Overview
After each snow event, review your Per Service and T&M snow tickets before they're invoiced. A quick review catches the most common snow billing problems: a seasonal ticket completed too early, missing materials, the wrong depth range, a storm that ended early, or T&M hours that ran high. When everything checks out, approve the tickets so they can be invoiced.
Set a regular time to do this review, such as the morning after each storm or once a week during the season.
Things to know
A completed ticket only goes to Pending Approval when its service is marked Requires Approval in the service catalog. Mark your Per Service and T&M snow services Requires Approval so their tickets come here for review. It’s optional for seasonal services. For more information, visit Setting Up Snow Services.
When the property's account owner completes a ticket, Aspire approves it automatically and it skips Pending Approval. To stop that, select Disable Automatic Ticket Approval in Administration > Configuration, on the Application tab.
Approving a ticket marks it Complete, and its invoice becomes available in the Invoicing Assistant. Subcontractor auto expenses don’t wait for approval. They reach the Purchasing Assistant once the subcontractor’s time is accepted and the ticket is in Pending Approval or Complete.
Seasonal (Fixed Payment) tickets stay open all season, so they shouldn't be in this review. If one shows up, it was completed too early.
Requirements
To approve tickets, you need the Approve Work Ticket or System Admin permission.
To uncomplete tickets, you need the Complete Work Ticket permission.
To apply a partial occurrence, you need the Partial Occur permission and either Full Access to Schedule Board, Read Only Access to Schedule Board, or System Admin.
You can only approve, complete, or uncomplete tickets in a month that isn't closed.
Steps
Work through these sections in order after each snow event. Each one uses the Work Tickets screen.
Find the tickets to review
Go to the Work Tickets module.
Open a saved list filtered to snow tickets in Pending Approval, or add two filters: Status in "Pending Approval" and Division in "Snow."
Group the list by Completed Date. Grouping by date keeps each storm's tickets together, even when the work ran over two or three days.
Add the Material Cost Actual column to the list, then scan it. Deicing tickets should have salt or other materials. Plowing tickets are usually all labor. If materials are missing, add them to the ticket before you approve it.
Tip: Recommended Reports for Snow has ready-made lists for this review, including T&M Pending Approval, Per Service Occurrence Pricing Pending Approval, and Range Billing Switch List Pending Approval. For more information, visit Recommended Reports for Snow.
Uncomplete seasonal tickets that were completed too early
A Fixed Payment ticket in your list means someone completed a seasonal ticket before the season ended. Uncomplete it so it can take visits from later storms.
Select the Fixed Payment ticket to open the Work Ticket screen.
Select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Uncomplete.
The ticket returns to Scheduled, or to Open if it has no visits. To uncomplete several tickets at once, select them on the Work Tickets screen, then select Bulk Actions > Uncomplete.
Swap range billing tickets to the right depth
If more snow fell than the ticket's depth range, swap the ticket to the service for the depth that actually fell. Aspire updates the price to match the new service.
On the Work Tickets screen, select the tickets for the depth range you dispatched, such as every "0–2.99" plowing ticket from the storm.
Select Bulk Actions > Swap As Needed Service.
In the service field, start typing the service for the actual depth, then select it.
Select Save.
Each ticket swaps on its own property and opportunity. Repeat these steps for each type of work, such as plowing and sidewalk clearing.
Important: The service you swap to must be on that property's opportunity estimate. You can swap any time before the ticket is invoiced. If the ticket is already complete, uncomplete it first.
Tip: For storms deeper than your highest depth range, add an As Needed T&M service for that depth to the contract, such as "Plowing 12+ in." After the storm, swap the tickets to that service and override the price at approval. For more information, visit Overriding a T&M Price at Approval.
Move time and materials to the right ticket
If a crew logged a storm on the wrong ticket, move the time and materials to the right one. The ticket must be Open, Scheduled, or Pending Approval, so uncomplete a completed ticket first. For more information, visit Swapping Work Ticket Costs.
Bill a partial occurrence
If a storm stopped early or crews could only clear part of a site, you can bill a percentage of a Per Service ticket's price. Use less than 100% for work your crews couldn't finish, or more than 100% for extra work.
On the Work Tickets screen, select the Per Service tickets you want to partially bill.
Select Bulk Actions > Partial Occurrence.
Enter the percentage of the price to bill, such as "50" for part of the work or "125" for extra work.
Select Save.
Aspire adjusts the ticket's price, estimated cost, estimated hours, and materials by the same percentage.
To adjust one ticket, open it, select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Partial Occurrence.
Note: Partial Occurrence is only available on Per Service tickets that aren't complete. If the option isn't available for a ticket, uncomplete the ticket first. To let subcontractors enter a percentage in Aspire Mobile or the Subcontractor Portal, visit Snow Administration and Configuration.
Tip: Add the Sub Partial % column to your Work Tickets list to see the percentages your subcontractors entered. Use them as a guide. A percentage a subcontractor enters doesn't change the price, so set it on the ticket yourself.
Approve the tickets in bulk
Bulk approve doesn’t let you override a T&M price. To change a price, use the next section.
On the Work Tickets screen, select the reviewed tickets in Pending Approval.
Select Bulk Actions > Approve.
Aspire only approves tickets that are in Pending Approval and have no unapproved time or materials. To approve a single ticket, open it, select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Approve.
Override a T&M price
Use these steps for T&M tickets when you want to bill a different price than Aspire calculated.
Select the T&M ticket to open the Work Ticket screen.
Select the three-dot icon to open the action menu, then select Approve.
In the Approve Work Ticket window, select T&M Override.
Enter the price you want to bill.
Select Save.
For more information on overriding T&M prices, visit Overriding a T&M Price at Approval.
What happens next
Approved tickets are Complete. Their invoices are ready in the Invoicing Assistant. For more information, visit Snow Invoicing by Contract Invoice Type.
Subcontractor auto expenses are already in the Purchasing Assistant once their time was accepted. For more information, visit Paying Snow Subcontractors.
Log the storm as a weather event so you have a record of it for invoicing and customer questions. For more information, visit Logging Weather Events.
Troubleshooting
For help with common review problems, such as a range billing ticket at the wrong depth or a T&M ticket that isn't ready to invoice, visit Snow Troubleshooting.