Creating and Managing Invoices

ServiceTrade allows you quickly build pro-forma invoices using information from existing jobs. Our invoices are meant to be considered pro-forma - an "almost-ready-to-go" invoice that accounting or billing staff might tweak and polish before sending the final bill to the customer. Some find ServiceTrade invoices to be sufficient to send to their customers as is.

We walk through invoicing from the office in the video below:

Voiding an Invoice

Voiding an invoice is fairly straightforward.

Note: Once you void an invoice, the job page will no longer show that the job has been "Invoiced" and will again allow you to click "Invoice Job" to create a new invoice.

1. Open the invoice you wish to void.
2. Click "More Actions" in the upper-right of the page.
3. Click "Void Invoice".
4. If desired, create a new invoice by clicking "Invoice Job" on the job page.

Partial Invoicing

You may create as many invoices as you wish for a single job. To do so, follow the following process:

1. Click the "Invoice Job" button on the job page.
2. Select the individual job items that should be used in the creation of the invoice that you are making.
3. Click the green "Create Invoice from x Items" button.  
4. Repeat this process as many times as you wish to create multiple invoices.

The total amount of revenue for a given job -- displayed on the job page, on the job lists on the location and asset pages, and in the revenue calculations used on the tech scorecard -- is the sum of the total amounts of all the non-void invoices associated with that job.

On a given job, you may wish to distinguish between partial invoices created for incremental billings and the final invoice that is issued to the customer once work is complete.  If so, when creating an invoice, you may change the "Final Invoice" setting on that invoice from "Yes" to "No".  Changing this setting to "No" indicates that this is a partial invoice.  By default, all invoices are final invoices.

IMPORTANT:  Only final invoices are used when determining if a job has been invoiced on the ServiceTrade dashboard, when searching the job list for invoiced jobs, etc.

FAQs

How do I customize the look of an invoice?

• As our invoices are intended to be Pro-forma. We do not plan to support customization at this time.
• Your accounting system should have invoice templates and other methods to customize the look and feel of your invoices. 

How do I invoice in the field?

This is covered in our Technician trainings - Sending an Invoice from the Mobile App

How do I show a discount on an invoice?

• ServiceTrade has no concept of discounts as a special thing.
• You may wish to have a library item called "Discount" (or many different ones), or simply type "Discount" as an item on your invoice.
• Enter a negative price to signify that this is being taken off the invoice.

How do I print an invoice?

You can print an invoice by clicking the Print Invoice button on the Invoice Page:

ServiceTrade's recommended method of delivering invoices to your customers is our Invoice Link feature, which allows those customers to view those invoices online, and to view the invoice's service details through integration with ServiceTrade's Service Links.

However, we recognize that some customers may not be able to receive online or even emailed invoices, and in those cases it's important to be able to print and mail invoices effectively. To support that need, we have improved the layout of our invoice header to support most #9 and #10 double-windowed envelopes:

I still see the "invoice job" button lit up after creating a final invoice.

We allow you to create as many partial or final invoices per job as you like.

I do a semi-annual job but need to bill in increments.

• The ServiceTrade model currently only creates invoices if there is a job.
• You could create a recurring service with a service description that says something like "BILL ONLY", which will need to be turned into a job via the Service Opportunities Report. You'd then need to complete that empty job and create an invoice.
• However, we recommend you set up automated invoicing in your accounting system for something like this. (ServiceTrade is not meant to be a billing platform)

Can I automatically add certain items, such as a truck or admin fee, to all invoices?

Not directly at this time.  Though you may want to look into using Service Templates to partially mitigate this need.

How do I attach reports or other files to invoices?

• This is not supported. ServiceTrade invoices are meant to be Pro-forma.
• We recommend you attach relevant files to invoices in your accounting system, then use the accounting system to send the invoice to the customer.
• As an alternative option, ServiceTrade Jobs may have attachments (including invoice attachments). Your customer may review all job attachments by using Service Link.

How is sales tax determined?

• ServiceTrade provides combined county tax rates, based on the zip code of the location's address.
• You may use the taxable checkboxes to indicate whether each item is taxable or not. If using library items (items from your master item list), we will look up the taxable status of that item from your account's master item list.

Why can't I edit an invoice?

• Ensure it is in a status other than pending_accounting (this status prohibits editing).
• Check your user activities (permissions), or have a ServiceTrade admin at your company check them for you. 

How do I collect payment on an invoice?

• ServiceTrade invoices are meant to be pro-forma, and we do not offer any payment processing.
• We recommend third-party payment solutions such as Square, Intuit GoPayment, or Paypal, for example.  These solutions typically have an app and a free or inexpensive card swiper that works with a mobile phone or tablet.
• To collect payment on an invoice you email from the office, we recommend sending it to the customer from your accounting system, with online payments enabled.
• To collect payment on an invoice created in the field, we recommend using one of the dedicated apps mentioned above, and adding the payment reference number from Square, Intuit, Paypal, etc as a comment on the job.

How is Transaction Date determined?

By default, the transaction date is the date that the invoice was created. The transaction date can be changed by clicking the edit invoice button (pencil icon) next to the invoice info. 

Does the customer see costs or gross margins?

No they do not.  Costs and margins do not show when printing or emailing any ServiceTrade document, as they are for internal viewing only.

How do I un-void an invoice?

You cannot un-void an invoice at this time.  You will need to create the invoice again.

How do I change the vendor on an invoice?

1. Void the invoice.
2. Cancel the Job.
3. Copy the now-canceled Job.
4. Click Manage Job and change the vendor.
5. Complete the Job.
6. Invoice the Job again.

What happens if I email an Invoice from ServiceTrade?

• The recipient will receive an email with an attached PDF of the invoice.
• Note: Invoice Link emails are NOT carbon copied (cc'ed) to the sender. To see the content of an Invoice Link email that was sent to a customer, click the appropriate entry in the invoice's history.