Billable Items and Time Billing
Billable items provide a flexible and versatile set of billing options. You can use billable items to charge your clients for customized products or services, one-time costs, or to provide customized billing configurations. You can also use time billing to track and bill time for client projects.
You can view and manage billable items at Billing > Billable Items.
You can view billable items for a specific client in the Billable Items tab of their client profile.
When to Use Billable Items
To ensure the best experience for your clients, make sure to use products and billable items appropriately. Some scenarios require creation of a product, while others require the flexibility of a billable item.
| Products | Billable Items | |
|---|---|---|
| Creation | Create once for sale to many clients. | Create once for sale to one client. |
| Admins Can Order (Admin Area) | Yes | Yes |
| Clients Can Order (Client Area) | Yes | No |
| Displays in Client Area My Services List | Yes | No |
| One-Time Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Recurring Invoicing | Specific billing cycles only. | Any frequency (customizable). |
| Invoices Display in Admin Area | Yes | Yes |
| Invoices Display in Client Area | Yes | Yes |
Typically, you should use billable items for items that are unique to an individual client, and use products for items that many clients will buy.
Managing Billable Items
You can view a list of all of your billable items at Billing > Billable Items.
When you edit a billable item, you can also view a list of all of the invoices that the system has generated for that item.
Creating Billable Items
To create a billable item, click Add New and configure the billable item settings.
Invoicing Options
Billable items can use the following invoicing options:
- Don’t invoice for Now — Create the billable item for the client but do not generate an invoice yet.
- Invoice on Next Cron Run — Generate an invoice for the billable item the next time that the daily cron job runs.
- Add to User’s Next Invoice — Add the billable item to the next automated recurring invoice that the system generates for the user.
- Invoice as Normal for Next Due Date — Generate an invoice according to the date that you specify for (Next) Due Date.
- Recur — Generate recurring invoices according to the intervals you specify.
For steps to create and configure a billable item, see Add a Billable Item.
Time Billing
When you use billable items, you can also create time billing entries. Time billing entries allow you to bill for time that your staff spends working on a project. For example, if you want to record that you completed one hour of consultation work at $50 per hour, two hours of design work at $80 per hour, and one hour of travel time at $25 per hour, you could use time billing to simplify the process.
For more information about time billing and steps to add time billing for a client, see Add Time Billing.
Time billing is distinct from the time tracking features in our Project Management addon. It offers a simpler solution without additional features or complexities. If you are working with time-based billing often, you may want to evaluate both to determine the better option for your business.
Taxes and Billable Items
The system applies taxes to billable items normally whenever it generates the invoice.
Last modified: June 14, 2024