MultiTrace User Guidance (Legacy account)

Site: Rainforest Alliance Learning Network
Course: E-Page: MultiTrace User Guidance (Legacy account) [ENG, ES, PT, VI]
Book: MultiTrace User Guidance (Legacy account)
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Wednesday, 4 December 2024, 9:36 AM

1. Introduction

Welcome to the E-page - MultiTrace User Guidance

On this e-page Certificate Holders using the legacy Rainforest Alliance and/or UTZ account will find guidance on how to use MultiTrace for the following topics:   

  • Password reset;  

  • Finance (invoice reassignments);  

  • Settings (user management, language settings and notification emails).  
     

For guidance on how to report traceability activities, please consult our Traceability User Guidance Manual.  


For any questions or assistance, please reach out to the Customer Success team at CustomerSuccess@ra.org




2. Password reset

If you forgot your password, please click on ‘forgot password’ in the login page to request a password reset.

Please send an email to customersuccess@ra.org in case you have trouble getting a new password.





3. Fee Types & Finance

The Finance tab in MultiTrace shows the membership fee and program fee per commodity and displays an overview of the invoices. This overview does not include a payment history.

Each commodity has one currency (currently in Euro or Dollar).

Credit Notes are shown as negative invoices (negative amount due to e.g. a reversal of a trade that contained program fee). Credit Notes that are issued outside of MultiTrace are not displayed here.

Please find an overview of certification related costs here on our website.


To get the correct information processed on invoices it is important to check your account on the following:

  • Volumes: Please make sure you have entered the correct amount of (traded) volumes in the Commodities tab.
  • Hierarchy: In case multiple companies belong to the same group and are registered within the program, the membership fee will be charged only once. The membership fee is invoiced based on their combined volumes.

Please indicate the parent company in case your company is a daughter company. If the parent or daughter company is added within 4 weeks after registration, the membership fee will be adjusted before invoicing.

If the parent or daughter company is added after 4 weeks, the membership fee will be charged to the paying company from the following year onward. Program fee (if applicable) will be invoiced to the new paying company from the coming month onward.

  • Billing information: Please make sure you enter the billing contact person, billing address, email address, phone number and VAT number (mandatory for clients in NL and EU) in your company profile.

For more information about membership fee, program fee or premium contact our Customer Success team at customersuccess@ra.org.


I've added or removed a parent or daughter company: when will the fees change?

If the parent or daughter company is added within 4 weeks after registration, the membership fee will be adjusted before invoicing.

If the parent or daughter company is added after 4 weeks, the membership fee will be charged to the paying company from the following year onward. Program fee (if applicable) will be invoiced to the new paying company from the coming month onward.



3.1. Invoice Reassignment

MultiTrace now has the possibility for Certificate Holders to assign the Participation Royalty/Program fee to subsequent suppliers/purchasers in the supply chain dealing with Certified Products for Coffee. 

This update for Invoice Reassignment is available and usable for Coffee Certificate Holders and Registered actors in MultiTrace. 

The instructions below act as a Guidance on how the Invoice Reassignment process can be triggered and worked upon. 

TYPES OF INVOICE REASSIGNMENT 

Currently there are three types of Invoice Re-assignment options available namely: 

 

  • Seller Reassignment (The Participation Royalty/Program Fee will be reassigned to the Supplier – this is applicable for members who have a Trade done between them in MTT) 

 

Actors Involved: 

 

Shape 

 

Text BoxText Box 

 

  • Buyer Reassignment (The Participation is reassigned to any Buyer who purchases Certified Coffee from you) 

 

Actors Involved: 

Shape 

 

 

Text BoxText Box 

 

 

Shape 

NoteIn the Buyer Reassignment it is understood that the Supplier has already paid the Participation Royalty/Program Fee once. 


  • Full Reassignment (The Participation Royalty/Program Fee charged can be reassigned to any member listed in the MultiTrace system) 

 Actors Involved: 

   Shape 

 

 

Text BoxText Box 

 

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NoteAs of January 2021, the invoicing of the participation royalty/program fee has shifted from the packers/roasters to the first buyer (outside origin country of the Supplier) 

FEE REASSIGNMENT FLOW 

Invoice reassignment 

INVOICE REASSIGNMENT PROCESS 

Members can access/setup the Invoice Reassignment toll from the Finance Tab in MultiTrace. 

 

1st buyer 

 

To set up a Reassignment you need to click on the Active button under the Reassignments Section and the system will give you the option to process a New Reassignment Request. 

 

Reassignment 


Please add the required Mandatory details in the Window which pops-up: 

 

Text BoxShape 

 Once the Reassignment Agreement is added the Member Reassigned to, needs to confirm the process (until the confirmation is not done from the Reassigned Member, the Agreement will be in Pending Status) 

 

Reassignment requested 

 

You can withdraw the Agreement as well if required! 

Simultaneously the member with whom the Reassignment Agreement has been made will receive the request to Accept/Reject the Agreement. 

Fees 

 

Once accepted the Reassigned Member also has the option to Revoke the Agreement: 

Revoke 

 

REQUESTS OVERVIEW 

There is a Requests Overview available for all accounts now under the Finance section to review the Requests connected to the Invoice Reassignments. 

Requests raised Requests Raised: Shows the Pending and Active Invoice Reassignments processed by the Account. 


 Note: This section is only for the accounts who have logged the agreement for reassignment with another account. 


 Requests ReceivedShows the Pending and Active Invoice Reassignments received by the account to confirm. 

 

Note: This section is only for the accounts who have received the agreement for reassignment from another account. 

 

INVOICING MECHANISM 

The invoicing cycle for pre-merger UTZ Coffee is done monthly. 

 

The system calculates the applicable charged participation royalty/program fee over the month and bills it accordingly at the end of the month. 

 

When an account has selected any of the Invoice Reassignment types in MultiTrace, the Invoice lines are debited and then accordingly credited. 

 

Example: 

Invoicing mechanism 

 

In the screenshot above account 1st Buyer has reassigned the fee to its supplier due to which in the Invoice line you can see a Debit and Credit line (accordingly a debit line will be created for the reassigned member) 

{mlang}


3.2. Invoice Reassignment FAQs

FAQ’S 

Q - Can I back date the Invoice Reassignment Agreement?

A – The agreement can only be started from the present day (it cannot be back dated). 

 

Q  Will the Reassignment direct the entire Invoice charge to the Reassigned Party? 

A – The charge will be made to the Reassigned Party from when the Reassignment Agreement has been Confirmed. 

 Example - In case if the Reassignment has been Confirmed mid-month, then the invoiced amount to the Reassigned Party will be from the date confirmed. 

 

Q – In the Buyer Reassignment can the Reassigned Party be any member in the Chain? 

 A - No, the Reassigned party can only be the Buyer who purchases directly from the charged 1st Buyer for Coffee Participation Royalty/Program Fee. 

 

Q – For how long is the Reassignment valid? 

 A – It is valid until the Agreement has been Withdrawn or Revoked 

 

Q  Do I need to be licensed to have Invoice reassigned to me? 

 A – Buyer and Seller reassignments need to be done between Licensed members; Full reassignment can be managed towards a registered member as well. 

 

Q – Is the Invoice Reassignment available for Tea or other Crops? 

 A – Currently it is only available for Pre-Merger UTZ Coffee Members. 

 

In case if you have any further queries/questions please contact customersuccess@ra.org


4. Manage your settings

Please use the table of contents on the right side to navigate through the content. 

4.1 Add users 
4.2 Assign roles to users 
4.3 Change address
4.4 Language settings
4.5 Notification E-mails

4.1. Add users

Only administrator users can add a new user by clicking ‘+Add User’ under the Users tab in their profile. Please note: you do not need to register your company again if your company has already been registered by your colleague(s) before. This will create duplicates.

You can add the person by filling in their details. When you, as the Administrator, add a USER to the account, you will need to inform the added person about the following:

  • username
  • password that you created for the new user

Afterwards the new user can change their password.

Do not forget to assign the correct role once you added a new user!

add_user user_role

4.2. Assign roles to users

User roles allow you to manage the permissions that different users have in MultiTrace. A user can have the following user roles:

  • Administrator: this role allows a user to add members, change roles, change information, contact CBs or Members, and upload or fill in required information;
  • Finance: this role allows a user to change financial information;
  • Member: this role allows a user to only view information, but not modify anything.

user_role 

4.3. Change address

To change information as your visiting address, mailing address or billing address, please go to your Profile tab and click on the icons on the right to update. 

Fill in or update the fields and click on the save icon on the top right. 

You will get a notification popup that the changes are saved. 



4.4. Language settings

Click on your account name in the top right corner in your MultiTrace screen and select the preferred language.

Checklists and templates can be downloaded directly from MultiTrace after changing the language setting or can be found in different languages at the bottom of the page in chapter 1. Introduction - Quick Start.

language_setting



4.5. Notification E-mails

How to change your email notification settings

If you would like to change your email notification settings, go to the settings under Quick Actions and select which email notifications you want to receive. Only Administrator users can set notification settings. You can set your preference to receive email notifications about “Certification & License” and/or “Traceability”. Audit scheduling confirmation emails and License Expiration emails will always be sent.

How to unsubscribe from email notifications

You can unsubscribe from email notifications by unchecking the box for the subject you’d no longer like to receive and click ‘Update’.

5. Trade & Stock

For guidance on how to report traceability activities, please consult our Traceability User Guidance Manual.