Milestone billing (or progressive billing) is a payment arrangement commonly used in project-based contracts, where payments are made based on the completion of specific milestones or stages of the project. Instead of billing the client for the entire project upfront or based on the time spent, milestone billing breaks the project into key phases or milestones and links payment to the achievement of those milestones.
You can also implement this billing structure within the ServiceWorks software. Here’s a brief tutorial on how to do so:
Creating Milestones
Before you can add them to your new and existing jobs, you’ll first need to create your milestones within your account.
To begin, open the Configuration tab and navigate to Configuration -> Job Settings -> Milestone
In the following view, you’ll be able to see the list of all existing milestones, including their name, percentage, and a description. To create a milestone, click the New Milestone button.
In the window that appears, you’ll have the following options:
- Milestone Name – Enter a name for your milestone
- Percentage – Enter a percentage amount for this milestone. The percentage will determine how much is due based on the total when the milestone is active
- Description – Enter a description for your milestone.
Once satisfied with your selections, click Save to continue
Applying Milestones
Once created, you’ll be able to add your milestones to new and existing jobs. The option to add milestones to invoices is nested right beneath the Charges section in the job ticket. To add a milestone to the invoice, click + Add Milestone
When selected, you’ll be presented with the following:
- Current Milestone – This toggle denotes which of the selected milestones are currently active. You can only have one milestone active at a time
- Milestone – Select from your created milestones in this dropdown box
- Date – select the date on which this milestone expires
- Percentage – Displays the milestone’s set percentage rate
- Due – Displays the current amount due. This amount will depend on the previously defined percentage rate
- Status – Displays the current status of the applied milestone
You can also use the delete icon to remove selected milestones from this section
Once you’ve chosen your milestones, the due amount will updated to reflect the set rates. Here’s an example with two milestones on an invoice for 113.00
Upon selecting a milestone as your current one…
The due amount based on the milestone will be reflected on the invoice sent to the customer
When active, the status of the milestone will also change into a Complete link.
When the amount due for the milestone has been collected from the customer, clicking on this link will mark the milestone as complete, with the date and name of the user that marked it as such
Once completed, the milestone cannot be selected again. Should you need to undo the completion of the milestone, click the Undo Complete button.
Need More Assistance?
Contact us:
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Email: support@service.works
Phone: 636-330-0329 Ext #1
