K-Factor Deviation Report

Generating the Report

A report generates at the end of each sales journal if any deviations occurred while posting sales.   All journal reports can be printed at once by using a date range.  To print the report, navigate to Main Menu / Reports Menu / K-Factor Reports / K-Factor Deviation Report. Enter the Journal Date range to review and select an output type of Video, Printer, or Excel. Select Print.

Viewing the Report

A page for each journal will be listed along with the customer account, tank, and deviation information. 

When looking at the report, it’s important to pay attention to some key factors:

1. Customer Name and Customer Type – Review these fields as they might indicate right away that the customer should not be a K-Factor customer.   
   • Example: Bob’s Construction Company with a Customer Type of Commercial is probably not suited to be an autofill customer.  
   • Rather than review the K-Factor analysis, modifying the Customer Delivery Type to Will Call or Julian is most likely the next step.
2. Est% and St% – This indicates how far off the tank percentage was at the time of delivery and whether to expect the K-Factor to increase or decrease.  
   • Less product in the tank at delivery indicates the customer is burning propane at a much higher rate than expected and could cause a runout.
   • Note: Try to address this scenario first.
3. PrevKF – This shows what the K-Factor was before this delivery.
4. NewKF – This is what the system allowed the K-Factor to change to based on Division parameters.
   • When the New K-Factor is different compared to the value in the Division table, it prints on this report.
5. Calc KF – This is what the system wanted to change to but was not allowed due to the Percent to Change value in the Division table.

Work the Report

1. Begin by reviewing the report.  Is the issue as simple as modifying the Delivery Type from a K-Factor tracking Delivery Type to a Julian, Will Call, or Monitor?
   If so, simply navigate to the Tank screen and modify the Delivery Type, making sure to create a Julian schedule if the Delivery Type is modified as such.  
   • If modifying the Delivery Type from an Auto Fill, make sure to remove the K-Factor and Daily Use values.
   • It is always a good idea to verify with the delivery driver that the Delivery Type is being modified to an accurate status.  
2. Review and address K-Factors that are trending downward, as those are the most vulnerable for future runouts if the customer is utilizing more propane than expected.
   1. Navigate to Customer Maintenance / Tank Info and review the tank. Ensure the Delivery Type and Tank Size are correct.
   2. Select Tank Reading to view readings for the tank.
      • If the tank does not have four or more tank readings, adjustments are not necessary.
      • K-Factors begin adjusting with the second delivery made to the customer tank.  It takes three deliveries to generate a good averaged K-Factor.  
      • Look for Deviations that occur on tanks starting with the fourth delivery.
3. For tanks with four or more deliveries:
   1. Review Delivery History.  Does anything seem abnormal with previous deliveries in general?
   2. Take a look at the previous delivery season to see if there has been a change in the number of deliveries. Are they using more or less?
   3. Review all of the previous estimated and starting tank percentages.  Has the tank ever been on target?
      • In the above example, it does not appear that this tank has ever been on target.  It gets close, and then drops off again.  
      • If no, it could be possible they are using an alternative heating method and are not suited for Auto Fill.
   4. Were they once on track and now suddenly off?
   5. The driver may have information needed to make an adjustment such as:
      • Do they have new appliances running off propane?
      • Review the Appliance tab to see if appliances exist, but without a daily use value.
   6. Is a daily use value applied to the customer tank for the appliances?
      • If a daily use value is added to fix the Deviation report, do not forget to raise the K-Factor slightly to account for the adjustment.
      • The K-Factor has been trying to compensate for the lack of daily use by lowering with each delivery.
   7. Have they recently added an addition to their home?
   8. Are more people living in the home than before?
   9. Are there alternative heat sources?
   10. Review the Tickler file. Are there any notes about the tank utilizing other heat sources, the customer being out of town, tank repairs, etc.?

If none of these questions resolve the issue, reach out to the customer to see if anything has changed.