Customer Billing and Project Billing

Goldenseal is billing software that creates bills for customers, tenants and projects.

This section explains how to use the Billing commands to send out bills, and view your accounts receivable.

BILLING BASICS
        Billing Basics | Viewing Receivables

PROJECT BILLING
        Draw Schedules | Progress Payments | Time and Materials
        Allowances | Change Orders | Retainage

OTHER BILLING
        Sales | Rentals

WEBSITE INFO LINKS
       Accounts Receivable Software | Billing Software | Project Billing Software | Project Management Software

RELATED TOPICS
       Bank Deposits | Customer Accounts | Depositing Funds | Project Accounts

Billing Basics

Use the Billing command whenever you need to send bills out to those who owe you money.

You can do billing on a regular schedule-- weekly, twice a month, monthly, or some other period.

You can also do billing irregularly, whenever you have enough customers or projects that need billing.

Use the Billing commands to check Accounts Receivables balances, even when you are not ready for actual billing.

Sales Billing

To create bills for customer sales, follow these steps:

     1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Sales from the submenu.

     2. You'll see a list of customers, and the amount that is due from each.
     3. Click in the first column to choose which customers to bill now.
     4. To see detailed sales for a customer, double-click on their name (or elsewhere in their row).

     5. You'll see a list of sales that are due. Click on the check marks in the first column to determine which sales to include in the bill.
     6. When you are finished looking at itemized sales, click the OK button.
     7. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about sales billing, click here.

Draw Schedule Billing

Draw schedule bills are based on a fixed set of payments at different stages of project completion. They apply to Project accounts that have Draw Schedule as a project type.

To create a draw schedule bill, follow these steps:

     1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Draw Schedule from the submenu.

     2. You'll see a list of projects that use draw schedule billing, and the amount that is due from each. Click in the first column to choose which projects to bill now.
     3. To see a detailed list of draw schedule steps, double-click anywhere in a project's row.

     4. In the Phase column, you'll see a list of draw schedule milestones.
HINT-- To set up a list of draw schedule milestones, choose Income Setup from the Income menu, then choose Draw Schedules from the submenu.
     5. If a milestone is completed, click on the check mark in the first column. If a milestone is partially completed, enter either the percentage of completion, or the dollar amount that is ready for billing. Goldenseal will add the amount to the Bill Now column.
     6. The Previous column shows items that were completed in a previous billing.
     7. When you are finished setting up the billing amount for a project, click the OK button.
     8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for each project that is ready to bill now.
     9. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about draw schedule billing, click here.

Progress Payment Billing

Progress payment bills use the percentage of completion in each of the cost categories or locations in a Project account.

To create a progress payment bill, follow these steps:

     1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Progress Payment from the submenu.

     2. You'll see a list of projects that use progress payment billing, and the amount that is due from each. Click in the first column to determine which projects to bill.
     3. To set the amount to bill for a project, double-click anywhere in its row.

     4. You'll see a list of cost categories or locations, and the percentage of each step that has already been completed.
HINT-- To set up the list of categories or locations in the project, open the Project account and change the Category System or Location Package field.
     5. Click in the first column to bill for a category that has been partially or completely finished.
HINT-- If you will only bill for part of the item, you can adjust either the percentage completed or the amount due.
     6. When you are finished setting up the billing amount for a project, click the OK button.
     7. Repeat steps 3 to 6 for each project that is ready to bill now.
     8. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about project progress billing, click here.

Time and Materials Billing

Time and materials bills use the actual cost of work to calculate billing amounts. You can cover overhead and profit with a management fee in the Project Payment Terms, or you can use Markup Systems, Equipment Billing Rates, Labor Billing Rates and Subcontractor Billing Rates that are higher than actual costs.

To create time and materials bills, follow these steps:

     1. Enter expenses for the project-- use material purchases, equipment hours, and other expense transactions.
     2. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Time and Materials from the submenu.

     3. You'll see a list of projects that use time and materials billing, and the amount that is due from each. Click in the first column to determine which projects to bill now.
     4. To see detailed costs for a project, double-click anywhere in its row.

     5. You'll see a list of expenses.
     6. Click in the first column to change the billing status of any item.
     7. When you are finished checking expenses for a project, click OK.
     8. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about time and materials billing, click here.

Allowance Billing

Use allowance billing for items in a project estimate that are handled as an Allowance.
NOTE-- If you use time and materials billing for the main project, you don't need to bill separately for the allowances, since their cost is already included in the regular project costs.

The original allowance budget amount is already included in the regular project billing amount, so allowance billing covers the difference between the original estimate and actual costs.
HINT-- If costs are less than the original allowances, the billing amount is negative. In that case, create a negative bill, and use it as a credit against the main project cost.

 To create bills for allowances, follow these steps:

     1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Allowances from the submenu. You'll see a list of active projects that have allowances.

     2. To bill for the allowances on a project, double-click on its row.
     3. You'll see a list of allowances for the project, along with details for the costs to date.
     4. To bill for an item now, put a checkmark in the first column. To see a list of specific costs for an allowance, double-click in its row.
     5. When you are finished marking allowances for a project, click OK.
     6. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about allowance billing, click here.

Change Order Billing

Use change order billing for changes in a project.

Each Change Order is a "mini-estimate" for extra work. Change orders can be for a simple fixed amount, or they can be calculated as time-and-materials.

To create bills for change orders, follow these steps:

     1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Change Orders from the submenu.
     2. You'll see a list of all active projects with change orders.

     3. To bill for the change orders on a project, double-click on its row.

     4. You'll see a list of change orders for the project, along with details for the costs to date.
     5. To bill for an item now, click in the far left row. To see a list of costs for a change order, double-click in its row.
     6. When you are finished marking change orders, click OK.
     7. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will automatically create Billing Records.

For more about change order billing, click here.

Rental Billing

Use rental billing for rent owed by tenants or lessors.

Damage Deposits

1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Rentals from the submenu.

2. You"ll see a list of tenants, and the amount that is currently due from each. Click in the first column to determine which tenants to bill now.
3. Double-click on the tenant who has paid a deposit.

3. Put a checkmark next to each item that they are paying now.
HINT-- If you don"t see the corrent deposits or pre-paid rent, you"ll need to enter them into the Lease.
4. When you are finished with the itemized rental dialog, click OK.
5. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will ask you for a payment method. If you are creating bills for unpaid rent, enter Billed. Otherwise enter the type of payment you have received.
6. Goldenseal will create Rental Transactions for the rent that is due. If you are billing for rent, it also creates a Billing Record.

Basic Rental Billing

To create rental bills or to accept rent payments, follow these steps:

1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Rentals from the submenu.
2. You"ll see a list of tenants, and the amount that is currently due from each. Click in the first column to determine which tenants to bill now.
3. To see details for a tenant, double-click anywhere in their row.

4. You"ll see a list of all payments and credits over the entire rental term. Items that have already been billed are marked with an x in the first column. Items that are due now are checked.
5. Click in the first column to change the items to bill now. Click in the Adjust column to enter early payment discounts or late charges.
6. When you are finished with the itemized rental dialog, click OK.
7. To create bills, click the Create Bills button. Goldenseal will ask you for a payment method. If you are creating bills for unpaid rent, enter Billed. Otherwise enter the type of payment you have received.
8. Goldenseal will create Rental Transactions for the rent that is due. If you are billing for rent, it also creates a Billing Record.

Using Pre-Paid Rent

1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Rentals from the submenu.
2. Double-click on the tenant who is using pre-paid rent.

3. You"ll see a rental amount for the usual rent. Put a checkmark next to it to include it.
4. You"ll also see a line for Last Payment Used. Put a checkmark next to it.
5. Continue rental billing, the same as for basic rent. If the two amounts cancel out, you won"t need to bill anything.

Damage Charges

1. Choose Rental Transactions from the Income menu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Enter the renter, and any details about the damages.
4. Enter Damage Charge into the Transaction Type popup field.

Rental Deposit Return

1. Choose Billing from the Bank menu, then choose Rentals from the submenu.
2. Double-click on the tenant who is using pre-paid rent.

3. Put a checkbox next to the deposit return item(s) at the end of the lease. If there are damage charges, also include them.
4. Continue rental billing, the same as for basic rent. When you are asked for a payment method, choose Billed.
5. Goldenseal will create a Rental Transaction for each credit and charge, and a Billing Record for the total refund (or charge).

1. Choose Checking Transactions from the Bank menu, then choose the account from which you"ll make payment.
HINT-- If you keep damages in an escrow account, choose Escrow Transactions from the Bank menu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Enter Renter in the Pay To field, and enter the tenant into the Account field.
4. Enter Billing Refund into the Transaction Paid popup field.
5. Enter the billing record into the Reference field.

For more about rental billing, click here.

Viewing Accounts Receivable

The Billing command is a quick way to see the status of your Accounts Receivable. Simply follow the same steps as described previously, but don't click the Create Bills button to actually do the billing.
HINT-- You can also choose Income from the Reports menu to see more complete printed reports for your Accounts Receivable.

The Current, Overdue and Overdue 30+ columns show you payment information for each of your customers.

The Finance Charge column shows the calculated finance charge for this billing cycle. You can click in the field to change the amount of charge.
To view the billing status for a different date, type a date into the Cutoff Date field, and press the Tab key to recalculate billing amounts.

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