Summary

This article provides an overview of key features in the Commission Tracking (CTS) module for firms that use accrual accounting.

There is a system setting that is maintained by the CoStar Brokerage Applications server team to define the revenue recognition basis for the firm as Accrual vs Cash. By default, the setting is Cash, in which case, most of the features outlined in this article will not be available.

When the system is set to Accrual Accounting, the following features are activated.

Summary
Set Accrual Date on Invoice Actions
Enforce Correct Deal Adjustment Workflow
Modify Key Accounting Dates
Manage Accounting GL Codes
Reporting & Data Integration via Accrual Exports
Definitions and Calculations

Set Accrual Date on Invoice Actions

If revenue and expenses are recognized when an invoice action is taken, the defined date for that action becomes a critical piece of information.

On the Create Invoice, Adjust Invoice and Void Invoice forms, the Accrual Date field becomes visible, to ensure that the invoice, adjustment or void amount is accrued in the appropriate accounting period. The Accrual Date is separate from the Invoice Date, Adjustment Date or Void Date, but it will default to those dates unless it is manually changed by the user.

Enforce Correct Deal Adjustment Workflow

To help avoid revenue and expense recognition imbalances for Invoices that have been adjusted or voided, a feature is enabled that locks the Calculate Fees and Define Splits tab from editing, as long as there is one active Invoice on the Deal.

This ensures that the distribution of the Invoice amount corresponds to the distribution of any adjustments or voids for that Invoice.

Users with the CTS:AdminApproval login user group can override the lock if needed. This should only be done if the change to the Total Fee amount does not lead to a change in the % of Deal distribution for any party on the Define Splits tab, and if the adjusted amount is recognized in a new Invoice (e.g. for Fee additions to an existing Deal).

In all other cases, the correct workflow for Total Fee and/or % of Deal distributions on a Deal is:

Void any open Invoices.
Make any necessary changes to the Calculate Fees and/or Define Splits forms.
(Re)create Invoices as needed.

Modify Key Accounting Dates

The Accounting:EditKeyDates login user group provides access to key accrual accounting information, and controls which users have the ability to modify this information.

Similar to the HR:Compensation login user group, the Accounting:EditKeyDates user group can only be assigned to users by user who already has that login user group. Upon initial setup, the CoStar Brokerage Applications project manager or support team can assign the user group as requested. It is strongly recommended that only a small number of users have this level of access, considering the sensitive nature of the information they will be able to modify.

Manage Accounting GL Codes

From the main dashboard, in the Accounting menu, there is an option for managing “GL Codes”. This allows you to maintain specific revenue and expense GL Codes for specific types of deal or payment information.

GL Codes can currently be set up for:

Locations
Business Lines
Divisions
Deal Types
Payment Methods

If an Account Code in your accounting system is comprised of a combination of deal or payment attributes, the Accrual export (see below) will provide the individual parts of the entire Code in separate columns, which can then be combined post-export. For example, if an Account Code is defined as :

2-digit code for each office / Location
4-digit code for each Deal Type
2 digit code for each broker specialty / Business Line

then the GL Codes can be set up with each 2 or 4-digit number for the appropriate attribute:

Reporting & Data Integration via Accrual Exports

An Accrual Export widget can be found on the main dashboard, which includes two export templates for reporting and data integration purposes. (Please note that access to this widget may be restricted by the permissions defined for that widget; please contact your system administrator if you do not have access to this widget.)

Accruals Export

Every time an Invoice is created, adjusted or voided, the system compiles an Accruals database with the information pertaining to that invoice, adjustment or void. The Accruals export includes rows with the gross and net allocation of that invoice, adjustment or void amount for all vendors who are allocated some portion of the Total Fees on the Define Splits tab in the Closed Deal wizard for that deal.

Similarly, every Payment that is applied or voided will populate the Accruals database with the information pertaining to that payment or void. Rows are added for both the gross and net distribution of that payment or void, as well as rows for any associated Net Expenses/Deductions.

The exact definition of how all of the accrual amounts are calculated can be found towards the end of this document.

The Accruals export can be manipulated in MS Excel (or other spreadsheet programs) to build pivot tables, filtered lists and other reports. Often, a relatively simple pivot table will provide all the information needed to compile the data needed for journal entries.

Alternatively, the Accruals export may be imported into some accounting systems, to populate detailed transactions, rather than journal entries. Please contact the vendor or representative for your accounting system for more information on importing data into that database.

Account Entity Export

Every time an Account Entity (Vendor, Customer, or House Account) is created or edited, a copy of that record is added to the Accounting Entity Snapshot database. The Account Entity Snapshot export includes an indication of whether the record was newly created, or modified.

The purpose of the Account Entity export is to allow for the Customer/Vendor database in an accounting system to be kept in sync with CoStar Brokerage Applications data. Please contact the vendor or representative for your accounting system for more information on importing data into that database.

Generating an Export

To generate an export file, select the appropriate template in the “Choose a Template” pulldown, and click the “Generate” button.

Read the instructions provided, then click “Continue”.

Define the appropriate filters, then click “Continue”. (More information on confirmed records can be found later in this section.)

The export will produce an Accruals.xls file.

When the file is opened, a message may appear in Excel that the file format is different from its file extension. This is normal, click “Yes” to open the file.

Depending on your security settings, you may also need to click “Enable Editing” once the file opens before you can do anything else. To use many of the features in Excel, such as Pivot Tables, the file must be specifically saved as an Excel file first.

Once an export is generated, you cannot generate another export for the same template until the prior export is either purged or confirmed.

Confirming an Export

To ensure that any accruals which were exported and recorded in the accounting system are not duplicated or double-counted, the Accrual Export widget has an option to Confirm exported records.

Any record in your export file that should not be confirmed can be deleted from the file before you confirm it.

Only the records in the uploaded file will be confirmed.

From the list of completed exports, click the “Confirm” button for your export.

Read the instructions provided, then click “Continue”.

Click “Browse” to find and open your export file.

Click “Import the File” to upload the file and to finish the process of flagging those accrual records as Confirmed.

Once the process is done, click “Close”.

Purging an Export

If an export that was produced needs to be generated again without confirming it (for example, after some data corrections needed to be made inside CoStar Brokerage Applications), clicking the Purge button will reset the export settings for that template.

This process does not alter any data, it just clears the memory of which records were exported and are waiting to be confirmed.

If an export has already been confirmed (i.e. the option to “Confirm” that export is no longer available), clicking the Purge button will remove the “Confirmed” flag from just those confirmed records.

The next export will include those records again, even if the export filter is set to “Export unconfirmed records only”.

Definitions and Calculations

Accounting Action Types

Accounting Action Type	Business Rule
Invoice	One row per billed invoice
Invoice Allocation	One row per split worksheet line item per billed invoice with allocated gross commission amount
Commission Expense	One row per split worksheet line item per invoice or invoice void with calculated net commission amount. Two rows per Invoice adjustment event with calculated net commission amount: One row with a negative of the original invoice commission expense amount. One row with a positive of the new invoice commission expense amount. See page titled Void and Adjustment Scenario.
Invoice Void	One row per invoice void
Invoice Void Allocation	One row per split worksheet line item per invoice void with allocated gross commission amount
Invoice Adjustment	Two rows per invoice adjustment. One row with a negative of the original Invoice amount. One row with a positive of the new Invoice amount. See page titled Void and Adjustment Scenario.
Invoice Adjustment Allocation	Two rows per split worksheet line item per invoice adjustment. One row with a negative of the original invoice allocation. One row with a positive of the new invoice allocation. See page titled Void and Adjustment Scenario.
Payment	One row per payment
Payment Gross Allocation	One row per payment distribution
Payment Net Allocation	One row per payment distribution
Payment Net Adjustment	Two rows per commission net deduction payment. One row with a negative amount for the FROM vendor AND one row with a positive amount for the TO vendor
Payment Void	One row per payment void
Payment Void Gross Allocation	One row per payment void distribution
Payment Void Net Allocation	One row per payment void distribution
Payment Void Net Adjustment	Two rows per voided commission net deduction payment. One row with a positive amount for the FROM vendor AND one row with a negative amount for the TO vendor

Accounting Dates

Accounting Dates	Accounting Export Column
Invoice Date	Invoice Date
Invoice Accrual Date	Accrual Date
Invoice Due Date	Due Date
Adjustment Date	Invoice Adjustment Date
Adjustment Accrual Date	Accrual Date
invoice Void Date	Invoice Void Date
Invoice Void Accrual Date	Accrual Date
Payment Date	Accrual Date
Payment Deposit Date	Deposit Date
Payment Void Date	Accrual Date

Accounting Entity / Contact

Accounting Action Type	Account Entity ID/Contact ID Business Rules
Invoice	Customer/Billing Contact associated with that Deal
Invoice Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Split Worksheet line item
Commission Expense	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Split Worksheet line item
Invoice Void	Customer/Billing Contact associated with that Deal
Invoice Void Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Split Worksheet line item
Invoice Adjustment	Customer/Billing Contact associated with that Deal
Invoice Adjustment Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Split Worksheet line item
Payment	Customer/Billing Contact associated with that Deal
Payment Gross Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment line item
Payment Net Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment line item
Payment Net Adjustment	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment Net Adjustment item. IF No Contact is referenced on the Net Adjustments form, refer to the Billing Contact on the Account Entity record itself
Payment Void	Customer/Billing Contact associated with that Deal
Payment Void Gross Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment line item
Payment Void Net Allocation	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment line item
Payment Void Net Adjustment	Vendor/Contact or House Account for that Payment Net Adjustment item. IF No Contact is referenced on the Net Adjustments form, refer to the Billing Contact on the Account Entity record itself

Void & Adjustment Scenarios

In this example: Deal has 4 items on the Split Worksheet (Accounting Entity Type is irrelevant) and 1 Net Deduction. Payment is made on 1 Invoice.

Accounting Action	Export Rows	Accrual Amount	Notes
Invoice	1 Invoice Row	Positive
	4 Invoice Allocation Rows	Positive
	4 Commission Expense Rows	Positive

Invoice Void	1 Void Row	Negative
	4 Invoice Allocation Rows	Negative
	4 Commission Expense Rows	Negative

Invoice Adjustment	2 Adjustment Rows	1 Negative 1 Positive	Negative amount reverses the prior invoice amount, positive amount represents the new invoice amount
	4 Invoice Allocation Rows	Negative	Reversal of original Invoice allocation
	4 Commission Expense Rows	Negative	Reversal of original Commission Expense
	4 Invoice Allocation Rows	Positive	With updated amounts
	4 Commission Expense Rows	Positive	With updated amounts

Payment	1 Payment Row	Positive
	4 Payment Gross Distribution Rows	Positive
	4 Payment Net Distribution Rows	Positive
	1 Payment Net Adjustment Row	Negative	For the From Vendor
	1 Payment Net Adjustment Row	Positive	For the To Vendor

Payment Void	1 Payment Void Row	Negative
	4 Payment Gross Distribution Rows	Negative
	4 Payment Net Distribution Rows	Negative
	1 Payment Net Adjustment Row	Positive	For the From Vendor
	1 Payment Net Adjustment Row	Negative	For the To Vendor

GL Codes

Accounting Action Type	Use Revenue or Expense GL Code?
Invoice	Revenue
Invoice Allocation	Revenue
Commission Expense	Expense
Invoice Void	Revenue
Invoice Void Allocation	Revenue
Invoice Adjustment	Revenue
Invoice Adjustment Allocation	Revenue
Payment	Revenue
Payment Gross Allocation	Expense
Payment Net Allocation	Expense
Payment Net Adjustment	Expense
Payment Void	Revenue
Payment Void Gross Allocation	Expense
Payment Void Net Allocation	Expense
Payment Void Net Adjustment	Expense

Accrual Amounts

Accounting Action Type	for …	Row	Business Rule / Calculation
Invoice		1	Invoice Amount
Invoice Allocation		1	Split Worksheet.Expected Gross * (Invoice.Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Commission Expense	for each generated Invoice	1	Split Worksheet.Calculated Net Commission * (Invoice.Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Commission Expense	for each voided Invoice	1	Split Worksheet.Calculated Net Commission * (Invoice Void.Void Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Commission Expense	for each Invoice Adjustment	1	-1 * [Split Worksheet.Calculated Net Commission * (Invoice.previous Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)]
Commission Expense	for each Invoice Adjustment	2	Split Worksheet.Calculated Net Commission * (Invoice.updated Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Invoice Void		1	Invoice Void Amount
Invoice Void Allocation		1	Split Worksheet.Expected Gross * (Invoice Void.Void Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Invoice Adjustment		1	-1 * (previous Invoice Amount)
Invoice Adjustment		2	updated Invoice Amount
Invoice Adjustment Allocation		1	-1 * [Split Worksheet.Expected Gross * (Invoice.previous Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)]
Invoice Adjustment Allocation		2	Split Worksheet.Expected Gross * (Invoice.updated Invoice Amount / Fee Calc.Total Fees)
Payment		1	Payment Amount allocated to that Invoice ID
Payment Gross Allocation		1	Payment Distribution.Gross Commission * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Amount)
Payment Net Allocation		1	Payment Distribution.Net Commission * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Amount)
Payment Net Adjustment		1	-1 * (Apply Payment.Net Deductions.$ to Apply) * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Amount)
Payment Net Adjustment		2	Apply Payment.Net Deductions.$ to Apply * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Amount)
Payment Void		1	Payment Void Amount allocated to that Invoice ID
Payment Void Gross Allocation		1	Payment Void Distribution.Gross Commission * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Void Amount)
Payment Void Net Allocation		1	Payment Void Distribution.Net Commission * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Void Amount)
Payment Void Net Adjustment		1	-1 * (Apply Payment.Net Deductions.$ to Apply) * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Void Amount)
Payment Void Net Adjustment		2	Apply Payment.Net Deductions.$ to Apply * (Payment Invoice Allocation / Payment Void Amount)

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a detailed training on this feature, please contact [email protected].

Help Center : Accrual Accounting Features