Ad Hoc Charges are typically one-off charges for any fees that are not related to Lessons. These could include:
Registration fees.
Costs to use specific amenities.
Consulting fees.
Tutor travel costs.
Late fines.
Material costs.
Like Lesson charges, these fees are reciprocal, meaning that some or all of the charge could be split between any Tutors and Affiliates that are involved with the Job/Lesson.
Ad Hoc Charges are accessed via Activity > Ad Hoc Charges - navigating here will open the Ad Hoc Charges page, which contains a list of all Ad Hoc Charges alongside a button to create a new Ad Hoc Charge and a search filter button allowing you to filter out the Ad Hoc Charge list by date range, Ad Hoc Charge Category, the associated Job, Lesson or users, alongside the Invoice status (whether or not there is an unpaid, pending paid or void Invoice associated with the Ad Hoc Charge.)
To see how Ad Hoc Charges work from the Tutor’s perspective, see here.
To create an Ad Hoc Charge, go to Activity > Ad Hoc Charges and select Add Ad Hoc Charge to open the 'Add Ad Hoc Charges' panel, from where you can:
Specify an Ad Hoc Charge Category.
Enter a description outlining the reason for the Ad Hoc Charge.
Enter the date for the Ad Hoc Charge.
You can also specify the associated Tutor/Client, and specify a charge rate for the Client/pay rate for the Tutor/commission percentage for the Affiliate if relevant.
Select a Tax Setting (note that while the Tax Settings can be determined within the Add Ad Hoc Charge panel, the actual Tax Rates would be determined by the Ad Hoc Charge Category).
You can also opt to raise an Invoice immediately via the ‘Raise an Invoice now’ checkbox.
Creating an Ad Hoc Charge.
You can also raise Ad Hoc Charges for a specific Job/Lesson - Jobs and Lessons both have an ‘Activity’ tab from which you can attach an Ad Hoc Charge to the appointment using the Add button under the Ad Hoc Charges panel. Note that you can only specify Tutors/Clients/Affiliates that are attached to the Lesson when raising Ad Hoc Charges from here.
An example of a Job’s ‘Activity’ tab, with the Ad Hoc Charges panel highlighted.
How do I bill my Clients in foreign/alternative currencies?
Ad Hoc Charges are the mechanism by which you can bill your Clients in foreign currencies - simply create an Ad Hoc Charge as usual and select the ‘Use alternative currency’ checkbox. Selecting this will open the ‘Charge Currency’ dropdown menu - from which you can choose the alternate currency to bill your Client in. Note that, for this to be an available option, you will need to enable the ‘Charge Clients in other currencies’ checkbox in System > Settings > Accounting Settings > General.
Note:
Alternative currencies can only be applied to Client charges - not Tutor payments. Any Tutor payments specified in foreign currency Ad Hoc Charges will use the branch default currency (the same also applies to Affiliates).
Exchange rates are based on the daily exchange rate as set by the internationally recognised Open Exchange Rates. These exchange rates are calculated on the same day that the Ad Hoc Charge is created (not the day the Invoice was raised).
Alternate currency charges will appear on separate Invoices and as such they will need to be raised separately.
A flat fee of 2% is applied by Stripe to all card payments for alternate currency Invoices in order to be converted into the default branch currency.
Can a negative amount be added to an Ad Hoc Charge?
Negative values can be input into the charge/pay rate when creating an Ad Hoc Charge from a Job - when raising an Invoice for a Client (or a Payment Order for a Tutor) - the negative value is deducted from the due payment.
Why can’t I edit an Ad Hoc Charge?
Troubleshooting steps:
Is the Ad Hoc Charge associated with a Raised Invoice or Payment Order? If so, any raised Invoices/Payment Orders will need to be voided in order to edit the Ad Hoc Charge.
Is the Ad Hoc Charges’ associated Job marked as ‘Finished’? If so, you will need to change the Job’s status to ‘In Progress’ in order to edit the Ad Hoc Charge.
How does TutorCruncher keep track of charges?
Charges in TutorCruncher correspond to Lessons and Ad Hoc Charges. Raised Invoices will form the sum of the revenue from your Clients, while Payment Orders track your payments to Tutors and Affiliates. TutorCruncher also allows for Clients to top up their balance in the form of Credit Requests, paying charges as soon as they are Invoiced for. Users can easily access their associated charges via their profiles.
What are Expenses?
Expenses are special charges that pertain specifically to Tutors. Tutors have the ability to create expenses in connection with their Jobs and Lessons, and these expenses are associated exclusively with the Tutor who initiated them. It's important to note that Tutors cannot include Affiliates when creating an expense.
How to create an Expense?
Once you're on the "Summary" page for the job or lesson, access the "Activity" tab. Towards the bottom of this page, you'll find the 'Expenses' panel. To begin adding an expense, simply click on the blue "+Add" button, this will open a window where you can input the necessary information, including the AHC (Ad Hoc Charge) category, the client, and the expense amount. It's worth remembering, only users associated with the particular job or lesson can be included in the AHC.
Additionally, tutors also have the option to create expenses directly from the Expenses tab. Click the 'Add Expense' button at the top of the page and provide the required information. It's important to note that an expense must be linked to a specific job or lesson.
An example of a Tutor's dashboard, with the expenses section highlighted.
Can I prevent Tutors from creating expenses?
If you wish to restrict Tutors from adding expenses, you can do so by disabling the Ad Hoc Charge Categories for Tutors. Here's how:
Tutors can be prevented from creating expenses by disabling the Ad Hoc Charge Categories for Tutors. Simply navigate to System > Settings > Ad Hoc Charge Categories and select the category you wish to disable before unchecking the 'Tutors' checkbox. This will make that particular expense type unavailable for Tutors to use.