Create a Work Order with Fixed Price on Payment Schedule Invoicing

Overview

Fixed price on payment schedule work orders are used for large projects that need to be billed in stages as work is completed. Instead of sending one invoice at the end, you set up a payment schedule that generates separate invoices based on how much of the job is done and how much cost has been accrued.

This article explains how to create a fixed price on payment schedule work order estimate. The steps below walk through a scenario where the property manager for Oasis Towers contacted our company, Greenscene, looking for a quote on renovations for the apartment complex’s front yard, side yard, and back courtyard. This work order will involve multiple different services like lawn installation, flower bed installation, and patio construction for each area, which we’ll divide into three different phases on a set payment schedule.

Watch the video below or keep reading to learn more.

Training Video

Things to Know

• Fixed price on payment schedule work orders are billed based on the percentage of the job completed, not a flat monthly amount. You can customize the number of payments and the percentage thresholds to fit your project's needs.

• The percentage of completion is calculated using the total cost of the job, including all materials and labor hours applied to work tickets from the estimate.

• Invoices are generated automatically when the percentage of completion thresholds you set on the payment schedule are reached.

• The first invoice is available in Invoicing Assistant as soon as the opportunity is won, but only if the first payment is set to 0% completion (for example, a down payment).

Requirements

• To view opportunities you need either View My Opportunities or View Opportunities added to your user role.

• To create or edit estimates, you need either Edit My Opportunities or Edit All Opportunities added to your user role.

• To edit items within an estimate, you need the Edit Estimate Items permission added to your user role.

Steps

Follow these steps to create a fixed price on payment schedule work order estimate:

1. Create a new work order opportunity, and set its Invoice Type to Fixed Price on Payment Schedule.

2. Create an estimate, adding service groups for each type of work in the project. For our example with Camille’s Oasis, we create service groups called “Front”, “Side”, and “Back Courtyard” and then add the relevant services and items in each group.
   

3. Once you’ve sent the estimate to the customer and they’ve accepted the proposal, open the opportunity and mark the estimate as Complete. For fixed price on payment schedule estimates, this opens the Payment Schedule window.
   

4. In the Payment Schedule window, select Add Payment to create a payment milestone.

5. Enter a Description that clearly identifies the payment milestone. For our example, we enter “Down Payment” for our first payment.

6. Set the Percent Complete field based on how much of the job should be done for the payment milestone. For our example, we enter 0 for the first payment because it’s a down payment.

7. Enter the Invoice Amount for the payment. This can directly correlate to the percentage of completion, but doesn’t have to as long as all payment amounts add up to the total estimated cost.

   Important:

   Invoice amounts must add up to the total contract amount. Use the Contract $ field as your reference when calculating each payment.

   For our scenario, we set up three payments totaling the full project cost of $17,097.85.

   • Payment 1 — Down Payment, 0% completion, $1,710.00 (10% of the total cost)

   • Payment 2 — Second Payment, 50% completion, $8,548.92 (50% of the total cost)

   • Payment 3 —  Final Payment, 100% completion, $6,838.93 (40% of the total cost)

   

   Note:

   You don’t have to use three payments. Add as many payments as your project requires and set the completion percentages that make sense for your billing schedule.

8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each additional payment until your schedule is complete. Select Save when you’re done setting up the payment schedule.

Now complete the estimate and send it to the customer for approval.

Expected Results

After you save the payment schedule, and mark the opportunity as won, the Invoicing Assistant recommends invoices based on the payment schedule you created. The first invoice is available in Invoicing Assistant right away if the first payment was set to 0% completion. As materials and labor are logged to the job and costs reach each completion threshold in the payment schedule, the next invoice is ready to send. The final invoice is ready to send once the last work ticket for the work order is marked complete.