Retainer Invoicing

Eliminate the guessing game and start automatically turning your billable retainer hours into invoices. With integrated online payment processing, you make it easy for clients to make payments and thus, your business gets paid faster.

Using this guide, you can: 

• Setup automatic Retainer Invoices
• Send manual Retainer invoices

• Understanding the Invoicing Screen

• Create the Invoice
• Preview & Edit the Invoice
• Review & Manage Invoices
  
  

Invoicing your Retainers

Invoicing for a Retainer is achieved by invoicing for each Period. Your Retainer's invoices will be pre-configured with line items based on the Period Template. You can easily create additional invoices against a period if necessary, including invoicing for specific activities.

The Retainer Period View Screen provides a summary of the items to be billed with each period. 

Automatic Invoicing

Configure your Retainer to automatically generate an invoice as part of the automatic period renewal process.

To set up and review your Automatic Invoicing:

1. View your retainer, click Edit and choose Edit Retainer.
   
    
2. Make sure you have Auto Renew Periods option checked.
3. Make sure the Billing Type in the Period Template is set to Pre-Paid.
4. You may also select if you would like your invoice to be created automatically.
   
   

Your auto-generated invoices sending options:

• Create Invoice & Send Email - Automatically email the Billable Contact

• Create Invoice & Fax - Automatically sends a PDF to your Invoice User.

• Create Invoice & Notify accounts user - Automatically sends a notification and PDF to your Invoice User. The Invoice User is the user who was selected in the Invoices Staff dropdown on the Invoices & Pricing Settings. 
  
  
  

Your auto-generated invoices will include:

• One line item for the Pre-paid Price.

• One line item for each Template Line Item, which you can find listed on the Retainer Period View Screen.
  
  

NOTE: When you first create a Retainer and set it to Auto Invoice, you need to manually invoice it for the first Period. This is due to the fact that automatic invoicing occurs based on the expiration date of the current Period (which does not occur for the first Period). Going forward, each time a Period is renewed, an Invoice will be auto-generated. 

Manual Invoicing

When viewing a retainer, the Period list will help you see which Periods are yet to be invoiced. If your period has been invoiced, you will see the ledger number(s) on the same row. If you have not yet invoiced the period directly through Accelo, you will see a link to Create.

To begin manual invoicing, click Create next to a period to open the invoicing screen.

You may also create an Invoice manually from the Retainer Period View Screen. Click on the Period from the Retainer View to get to the Retainer Period View Screen. 

Click Create Invoice and select Invoice Period.

Understanding the Invoicing Screen

Invoice Details

Populate the general details of the invoice.

1. Invoice Template: Pick from one of your set Invoice Templates to use.
2. Invoice Title: Choose the Title of your Invoice.
3. Owner: The staff member responsible for the Invoice.
4. Bill To: Use this field to adjust the billing contact. If you choose to email the invoice, it will be sent to this contact.
5. Raised: The date you want the Invoice to be Raised on.
6. Due: The date the payment of the Invoice will be due.
7. Customer Description/Notes: These are external notes, which your Client can see when you provide them the invoice, such as, "This Invoice is a deposit for upcoming work".
8. Internal Description/Notes: These are notes for your own internal records, which the Client will not have access to, such as, "Work will not begin until this invoice is paid".
9. Subtotals: View the subtotals of each section you will be Invoicing for.

Invoicing for Services on the Retainer

1. Review the Total Budget, amount Previously Invoiced and Remaining Budget on the Retainer.
2. Period Created After: Choose to only include Periods created after a specific date.
3. Open Periods Only: Choose whether or not to include only Open Periods or All Periods.
4. Include Excess (Pre-paid): Choose whether or not to include Excess amounts from a previous period.
5. Work Status (Post-paid): Choose to Invoice for only Approved Activities or All Activities.
6. Logged Before: Choose to show only work that has been logged before a specific date. 
7. Default Service Item: Choose to reflect the Service Type provided on the Retainer.
8. Work Detail: Choose whether to include the below Work Detail options by checking or unchecking the checkbox.
9. Select / Deselect the individual items you would like to include or exclude in the Invoice by checking or unchecking the box beside each object.
10. Description: Edit the description of the line item, if necessary.
11. Hours: Edit the number of hours logged against this line item, if necessary.
12. Rate: Edit the rate that these hours are being billed at, if necessary.
13. Add new Service line item: Choose to add on items that were not already included.
14. Group By: Itemize Activities by Staff, Rate, Object, Date, or None.
15. Activity Status: Choose whether to include All Activities, Approved Activities, or All Un-invoiced Activities.
16. Date: Choose to invoice for Activities logged on a specific date.
17. Include Non-billable: Check or un-check this box depending on whether or not you wish to include non-billable Activities.
18. Each line item may include the Date of work logged, Billable/Non-Billable Hours on the Activity, Rate used, total Amount for each item, the Owner of each object, Subject of each Activity, and/or the Body (Description) of the Activity.
19. View Service details by hovering over the Service, as well as edit Ledger & Tax codes.

Invoicing for Materials on the Retainer

1. Review the Total Budget, amount Previously Invoiced and Remaining Budget on the Retainer.
2. Select / Deselect Materials to be Invoiced by checking or unchecking the box beside each Material.
3. Description: Edit the description of the Material, if necessary.
4. Quantity: Edit the quantity of the Material, if necessary.
5. Price: Edit the price of the Material, if necessary.
6. Add new Material line item: Choose to add on Materials that were not already included.
7. View Material details by hovering over the Material, as well as edit Ledger & Tax codes.

Invoicing for Expenses on the Retainer

1. Review Previously Invoiced amount.
2. Select / Deselect Expenses to include on the Invoice by checking or unchecking the checkbox beside each Material.
3. Description: Edit the description of the Expense, if necessary.
4. Rate: Edit the rate of the Expense, if necessary.
5. View Expense details by hovering over the Expense, as well as edit Ledger & Tax codes.

Create the Invoice

After reviewing all Details, Settings, Line items, and Expenses, review the Tax Codes and Totals. When you're finished, choose from 3 options, Preview & edit PDF, Save Invoice or Save & Send PDF which will send the Invoice to the Billing Contact right away.

Note: All three options will create an Invoice, but your choice determines which function you want to utilize.

Preview & Edit the Invoice 

Preview a more detailed Invoice Report, which you can further customize before sending to your Client. Learn more about creating a PDF Invoice here. 

Customize your Invoice by:

1. Style: Choose Font and Color Theme for the Invoice.
2. Services: Choose to show Quantity, Price per unit Tax Codes and Tax amount for Services.
3. Materials: Choose to show Quantity, Price per unit Tax Codes and Tax amount for Materials.
4. Expenses: Choose to show Quantity, Price per unit Tax Codes and Tax amount for Expenses.
5. Payments: You may also choose to show any previous payments made as well as any related invoices that have been created.
6. Activities: Choose to breakdown your logged work for the Client.
7. File Name: Customize the Name of the PDF File.
8. After reviewing all the details, hit Apply & Close.
9. Save the Invoice: This saves the Invoice but does not send it to anyone until you choose to do so at a later time.
10. Save & Send Invoice: This saves as well as sends the Invoice out to the Billing Contact.

Review & Manage Invoices

To see all invoices against a specific Ticket, click the Invoices tab from the middle column on the View Retainer screen.

Click through to the invoice to see more details.