Customizing Billing Event Items

Creating a Detailed Billing Event Item Description

You can create a detailed description for your billing event items. This information can then be used in an accounting system. To create a detailed description for your billing event items, add a formula field to the billing event item object with return type of text. Use the formula to generate the description you want. Here is a sample formula:

CASE(pse__Category__c,

"Timecard" ,
pse__Project__r.Name & " " & pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__Resource__r.FirstName & " " & pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__Resource__r.LastName & " " &
TEXT(pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__Start_Date__c) & " to " &
TEXT(pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__End_Date__c) & " " &
TEXT(pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__Total_Hours__c) & " hours (" & TEXT(pse__Timecard_Split__r.pse__Total_Days_Worked__c) & " days)",

"Milestone",
pse__Milestone__r.Name & " " & TEXT(pse__Milestone__r.pse__Actual_Date__c) & " " & pse__Project__r.Name,

"Expense",
TEXT(pse__Expense__r.pse__Type__c) & "-" & pse__Expense__r.pse__Description__c & " " & pse__Expense__r.pse__Resource__r.FirstName & " " & pse__Expense__r.pse__Resource__r.LastName & " " &
IF(pse__Expense__r.pse__Milestone__c != null," Milestone: " & pse__Expense__r.pse__Milestone__r.Name ,""),

"Miscellaneous Adjustment",
pse__Miscellaneous_Adjustment__r.Name & " " & TEXT( pse__Miscellaneous_Adjustment__r.pse__Effective_Date__c ) & " " & TEXT( pse__Miscellaneous_Adjustment__r.pse__Transaction_Category__c) & " " & pse__Project__r.Name,

"Budget",
pse__Budget__r.Name & " " & TEXT(pse__Budget__r.pse__Type__c) & " " & TEXT(pse__Budget__r.pse__Effective_Date__c) & " Amt:" & TEXT(pse__Budget__r.pse__Amount__c) & " Exp Amt:" & TEXT( pse__Budget__r.pse__Expense_Amount__c),

"Invalid Business Object Type")

In our sample formula, a case statement determines the business object to which the billing event item relates using the category field. The billing event item information is then generated for that type of business object. The sample formula provides this information:

Business Object Information Generated by our Sample Formula
Timecard Project Name, Resource First Name, Resource Last Name
Timecard Split Start and End Dates
Total Hours and Days Worked
Milestone Milestone Name, Actual Date and Project Name
Expense Expense Type, Expense Description, First Name, Resource Last Name
If the expense has a milestone associated with it, the name of the milestone is included in the field.
Miscellaneous Adjustment Miscellaneous Adjustment Name, Effective Date, Transaction Category and Project Name
Budget Budget Name, Budget Type, Effective Date, Budget Amount and Expense Amount
Note: Note
There is a Salesforce limit of 10 unique relationships per object. In our sample there are seven unique relationships per object. See the Salesforce Help for more information.

Adding a Formula Field to the Billing Event Item Object

To create a formula field on the Billing Event Item object:

  1. Click YourName | Setup | Create | Objects | Billing Event Item.
  2. Click New in Custom Fields & Relationships.
  3. Select Formula and click Next.
  4. Enter a field label and field name.
  5. Select Text and click Next.
  6. Click the Advanced Formula tab.
  7. Enter your formula in the large box.
  8. To check the syntax of your formula, click Check Syntax.
  9. Click Next.
  10. Complete the remaining pages of the wizard and click Save.

For more information about creating custom fields see the Salesforce Help.