About the Billing Module

The Billing Module gives you the ability to add multiple line items to an issue to represent Product and Service charges against an issue.  For service companies, this results in an ability to record charges for services provided and to charge for materials and parts as a part of completing a service request. Each line item consists of a Product / Service Code, a Quantity, a charge rate per item, an ability to override / adjust the stated price, a status description, a charge date field, and an ability to port the Quantity recorded into a labor note on the issue. This along with the ability to provide comments and add notes to the issue, provides you with the capability to create invoices, work orders, and give you the capability to export the data into a spreadsheet for importing into an accounting system.

Here are usage stories about how some of our customers use the Billing module:

  • Service Companies - Companies that provide a service of some type to an External Company. The Service Company needs to provide a detailed list of what was done, what was charged, what additional charges were completed, and when to complete the service request.  This will back up the request for payment for the services and materials used to complete the service. The Report Writer can pull information from both the Billing Line Items and the Issue to provide a view of the request for service and the resulting details of the service provided. Types of customers include but are not limited to: IT Service, Facility Service, Groundskeeping, and Manufacturing. 
  • Internal Charge Backs – One department provides a service for another department. Time and services need to be charged back to the department getting the work done. Examples could include IT equipment, report creation, software modifications, document processing, or data requests. Line items allow hours and service codes to provide documentation for the charge.
  • Warranty Requests – Some companies are service providers for warranty requests from a manufacturer. They must list line items for materials and labor claimed as part of the warranty request. They then provide that information back to both the customer and the manufacturer.
  • Miscellaneous - Since the feature is so configurable, we have received requests to put all types of information in the Product Services values to allow recording more than one line item against an issue. This flexibility allows our team to provide assistance to all types of systems.

 

Terminology

It’s best to be familiar with the following terms going forward:

Term Definition
Billing Line Items The collection of information recorded for one Product / Service Charge. The fields include the Product / Service Code, Quantity, Charge Amount, Extended Total, Date, and a Note field. Each line item creates a Billing Line item record that can be reported using the Report Writer or creates a Billing line for the Work Order or Invoice.  Each record documents who created the record and when.
Products and Services A charge code record that fills in the code and the Price into the Billing Line Items. The record contains an Item Number, Name, Description, Unit Price, and three optional fields that are defined by the customer.
Invoices and Work Orders When billing line items are added to issues, Issuetrak can produce invoices and work orders that can be used to provide you with invoicing capabilities. Work Orders can be used to demonstrate what work was done and include billing line items and comments as well as information on Billing Terms and Billing Address information. These items are configurable in the Billing Module.
Customers An Organization's information is shown in the 'Customers' list in the Billing Module. We have added additional fields to provide Billing Reference Numbers from accounting and a Sales Tax field if needed. This information will be used to create Invoices and Work Orders and will be exportable information for spreadsheets.
Exports / Invoices To effectively use the Billing Line items you will need to invoice your customers for the work completed. Issuetrak can use the Invoice option to create and Print Work Orders and Invoices for your customers. The Invoicing capability can produce individual invoices for each service request or roll up the request into one invoice for a period of time. If you prefer to export your records to a spreadsheet for importing into another system, you may use the Export Feature.
Reporting Billing information can be retrieved using Issuetrak’s built-in Report Writer. Reports can be manually run or scheduled for automatic delivery to any user or email address. Using the Report Writer will give you greater control over the information that is provided for your import file.
 

Related Permissions

All users can view the line items entered on an issue.

Term Definition
“Can access and maintain Administration functions” Determines who can see the Billing menu option and modify data within all available Billing sub-menu options if the Billing Module is activated.
“Can access and maintain Billing Module functions” Determines who can see the Billing menu option and modify data within all available Billing sub-menu options if the Billing Module is activated.
“Can enter Line Items from Billing Module in issues” Determines who can enter Line Items in issues. Enter Line Item will appear in the Issue Detail sub-menu options when viewing an Open or Closed issue.
 

Activating the Billing Module

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click the checkbox next to the Activate Billing Module.
  3. Click Update.

The confirmation message will display upon completion. Depending on user permissions, the options beneath the Billing section of the Settings Lightbox will then be available.

 

Defining your Products and Services

Before entering items on issues and generating invoices, you must configure your Product / Service records and enter your Products / Services into Issuetrak.

Configuring Optional Fields for Product / Service Records

Customers that utilize the Billing Module have the option of creating user-defined Optional Fields for Products and Services. Up to three user-defined text fields are available to use in a Product / Service record. This requires Administrative privileges.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Select Optional Fields beneath Product / Services from the Right Quick Menu.
  3. To activate one of these UDFs, simply enter a value in the field and then click Update. The field will then be added with the label you entered on the Products / Services screen.
    • Three UDFs can be defined for the Billing Module, and they are all text UDFs. These cannot be changed to date or list UDFs.
    • To inactivate a UDF, remove the corresponding label you set for it and then click Update. The field will be removed from the Products / Services screen.

Fields with BLANK labels will not be displayed on a Product / Service record.                                                                                

Adding a New Product / Service

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Select Add beneath Products / Services from the right quick menu.
  3. Enter the required information into the fields provided.
Option Description
Rate The “Rate” is the Charge Rate to be applied for the Product / Service at a Quantity of one. When adding Line Items to an issue, if a Quantity greater than one is selected for the Line Item, the Line Item Total will be a calculation of the Rate multiplied by the Quantity. The Rate may be a set value for a specific item, or it may be an hourly rate for services rendered.
Note: Where appropriate, the Rate may be adjusted manually when entering Line Items in an issue.
Billable Checking “Billable” indicates that the Product / Service is a Billable item. Billable items will appear on Work Orders and Invoices, while non-Billable items will appear on Work Orders only.
Taxable Checking “Taxable” indicates that the Product / Service is a Taxable item. When adding Taxable Line Items to an issue, the Invoice total will be a calculation of all Line Item Totals multiplied by the Sales Tax defined in the Customer record.
Protected Checking “Protected” indicates that you want to hide this rate when entering products and services in issues. This rate and any corresponding totals will be hidden from users as they enter line items for this product or service. The word “Protected” will display in the Rate field for any users other than System Administrators, and users with “Can access and maintain Administration functions” and “Can access and maintain Billing Module functions” permissions.

  1. Click Save.
Editing a Product / Service

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click the edit link (Pencil icon) beside the product or service you want to change.
    • You may also locate the record by performing a quick Search On from the top of the Products / Services List page.
  3. Edit the information in the fields.
    • The Active checkbox allows you to activate or inactivate a particular product or service.
      • If checked, the product or service will appear in the Product / Service list when entering line items on an issue.
      • If not checked, the product or service will no longer appear in the list. Products and Services are marked inactive rather than “deleted” in order to preserve your invoicing history.
  4. When all changes have been made, click Update to save the new information.

It is strongly recommended that Products / Services be Deactivated rather than Deleted to maintain the integrity of data in your system. Products / Services can be deactivated from the Edit Product / Services screen.

 

Updating Customer (Organization) records with billing reference numbers

Customer records displayed within the Billing Module are actually Organization records. The only difference is that when viewed from the Customer record, two additional fields appear: “Billing Reference” and “Sales Tax.” These records are called Customers here in an effort to be consistent with invoicing terminology. We present these records here to facilitate adding new Organizations, for adding Billing Reference Numbers and appropriate Sales Tax, or to modify information in an existing Organization record (e.g. address, contact, etc.) without having to move to the Organizations page. All changes made within Customers will also be reflected in Organizations.

Adding a New Customer

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click Add beneath Customers from the right context menu.
  3. Enter the required information into the fields provided.
  4. Click Save.
Editing a Customer

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click List beneath Customers from the right context menu.
  3. Click the edit link (or Pencil icon) beside the appropriate name in the Customer / Organization List.
  4. When all changes have been made, click Update to save the new information.
Exporting the Customer List to Excel

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click List beneath Customers from the right context menu.
  3. Click export list.
  4. Click Open or Save as needed.
 

Defining the Invoice / Work Order Settings

Issuetrak provides standard invoice and work order templates for your convenience. These templates are preset with standard defaults that may be modified to suit your needs. To customize the templates:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing.
  2. Click Settings beneath Invoice from the right context menu.
  3. Change any default information in the Invoice / Works Order Settings you wish. You may find it helpful to click Preview Invoice or Preview Work Order to review how the standard invoice or work order will appear.
Option Description
Logo When the Logo checkbox is checked, the logo displayed in the upper left corner of Issuetrak will be displayed on your invoices as well.
Invoice Nbrs Invoices will be numbered according to the start number entered here and can include a set prefix if desired. This number may be modified at any time and changes will be applied immediately.
Work Order Nbrs The Work Order number is the issue number, but you can add an optional prefix to be included.
Reference # The Reference # checkbox refers to the Billing Reference Number on a Customer record. This billing reference (or account number) will be displayed on the invoice if this checkbox is checked.

  1. When all changes have been made, click Update to save the new template information.
 

Entering Line Items on an Issue

Line Items can be added to an issue using the Add / Edit Line Items option on an Issue Details page or using the add line item link when completing a Task or adding a note to the issue.

Option Description
Quantity Quantity refers to the number of units of that particular Product / Service to be added to the issue.
Rate / Price The Rate displayed is the rate defined in the Product / Service record. If a Quantity greater than one is selected for the Line Item, the Line Item Total will be a calculation of the Rate multiplied by the Quantity. If a Product / Service Rate is “Protected” in the Product / Service Record, the word “Protected” will display in the Rate field for users other than System Administrators and users with “Can access and maintain Administration functions” and “Can access and maintain Billing Module functions” permissions.
Adjusted Rate / Price If the rate to be applied is different than the rate defined for the Product / Service, the revised rate (at a Quantity of one) should be entered in the Adjusted Rate / Price field. If a Quantity greater than one is selected for the Line Item with an Adjusted Rate, the Line Item Total will be a calculation of the Adjusted Rate multiplied by the Quantity.
Total The total is the extended Price of the Line Item. If a Quantity greater than one is selected for the Line Item, the Line Item Total will be a calculation of the Rate multiplied by the Quantity.
Date The Date field will default to the current date. This date may be modified by entering a new date or clicking on the Calendar icon and selecting the appropriate date.
Record Qty as Status Time on Issue If selected, the quantity entered for the Line Item will be recorded as Labor Hours in an issue.  If recording time, then a quantity of 0.25 equals 15 minutes of labor hours.
Comments Once a line item is selected, any comments entered here will appear under the Line Item on the Work Order and Invoice.
Note Any additional notes or comments related to the issue may be entered in this field but will not appear on the Work Order or Invoice.
  • If Record Qty as Status Time on Issue is selected on any Line Items added, the Note field will include a summary of Labor Hours recorded on the issue in addition to any additional notes entered.
  • If the user adding the Line Items has "Can view and add Private Notes in issues" permissions and the Note Default is set to “Private” in the System Settings, the Note will default to “Private.”
  • If users without "Can view and add Private Notes in issues" permissions should see this note, “Private Note” should be unchecked before clicking “Update.”
Note: The text entered in the Note field will only appear on the issue as a note.
 

Generating Invoices

To generate invoices, navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing > click Pending Line Items beneath Invoice from the right context menu.

Invoicing and Exporting are exclusive functions. Only Pending Items (non-invoiced and non-exported) will appear when Invoicing Items. If you have already Exported items, you will need to Reset those items prior to Invoicing. Once invoiced, they will return to an “Invoiced Item” status.

Step 1: Enter Criteria
  • You may select All Customers or a single Customer, and / or you may select All Issues or a single issue number for the Invoices to be generated.
  • The current month is entered by default for the date range. Modify this date range if desired.
  • Click Display Line Items.
Step 2: Select Line Items

A list of all billable line items, filtered by the criteria and date range selected will be displayed below the criteria. Uncheck any items that you do not wish to invoice at this time.

Step 3: Select Invoice Format
  • Select the Issue if you would like to generate one invoice per issue per customer. If one customer has several issues with billable line items, several invoices will print for that customer. The issue number and description will be referenced on the invoice.
  • Select the Customer if you would like to generate one invoice per customer. If one customer has several issues with billable line items, only one invoice will print for that customer with all applicable line items. The issue numbers and descriptions will be referenced on the invoice.
Step 4: Click Generate
  • A popup window will appear with a scrolling list of all invoices.
  • Review the invoices and print them when ready by clicking File > Print on your browser menu.
  • Each invoice will print as a separate page.
 

Reviewing Invoiced Items

There are 2 methods that you can use to review Invoiced Items.

Method 1

Regardless of the format selected, once an invoice has been generated for line items in an issue, the invoice will be viewable by clicking View Invoices on an Issue Detail page for an issue record.

This sub-menu option is available only to System Administrators, or users with the following permissions:

  • “Can access and maintain Administration functions”
  • “Can access and maintain Billing / Invoicing Module functions” permissions.

If multiple invoices have been generated over an issue’s life cycle, View Invoices will display all invoiced line items on one invoice from the issue record.

Method 2

Steps:

  1. Invoices may also be reviewed by navigating to the Left Menu > choosing Billing > clicking Review Invoiced Items beneath Invoice from the right context menu.
  2. Select the date range for the invoiced items to be reviewed then click Retrieve Invoiced Items.
  3. Line Items appearing in the Invoiced Items list display the invoice number as a link.
  4. Clicking this link displays the invoice in a pop-up window.

Resetting Invoiced Items

Steps:

  1. Should you need to re-invoice line items, navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing > click Review Invoiced Items beneath Invoice from the right context menu.
  2. Select the date range for the invoiced items to be reviewed, then click Retrieve Invoiced Items. Line Items appearing in the Invoiced Items list display the invoice number as a link.
  3. Clicking this link displays the invoice in a pop-up window.
  4. Check any individual items that you wish to reset, or click Select All to reset all items on the list.
  5. Then click Reset Checked Items. These items will be reset to a Pending status.
 

Exporting Pending Line Items

Exporting and Invoicing are exclusive functions. Only Pending items will appear in an Export. If you have already Invoiced Items, you will need to Reset those items back to a Pending status prior to Exporting. Once exported, they will return to an Invoiced Item status.

Steps:

  1. navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing > click Pending Line Items beneath Invoice from the right context menu.
  2. Enter Criteria:
    1. You may select All Customers or a single Customer, and / or you may select All Issues or a single issue number for the Invoices to be generated.
    2. The current month is entered by default for the date range. Modify this date range if desired.
  3. Click Retrieve Line Items.
  4. A list of all billable line items, filtered by the criteria and date range selected will be displayed below the criteria. Uncheck any items that you do not wish to export at this time.
  5. Enter a custom name for the export file if appropriate.
  6. Click Export Items to Spreadsheet.
  7. A popup window will appear allowing you to Open the file as an Excel spreadsheet for immediate review or Save the file to another location.

Ensure Pop-ups are enabled in your browser before clicking Export Items to Spreadsheet.                                                        

To view a list of previously exported files:

  1. Navigate to the Left Menu > choose Billing > click History beneath Export from the right context menu.
  2. A list of previously exported files will appear as links in order from newest to oldest.
  3. Clicking a link will generate a popup window allowing you to Open the file as an Excel spreadsheet for immediate review or Save the file to another location.
 

Best Practices

The following items are a list of Best Practices we would like to share with you when you use the Billing Module.

Naming Conventions

Products and services are added to the line items from a drop-down list. Use good naming conventions to provide better sorting and searching within the list. Using short abbreviations helps identify the name of a product or service on the list.

Item Numbers for Grouping

Using item numbers as an easy way to group the products and services. For example, you could separate billable and non-billable items. Use an item number beginning with 1 for billable items and 2 for non-billable items.

Product and Service Descriptions

Use the product and service description for detailed information. This allows more product or service information to be displayed to the user.

Report Writer for Detailed Reports

Issuetrak’s Report Writer has datasets that include billing line items. You can use this to create reports for a specific time period. Report Writer reports can be scheduled for automatic and repeated delivery. This allows updated billing information to be sent to accounting, management, or other relevant team members.

Report Output

When using datasets that include line Items and issue data, sometimes issue data may be repeated for each line item. A report returns a row of data for each line item. If you have multiple line items on a single issue, you might see lines with repeated issue information. Use groupings on the report output to minimize these effects.

Sales Tax Rules

It may be easier to let your accounting software handle billing items to customers who need to be billed at multiple tax rates. Use Issuetrak only for labor charges and service data.

Using Comments for Individual Components

Detailed service billings may require each component and part to be accounted for on invoices and work orders. If you create products and services for each screw, fitting, or nail, the list becomes unmanageable. Instead, use a single line item, such as “Plumbing Misc”, then use the comment field to list each part used. All comments are reportable and appear with the line item on any invoices or work orders generated from Issuetrak.

Closing Thoughts

The goal of Issuetrak consulting is to make sure you get the most out of your Issuetrak implementation. Because your company is unique, your account manager can discuss which consulting options will work best for you. Or you can reach out directly to the Professional Services team.

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