"Then when the credit shows up, the WA will modify the RO to fit the credit which shows no aged unpaid claims and no policy adjustments."
I can see where this could be a problem as mistakes (or laziness) could be very easily hidden from view, but I can also think of *some* situations where it might be called for.
Some warranty claims (or insurance claims, or service contract claims) are rather complicated. I see no point in closing a repair order into accounting "at full pop"...where you've paid a tech and recorded a sale at what might be a inflated (ahem....wishful thinking) amount....only to then have write-off when you come up short. Not to mention paying commission on inflated sales and gross figures !
That would similar to closing at car deal at full MSRP ....and enjoying a huge gross-per-unit-sold.....and then charging off the shortage to advertsing or some other expense account.
For example, we do lots of mechanical work for insurance companies (via our body shop)at a labor rate that is often $30-40 less per hour than our standard mechanical labor rate....along with some very tricky parts pricing requirements. We routinely edit the ticket to match what we are paid, as I certainly don't care to show (what could often be) a several hundred dollar write-off purely for the sake of showing a maximized gross profit.
The worry, of course, is "How much and how often, and who is doing it?". It wouldn't take but an hour or two a month to review closed repair orders for suspiciously low sales amounts (a veteran SM will spot 'em in a minute). In fact, I regularly run a "detail" listing of closed tickets (all pay types) and look for unusually low (or even high) grosses. Similarly, if technicians "flag sheets" show sudden decreases or increases in hours flagged by the warranty admin, I'd start nosing around a bit to see what's going on.
A bigger concern would be a *cashier* editing repair orders.....lots of particularly ugly possibilities there.
Cheers
DD