The Tour de Force Expense Wizard

 

The Expense Wizard in Tour de Force is used to track to expenses related to each business relationship of a company, so users know what happened, when the Expense item was created, and the amount of the expense.

 Overview of the Expense Wizard

Tour de Force gives users the ability to easily log and track expenses associated with customers and prospects, as well as with other business relationships.

 

Expense items can be linked to any record in Tour de Force.

 

The Expense Wizard provides one central window where all expenses associated with customers, prospects, and other business relationships can be entered into Tour de Force efficiently and quickly.  This window is used to create Expense items, as well as to display information associated with Expense items that have been entered into Tour de Force.  The Expense Wizard is also used to create and generate expense reports that can then be printed off and turned into the appropriate personnel.  

 

Only Expense items associated with the current Tour de Force user display in the grid in the Expense Wizard.  Tour de Force uses the Owner of the item to determine the Expense items that display in the grid.

 

 

The Expense Wizard form is divided into three sections:

 

• General Expense information
• Specific Expense information
• Expense Wizard grid

 

 

The first section of the Expense Wizard is used to associate general information related to the Expense item such as:

 

• Description – This field is used to type in a brief description to associate with the new Expense item.

 

• Expense Date – This field displays the date the Expense item was created.

 

• Amount – This field is used to type in the amount associated with the new Expense item

 

• Age in Days – This field displays how old the Expense item is in the number of days since the Expense item was created.

 

• Mileage – This button is used to open the Calculate Mileage window to enter in the amount for a mileage expense.

 

• Reimburse – This field is used to designate the Expense item as being needed for reimbursement for the expenses incurred.

 

• Company Paid – This field is used to designate that the Expense item has been paid for by the company that the user has been reimbursed for expenses incurred.

 

The second section allows users to associate specific information for Expense items such as:

 

• Expense Type – This field is used to select a type of expense to associate with the new Expense item.

 

Note: This section of the Expense Wizard can be customized in the Screen Designer utility.

 

There are multiple ways to access the Expense Wizard:

 

• Click the Expense Wizard button on the Tour de Force toolbar.

 

 

• Click the Expense Wizard button

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Overview of New Expense Creation

There are several types of Expense items available in Tour de Force with multiple methods to create and save those Expense items.  The list below contains all the possible ways to create a new Expense item in Tour de Force.  The method that is used is going to depend largely on what type of Expense item is being created, and whether multiple Expense items need to be created.

 

 

The grid section also contains several buttons that are used when saving and creating a new Expense item:

 

• Save – This button is to save changes to the selected Expense item and does not create a new Expense item.

 

• Save & Close – This button is used to save the changes to the selected Expense item and close the Expense Wizard.

 

• Change Parent – This button is used to open the Global Search and allows the user to select a new Parent Item for the Expense item.

 

• New (General) – This button is used to create a new expense, using the information in the selected Expense item, but with no Parent Item linked to the Expense item.

 

Note: General Expenses are typically used by companies to create Expense items that may not necessarily relate to an expense generated from a business relationship.  For example, a laptop bought by the company for a new or existing employee, or a company outing to an amusement park or golf course could be considered general expenses.

 

• New (Keep Parent) – This button is used to create a new expense, using the information in the selected Expense item, and keeps the existing Parent Item linked to the new Expense item.
• New (Linked) – This button is used to create a new expense, using the information in the selected Expense item, and allows the user to search for a new Parent Item for the new Expense item.

 

• Clear – This button is used to clear all information in the selected Expense item including the Parent Item linked to the Expense item.

 

3. Creating a New Expense Item

There are several ways to access an Expense item in Tour de Force, but all methods use the Expense Wizard to create the new Expense item.  An Expense item without a Parent Item is considered a General Expense item.  

 

Use the following procedures to create a new Expense item:

 

1. Click the Expense Wizard icon on the Tour de Force toolbar.

 

2. In the Description field, type a brief description to associate with the new Expense item.

 

 

3. In the Expense Date field, select a date to associate with the Expense item.

 

Note:  The Expense Date field defaults to the current system date set on the computer of the Tour de Force user.

 

 

4. In the Amount field, type the amount associated with the new Expense item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the company needs to reimburse the user for the Expense amount, select the Reimburse option.

 

If the company has already paid the user for the Expense incurred, select Company Paid option.

 

 

5. In the Expense Type field, select a type of expense to associate with the new Expense item.

 

 

 

6. Click the New (Linked) button to save and create a new linked Expense item.  

 

 

Or

 

7. Click the New (General) button to save and create a new General Expense item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Creating a Mileage Expense Item

The Expense Wizard allows users to enter mileage expenses associated with prospects, customers, and other business relationships.  Mileage expenses are expenses incurred from driving.  This can apply to users own car or a company car that was used during the trip.

 

Use the following procedures to create a new Mileage Expense item:

 

1. Open the Expense Wizard.

 

2. In the Expense Date field, select a date to associate with the Expense item.

 

3. Click the Mileage button to open the Calculate Mileage window. Choose edit

 

 

4. In the Odometer Start field, type in the starting mileage on the car’s Odometer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. In the Odometer End field, type in the mileage after the trip on the car’s Odometer. 

 

 

6. Click the Calculate Total Miles button.  This action automatically populates the Total Mileage, Mileage Rate, and Mileage Amount fields. 

 

7. Click the OK button and click the Yes button in the Update Description dialog window.  Clicking the Yes button overwrites the current description set and enters in the Mileage information.

 

 

8. Fill out the remaining information on the Expense Wizard.

 

9. Click the New (Linked) button to begin creating a new linked Expense item.  Click the New (General) button to create a new General Expense item.

 

5. Printing an Expense Report

The Expense Wizard grants users the ability to generate and print Expense reports that are either based off a company created template, or a generic Expense report.  This section covers how to create a new Expense report from the Expense Wizard.

 

Use the following procedures to create an Expense report:

 

1. Open the Expense Wizard.

 

2. Click the Create Report button.

 

 

The Expense Report window displays.

 

3. In the Optional Fields section, check the fields to display on the Expense Report.

 

 

Optional Step:

 

To group by a field or category, select the group by selections in the Group By section.  Selecting a grouping is not necessary to generate the report.

 

 

 

 

4. Use the Date Range fields to restrict the Expense items that print on the Expense report.

 

 

5. Select which option to use in the Export Options section.

 

 

Use Option 1 to generate an expense report that includes all Expense items that have an Expense Date on or between the dates specified in the Date Range section.

 

Use Option 2 to restrict the Expense Report to only show a specific Account, Contact, or Opportunity record.  Option 2 also basis the dates based on the dates selected in the Date Range section.  Click the Binocular button to display the Global Search to locate the record to base the Expense Report off.

 

Use Option 3 to select Account Packages to base the Expense Report off.  This option is useful if multiple Account Packages exist in a company, and all the expenses associated with these Account Packages are needed for the Expense Report.

 

Note: General Expenses do not display on an Expense Report using Option 3.

 

6. After selecting the option to use, choose whether to Export the report to an Expense template or just to Excel.  If the company has an Expense template, then select Export to Excel Template.  Expense templates are generally created during the initial implementation of Tour de Force.

 

 

 

7. Once finished click the Export to Expense Report button.