How to set up billing statuses for ticket time
Split covered time from billed time, set rates, and see how a new ticket picks its status.
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How to do it
Go to Settings. Then go to Billing & Pricing. Then pick Billing Statuses.
The page lists System Statuses and Custom Statuses. A badge shows IN-SCOPE, GLOBAL, DEFAULT or Inactive. The list sorts by any column. There is no drag ordering here.
Read the system statuses first.
They ship with the product: In Scope and Out of Scope. An In Scope status is never billed. Every other status is billable at the rate it carries.
Click New Status and fill in the form.
The form is titled New Billing Status. Enter a Name, such as Project Work, and an optional Description. In QuickBooks Product, search for the product the time should post to. Enter the Price Per Hour. Pick a Billing Unit of 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours or 4 hours. Time is rounded up to the nearest unit. So 7 minutes on a 15 min unit bills as 15 minutes. Save.
Tick Use as the default billable rate on one status.
It is applied to new tickets for clients with no service plan. Only one rate can be the default. If you run several Out of Scope rates and none is the default, the first one in the list is used.
Look at the Minimum Billable Time card.
A tech whose total time on a ticket is under this many minutes is left off the invoice. The default is 5 minutes. The time is still tracked. Set it to 0 to bill all time. The card links to Configure on Invoicing, because the number is edited in Settings, then Billing & Pricing, then Invoice Settings.
Know how a new ticket gets its first status.
It goes by the client's core plan. If the plan's Default Billable Time switch is off, the plan covers support and the ticket starts In Scope. If the switch is on, the ticket starts on the plan's Default Billing Status. If none is picked there, it starts Out of Scope. A client with no active core plan starts Out of Scope. Your own company starts In Scope. You can change the status on any ticket.
Deactivate a status you no longer want.
Use the Deactivate button on a custom status and confirm. It can no longer be picked for new time entries. Time already logged keeps its history.
Note: Deactivate needs the highest level of access to Billing. Edit access is not enough.
What you will have
- Tell covered time from billed time.
- Add a billed status with a rate, a unit and a QuickBooks product.
- Choose the default rate for clients that have no service plan.
- Set the minimum time a tech must log before it is billed.
- Know how each new ticket gets its first status.
Why it works this way: How to set up billing statuses for ticket time
The status lives on the ticket, not on the invoice or the plan. Tech time is sorted once and rolls into invoices without mapping by hand.
In Scope work is covered by the service plan and is never billed. Any other status is billed at its own rate.
Billing statuses are not invoice states like Draft, Sent or Paid. Those are separate.
If it did not work: How to set up billing statuses for ticket time
- The buttons are greyed out: you can read this page but not change it. You need Edit access to add a status, edit one or save.
- A tech's short time is missing from an invoice: it is under the Minimum Billable Time. The time is still tracked.
- A ticket starts Out of Scope but you wanted In Scope: the client may have no active core plan. Or the plan has Default Billable Time on.
- A status shows Inactive: it was deactivated, so no new time can use it.
Questions this page answers
What is the difference between In Scope and Out of Scope on a ticket?
In Scope work is covered by the client's service plan and is never billed. Any other status, such as Out of Scope or Project Work, is billed at its own rate.
How does a new ticket get its billing status?
It goes by the client's core plan. With the plan's Default Billable Time switch off it starts In Scope. With it on, it starts on the plan's Default Billing Status, or Out of Scope if none is picked.
What does the billing unit do to billed time?
It rounds time up to the nearest unit: 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours or 4 hours. Seven minutes on a 15 min unit bills as 15 minutes.
Why was a tech's time left off the invoice?
A tech whose total on a ticket is under the Minimum Billable Time, 5 minutes by default, is left off the invoice. The time is still tracked.
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