The Create RPI Rental Update Log screen is accessed via Fleet System Management / Create RPI Rental Log Entries.
This option takes the values held within the Retail Price Index Maintenance screen (accessed via Fleet System Management / Miscellaneous Options / Retail Price Indices) to perform a calculation which updates any qualifying live agreements on the anniversary of their start dates with a revised rental that reflects a percentage of the increase in the Retail Price Index.
This program runs down the Agreement file and selects those agreements flagged as "RPI upliftable" (i.e. the RPI Uplift Flag checkbox ticked) which are due for updating within the next 60 days. The selected agreements are displayed and maintained within the Maintain Rental Uplift Log file (accessed via Fleet System Management / Miscellaneous Options / Rental Update Log File). The resultant pending RPI update records are ultimately confirmed by use of the Apply Rental Updates From Log process.
Three additional fields are required within the contract file which enable the RPI program to function. These fields are determined when using the Start Contract option (accessed via Administration Options within Contract Administration.
RPI Uplift Flag
For an RPI increase to take effect for an agreement the RPI uplift indicator checkbox must be ticked.
RPI Percentage Increase
The percentage of the calculated RPI increase to apply to rentals for this contract. The default value is 100%
A company may have a default RPI requirement and this value can be accessed via the Default RPI Percent field within Contract Administration / Miscellaneous Options / Address Management / Address Groups and selecting the Contract Admin 1 Tab.
Next RPI Uplift Date
This is the anniversary of the contract start date. This date must be due within two months when running the Create RPI Rental Log Entries option.
The percentage rental increase, (or possible decrease) is calculated based on the monthly movements within the Retail Price Index. For example, in February 2001 the revised rental is calculated as follows:
February 2001 RPI = 163.90 less February 2000 RPI 157.50 =6.4
Year on change = 6.4 divided by February 2000 RPI (157.50) =0.04063
Multiply by 100 to produce a percentage update = 4.06 %
This percentage is applied to those agreements flagged in the log (with an RPI Uplift Flag ticked) and the Next RPI Uplift Date is updated to the next anniversary (the next RPI uplift date).
Note: As it is necessary for the customer to be informed of the impending increase 2 months in advance, in practice the increase used by the system is the one reported 2 months prior to the revision date which, in turn, is 2 months in arrears of the inflation rate.
This screen is used in conjunction with the following three processes in order to control Retail Price Index rental adjustments:
Accessed via Fleet System Management / Miscellaneous Options / Retail Price Indices and is used to create, edit and delete retail price indices which are used as part of the calculation to create a revised rental (for qualifying agreements) that reflects a percentage of the increase in the Retail Price Index.
The Retail Price Index may be sourced from the Financial Times which reports on any movements two months in arrears, (for example, the February 2001 retail price adjustment is printed in April 2001 issues). This information is manually transferred and held within the Retail Price Index Maintenance file.
This screen presents any Agreements that match the selection criteria from the Create RPI Rental Update Log process, displaying the Revision Date, the Old and New Rental and a text field for a brief summary. The Status flag of C or P denotes whether the RPI update is (C)onfirmed or is still (P)ending. RPI updates may also be amended within this screen.
Running this option actionsany (P)ending Log transactions so that the relevant Agreements are updated to a (C)onfirmed status.
This screen is constituted of four elements, which are as follows:
In addition to displaying the screen name the Title Bar provides a number of useful buttons.
The content of the Create RPI Rental Update Log menu bar is as follows:
Exit
Exits to the Fleet System Management menu.
Provides online access to a context sensitive Help screen.
The content of theCreate RPI Rental Update Log toolbar is as follows:
Exits to the Fleet System Management menu.
Provides online access to a context sensitive Help screen.
This area consists of a date field and command button which function as follows:
The program runs down the Agreement file and selects those agreements flagged as "RPI upliftable" (i.e. the RPI Uplift Flag checkbox ticked) which are due for updating within the 60 days of the Processing Date.
By clicking-on the ellipsis (...) button immediately to the right of this field a monthly diary screen is displayed in order to assist in establishing the correct date criteria. Selection of the < button moves to the previous month and the > button moves to the next month. Selection of Exit exits the diary screen. A double-click on the appropriate day of the month enters this date into the Processing Datefield.
Create the RPI Log File by running down the Agreement file and selecting those agreements flagged as "RPI upliftable" (i.e. the RPI Uplift Flag checkbox ticked) which are due for updating within the 60 days of the Processing Date. The selected agreements are displayed and maintained within the Maintain Rental Uplift Log file (accessed via Fleet System Management / Miscellaneous Options / Rental Update Log File). The resultant pending RPI update records are ultimately confirmed by use of the Apply Rental Updates From Log process.