Project billing

Project activities are billed as sales items that are created automatically according to the project's billing model, which is defined when creating the project.

The created project sales items can be updated, deleted (if they have not yet been billed for), and billed for using regular billing runs within Advanced Automation (PSA). For more information about working with sales items, see Managing sales items.

There are three billing models available in the Projects module:

  • Bill per closed step: A new sales item is created automatically when a ticket linked to a project step is completed. For more information, see Billing per closed step.

  • Bill total upfront: A new sales item is created automatically when a project is created with at least one project product selected. For more information, see Billing the total upfront.

  • Bill based on milestone: A new sales item is created automatically when a step that is marked as a Milestone step is completed. For more information, see Billing based on milestones.

Billing per closed step

When the Bill per closed step billing model is enabled, a sales item is generated when a team member completes a project step.

When the associated project ticket is set to Completed, you can still log or edit time, and add comments and attachments, but you cannot change dates, planned hours, or the status. A sales item is generated according to the planned hours for the project step, and the customer is billed according to the existing billing flow in Advanced Automation (PSA).

Billing the total upfront

When the Bill total upfront billing model is enabled, there are three possible ways in which a sales item is created:

  • When a project with a budget is created: If a project is created (by creating a new project from scratch, or by copying an existing project) with a budget (meaning at least one project product is selected), a sales item is automatically generated. You can bill the customer according to the existing billing flow.

  • When a project without a budget is created: If a project is created (by creating a new project from scratch, or by copying an existing project) without a budget (meaning no project products are selected), no sales item is generated. Before creating the sales item, you first need to set the project budget by adding project products and allocating the relevant hours. You should then create a sales item manually, to match the project budget. You can then bill the customer according to the existing billing flow.

  • When updating a project: If you are working on a project and need to increase the budget, but the customer has already been billed for the budgeted hours, you need to create a sales item manually. The sales item should match the increase in the project budget. You can then bill the customer according to the existing billing flow. If the customer was not billed, you can update the project budget and the existing sales item.

Billing based on milestones

When the Bill based on milestone billing model is enabled, a sales item is generated when a team member completes a project step which is set as a Milestone step.

The sales item includes line items for each completed step (including the latest milestone step) since the last milestone step was completed, or after the project started:

  • On completion of the first milestone, all steps completed since the project was started are billed for.
  • On completion of the next milestone, all steps completed since the last completed milestone are billed for. From that point on, if any other project steps are worked on and set as Completed, they are included in the bill when the next milestone project step is completed.