Bulk Importing Location Fees

Discovery's Bulk Import option enables the rapid creation of multiple Location Fees, provided all necessary vendor data is organized into an Import template file*. All Import template files are consolidated into a single downloadable file accessible on the Bulk Imports page within the Settings section.

Import Template Fields

The provided Import template file (location_fees.csv)* needs to retain all fields (columns), in no particular order, even if the fields are not required.

The following fields are required to have data for each Location Fee record:

  • location_id**: The Discovery-generated ID for the location the fee applies to.
  • line_item_category_name: This is the categorization that will be given to the Client Line Items that are generated from the Location Fee.
  • header_label: This is the name of the Location Fee as you would like it to appear in Discovery.
  • label: This is additional Information/labeling you would like to include for this Location Fee.
  • start_date: The date the fee becomes active. Must be formatted as M/D/YYYY (e.g., 6/25/2021  ).
  • billing_style: Controls how the fee amount is calculated. Must be one of the following (case-sensitive):
    • Fixed  — A static dollar amount is billed each period
    • Formula — The amount is dynamically calculated using a formula and input variables
  • frequency: How often the fee is billed. Available options depend on the selected billing_style:
    • One Time
    • Monthly
    • Quarterly
    • Annually
    • Per Client Invoice
  • amount: (Required when billing_style is Fixed ) The dollar amount to bill. Format as a decimal (e.g., 118.08  ). Leave blank when billing_style is Formula  .
  • formula: (Required when billing_style is Formula ) The formula expression used to calculate the fee. Leave blank when billing_style is Fixed  . See Formula Variables below for available inputs.

Optional Fields

  • end_date: This is the date you wish the billing for this fee to end on. It's not applicable for fees with a billing frequency of *One Time*.  Must be formatted as M/D/YYYY (e.g., 6/25/2021 ).
  • external_reference_id: An identifier from an external system.

Formula Variables

When billing_style is Formula  , use the following variables in your formula expression. Variables must be wrapped in curly braces exactly as shown.


Financial Variables

Variable Description
{vendor_service_charges}  

This will reduce down to the sum total of all approved vendor service charges for given *frequency* and the current open Fiscal Period in Discovery.

  • This includes base, per occurrence, per unit and extraneous charges.
{vendor_invoice_charges}  

This will reduce down to the sum total of all approved vendor invoice charges for given *frequency* and the current open Fiscal Period in Discovery.

  • This includes base, per occurrence, per unit and extraneous charges, as well as allocatable fees and allocatable service fees.
{audited_savings}   This is the sum total of audited service savings from the Vendor Invoice processing workflow. At the Location level, it will reduce down to the sum total of all Vendor Invoice audited savings for all services that fall under the Location. This is of course also based on the *frequency* of the Location Fee and will also vary based on the current open Fiscal Period in Discovery.
{client_service_charges}   This reduces to the sum total of all client services charges (on the client invoice) at the specified location, for a given *frequency* and the current open Fiscal Period in Discovery.

Client Service Charges by Service Type

  • The following variables account for client service charges across  all services at the specified location during the given *frequency* and Fiscal Period.
Variable Description
{extraneous_client_service_charges}   Extraneous charges
{rental_client_service_charges}   Rental service charges
{rolloff_client_service_charges}   All rolloff service charges (per unit and per occurrence)
{rolloff_tonnage_client_service_charges}   Rolloff per unit charges
{rolloff_haul_client_service_charges}   Rolloff per occurrence charges
{commercial_client_service_charges}   Commercial service charges
{doorstep_client_service_charges}   Doorstep service charges

Pickup and Weight Variables

  • The following variables account for the summed total weight or number of hauls generated across  all services at the specified location during the given *frequency* and Fiscal Period.
Variable Description
{number_of_rolloff_hauls}   Number of rolloff hauls
{occ_weight_in_tons}   Corrugated Cardboard weight in tons
{occ_weight_in_lbs}   Corrugated Cardboard weight in pounds
{occ_weight_in_kilos}   Corrugated Cardboard weight in kilograms
{wood_weight_in_tons}   Wood material weight in tons
{wood_weight_in_lbs}   Wood material weight in pounds
{wood_weight_in_kilos}   Wood material weight in kilograms
{msw_weight_in_tons}   MSW weight in tons
{msw_weight_in_lbs}   MSW weight in pounds
{msw_weight_in_kilos}   MSW weight in kilograms
{weight_in_tons}   Combined weight of all materials in tons
{weight_in_pounds}   Combined weight of all materials in pounds
{weight_in_kilos}   Combined weight of all materials in kilograms

Formula Examples

{vendor_service_charges}*0.05
{wood_weight_in_tons}*10
{client_service_charges}*0.15

Key Requirements

  • All template columns must be retained in the file regardless of whether they are used. Do not remove or reorder columns.
  • Dates must be formatted as M/D/YYYY (e.g., 6/25/2021  ). Other date formats will cause the row to fail validation.
  • The billing_style   and frequency   values are case-sensitive and must match the approved values exactly.
  • amount   and formula   are mutually exclusive — populate only the one that corresponds to your billing_style, and leave the other blank.
  • Upload your completed file via the New button on the Bulk Imports settings page.
  • If any rows fail validation, an error report CSV will be available for download after the import completes.

* Import file name and its column headers cannot be edited.

** When any ID field is required (_id), this indicates an ID that is generated and assigned by Discovery to a unique entity. You'll need to retrieve these IDs from Discovery. The general method to retrieve IDs in bulk is through a Custom Report. Please see the Export IDs with Custom Reports article covering how to generate a Custom Report to retrieve specific entity IDs.


If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.

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