Create a Contract with T&M Invoicing

Overview

A blended contract lets you combine different invoice types under a single contract. This is helpful when a customer wants recurring maintenance services billed on a fixed monthly payment schedule, but also needs additional services billed based on actual time and materials used.

With a blended contract, you can set specific services to use the time and materials (T&M) invoice type. T&M invoices bill your customer based on the actual time and materials recorded on a work ticket once it's marked complete. This type of invoicing works well for services that are unpredictable or vary in scope, like leaf removal or seasonal cleanup services. Watch the following video or keep reading to learn more!

Training Video

Things to know

Markups set in Administration don't apply to services with the T&M invoice type estimate. Instead, you set labor rates and item markups directly on the service.
The Pricing Table and Category Markup Overrides sections only display on the service details screen when you select T&M as the invoice type.
Both the Pricing Table and Category Markup Overrides are optional. If you use them, Aspire calculates prices from these values instead of the markup and net profit set in Administration.
T&M services on a blended contract are billed separately from the fixed monthly payment.

Requirements

You need an existing opportunity with an estimate in progress. For more information on creating estimates for fixed payment contracts, visit this article.
You need either Edit All Properties or Edit My Properties added to your user role to create or edit estimates.
You need either Edit All Opportunities or Edit My Opportunities permission added to your user role to manage opportunities.

Steps

Add a service group and service

Estimate for lawn maintenance services including lawn care and fall cleanup options.

Follow these steps to add a new service group and service to your estimate:

Open the estimate for your opportunity.
- We will use an estimate for Camilla’s Oasis.
Select the plus icon next to the existing service group header.
- For example, select the plus icon next to Lawn Maintenance.
Enter a name for the new service group in the name field.
- For example, enter "Fall Cleanup".
Add the service you want to bill as T&M to the new service group.

Set the T&M invoice type for a service

Next, you’ll need to change the invoice type for a service to T&M.

Select the service to open the service details screen.
Then, change the invoice type to T&M.

After you change the invoice type, the Pricing Table and Category Markup Overrides sections display on the service details screen. You can use these sections to set labor rates, item markups, and category-specific overrides for this service.

Service details screen for Fall Cleanup service including invoice type and minimum charge information.

Set labor rates

You can set a single labor rate or multiple labor rates for a T&M service. Keep in mind that the labor rate is an hourly rate charged to your customer that includes labor cost, markup, and profit.

Note: If no labor rates have been set up for a service and you enter a labor price before selecting the labor rates icon, Aspire creates a default labor rate record named "Default". You can update this record name as needed.

To set a single labor rate:

In the Pricing Table, enter the hourly rate in the Labor Rate field.

To set multiple labor rates:

Select the money bag icon next to the Labor Rate field.
In the Labor Type field, enter a name for the first labor type.
- For example, enter "Lead Technician".
In the Labor Rate field, enter the hourly rate.
- For example, enter "60.00" for $60 per hour.
Select Add Labor Rate to add another rate.
Enter the labor type and labor rate for the second entry.
- For example, enter "General Technician" with a rate of "40.00" for $40 per hour.
Select which labor rate to set as the default. Aspire uses the default rate unless you select a different one when you approve time for the crew.
Select Save.

Labor rates for Lead and General Technicians with options to add or save changes.

The default labor rate now displays in the Labor Rate field in the Pricing Table.

Set markups for item types

The Pricing Table lets you set markup percentages for material, equipment, subcontractor, and other item types linked to this service. Aspire uses these markup values to calculate prices charged to your customer instead of the values set in Administration.

Follow these steps to set markups:

In the Pricing Table, enter a markup percentage for each item type as needed.
- For example, if you enter "100" for material markup and a material item has a $5 cost, the customer is charged $10 for each item.
  - Remember: cost plus markup equals price.

Service details for Fall Cleanup, highlighting material markup and pricing table.

Add category markup overrides

Category markup overrides let you set a different markup percentage for items in a specific catalog item category. This override takes priority over the markup you set in the Pricing Table for that category's item type.

Follow these steps to add a category markup override:

In the Category Markup Overrides section, select a category from the dropdown.
- For example, select "Maintenance".
Enter the override markup percentage for the selected category.
- In this example, we have added a category override for any maintenance items used in this estimate.
  - This means the markup will apply to any items in this category when they are invoiced.
Select Save to apply the labor rates and markups and return to the estimate screen.

Service details for Fall Cleanup, including labor rates and category markup information.

Add items to the service

After you've set labor rates and markups, you can add items to the service.

Add the labor item under the service.
- The labor rate you set for this service populates in the Price Per Occurrence field.
Continue adding services and items to the contract as needed.
When you've finished adding everything to the estimate, return to the opportunity screen and mark the estimate complete.

Estimate summary for lawn maintenance project including labor and cleanup details.

Tips

Use blended contracts when a customer wants some services on a fixed monthly payment and others billed at the time of service.
T&M invoice types work well for seasonal or variable-scope services like leaf removal and spring or fall cleanups.
When you approve crew time later, you can select from any of the labor rates you set for the service.