Billing runs from approved hours
Each period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Month-end billing means exporting hours, pricing them in a spreadsheet and typing the invoice.
- Hours approved late are never billed, or the same hours are billed twice.
- Travel paid for the client is forgotten on the invoice.
- Invoices go out without anyone senior checking the amount.
How it works
- On a client project, the Billing tab sets the Billing Method: Time and Materials, Fixed Price, Milestones, Retainer or Not Billed.
- At the end of the period, a Projects Manager presses New Billing Run on the project. The period follows on from the last run, a month to start with.
- The run collects its lines at once. It takes approved billable hours not billed yet, instalments due, the retainer fee and hours over it, and approved expenses marked Bill the Client.
- Check the lines, add a line by hand if needed, and write a Note for the Invoice. Press Collect Lines again if more time was approved meanwhile.
- Press Submit. The run goes through your Billing Run approval chain; an approver can Approve or Send Back.
- Once approved, the draft invoice is made at once and the run shows Invoiced, with the invoice and its payment status. Your accountant checks and posts it.
Everything it does
Billing methods
- Time and Materials: approved billable hours, one line per person and rate, priced from the rate card
- Fixed Price: instalments by % of the project's value or a fixed amount. Each is billed once, on the first run that reaches its Due On date (empty: the next run)
- Milestones: payment milestones make their own invoices; a run carries only expenses to pass on
- Retainer: the fee each month or quarter, hours within it, and hours over it at the overage rate
- Not Billed: no runs; internal projects are never billed
- New projects start with the entity's usual method: Time and Materials to start with
What a run collects
- Approved, billable hours not on any run, dated up to the run's end, so hours approved late are caught next time
- Approved project expenses marked Bill the Client, at their amount, converted to the project's currency
- Line kinds: Time, Fixed Price, Retainer Fee, Hours Over the Retainer, Expense, Other
- Lines typed by hand stay when you collect again; collected lines are made afresh
- Each hour, instalment and expense is marked with the run that billed it and is never billed twice
- Reference BR/year/number, the client, the period, total hours and total amount
The flow
- Draft, Waiting Approval, Approved, Invoiced, or Cancelled
- Only Projects Managers make, collect, submit and cancel runs
- A run with no lines cannot be submitted
- Send Back returns the run to draft for changes, and it is submitted again
- Cancel only while draft or waiting; what it held is free for the next run
- An approved run is undone with a credit note on its invoice
- Only draft or cancelled runs can be deleted
The invoice
- A draft customer invoice for the project's client, in the project's currency
- One invoice line per run line with an amount; lines at no charge stay on the run only
- Taxes: the entity's default sales taxes, such as GST in India or VAT, on each line
- The run reference, the project and the period on the invoice; the Note for the Invoice as its note
- Invoice on Approval: on to start with; off, press Make Invoice when ready
- The project needs a client, and the entity a sales journal
Lists
- Projects > Money > Billing > Billing Runs: filters Draft, Waiting Approval, To Invoice, Invoiced
- Group by status, project, client or month
- The project shows its Billing Runs and Approved Hours Not Billed
Who uses it
Projects ManagerMakes the runs, checks the lines, submits them and makes invoices.
Approver (project manager, finance, director)Approves or sends back runs at their level of the Billing Run chain.
AccountantChecks and posts the draft invoice and follows the payment.
Projects AdministratorSets the usual billing method, the billing period and Invoice on Approval.
Where you use it
- Web: Projects > Money > Billing > Billing Runs; New Billing Run and the Billing tab on the project
- Approvers: Approvals > To Approve, and the to-do on the run
- The invoice: in accounting, where it is posted and its payment recorded
- Not in the phone app or on the client portal
What you control
Settings
- Usual billing method: Time and Materials
- Billing period: every month (or every two weeks, or every week); retainers use their own month or quarter
- Invoice on approval: on
- Per project: billing method, rate card, rates for people, instalments, retainer terms
Approvals
- Billing Run: one chain per entity. A Projects Manager by default, or the project's manager. You can add levels, Only For an amount, or Approved at Once
Notifications
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the next level, with a to-do showing the run and its amount
- The run's history shows who submitted, approved or sent it back, and the invoice made
Questions
Can runs be made for all projects at once at month end?
Not today. Each run is made from its project with New Billing Run, or from Billing Runs > New. Runs on a schedule are not built.What if hours from last month are approved after the run?
They go on the next run. A run takes approved billable hours that are not billed yet and dated up to its end, so nothing is missed.Can we add a markup on expenses we pass on?
Not today. Expenses go on the run at their amount. You can change the line while the run is a draft.How is GST worked out?
The draft invoice takes the entity's default sales taxes on each line. Your accountant can change the taxes on the draft before posting it.Can the client see the run?
No. The client gets the invoice. Runs and rates stay inside your team.Which plan has it?
Growth and Scale. Payment milestones with draft invoices are in every plan.Related features
MONEYRate cards by person, role and projectSet what an hour of each person or role is billed at, in a currency, on a rate card you reuse across projects. A project can carry its own rate for a person, and every billing run prices the hours from these rates.MONEYRetainers with hours included and overageBill a client a fixed fee each month or quarter that covers a number of hours. Hours above it are billed at an overage rate, and unused hours can roll over to the next period.TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.PROJECTSPayment milestones with draft invoicesGive a project a payment plan, such as 30 / 40 / 30. Its milestones fall due by hand, on a date, at a stage or when a key event is done. The client is told, a draft invoice is made, and an unpaid milestone can hold the project in its stage.MONEYProject expenses, advances and settlementsYour team claims what they spent on a project, asks for an advance before a trip and settles it after. The project manager approves each one. Payments are recorded by method with proof, and a supplier's expense becomes a draft vendor bill.ACROSS SMARTMY PROJECTSApproval chainsTimesheets, billing runs, expenses, budgets, stage overrides and subcontract work go to the right people in the right order, set up by you without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.