compare the previous billed amount with the current billed amount, you can use an Account Billing History bulk report.
Create an Account Billing History bulk report.
In addition to the required columns, add:
Billable Value
Billed Amount
Previous Billable Value
Previous Billed Amount
Previous Billing Date
In the Set Additional Options tab, under Date period, select Most recent billing date.
Note
The Most recent billing date check box returns the last billing history for every combination of account and billing group. This means that if an account belonged to one billing group and was subsequently moved to a different group, you will see results for both groups.
Click Save.
On the Accounts page, select the check box next to the account or group you want to compare.
Under Actions, click Generate Bulk Report. Choose the comparison bulk report you just created and click Generate Report.
In the output generated, you will see both the current billed amount and the previous billed amount, as well as date of previous bill.
To hide client details for some accounts in a billing group, follow these steps:
On the Billing menu, click Billing Groups.
Click Edit next to the appropriate billing group.
On the Statement Display Options tab, choose how you want the statement to appear:
Field... More information... Compare reporting group with Choose Billing accounts or Payment accounts.
When all billing accounts are in the reporting group, show If you select Detail, Advisor View will print details about billing accounts on the billing statement when all billing accounts are in the reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
If you select Summary, Advisor View will not print any client information for payment accounts on the billing statement when all billing accounts are in the reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
When some billing accounts are in the reporting group, show If you select Detail, Advisor View will print details about billing accounts on the billing statement when some of the accounts are in the same reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
If you select Summary, Advisor View will not print any client information for payment accounts on the billing statement when some of the accounts are in the same reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
When no billing accounts are in the reporting group, show If you select Detail, Advisor View will print details about billing accounts on the billing statement when none of the accounts are in the same reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
If you select Summary, Advisor View will not print any client information for payment accounts on the billing statement when none of the accounts are in the same reporting group. Advisor View pulls the reporting group information from your portfolio accounting system.
Aggregate accounts not in the reporting group Select this check box if you want to combine the accounts that are not in the reporting group into a single line item on the report.
Click Save.
As of this release, billing forms that you set up under your statement display options in PortfolioCenter do not appear in Advisor View billing.
For more information on how to reconcile your billing, visit Billing Reconciliation.
Advisor View supports average cost accounting with the following bifurcation dates as established by IRS guidelines:
Security Type Bifurcation Date Equities
January 1, 2011
Mutual Funds
January 1, 2011
All other security types
January 1, 2012
