This article will detail how programs and rounds work. A program is a collection of rounds that represent services or applications on a customer's property. Each application or service in a program is called a round. Each program can have as many rounds as necessary. Each round is typically performed once per year. The set of rounds setup in a program is completed in the order they were setup initially. This means that Round 2 cannot be completed until Round 1 has been marked appropriately. You can skip any given round in a particular account but that would be the exception, not the rule.

To begin setting up the Programs/Rounds system, we need to create all the chemicals that your company uses for all the different rounds. If you don't care about tracking chemical usage and costs, you can skip this section.

Click the System menu, select Chemicals/Materials, and then select Chemical List.

Each round can have multiple chemicals associated with it. There is no limit to the number of chemicals per round. It is best to try to limit each round to no more than five chemicals, because of space on the invoices and work orders.

Set up each chemical by clicking the Add button.

Fill in the following fields:

Chemical Code: A four letter/number code used to identify this chemical.

Name: Fifteen character name of the chemical. 

EPA #: The EPA regulated number (if applicable).

Rate: Measuring unit per 1000 square feet. The measuring unit is below, so if you use pounds then it is lbs per sqft.

Cost Per 1000: This is the cost per unit. Again if you use pounds as the unit, this will be the cost per lb.

Measuring Unit: How do you measure this chemical? you can measure it by lbs, oz, gal or a different way.

Cost Per Unit: This is the cost per unit. If the unit is lb, then it would be cost per pound.

Active Ingredient Name: This is the name of the active ingredient.

Active Ingredient Percentage: What percentage is active?

Formulation Type: You define this formulation. You might have a 'cocktail' that you make up for this.

After filling in the necessary fields, click on the notes in order to set up the marketing notes at the same time. This chemical list is also referred to as the master chemical list. We are setting up the main ones first and then you will add them into the Programs/Rounds later.

Click the green Add button towards the top-left of the programs on the screen below to add a new pattern program.

Type a five letter/digit code to distinguish the new program, and then click OK. Your customer will not see this program code but your technicians will.

Type in how many rounds you want to add to this program.

Make sure to add any additional services your company may add to this program on any given customer - remember that you can always put any round under a program on hold later if need be. Click on the program name field to enter a description to the program that you just created. Call Ahead and Area will likely change once this Program/Round is added under the individual customer. Click Setup Add on button in order to create an Add on for this program that will be added to the customer.

Enter as much detail in the tabs highlighted by the red box in the screenshot below. This way, when the program or round is added to individual customers, some information will carry over and show under the customer list.

Here are some useful details to fill in under the Detail tab for the Pattern Round:

Done. is whether this round should be done or not. For pattern programs, leave it as Active.

Cat. is a category pull down menu to pick which category this round fits. This is mainly useful for reporting purposes.

Sub Cat is a sub-menu for the category, mainly useful for reporting purposes.

Type is a good field to use for classification purposes (i.e. RD1).

Crew is if you have a specific crew for this round you can enter here.

Area is assigned to identify the area of the property for the individual customer.

Route will be assigned to order this customer on the route sheet in a particular order.

Estimate Code is a way to set up an estimate for Programs/Rounds. This function works the same as Estimates In Jobs - for more information on estimates click here (https://app.intercom.io/a/apps/um1ikb9l/educate/articles/426787/show).

On each field there is an Update column. Once the field is checked, click Update All Rounds towards the bottom-right in order to update any rounds that customer has. This comes in handy for activating rounds at the beginning of the year or changing specific round details across any customer that has that round.

The Billing tab contains some of the same fields as regular jobs do except for Create Pricing Sheet button. For Auto Pricing, you will need to set up the pricing sheet for each of the rounds. Once you click Use Pricing Sheet, then you can select the Create Pricing Sheet button.

Fill in the fields to create a Pricing Sheet:

Fixed Charge:

This is a starting charge that goes in before any calculations.

Min.

Charge: This is the minimum charge that you are going to charge no matter what the square feet is.

Min. Man Hours: This is the minimum man hours for any round.

Range Generate Every: Enter square feet if you want a different price for every 100 square feet increments. CLIP will create a new entry for every 100 square feet.

Range 1 From: Enter the starting square feet, it will always be 0 for the first range.

Range 1 To: Enter the top number of square feet for this range.

Range 1 Price Per 1k: This is used to figure the price per 1000 square feet.

Range 1 Man Hours Per 1k:

This is used to figure the man hours per square feet for this range.

You can have a different price for Range 2 and another price for Range 3. Once you have filled out the ranges and variables, click the Fill button to create the pricing sheet. Now you can see the pricing sheet you have created. You can also adjust the prices per square feet as necessary.

You can also Print the pricing sheet so that you can take it out with you when you do estimates or export it to Microsoft Excel for further analysis. This pricing sheet will be used whenever you add a program to a customer. It will also be used to create estimate for your customers. You will want to create a pricing sheet for each round of each program.

The Round Notes tab will show up on the Route Sheet for your crew to see. The Tech Note will show up on the Driver Report and the Invoice Note will show on the Program/Rounds invoice which we will go over in the next section. Click the button towards the top right of each note field.

This button allows you to push the note into all the customers that have that Program/Round. In the example above, 'Watch out for neighbor's dog" might not apply to each individual customer. Therefore, you may want to add a tech note that has to do with applying materials. Just keep in mind that your technicians will be the only people seeing the note.

Link Codes are for customers still using the QuickBooks Link or Peach Tree Accounting Modules with our Program. These two accounting modules are no longer being sold but are still supported by CLIP Software.

Adding to Customers:

Click on the Customer List icon or Files menu then select File Maintenance. Find a customer you need to add this Program/Round to then click the Programs tab.

You will be introduced to the Add a Program window. Start at Step 1 and add the program with options you will setup here. Step 1 is the only step here that cannot be modified later on.

The program in the screenshot is called CUST1 and has a name of customer complaint. Proceed to check the default options from Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3. Any Programs/Rounds setup under pattern programs will show up in the drop-down menu under Step 1. Click the green Add button at the bottom and then you will see any rounds setup on that pattern program fill in under that customer.

Any changes made to the Program/Round under the customer will be individual to that customer's file. Change each round to fit your program needs.

There are a number of customer program settings that you can set for a whole program for a customer:

Program Name or Description: You can change the name or description to fit what you want the customer to see.

Area: This is the square foot area that you are servicing.

Call Ahead: If this customer requires a Call Ahead, check this box. You can prevent call aheads from being placed on to the invoices or you can create a Call Ahead List that your office can handle.

Hold: You can place the whole program on hold here. If you click on the Hold check box, CLIP will fill in the date and the name of the user that placed this program on hold.

Hold Date: Date that the program was placed on hold.

Hold By: Name of the user that placed the program on hold.

Reason: This is a list that you can make up for various reasons that the program was or might be put on hold. You can modify this list by clicking the three dots button next to the pull-down menu.

Update Data: This will open a screen to fill in Round Details for Crew, Route #, Map Location, Tax Type, Charge per Job, Bill Type, Man Hour Rating, Item, Class and Include Add-Ons (Item and Class is only for QuickBooks users).

After entering information to Update Data, click Process. After clicking Process, the information will be added into every round included in the program.

Customer Program Notes are setup with an expiration date if needed. This will prevent the notes from showing up after a given date. The Limited Tech Notes will only show up for the date range selected and the Amount of Times selected after the date under Show Next times setting.

Program Estimates for the same as estimates in jobs - click here to find out more information on Estimates In Jobs. Click Create Estimate in order to open the Create Template window to start the process. Once you've solve the service, input the date into Sold Date and Sold By. Confirm that the estimate has been received by using Confirm Date and Confirmed By and then check the box for Confirmed Letter Sent once the estimate has been sent.

Click on the Billing tab on the round section (entering pricing under the customer is essential).

Printing Rounds Invoices:

Click Rounds Invoices from the main CLIP screen to start the process.

Choose the programs and round that you want to print invoices for.

The Pending Invoice button is for invoices that were printed but not finished yet. If the Program/Round has been completed recently, make sure to set the # Days Since Last Service appropriately. However, if you are not sure when the last service was then enter a zero in that field.

The only Programs/Rounds you see here will be Active. If you do not see a program/round you are looking for, check first to see if it is On Hold. Specify the Crew or input zero for all crews.
The Zone is based on the Property tab in the Customer file, You can setup your customers on zones. You may only want to print a particular zone.
Zip Code allows even further designation if you want to print the services or rounds for one zip code. The zip code will be based on the Property Zip Code. Invoices will always default to checked, but just in case you only want to print Call Aheads you can un-check it.
Call Aheads can be included or excluded from printing invoices. If an invoice is from a Call Ahead customer, it will state it in bold letters on the top of the invoice.

Include invoices already printed if you do not want any invoices that have been marked as printed or have already been printed previously. The usual way people use rounds invoices is to only print invoices once. If the technician loses an invoice, the job will not get done. To check for this, you should print out invoices for a round that you believe is done or almost done and include invoices already printed in order to see if someone missed a customer.

Once you have set the filters, click on the Next button (right arrow) towards the bottom right of the screen.

The next step takes you to the screen that shows you all of the rounds that are due, based on your criteria from before. You can manually un-check any of these items that you might not want to print for. You can see the total area, dollars, man hours, stops and quantity in the lower right hand side.

To limit your printing even more, you can use the Map button. Click on the Map Button and you can draw a square around the properties you want to print invoices for. Please note that you must have Microsoft MapPoint 2011 or higher for this function to work correctly. If you do not have Microsoft MapPoint installed, please skip the following:

Click Print Options tab once you are ready for the next step.

You have these options available to you:

Print Company Applicator License: This field will show if you have this entered on your master chemical list. See the first section at the top of the article for more information on this.

Show History: Do you want to show history for this client on the invoice? The history will include all work, debits, credits, and notes for the clients account. The history is useful at times when the technician needs to see what has been happening on the property. If you don't want to include jobs in history, un-check the option so the work doesn't display. This is useful if you just want the customer to see billing information on the invoice.

Print Dates On Invoices: Dates will normally be printed on the invoices. If you plan to print out a whole round at a time, you probably don't want to print the dates on the invoice. You will not want to do this as it will make the invoices 'out of date' as they sit in the truck waiting to be done.

Show Prices: In case you do not expect your customers to pay you off of their invoices, you can tell CLIP to not show pricing. This assumes that you will be sending your customers statements on a regular basis. Additionally, you can include add ons charge with round if an Addon is included with the Round. "Do not print add ons" will not show the charge of the add-on on the invoice.

Use Invoice Numbers: CLIP can generate invoice numbers that are a compilation of the customer number and date of service or printing. Some companies find this valuable because it can give your customers the ability to have a reference number for their accounting system.

Customer # For Invoice #: Instead of CLIP generating an invoice number, you can use the customer number that shows on the customer screen or file maintenance window.

Print Bar Codes: You can use bar codes and CLIP's laser wand to record these invoices into the system when they are completed. If you plan on doing this, you will need to have CLIP print the bar code onto the invoice.

Print Credit Card Info: The credit card information is a small box that tells your customer that you accept credit cards for payment. They enter the card number, expiration date, sign the invoice, and return it to you where you can charge their credit card.

Print Company Info: This will print the registered company information that was setup in the program when you first installed the program. If you have a logo in place, make sure this option is not checked.

Show Previous Balances: This option is NOT for QuickBooks customers or qCLIPxe users. This option will allow the balance from the previous billing period to show on the invoice.

Print EPA # with Chemical: This will print the EPA number that displays from chemical list (system menu, then select Chemicals/Materials, and then Chemical List).

Show Job Detail For: This will print the job detail for jobs or rounds entered on the invoice.

Invoice Date: The invoice date is the date you want CLIP to place on the invoice.

Invoice Due Date: The invoice due date is the date you desire CLIP to tell the customer that payment is due.

Sort by: There are a number of different ways to sort the invoices. You can pull down the list and choose the sorting sequence you desire. The Route Generator button will allow Microsoft MapPoint to sort the rounds.

Company Website: Enter your company website here so it can show on the invoice.

Invoices: These are the legal size invoices that print out with the crew or technician information at the top, customer record information in the middle, and billing return information at the bottom. Once the Print button has been clicked for printing invoices, you will see a window open to select Yes or No to mark the invoices as printed. If Yes is selected, the rounds that were printed will stay in the work bank to be completed and turned into billing invoice/statements if needed. After checking the box next to invoice, the Marketing Message option will be able to be checked in order to add a Marketing Message onto the Invoice. 

See below for a blank route sheet invoice:
This shows the legal size invoice allowing space for technician information, customer information, and return billing information. At this time, we do not have a Plain Paper invoice form. This form is available from CLIP forms (Form Number 8999). Order this form by calling (800) 544-3427.

Driver Report: This is similar to a route sheet. The driver can see the name and address along with notes and additional information.

Driver Report with Map: This report adds a thumbnail map to the route sheet so that the driver can see where the property is in relation to other main streets.

Call Ahead List: This is the list of the jobs/rounds that need to be called before servicing. Use this list before you print the invoices to make sure that people have been called beforehand. There is also an option to output the Call Ahead List into Excel on the Print Options screen.

Recording Work As Done

Since you have sent your technicians out with their invoices/work orders, you will have to record the invoices as done when they come back.

We recommend setting up a separate crew for chemical work so that you can enter the crew numbers for the actual chemical rounds that you will be recording - click here(http://help.clip.com/clipxe/getting-started/clipxeqclipxe-adding-employees-crews-users) for information on crew setup.

Choose Record icon from the main screen or select Daily Routines and then click Record Work. From here, click on Step 2 Record Work. From the list of jobs, find the rounds and click Y or R to record details for the work.

Click on Chemical Tracking, here you can enter the details for this round.

Here you can enter the actual amount used along with the other chemical details. Click Return and then enter Lawn and Weather Conditions if appropriate (click on this link https://app.intercom.io/a/apps/um1ikb9l/educate/articles/405585/show for more information on Lawn and Weather Conditions). The Lawn and Weather Conditions show up on the rounds invoice to see additional information about the property. After adding or editing, click Save and Return. Post the work the same way you would post work for normal jobs, click here for more information about posting the work.