IMOS - Laytime Calculation

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When you complete the New Laytime Calculation Setup form, the Laytime Calculation form appears. For chemical tankers, see Booking-Based Laytime Calculation.

The Laytime Calculation form includes the vessel, voyage, and Voyage Fixture information. It has these sections:

Toolbar

Buttons on the toolbar enable you to save, copy, delete, and refresh records and do the following:

• New Incremental: Create a new Incremental Claim.
• Attachments: Open the Attachments form. If you have created multiple incremental Demurrage Invoices, you can add attachments to each Demurrage Invoice. Attachments made to the Calculation tab will be linked with the latest incremental Demurrage Invoice in the calculation. Attachments made to each invoice will flow through to their Financials invoice when it is approved and posted.
• Commission: Open the Freight-Relet Commission Summary.
• Allocation: Open the Demurrage Allocation Summary.
• Period Allocation (when configuration flag CFGLaytimeEnablePeriodAllocation is enabled): Open the Period Allocation form.
• Report: Print a Demurrage Invoice to send to the charterer or view Laytime Calculation reports.
• Standard Paragraphs: Add Standard Paragraphs to each invoice.

• 

  : Appears if any Deduction periods overlap; click to see more details. Configuration flag CFGLaytimeAllowerOverlapDeduction determines whether overlapping periods are double-counted.

Calculation Tab

Port Activities appear on a separate tab for each port call. You can import and/or add Port Activities. The type of Port Activity list depends on the calculation method (Deduction or Time Counting). For a new calculation, you can select the method that fits the type of voyage or your preference. A calculation uses either one method or the other, but you can create another calculation using the other method.

Cargo Grid

The Cargo grid shows the details of each Load or Discharge operation. The Laytime Calculation form relies on this information to do the calculation. If any relevant information is missing, complete the fields.

• The Quantity column shows the CP Quantity in blue until operational quantities are entered; then they appear in black.

Right-click an itinerary line and then click any of the following:

• Remarks: Opens the Remarks form, on which you can add additional information to the itinerary line.
• View Cargo Details: Opens the Cargo form.
• View CP Terms: Opens a read-only version of the CP Terms Details form.
• Demurrage/Despatch Rates: You can configure multiple demurrage rates.
• Load/Discharge Rates: Opens a table that calculates the allowed laytime and the average L/D rate for each itinerary line using data in the itinerary line selected.
  

  Configuration flag CFGEnableLDRateTable must be enabled

  Configuration flag CFGEnableLDRateTable must be enabled for the Load/Discharge Rates table right-click option

Port Activities

In the middle of the Laytime Calculation form is the Port Activities list, or Statement of Facts, which is the basis for laytime. Port Activities are shown in a separate tab for each port, and an All Ports tab shows all activities in a single list, in chronological order. For each port, time allowed and time used are automatically prorated, based on the total cargo quantities at the port.

To enter port activities, do any of the following:

• Import Activities: To import all the Port Activities entered in the Voyage Manager, so you do not have to enter the Statement of Facts again, click 

  

   and then select an option for all ports or for the current port only.
  • To import Port Activities from the voyage, click either From voyage or From voyage (current port only).
  • If a calculation has already been done, click either From existing Laytime Calculation or From existing Laytime Calculation (current port only).
  • To import Port Activities from the Voyage Template, click From Voyage Template.
  • To import activities for an FOB Voyage containing at least one FOB Cargo, click From Reference Voyage.
• To manually enter a local list of Port Activities, click Add New Row or right-click to insert a line and then select Port Activities.

Notes:

• This is a copy of the Port Activities; changes made here are not reflected back to the Operations module.
• If you make any changes to activities and then import activities, your changes are overwritten.
• Port Activity lines are color coded, but if you change the times, the colors do not update.
  • Pink = Arrival at port.
  • Green = Weekend/Holiday for Time Counting method; Demurrage Start appears when the Show Demurrage Start checkbox is selected.
  • Blue = Laytime Commenced/Completed.

Deduction Method

When you use the Deduction method and import activities, each main laytime-related activity appears on one line with beginning and ending times.

Any activities that would deduct from the time used, based on their setup, appear in the Deductions table below, with one line per deduction. Changes to From/To Date/Time, Duration, or Deduction cause those lines to recalculate.

With this method, you can use Demurrage on Account, which supports incremental invoicing for Demurrage over the life of a voyage, for the discharging port only.

You can define the height of the Deductions grid using configuration flag CFGLaytimeDeductionTableHeight.

Time Counting Method

When you use the Time Counting method and import activities, all Port Activities appear in a single list. Each activity appears on one line with From Date and Time, To Date and Time, Percentage that the time counts towards Demurrage, and Duration. You can edit these values.

• Ignore Weekends: Click 

  

   to remove Weekend Start and Weekend End rows (if inserted) from the grid for each port. The percentages of the activities between them will be adjusted, and activities named Weekend will be removed.

Adjusting Port Activities

On the tab for a port, you can make any of the following adjustments to activities to record those that are relevant to the calculation. To see the original Port Activities form from the voyage, click the Port Activities link at the top of the list.

• Insert activities: Click Add New Row or right-click and insert a line.
• Delete activities:
  • Deduction method: Select activities and then click the Delete link at the top of the list.
  • Time Counting method: Right-click a line item and then click Delete.
• Adjust the Date, the Time, and/or the Percentage that any activity counts in the Laytime Calculation. Adjustments here do not affect the activities of the voyage.
• With the Barging module, a Barge column appears before the Remarks field. Up to five barges from the voyage can be selected for an activity; if (All) is selected, hover text shows the names.

The Laytime Calculation form calculates when laytime commences and uses default percentages set according to the Action Type of each Port Activity to determine the time used for each activity. The percentages are initially set as follows:

Resetting Percentages

The Laytime Calculator preserves all manually entered activity and deduction percentages, which appear in blue text, unless you reset them.

To reset percentages to default values, below the Port Activities or Deductions grid, click

Setting Laytime Commence and Complete Times

Default Laytime Commence Time and Laytime Complete Time are configurable on the Voyage Template Settings tab.

Calculation Method and Options

On the right side of the form, select a Calculation method:

• Standard: Demurrage/Despatch amounts at different ports are calculated individually to decide the final result of calculation of all ports.

• Average: Balance days at each port are considered and added together to decide whether the overall calculation is demurrage or despatch. Deductions and interruptions are considered just like in the Standard method.
• Reversible: Total allowed laytime is compared to total used laytime; time lost at one port can be made up at the next.

Extra Terms

Laytime Expires: It displays commencement of the demurrage period in green.

Continuous Laytime: This reflects the CP terms where laytime continues to count at sea.

Once On/Always On Dem: If there are stoppages (i.e., interruptions of loading/discharging operations) incurred during the allowed time, they will not count against allowed time. In other words, if we have 2 hours of rain during allowed time, our allowed time is essentially 2 hours longer. Once the vessel exceeds allowed time and is on demurrage, however, any stoppages or deductions of time are no longer deducted, and time counts against the Charterer. If you add deductions after commencement of demurrage, VIP will notify you.

Include in P&L: Depending on the laytime claim Status in VIP, the demurrage/despatch value may or may not appear in the Voyage P&L; you can manually change that.

HH:MM Format: Displays time in hours/minutes format instead of days.

Options

• The Include in P&L check box is automatically selected when you set Laytime Calculation Status to Preliminary, In Progress, Dispute, or Settled. If it is not selected, the voyage number does not populate on demurrage invoices and they do not appear in the Voyage P&L. For more details on how laytime is handled in the Voyage P&L, see Including Laytime in the Voyage P&L.
• Once On/Always On Dem:
  • If any Interruption activities occur before DEMURRAGE START, then the activity % value will always set to 0.00, regardless of if Once On/Always On Dem is selected.
  • If any Interruption activities occur after DEMURRAGE START, then selecting the Once On/Always On Dem check box will set the activity % value to 100.0.
  • Once enabled, the Demurrage Start row will be automatically inserted into the activity grid.
• Net Used Time provides options for rounding:
  • Exact: No rounding (default option)
  • Round Up: Rounded up to the nearest hour
  • Round Down: Rounded down to the nearest hour

Note: When the agreed amount is zero, the system defaults to the calculated despatch or demurrage amount.

Deductions

In this section, you can add Activities to be deducted from the total time. When overlapping deductions are present, the calculation of total deductions will use the higher deduction % for the overlapping period.

Summary Information

Summary information for the selected port appears below the Port Activities; you can edit this information.

 You can select the "Apply Allocation Percent to Rate" box to have demurrage/despatch rates prorated (instead of time) for multiple cargoes being loaded/discharged at the port (only for non-reversible, single-port Laytime Calculations).

Status and Saving

Before saving, select a Status:

When you save the Laytime Calculation, the Demurrage/Despatch amount appears on the voyage P&L panel, in the Actual column, overriding any Estimated Demurrage.

Claim Tab

As you process the Claim, you can use this information to track its progress.

Claim Information

• Time Bar Date: The date by which the claim has to be sent to the counterparty; this date is calculated, but it can be manually adjusted. It defaults from contract information on the Cargo form; if not there, it uses the Address Book entry for the counterparty; if not there, it uses the system-wide default set on the Claims Lists Settings. If not there, it is set to the last OE date in the voyage + 90 days.
• Target Date: The date by which the Claim should be completed; by default, it is the Time Bar date - 45 days. Otherwise, it is Target Days from the Claims Lists Settings form + the last OE date in the voyage.
• Last Action and Last Action Date: You can use these fields to record the actions taken for this claim. To update these fields after the invoice is posted, click the Update button.
• Claim Status
• Adjustment amounts entered within the claims tab will display when running a report under claimed amount column.
• When Counterparty type set to Owner, the Remittance Bank selection derives from the Charterer's Remittance Information within the Address Book.

Invoice Information

• Status: If the Laytime Calculation Status is Settled, the Invoice Status on the Claim tab is changed to Actual.
  • Laytime Calculations with Status New and the Include In P&L check box selected can be set to Actual and posted.

• Include Broker Commission: To include the Broker Commission in the Demurrage Invoice. The Broker Commission percentage must also be entered. If specified on CP Terms Details for the cargo that it is to be deducted from the invoice, it is automatically considered.

  

  Note

  Please Note that adding the same broker twice:
  i.e.
  Broker A 3.75%
  Broker A 1.25%
  is not supported by the system. As such, please consider aggregating the two into one single entry.

• Include Address Commission: To include the Address Commission in the Demurrage Invoice. The Address Commission percentage must also be entered. If specified on CP Terms Details for the cargo that it is to be deducted from the invoice, it is automatically considered.
• Company: If you are using auto-generated invoice numbers based on company and you edit this field, the invoice number on the claim will be generated based on the new company selection. If an invoice number already exists for this claim, you will be prompted to keep the existing invoice number or generate a new one based on the new company. 
• Accrual %: The percentage of the current demurrage amount to accrue when Monthly Accruals are run. The voyage P&L will always show the Actual amount for Demurrage (such as the agreed amount). However, the accrual will break it out into two separate line items to be posted, so you can post the percentage difference to one GL Code and the remaining balance to another GL Code, for example, for a Bad Debt. When cash is recorded against the Demurrage transaction in Financials, to remove the accrual amount from the next month accrual, set the value of the Accrual % back to 100 and click Update next to it.

Demurrage/Despatch Invoice Type Selection

The type of laytime transaction automatically changes, depending upon these factors:

• Whether the Company is on demurrage or despatch.

• The address type of the counterparty. This chart identifies transaction type logic.
  

  Company Role	Counterparty Type	Dem/Des	Bill Source	AP/AR	Amount Sign	Default Invoice Title
  Owner/Operator	Charterer	Demurrage	DEMR	AR	+	Demurrage Invoice
  	Charterer	Despatch	DESR	AR	-	Credit Memo
  Charterer	Owner	Demurrage	DEMP	AP	+	Payable Statement
  	Owner	Despatch	DESP	AP	-	Despatch Invoice

In the AP/AR field of the New Laytime Calculation Setup form for a Supplier or Receiver, you can select if you want the demurrage or despatch to be considered as AP or AR.

Incremental Tab

On the Incremental tab, you can manage Incremental Demurrage Claims, for adjustments representing the result of negotiations after posting/sending an initial invoice. Because a previous Claim cannot be edited, the Claim must have an Invoice Number and a Status of Actual.

To create a new Incremental Claim, click New Incremental on the toolbar. A numbered Incremental tab appears.

• The Incremental tab is the same as the Claim tab, plus a Previously Invoiced grid, which shows previous Claims that were deducted from the current invoice amount to create the correct financial adjustments when posting this Claim. Other than the Original Claim Amount, the calculation can be edited.
• Only the data in the current Claim–the original or the most recent Incremental Claim–can be retrieved in the Laytime Calculator and appears in the Voyage P&L.
• Only the most recent Incremental Claim can be edited or deleted.
• The Total Claim Amount column in the Transaction Summary and Laytime table of the Report Designer represents the total amount due after considering all previous invoices, adjustments, and potential commission deductions.
• On the toolbar, click the Reports menu to access the following: 
  • Final Statement Report: This report shows the final agreed Laytime Amount: the newest Incremental Claim excluding Previously Invoiced amounts.
  • Invoice: An invoice can be printed for each individual Claim from its tab.

Notes Tab

On the Notes tab, you can enter notes related to the Laytime Calculation. Notes can be added, edited, or deleted even after the invoice is approved/posted. You can also view Notes from Operations.

Adding a Note

To add a new note:

1. If a note already appears in the large text field at the bottom of the form, click New to clear the field.
2. In the text field, enter the note.
3. Click OK. The note appears in the table above, with the Date and Time and your User Name as its Author.

Editing a Note

To edit a note, select its Note field. Edit the text and then click OK.

Deleting a Note

To delete a note, select its check box and then click the Delete link.

Notes from Operations

On this tab, you can also view Notes added by Operators in the Voyage Manager.