Subcontractor backcharges
What it's for
Track money a subcontractor owes your company for damage, rework, delays, or other costs. Open a subcontractor record and choose View backcharges.
The ledger keeps the charge, its reason, and its current status together. A charge can refer to a job or project. Recording a backcharge does not create a customer invoice or change the job's costs.
Tabs
The page has two jump links: Ledger and Record charge. Both sections stay on the same page.
Panels and controls
Backcharge ledger shows the date, reason, kind, branch, amount, status, and any linked job or project for each charge. Use the page controls below the table to see more rows when needed.
The summary shows the outstanding amount, the number of open or disputed charges, the number of recorded charges, and the branches included in your view. Open and disputed charges count toward the outstanding amount. Waived and recovered charges stay in the ledger and are excluded from that total.
An open charge's row menu offers Mark disputed, Waive charge, and Mark recovered. A disputed charge can be waived or marked recovered. The confirmation dialog shows the reason and full amount before you save:
- Mark disputed leaves the amount outstanding while you resolve the disagreement.
- Waive charge settles the full charge without collecting it.
- Mark recovered settles the full charge after payment or an agreed offset has been received or applied. It records that result; it does not move money or apply an offset for you.
Waived and recovered charges are final. Their row menus are removed, and they cannot be reopened or changed to another status. Recorded charge details cannot be edited.
Record backcharge collects the charge details. Record backcharge saves a new open charge. If a value is refused, the form shows an error and keeps your entries.
What it accepts
| Field | Format | Required | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branch | Available branch | Yes | Must be within your branch access |
| Amount ($) | Positive dollars, up to two decimal places | Yes | Maximum $21,474,836.47; zero and negative amounts are refused |
| Kind | Damage, rework, delay, or other | Yes | Choose the reason category |
| Reason | Text | Yes | Up to 2,000 characters; cannot be blank |
| Charge date | Calendar date | Yes | Must be a valid date |
| Linked job | Available job | No | Must belong to the charge's branch |
| Linked project | Available project | No | Must belong to the charge's branch; if a job is also selected, it must be part of that project |
Each new charge starts open. The subcontractor remains responsible for the charge even when the linked job's site owner, bill-to customer, and agreement payer are different people or companies.
How to configure it
There is no separate backcharge setting. Access follows the Subcontractors area and permission to view costs.
Your branch access also bounds the ledger, totals, available linked records, and status changes. People with access to all branches can see the subcontractor's charges across those branches. A person restricted to one branch sees that branch's charges and total.
Who can see it
Owners and office managers with access to Subcontractors and View costs and margins can use this page. A custom role or personal permission restriction can remove that access. Dispatchers and technicians do not have the Subcontractors area by default.
See Roles & permissions for the role and permission controls.