In this guide we will show you how to raise some different kinds of bills;
- A regular bill – no profit/loss or accrued WIP.
- A bill with a profit taken.
- A bill with a loss taken.
Remember, in your Bills you need to ensure that your net amount matches your bill amount which matches your nominal analysis, your WIP allocation matches your allocated, and your accrued WIP matches your recovery tab for ALL bills.
Regular Bills – no profit/loss or accrued WIP
Open the Bills section in the Fees Ledger. As with all modules, you have the 3 options to raise a new bill, the icon, File – New, and right-click and New.
Input the Client and Bill No. unless this is automatic and select your template. Partner/Manager/Lead Staff should update based on defaults. As we are billing without a profit/loss and accrued WIP, this is a fixed amount so ensure you tick the box for Fixed Bill Amount and Ignore WIP.
Input your net amount – let’s say €100– and input this in the center section under any job – we will input it for Audit and Accounting. This ensures our net matches our bill and double-check it matches you nominal analysis tab.
As we have ticked Ignore WIP, the WIP allocation and allocated are not available so we do not need to ensure this matches. The recovery tab and profit and loss are also not showing here due to our selections in Posting Details so we do not need to check these.
Once you hit Save, you may be prompted to confirm your bill despite a fees limit – click Yes to save your bill.
No errors should occur, you will now be able to view the bill on your Bill screen.
Bill with a Profit
Open a new bill and input relevant details for Posting Details in the top. Let’s assume for this bill that we get paid €1000 a month for this client but we did not do enough work this month to cover it.
Ensure you do not tick Fixed Bill Amount to begin with – this greys out the net amount so you cannot enter it and we can use the timesheets to calculate the bill.
Go to the allocated column under the WIP allocation tab and start inputting the O/S WIP amounts for February. You can also use the enter button to match the amount in O/S WIP to allocated – this will calculate the total allocated underneath as you continue. This has brought in only €235.35 – this shows in the total column and Net Amount.
Remember, we are being billed €1000 a month, so let’s go back and tick the Fixed Bill Amount box and input this amount in Net Amount. Again, make sure this matches the Bill Amount which we assign to Audit and Accounting in the middle section and your nominal analysis tab.
The Accrued WIP column in the middle section for Audit and Accountancy then updates to show the profit - €764.64. This is because there is a difference between the Bill Amount and the WIP allocation.
This can happen if people haven’t finished their TimeSheets yet. So you can leave it in Accrued WIP or take it as a profit. If you take a profit, it will likely balance in the next bill cycle with a loss so not to worry.
Input the Accrued WIP figure (€764.64) into the Profit column for Audit and Accountancy.
Ensure your Accrued WIP Profit and Loss matches your Recovery tab – this will auto recover if you enabled auto-recovery when setting up your bill settings. Hit Save. (If you are shown the fees limit confirmation again – hit Yes).
You can now view, edit, print, and preview your bill.
Billing for a Loss
Now we will bill for a loss. Let’s say we have an agreement to bill the client €2000 a month for Bookkeeping but we do more work.
Again this can happen if the staff members logged timesheets late to balance with a previous profit.
Fill in the relevant posting details first – enter your Net Amount and then your Bill Amount for Bookkeeping. There will be a difference in the O/S WIP. Fill the full amount of O/S WIP into the WIP Allocation column and you will see that the Loss columns updates. You can manually update the Allocated column at the bottom or click the Auto button in the top.
Again, ensure your Accrued WIP Profit and Loss matched the Recovery tab below – and hit Save. You have now billed for a Loss.