Increasing or Decreasing a Contract Value

You can increase or decrease the value of an active contract by adjusting future charges in the Contract Worksheet. Depending on the reason for the adjustment, you can change the remaining monthly charges, add or remove a future charge, or add an undated charge for an additional treatment fee.

Before making changes:

Review the remaining contract charges and determine how the adjustment should be distributed.
Review the Contract Worksheet to determine whether the contract was created using Accept Assignment.
If Accept Assignment was used, the Amount column represents the contract value. The Copayment column represents how that contract value is distributed between the patient and insurance, including the Initial Fee, monthly charges, and calculated insurance. The totals in the Amount and Copayment columns should balance to the same contract value.

Contracts with Accept Assignment

When increasing the value of a contract created with Accept Assignment, the Contract Amount and Copay work together to balance the contract. Any increase to the contract Amount must also be accounted for in the Copay.

For example, if you need to increase a contract by $500 to account for extended treatment, increase the Amount column by a total of $500. The increase can be entered as a lump sum, distributed across existing future monthly charges, or added as new monthly charges. The Copay column must also be increased by a total of $500 and can be distributed across the patient’s future charges as appropriate.

If the $500 increase is entered as an undated charge in the Amount column, the additional $500 must still be accounted for in the Copay. You can enter the $500 as the Copay for the undated charge or incorporate it into the patient’s remaining scheduled monthly charges.

The Amount and Copay increases do not have to appear on the same line, but the total increase must be accounted for in both columns for the contract to remain balanced.

Increasing the Contract Value

To increase the contract value using scheduled charges, add the additional amount to future charges that have not yet been charged to the patient’s account.

For example, a $6,000 contract may consist of:

$1,000 Initial Fee
10 monthly charges of $500

If you need to increase the contract by $500, you could:

Add one additional $500 monthly charge, or
Recalculate the 10 remaining uncharged monthly charges from $500 to $550 each

Either method adds $500 to the remaining scheduled charges, increasing the total contract value from $6,000 to $6,500.

Only future, uncharged amounts can be adjusted in the Contract Worksheet. Charges that have already been posted to the patient’s ledger should not be included when calculating the remaining monthly charges.

Adding an Undated Charge

You can also increase the contract value by adding an undated charge. This is useful when adding a separate treatment-related fee, such as an Invisalign fee, rather than adding another scheduled monthly charge.

Undated charges are entered in the boxes below the Initial Fee in the Contract Worksheet. The charge can remain on the contract until you are ready to post it and can be charged out at any time.

To add an undated charge:

Locate the undated charge fields below the Initial Fee.
Select the applicable fee, such as Invisalign Upgrade.
Enter the amount of the fee.
Click Record to save the changes to the contract.

Adding an undated charge increases the total contract value, but the charge is not posted to the ledger until you charge it out.

To charge out the undated charge:

Open the patient’s Transaction window using Command-T.
Select Undated Charge.
Select the applicable undated charge.
Complete the transaction.

Where the amount is applied depends on whether the contract was created with Accept Assignment.

Without Accept Assignment: When the undated charge is charged out, the amount is posted to the patient’s Due Now balance.
With Accept Assignment: When the undated charge is charged out, the Amount column reflects the total amount added to the contract value for that fee type. The Copay amount for the undated charge can remain $0 if the additional patient responsibility has been incorporated into the patient’s remaining scheduled monthly charges.

Important: An undated charge cannot be voided once it has been charged out. Review the fee and amount carefully before completing the transaction.

Decreasing the Contract Value

To decrease the contract value, reduce future charges that have not yet been charged to the patient’s account.

Using the same $6,000 contract with a $1,000 Initial Fee and 10 remaining monthly charges of $500, if you need to decrease the contract by $500, you could:

Delete one future $500 monthly charge from the Contract Worksheet, or
Recalculate the 10 remaining uncharged monthly charges from $500 to $450 each

Either method reduces the remaining scheduled charges by $500, decreasing the total contract value from $6,000 to $5,500.

Remember, if the contract was created with Accept Assignment, remember to adjust the Copay as needed so the Contract Worksheet remains balanced after decreasing the contract value.

Recording Your Changes

After making the necessary adjustments in the Contract Worksheet, review the contract totals to confirm the new contract value is correct.

Click Record to save the changes to the contract.

Important: Always verify the resulting contract value before clicking Record. When adjusting monthly charges, calculate the change using only the remaining uncharged monthlies so the contract increases or decreases by the intended amount.