Overview:

Retention Release can be found under the Subcontracts menu (for Contract Reports retentions, see Contract Retention Management). On this screen you can view the status of retentions from all subcontracts and release retention amounts directly. By changing the filter, you can see previous subcontracts that have been fully released.

There are two ways of releasing retentions:

The standard and most common way is from Retention Release Management screen. By releasing retention this way, the system will automatically create a new claim using the next number in the sequence with the amount of retention to be released that you specify. Note that retention amounts are ex-GST, and GST is applied in the claim on the amount that you enter, as it was withheld when the retention was set aside.

Subcontracts - valid retention types:
Any Retention Types with the type Step by Percent (Schedule Type), will not be available as a selectable option on a Subcontract, as this is not a valid one, and if chosen Retentions are not calculated. This type is only valid for Contracts.

Open

Another way of releasing retentions is from a Subcontract Claim, by explicitly specifying any Retention Release amount on the Main tab of a Subcontract Claim, on the Retention line. 

This allows:

1. Specifying a retention withheld and retention release within the context of a single subcontract claim (tather than using a Subcontract Claim for a retention release only).

2. Full traceability of each value as there is no net-off into a single value.

3. Retention Release details in Retention Release Management are updated to reflect this released amount and the invoice number of the Sub Claim it was used.

4. Note that if a Retention withheld value is entered manually since for existing data only retention releases performed from Retention Management with a distinct subclaim document can be recognised as releases, only these will display as such.

5. Retention Release amount must be positive. To revert an incorrectly released retention use method 1 and create a Claim with a Retention amount only.

Screen Guide:

Retention Releases tab

Open

 

By default, the filter shows all subcontracts with a retention withheld amount greater than zero, i.e. amounts still to be released back to the subcontractor. You can change the filter to view a specific job, subcontractor, or previously released amounts.

The Total Retention amounts are the previously held amounts from Subcontract Claims using the Retention method (Retention Codes). Released to Date is the amount that has been released for this subcontract to date, in the case of partial retention releases, with the Retention Balance being the difference between the previous two columns. If there has been a previous release, the date, claim, and value will be displayed in Previous Rel. Date, Previous Rel. Invoice, and Previous Release Value, respectively. If you are aware of the Next Release date, you can enter it in that column.

To initiate a retention release, all you need to do is enter the % of Balance with 1 being 100% to automatically derive the value, or directly enter the value amount. When you are satisfied with the amount, simply click Save to have the system create the claim. You can create multiple releases in this way by putting a value on each desired line and then saving. Lines will disappear by default due to the filter, but you can modify this to show the lines again.

Retention Trust Account column is used to record the Trust Account being used to withhold the retention money from the subcontractor.

 

 

GL Accounts

When a Subcontract Claim is batched, the retention amounts are coded to the DR GL Account (liability account) on the Retention Control Job (ZRET) Job. However, when using Retention Trust Accounts, a different GL account specific to that Trust Account can be specified in the Subcontract Retention Trust Account, and the system will use this one instead. A GL Account on a Retention Trust Account is not mandatory, and the system will falback to using the GL on the ZRET Job.

Next Steps:

Once the retention has been released, the newly created claim will need to be approved and processed as per usual. You can navigate to the claim by changing the filter on this screen, using Subcontract Claims, or navigating to the subcontract in Subcontract List, and assigning it there or approve it yourself.