Introduction
The Back Office Module in BrightMove provides a powerful framework for managing how your organization defines, tracks, and bills for services. By setting up your Catalog, configuring Fee Realization, and generating Invoices, you create a streamlined process that ensures accurate billing and smooth integration with your AR/GL system.
This guide covers the end-to-end workflow:
Building your Catalog of products and services
Understanding when and how fees are realized
Generating and managing invoices
1. Catalog Overview
The Catalog organizes your products and services into a structured system called a taxonomy. This taxonomy drives consistency, automation, and flexibility in your billing operations.
What are the benefits of the catalog's taxonomy? |
Catalog Taxonomy
The Catalog is built in four levels:
Class – Groups of families. Can be designated as For Placement (fees tied to hires) or Non-Placement. (for a better understanding of Placement VS. Non-Placement products, check out Placement Products VS. Non-Placement Products)
Family – Groups of product variants (like folders within classes).
Variant – The fundamental unit of a product or service, similar to a SKU. Variants include attributes like Price, Price Modifier, Cost, and G/L Item.
Pay Plan – Defines invoicing terms and schedules for when and how fees are billed. Includes name, description, payment modifier strategy (flat vs. %), and pay plan lines (schedule and amounts).
How to Set it Up:
Note: To access this feature, the Back Office module must be licensed and enabled.
In your ATS account, navigate to Back Office > Products and Services > Catalog
On the right, click the blue button to Add Product or Service Class
In the editor, define the new Class
Once you have a created the Class, click the blue button to Add Product or Service Family
In the editor, define the new Family
Once you have a created the Family, click the blue button to Add Product or Service Variant
In the editor, define the new Variant
Once you have a created the Variant, click the blue button to Add Product or Service Pay Plan
In the editor, define the new Pay Plan
Example:
Class: Direct Hire Fees
Family: Standard Placement Fees
Variant: 25% of Base Salary Fee
Pay Plan: 50% due Day 1, 50% due Day 90
This structure ensures invoices are generated correctly based on the nature of the product or service.
Pay Plan
The Pay Plan defines the invoicing terms for each product or service in your Catalog. It establishes the schedule and rules for when and how invoices are generated.
A Pay Plan is based on Days from Event, which represents the number of calendar days after a fee has been realized.
For placement products, the event is the candidate’s Start Date or Hire Date.
For non-placement products, the event is the date the product or service was assigned to the customer (either as a scheduled task or a one-time assignment).
Key Components of a Pay Plan
Name
Required field
The name of the pay plan (e.g., “Standard Placement Fee 50/50”).
Description
Required field
A short explanation of the pay plan’s purpose or terms.
Payment Modifier Strategy
Determines how invoice line items are calculated.
Options:
Percentage fee – a percentage of the product’s original price (e.g., 25% of candidate’s base salary).
Flat fee – a fixed dollar amount.
The original price comes from the Variant configuration in the Catalog.
Pay Plan Lines
Define the actual invoicing schedule.
Each line includes:
Description
Payment amount
Days from event
Collectively, the pay plan lines must total 100% of the price (for percentage strategies) or the full variant amount (for flat fee strategies).
2. Fee Realization
Fee realization occurs when your company delivers a service that generates a billable event. These events automatically create pay lines in the Back Office module, which later become invoices.
How Fees Are Realized
Time Cards – When time cards are submitted and approved against a contract placement, the associated fees are realized.
Catalog Events – When an event occurs that has an associated product/service and Customer Assignment, fees are realized.
Placement Products
Triggered when a placement is created in BrightMove (candidate moved to Hired).
Fees can be flat amounts or percentages of the salary.
Pay plans determine when and how much is billed (e.g., 50% at start date, 50% at 90 days).
Non-Placement Products
Cover recurring or ad hoc fees not tied to placements (e.g., program management, advertising, consulting).
Fees can be one-time or scheduled.
Realized fees convert to invoices and integrate with your AR/GL system.
Example of a Placement Fee:
In this scenario, the placement has been saved with base salary of $100,000 USD and the Direct Hire Fees | Standard Placement Direct Hire Fee | 50/50 - Day 1/Day 90 pay plan. For this example, considering the following additional values:
There is a product variant which defines the fee saved in the catalog
The variant is in a family called Direct Hire Fees
The variant is called Standard Placement Direct Hire Fee
The variant has a price set as 25% percentage fee
The pay plan has two lines with payment modifier strategy set as percentage
The first pay plan line is set for 0 days from event
The second pay plan line is set for 90 days from event
This pay plan results in a $25,000 fee realization.
This pay plan realizes fees to be invoiced in two equal payments, each for 50% of the total fee, on two specific dates.
0 day after the start date of the new employee, or July 10, 2023 in this example.
90 days after the start date of the new employee, or October 8, 2023 in this example.
3. Invoicing Overview
Once fees are realized, they are invoiced. The Back Office module allows you to generate invoices in batches and push them into your AR/GL system.
What Can Be Invoiced
Timesheets – Billable hours multiplied by rates defined in a Requirement record.
Products & Services – Based on Catalog items and pay plans.
Generating Invoices
Navigate to Back Office > Invoices > List Batches
Select Generate Invoices
Run Health Check (ensures data validity)
Set invoice numbers and generate batch
Download (offline systems) or Sync (online systems) with AR/GL
Invoice Batches
Invoices are grouped into batches for easier tracking.
Batches can be re-synced or downloaded based on integration type.
Pay Lines and Statuses
Scheduled – Not yet ready to invoice (future effective date).
Pending – Ready to be invoiced.
Snoozed – On hold, excluded until reactivated.
Invoiced – Processed and sent to AR/GL.
Company Assignments & Billto Hierarchy
Invoices are tied to the correct customer entity through the Billto hierarchy:
Company → Client → Office
Assignments ensure invoices roll up to the right organization for clean accounting.
The table below outlines the Billto Hierarchy at a high level.
Billto Hierarchy Level | Description & Notes |
|
| Company | In the RPO Edition of BrightMove, this is a managed child company. Set the Account Name value to roll all invoices up to this level. To use this Billto level, set the Account Name field on the Company Screen |
| Client | In the RPO and Staffing Editions of BrightMove, this your customer or their department. Set the Account Name value to roll all invoices up to this level. To use this Billto level, set the Account Name field on the Client Screen |
| Office | In the RPO and Staffing Editions of BrightMove, this your customer's office location. Set the Account Name value to roll all invoices up to this level. To set this Billto level, use the Account Name field on the Client Office Screen |
4. End-to-End Workflow Example
Catalog Setup: Define Direct Hire fee at 25% of salary, payable 50/50 Day 1 & Day 90.
Fee Realization: Placement created at $100k salary → $25k fee realized ($12.5k at Day 1, $12.5k at Day 90).
Invoicing: Generate invoices in a batch; send to AR/GL for processing and customer billing.
Summary
The Catalog, Fee Realization, and Invoicing features of Back Office work together to simplify your billing lifecycle. By setting up your taxonomy, defining fee realization rules, and generating invoices, your organization ensures accurate, timely, and automated revenue capture.