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Overview
Choosing an invoice type for your snow contracts helps you decide how you'll charge for snow work before you build an estimate. It lets you match the way your customer wants to pay to the invoice type Aspire uses so you can price the season with confidence and bill correctly after every storm.
The contract invoice type you offer decides almost everything that happens next: how you build the estimate, whether Aspire creates one work ticket for the whole season or one per storm, and how you invoice. Make this decision first.
Things to know
Snow work is set up as contract opportunities, not work orders. There are four ways to charge for snow work, and they use three contract invoice types: Fixed Payment, Per Service, and T&M. You choose the invoice type, and the way you set up the services does the rest.
One snow opportunity can hold more than one invoice type. For example, add an As Needed T&M service to a seasonal contract to bill for work beyond a visit cap.
Seasonal contracts are often called "fixed price" contracts. Fixed price is the arrangement; Fixed Payment is the invoice type you select.
Tip: Put the invoice type in each snow service's name, such as "FP" or "Seasonal" for Fixed Payment, "PS" for Per Service, and "T&M" for T&M. Each invoice type behaves differently, and the name helps estimators pick the right service.
Requirements
To view opportunities, users must have the View Only My Opportunities or View Opportunities permission.
To create or edit opportunity estimates, users must have the Edit My Opportunities or Edit All Opportunities permission.
How it works
Key terms
Term | What it means |
|---|---|
As Needed | A service setting that creates a work ticket only when work is needed, instead of when the opportunity is won. |
Multi-visit | A service setting that lets crews or subcontractors report many visits to one work ticket without completing it. Required on seasonal services, and not used on Per Service or T&M. |
Depth range | A snow depth band, such as 3–5.99 inches. Each range is set up as its own Per Service service. |
Your billing arrangement, and what Aspire calls it
You agree on a billing arrangement with your customer. Aspire asks for an invoice type. This chart and table match one to the other.
Billing arrangement | How you bill | Contract invoice type | Marked As Needed | Work tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seasonal | The same payments across the season on a payment schedule, whatever the weather does | Fixed Payment | No (the option isn't displayed) | One per occurrence on the service, created when the opportunity is won. Most seasonal services have one occurrence. |
Simple per occurrence (often called per push) | A fixed rate each time you perform a service, at one price regardless of depth | Per Service | Yes | One per occurrence |
Range billing per occurrence | A fixed rate each time, priced by how deep the snow was | Per Service | Yes | One per occurrence |
Time and materials (T&M) | The labor, equipment, and materials actually used | T&M | Yes | One per occurrence |
Note: Work order opportunities have their own invoice types with similar names: Fixed Price on a Payment Schedule, T&M on Completion, Fixed Price on Completion, and Fixed Price Open Billing. Don't use them for snow contracts. For example, choose T&M, not T&M on Completion.
Seasonal contracts
How it bills → your customer pays the same amounts on the payment schedule in the estimate, however much it snows.
How work is tracked → Aspire creates one work ticket for each occurrence on the service when the opportunity is won. Most seasonal services have one occurrence, so one ticket covers the season. Crews or subcontractors report every visit to that ticket, so seasonal services must be marked Multi-visit. Crews can't complete a Multi-visit ticket in Aspire Mobile, which keeps it open all season.
What to plan for → a heavy winter means more visits for the same price. You can cap a seasonal service by visit count or date. Work beyond the cap moves to an As Needed T&M service, which can still charge a set price per push.
Simple per occurrence (per push) contracts
How it bills → one price each time you perform a service. Each push shows on the invoice with the date of the visit, which many customers like. You estimate one service for each type of work, such as plowing, shoveling, or deicing.
How work is tracked → services are marked As Needed, so a work ticket is created each time the work happens.
What to plan for → a deeper storm doesn't raise the price. You handle it by scheduling more visits, which creates more billable tickets.
Range billing per occurrence contracts
How it bills → each visit is priced by snow depth. Each depth range is its own service, named by its range, such as "0–2.99 in" and "3–5.99 in" plowing.
How work is tracked → services are marked As Needed, so a work ticket is created each time the work happens.
What to plan for → the office reviews each storm's tickets. Many companies dispatch the lowest depth range, then swap the service to the actual depth after the storm. You can swap the service any time before the ticket is invoiced. If the ticket is already complete, uncomplete it first. Marking these services Requires Approval helps, because completed tickets wait in Pending Approval instead of moving to invoicing.
Time and materials contracts
How it bills → the labor, equipment, and materials reported on each ticket. Each ticket becomes available to invoice once it's marked complete and, if the service requires it, approved. The invoice is built from what's logged on the ticket, not from the estimate.
How work is tracked → services are marked As Needed, so a work ticket is created each time the work happens. Crews or subcontractors allocate the equipment and materials they used, so add everything you might bill for to the estimate.
What to plan for → T&M is common when your subcontractors only work on a T&M basis, or in markets that expect it. Markups set in Administration don’t apply to snow T&M. Items bill at the estimate’s price override, if there is one. Otherwise, they bill at the item’s catalog Price Override, or at catalog cost plus the T&M material markup on the service. Keep your catalog prices up to date. If a ticket shows more than you can justify billing, you can override its price when you approve it.
If something's missing → if a crew forgot to clock in to equipment, add the equipment to the ticket as a material in time entry. If the ticket is already complete, open the work ticket, uncomplete it, add the item, and complete it again so it reaches the invoice. You can't uncomplete a ticket that's been invoiced or is in a closed month.
Which billing arrangement fits your business
If this sounds like you | Consider |
|---|---|
Your customer wants a predictable bill every month, no matter what winter brings. | Seasonal, with a visit cap and a T&M overage service for a heavy year |
You want one simple price per push, and your customer wants to see each visit on the invoice. | Simple per occurrence (per push) |
You want the price of each visit to reflect how much snow actually fell. | Range billing per occurrence |
Your subcontractors only work T&M, or your market expects T&M pricing. | Time and materials |
Your contract includes a blizzard clause, or extra charges for very deep snow. | Seasonal or per occurrence, plus a T&M service, such as a per inch charge over 12 inches |
Some customers need snow hauled away. | An As Needed Per Service hauling service at $0 if it's included in the contract, or a separate T&M service if you bill it separately |
Not sure yet? Answer these three questions in order. The first yes points to the billing arrangement and invoice type that fits.
Workflow / lifecycle
Once the opportunity is won, what Aspire creates depends on the invoice type. Seasonal contracts get their work tickets right away, one for each occurrence on the service. Most seasonal services have one occurrence, so they get one ticket for the season. Per occurrence and T&M contracts get a new ticket each time a storm needs work, and, if the service requires approval, those tickets go to Pending Approval for review before they're invoiced.
