Rental account distributions allow you to distribute the income from rental agreement lines into multiple accounts, depending on who owns the equipment and who is renting the equipment, or based on the equipment ID, model, category, and/or item number. You can have unlimited account distributions for each rental agreement line. In addition, you can specify an ownership percentage, based on who owns the equipment and who is renting the equipment.
This feature is for customers who want to distribute rental income:

• Into multiple accounts.
• Between different branches and divisions, depending on who owns the equipment, and who is renting the equipment.
• By model, category, equipment, and/or item.

About rental account distributions

When you create an agreement, default account distributions filter down to the agreement header and agreement lines based on how the following options have been set up:

• Account distribution templates
  Account distributions have been grouped and assigned a Rental Distribution ID, which, when selected for use on the agreement, automatically fills in the distribution lines from the template.
• Account distribution defaults
  Account distributions fill in automatically if assigned to the equipment ID, category, model and/or item number that is used on the agreement.
• Distribution default groups
  Account distributions fill in automatically if assigned to the agreement type or branch and division used on the agreement.

How account distributions fill into the agreement

When an agreement is first created, account distributions fill from either the distribution default group assigned to the agreement type or, if distributions are not set up per agreement type, from general rental setup. Once an agreement line is created, the system uses the distribution default that is associated with the equipment ID, category, model, or item number. If no defaults are set up there, the initial distributions used in the agreement header will be retained.

About rental account allocation

When you choose to allocate accounts, you must do so for every rate type (Rate, Insurance, Overage, and Markdown), and the account distributions for each type must add up to 100%. This applies to every window/area in which you enter account distributions. If rental account distributions are not fully allocated, a message will display asking if you would like to continue to close.

• Choose Continue to close the window.
• Choose Cancel to return to the window, where you can continue to allocate distributions.

About rental distribution percentages

You can specify what percentage of ownership is attributed to each owning and renting branch and each owning and renting division, and split the revenue accordingly. For example, 35% may go to the owning branch and 65% to the renting branch. 

You can also specify what percentage of revenue is assigned to each account, for each account type. For example, you might have two accounts set up on an agreement line for the account type called Rate; 50% can be distributed to one Rate account and 50% to the other Rate account. You can do the same for the remaining rental account types: Insurance, Overage, and Markdown.

For one Rate account, the owning branch would get 35% of the 50% share, or 17.5% of the total. The renting branch would get 65% of 50%, or 32.5%. The distributions would be the same for the second Rate account, since that too is set up for 50%.

If the owning and renting branches are different, branches will take precedence over divisions for the percent on ownership calculation. If the owning and renting branches are the same, the owning division percentages will be used.
See for About account masking for sample account distribution scenarios.

About account masking

Account masking is a way of automating the process of distributing rental income and expenses to different accounts. If you decide to use account masking on your rental agreements, the system will allocate funds to an account that is specific to the branch or division used on the agreement, without you having to enter the specific account.

Account masking uses the following:

• Account Mask
  The account format associated with a specific branch or division. Masks contain absolute segments that are the same for all accounts, and variables that are resolved per the summary account.
• Summary Account
  The base account that is entered on an agreement and can be masked to distribute funds to an actual account.
• Actual Account
  The specific account used to invoice an agreement. The format of an actual account is a combination of the summary account entered on the agreement and the absolute segments of the account masks associated with the branches and divisions entered on the agreement.

If the default distributions have been set up use masked accounts, you will not have to allocate funds every time you create a new agreement. Rather, the system will automatically apply masks to the summary accounts that default, and the funds are automatically allocated to the actual accounts.
If default distributions have not been set up to use masked accounts, you can manually enter the distributions using masked base accounts, and funds will be allocated to the appropriate accounts based on the rental percentage on ownership that was specified for each owning and renting branch and division.
Note: For a base account to be masked successfully, the resulting actual account MUST already exist in Microsoft Dynamics GP (Account Maintenance window). Using account masking will not automatically create the account.
If you are using account masking and you make changes to the summary accounts or the owning/renting branches and divisions, the actual account distributions will be recalculated.

How account masking works

An account mask is the default account format associated with a specific branch or division. Masks contain both absolute and variable segments.

An account mask might look like this for a branch we will call Branch A:

001-????-??

Another mask may look like this for a division we will call Division B:

???-????-20

The "001" and "20" are absolute, which means that for all the accounts associated with Branch A, the first segment will always be 001. Likewise, the last segment in all Division B accounts will always be 20. The question marks in the remaining segments indicate the variables that need to be resolved at the rental agreement level.

How are the variable segments resolved?

You may have a base account associated with each account type (Rate, Insurance, Overage, and Markdown). The GL base account for the Rate account type might look like this:

000-4300-00

If this base account has been entered into a rental agreement associated with Branch A and Division B, marking it to be masked will resolve the account as follows:

001-4300-20

The 001 comes from the branch, the 20 comes from the division, and the 4300 is part of the base account set up for that rate type. If an account exists that combines the numbers of the base account with the absolute segments of the account masks for the branches and divisions used on the agreement, the funds will be distributed into that account.

Later in this section, you will have the option of setting up default account distributions. If you decide to use masked base accounts as your default accounts, they will automatically filter into each agreement you create. The system will then automatically resolve the accounts and allocate funds per the specific branches and divisions used on the agreement. 

Account masking eliminates the need to enter new or edit default account distributions every time you create a new agreement.

Summary vs. Actual accounts

When allocating accounts or setting up default account distributions, you may encounter a drop-down menu that allows you to view two different types of accounts:

• Summary accounts
  These are the base accounts that can be masked to automatically distribute income to the actual accounts. When you enter account distributions, they should always be entered as summary accounts. Actual accounts default based on the summary accounts.
• Actual accounts
  These are the accounts that the system uses to distribute funds and create invoices. They are based on the base accounts, and, if account masks have been set up, they are based on the account masks as well. If account masks have not been set up, or if the summary account on a specific price line is not marked to be masked, the actual account and the summary account will be the same.

If you are using account masking and you make changes to the summary accounts or the owning/renting branches and divisions, the actual account distributions will be recalculated.

Account masking and rental percentage on ownership - sample scenarios

This section contains several sample scenarios to illustrate how rental distributions work with masked accounts and rental percentage on ownership.

If the owning and renting branches are different, branches take precedence over divisions for the percent on ownership calculation. If the owning and renting branches are the same, the owning division percentages will be used.

Scenario 1: Owning branch & division and renting branch and division are ALL different

Owning Branch of MADISON: Account mask = 002-??-, rental percentage on ownership = 25%

Rental Branch of MILWAUKEE: Account mask = 003-??-, rental percentage on ownership = 30%

Owning Division of EQ RENTAL: Account mask = ?-??-30, rental percentage on ownership = 20%

Rental Division of EQ SALES: Account mask = ?-??-20, rental percentage on ownership = 10%

Let's say that we set up the distributions with a rate type of Rate with:

base account of 000-4300-00 at 90%, choose to mask

base account of 000-4304-00 at 10%, choose not to mask

Total Percentage = 100% for the Rate. Assume the masked accounts exist. Above is what shows in the Summary view.

The resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:

002-4300-30 at 22.50%

003-4300-20 at 67.50%

000-4304-00 at 10.00%

Calculations:

000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. The rental percentage on ownership for the branch of MADISON is 25%. We are using this because the owning branch and renting branch are different. Take the 25% * 90% to get 22.50%.

000-4300-00 is masked by the renting branch of MILWAUKEE and the renting division of EQ SALES, resulting in 003-4300-20. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. Take the 90% - 22.50% (from the previous account) to get 67.50%.

000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.

It is important to note that marking an account to be masked will not create an account that does not exist; rather, the system will make substitutions.

In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 003-4300-20 would have been used at the full 90% instead. If the masked account of 003-4300-20 did not exist, the accounts of 002-4300-30 at 22.50% and 000-4300-00 at 67.50% would have been used. If both 002-4300-30 and 003-4300-20 did not exist, the base account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.

Scenario 2: Owning branch & division are the same, but renting branch and division are different

Using the same setup as before but changing the renting branch to MADISON to match the owning branch, the resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:

002-4300-30 at 18.00%

002-4300-20 at 72.00%

000-4304-00 at 10.00%

Calculations:

000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. The origin percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. The rental percentage on ownership for the division of EQ RENTAL is 20%. We are using this because the owning branch and renting branch are the same but the owning division and renting division are different. Take the 20% * 90% to get 18.00%.

000-4300-00 is masked by the renting branch of MADISON and the renting division of EQ SALES, resulting in 002-4300-20. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90%. Take the 90% - 18.00% (from the previous account) to get 72.00%.

000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.

In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 002-4300-20 at 90% would have been used. If 002-4300-20 did not exist, the account of 002-4300-30 at 18.00% and 000-4300-00 at 72% would have been used. If both 002-4300-30 and 002-4300-20 did not exist, the account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.

Scenario 3: Owning and rental branches are the same, owning and rental division are the same

Set the renting and owning branch to MADISON and the renting and owning division to EQ RENTAL. The resulting accounts in the Actual view will be:

002-4300-30 at 90.00%

000-4304-00 at 10.00%

Calculations:

000-4300-00 is masked by the owning branch of MADISON and the owning division of EQ RENTAL, resulting in 002-4300-30. Since the renting and owning branches are the same as is the renting and owning divisions, we just take the percentage assigned in the Summary distribution and apply it to the Actual distribution. The original percentage to the base account in the Summary distribution is 90% so this is what the Actual distribution line is too.

000-4304-00 is not masked, so 000-4304-00 is used as is the 10.00% that was assigned in the Summary distribution.

In this case, if the masked account of 002-4300-30 did not exist, the account of 000-4300-00 at 90% would have been used.

Account masking for branches and divisions

You can set up account masks in the setup for each branch/division; you can also specify a rental percentage on ownership if you want to split revenue between different branches and divisions.
Owning branches and divisions are defined within the Equipment Manager for each piece of equipment, when applicable, and renting branches and divisions are defined at the agreement type setup or general rental setup levels.

Setting up account distributions

There are several ways you can set up account distributions. When any of the following are set up, distributions will default into the header and lines of your agreements:

• Account distribution templates : Allow you to group and save account distributions by assigning a rental distribution ID.
• Account distribution defaults : Allow you to assign default account distributions or link a distribution template to an equipment ID, category, model, and/or item number.
• Distribution default groups : Allow you to assign default account distributions or link a distribution template to an agreement type or a renting branch and renting division.

How account distributions fill into the agreement

When an agreement is first created, account distributions fill from either the distribution default group assigned to the agreement type or, if distributions are not set up per agreement type, from global rental parameter setup.
Once an agreement line is created, the system uses the distribution default for the equipment ID, category, model, or item number. If a default has not been assigned, the initial distributions (from either the agreement type or general rental setup) will be retained.

Setting up account distribution templates

Account distribution templates allow you to group account distributions by assigning Rental Distribution IDs. These are handy if the account distributions you use are consistent across your organization and only require minor adjustments at the agreement type or agreement line level.
Once an account distribution template is set up, you can assign it in these other setup windows:

• Rental Agreement Type Account Setup (accessed from the Rental Agreement Type Setup window)
• Rental Setup Accounts Setup (accessed from the Rental Setup window)
• Rental Distribution Default Setup

This saves time in that you do not have to re-enter accounts at every level of the agreement creation process. In addition, you can copy one template to another if you want to create a template that differs from another only slightly.

1. Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Equipment > Rental > Distributions.
2. Complete the following fields.
   • Rental Distribution ID
     Enter the rental distribution ID.
   • Description
     Enter the description.
   • View
     Using the drop-down menus, you can choose to view accounts by Equipment or Non-Equipment, and choose to display ALL rate types or only one of the following types: Rate, Overage, Insurance, or Markdown.
   • Account
     Choose a GL account.
   • Type
     Choose a rate type to be distributed to that account (Rate, Insurance, Overage, or Markdown), or choose ALL to enter distributions for all types at once.
   • Mask
     Mark this check box if you want the account to be masked.
   • Percentage
     Enter the percentage to apply to this account for this type. For each type (Rate, Insurance, Overage, and Markdown), the distributions must add up to 100% for both Equipment and Non-Equipment.
3. Choose Insert to insert this account distribution, which will appear in the list box.
4. Repeat steps for each distribution.
5. When you are finished, choose Save.

The percentage totals appear at the bottom of the window.

To delete a distribution row, choose a line, then choose the Delete Row icon on the right side of the window.

To edit a row, double-click the line, make your changes, then choose the Edit button. The list view will be updated with your changes.

Copying account distributions from one template to another

1. On the Rental Distribution Setup window, choose a rental distribution ID, and choose Copy.
2. Enter a New Rental Distribution ID and Description.
3. Choose Copy.

The Rental Distribution window populates with the new Rental Distribution ID record.

Setting up account distribution defaults

You can set up default distributions to be associated with an equipment ID, category, model, and/or item number. You can choose an account distribution template (Rental Distribution ID) to fill in, or manually choose the accounts on the setup window.

1. Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Equipment > Rental > Distribution Defaults.
2. Choose a radio button and choose the Category, Model, Equipment ID or Item Number to which you wish to assign distributions.
3. Choose a Rental Distribution ID from the lookup, or enter account distributions manually (see steps 3-7 under Setting up account distribution templates).

Note: If Equipment ID, Category, or Model is selected, only Equipment accounts will fill in from the Rental Distribution ID. If Item Number is selected, only Non-Equipment accounts will display.

1. When you're finished assigning distribution defaults, choose OK.

Copying account distributions from one equipment entity to another
To save time, you can copy account distribution defaults from one equipment ID/category/model to another equipment ID/category/model, or from one item number to another. You cannot copy from a category, model, or equipment ID to an item number, or vice versa. You can only copy from an item number to another item number.

1. On the Rental Distribution Default Setup window, choose an Equipment ID, Category, Model or Item Number from which to copy.
2. Choose Copy to open the Copy Distribution Default Setup window. You could have also left the Rental Distribution Default Setup window blank BEFORE choosing the Copy button. In this case, you would have to enter a From and To entity on the window below.
3. Complete the following fields. An indicates a required field:
   • Filter Type
     Choose a type from which to copy (Category, Model, Equipment ID, Item Number).
   • Copy From
     Choose a Category, Model, Equipment, or Item record from which to copy.
   • Filter Type
     Choose a type to which to copy (Category, Model, Equipment ID, Item Number).
   • Copy To
     Choose a Category, Model, Equipment, or Item record to which to copy.
4. Choose Copy.

Setting up distribution default groups

Setting up distribution default groups by agreement type

You can set up distribution default groups by agreement type or renting branch and renting division. You can choose an account distribution template (Rental Distribution ID) to fill in, or manually choose the accounts on the setup window.

1. Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Equipment Management> Rental > Agreement Types.
2. Choose an agreement type and choose Accounts to open the Rental Agreement Type Account Setup window.
3. Enter a Renting Branch and/or Renting Division.
4. Choose a Rental Distribution ID from the lookup, or enter account distributions manually (see steps 3-7 under Setting up account distribution templates).
5. When you are finished assigning distribution default groups, choose Save.

Setting up global distribution account defaults by branch and/or division

You can set up account distributions by renting branch and renting division. You can choose to use an account distribution template (Rental Distribution ID), or manually choose the accounts on the setup window.
You may have already set up global distribution account defaults on the Rental Setup window during agreement setup. See Set up global rental parameters for more information on filling in the required fields on this window.

1. Choose Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools >Setup > Equipment > Rental Setup.
2. Choose Accounts to open the Rental Setup Accounts Setup window.
3. Enter Inventory Placeholder and COGS Placeholder accounts to be used in the SOP lines for rental invoices. Microsoft Dynamics GP SOP posting requires that you have Inventory and COGS accounts set up for every SOP line; you will receive an error when attempting to post an invoice if these lines are blank. Placeholder accounts fill into these lines, allowing you to post invoices without setting up these accounts in Posting Accounts Setup.These accounts are not actually used for rental invoices, as Inventory Accounts setup determines which accounts are used for each equipment record.
4. Enter a Renting Branch and/or Renting Division.
5. Choose a Rental Distribution ID template from the lookup, or enter account distributions manually (see steps 3-7 under Setting up account distribution templates).
6. When you are finished, choose OK.

Editing rental account distributions

Although default distributions have been set up to filter into an agreement, you can edit distributions at the agreement and/or agreement line level.
Note: When entering distributions, you may see a drop-down menu that lets you toggle between summary and actual accounts. When entering an account distribution, the drop-down selection should always be set to summary. Account masking will only work properly if you enter accounts as summary accounts and let the actual accounts default.

At the agreement level

1. Choose Transactions > Equipment > Rental Agreement Entry.
2. Choose an existing agreement, or fill in the agreement header to create a new agreement.
3. Choose Details, then Accounts to open the Rental Agreement Accounts Entry window.

From here, you can edit the account distributions that have defaulted from the agreement type or rental setup.

At the agreement line level

1. Choose Transactions > Equipment > Rental Agreement Entry.
2. Choose an existing agreement, or fill in the agreement header to create a new agreement.
3. Choose Line Entry, or double-click on an existing line entry, to open the Rental Agreement Line Entry window.
4. Choose Accounts to open the Rental Agreement Line Accounts Entry window.

From here, you can edit the account distributions that have defaulted from the equipment ID, category, model, or item number.

Editing an account distribution row

Using the View drop-down menus, you can choose to view accounts by Equipment or Non-Equipment, and you can choose to display ALL rate types or only one of the following types: Rate, Insurance, Overage, or Markdown.
To edit a distribution row, double-click the line, make your changes, and then choose the Edit button. The list view will be updated with your changes.
To delete a distribution row, choose a line, then choose the Delete Row icon on the right side of the window.

Entering a new account distribution row

1. Choose a GL account.
2. Choose a rate type to be distributed to that account: Rate, Insurance, Overage, or Markdown. Choose ALL to enter distributions for all types at once.
3. Choose whether you want the account to be masked.
4. Enter the percentage to apply to this account for this rate type. For each type, the number of entries must add up to 100% for both Equipment and Non-Equipment.
5. Choose Insert to insert this account distribution, which will appear in the list box.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for each distribution.

Viewing rental account distributions

After creating an agreement or invoice that contains rental account distributions, you can view distributions on the agreement or invoice, as well as on the agreement or invoice lines.

On a rental invoice line (entry)

1. Choose Transactions > Equipment > Rental Invoice Entry.
2. Choose an invoice and double-click an invoice line to open the Rental Invoice Line Entry window.
3. Choose Distribution to open the Rental Invoice Line Distribution Entry window.
4. Choose OK to close the window.

On a rental invoice line (inquiry)

1. Choose Inquiry > Equipment > Rental Invoice Inquiry.
2. Choose an invoice and choose Line Entry, then Distribution to open the Rental Invoice Line Distribution Inquiry window.
3. Choose OK to continue.

By agreement (entry)

1. Choose Transactions > Equipment > Rental Agreement Entry.
2. Choose an agreement and choose Details, then Accounts to open the Rental Agreement Accounts Entry window.
3. Choose OK to close the window.

By agreement (inquiry)

1. Choose Inquiry > Equipment > Rental Agreement Inquiry.
2. Choose an agreement and choose Distribution to open the Rental Agreement Distribution Inquiry window.
3. Choose OK to close the window.