Create a Fixed Price Open Billing Invoice

Overview

Fixed Price Open Billing is used when a job spans a longer time period with an unpredictable schedule that requires varied progress billing. It's primarily used for construction, design, and build jobs.

This invoice type lets you define a schedule of values, which sets how the different parts of the job display on the customer's invoice. Use this article to create a Fixed Price Open Billing invoice based on a schedule of values, and to bill retainage when your company uses it. Keep reading, or watch the video below.

Video

Things to know

• A schedule of values must be set up on the opportunity before you can create a Fixed Price Open Billing invoice.

• Fixed Price Open Billing opportunities are invoiced individually and can only be created one at a time. They can't be included in a batch with other jobs, so the line item isn't preceded by a checkbox in the Invoicing Assistant.

• Aftera Fixed Price Open Billing a work order is won, it becomes available in the Invoicing Assistant. The invoice recommendation stays there until the work order is fully invoiced.

• The amount displayed when you are preparing to invoice is a suggested amount based on earned revenue as hours and items are allocated to the job. It doesn't limit what you can invoice. A negative number means the amount invoiced is more than the amount earned, but you can still create more invoices.

• Retainage isn't required for Fixed Price Open Billing, but it's common. Retainage is a portion of the agreed-upon price held back from a customer as a guarantee that the job will be completed.

Requirements

• To create a Fixed Price Open Billing invoice, you need Create Invoice and View Opportunities permissions added to your user role.

  • The Create Invoice permission must be added even for System and Branch Administrators.

• To access the Invoicing Assistant, Invoice Batches, Invoices, and Log Event tabs, you need the View Invoice permission added to your user role.

• To complete a batch, you need the Edit Invoice permission added to your user role.

Steps

Create a Fixed Price Open Billing invoice

1. In the left side menu, select Invoicing > Invoicing Assistant.

2. Select the Fixed Price Open Billing line item you want to invoice. A line item with a status of Ready or Overdue opens the Invoice Open Billing screen.

   

   The top of this screen summarizes the opportunity's billing totals so you know what's left to bill before you start:

   • Original Amount is the estimated amount, representing the total amount to invoice. If any change orders have been applied, the Revision Amount shows how much the original estimate has changed, and the Total Amount is the sum of the two.

   • Earned Revenue is the revenue earned to date, and Invoiced is the amount invoiced to date.

   • Amount to Invoice is the amount remaining to invoice, including retainage. Retainage is the amount withheld based on invoices submitted so far, along with the retainage percentage set on the work order. Remaining Retainage is the amount still to be billed, which adjusts if a negative change order has reduced it.

3. Select New > Add Invoice to open the Invoice Schedule of Values screen. For each line, you'll see the amount previously invoiced, the amount remaining to invoice, and a field to enter the current amount.

4. Enter how much to invoice on each line. Depending on how the opportunity was set up, a line bills one of two ways:

   • By percentage: Enter the percentage of the line you want to bill. For example, if grading is complete, bill 100 percent. If hardscape install is still in progress, bill a smaller amount, such as 25 percent, and bill the rest later.

   • By dollar amount: Enter the dollar amount you want to bill. For example, enter "15000" to bill for plant material you need to purchase.

5. Review the last two columns, which update to show the amount being invoiced and the retainage amount.

6. Select Save. A pop-up displays so you can confirm the dollar amount and invoice date.

7. Select Save to confirm. Aspire creates the invoice and adds it to your pending batch.

8. In the pending batch, open the invoice to review it. The invoice shows all lines from the schedule of values, even lines with no amount on this invoice.

9. Complete the batch to get ready to invoice your customer. Select the three-dot icon, then select Complete Batch.

   Important

   If you are billing for retainage, complete the batch after. Read the next section for retainage invoicing information.

Bill retainage

If your company holds retainage, follow these steps to invoice it.

1. On the Invoice Open Billing screen, select New > Add Retainage to open the Set Invoice Date and Amount dialog.

2. Choose the date and enter the amount of retainage you want to invoice. You can bill all of the retainage or part of it.

3. Review the invoice in the batch.

4. Select the three-dot icon > Complete Batch.

Note

For more detailed information, read our content on retainage invoicing.

Find the schedule of values and opportunity details

You can also review important opportunity related content from the More menu on the Invoice Open Billing screen. You can open two related screens: Master Schedule of Values opens the Master Schedule of Values screen. Opportunity Details opens the Opportunity screen for the work order tied to the selected invoice recommendation.

What happens next

After you complete the batch, Aspire returns you to the Invoice Open Billing screen for the opportunity. The Amount to Invoice and Retainage amounts update to reflect the invoice you created. The Invoice List shows the invoice you just created, and a history of invoices builds in this list as you create more over time. If an invoice was later reversed and rebilled, the Invoice Status column flags it.