Fixed Rate Billing in Canopy

It often makes sense for a firm to charge a fixed rate for specific services provided to a client.

Fixed-rate billing works well for routine tasks with well-defined parameters, such as tax preparation or bookkeeping.

Benefits include:

• Predictability for both you and your clients
• Incentives for efficiency
• And a simplified billing process

Canopy offers tools to help you easily set service rates and send invoices.

Set Service Items and  Rates 

You can add and customize service items in Canopy for reference when invoicing. This helps you efficiently bill your clients for services rendered.

Add New Service Items 

1. Click on your profile picture/icon 
2. Choose Settings 
3. Select Billing Settings
4. Navigate to the Service Items Tab 
5. Click Add Service Item 

A new window pop up to add the service item details. 

1. Include a name and description 
2. Set your rate amount
3. The rate amount is defaulted to per item but you can change this to per hour as well. 
4. Optionally you can also add a Tax Rate percentage and Service Item Code
5. Finally, Save

You can manage and add service items at any time from your settings. 

Send Invoice

It is easy to pop your services into an invoice. Let's look at how to create a new invoice and add a service item. 

Add Service Items to a new Invoice 

Open a new invoice by: 

1. Clicking on the global plus button 
2. Selecting Invoice
3. Select your client and set your terms 

• Under service, you can select one of your custom services using the drop-down menu.  
• You can adjust the quantity and rate. 
• NOTE: You can use the WUWD column to adjust the billed amount, but this column isn’t visible to clients. If you want clients to see the reduced rate, use the discount column instead.

Add Time Entries to a Fixed Rate Service 

You may not bill all your services by the hour, but tracking your time on each project can be beneficial. This allows you to assess whether your fixed rate accurately reflects the work completed for the service provided.

In this process, you'll link your time entries to an existing invoice.

This is helpful for a couple of reasons:

• First, it keeps your WIP uncluttered, ensuring you bill for your work efficiently.
• Second, it ensures that your reports in Canopy accurately reflect your time data alongside your invoicing data.

Assign time entries to an invoice 

View a WIP report to see all un-billed time entries.

1. Select Time in the global navigation bar
2. Choose WIP Report. 
3. Select  a client 

Here, you’ll find a list of all unbilled time entries and expenses. You can select as many items as needed to add to an existing invoice.

For example, we have two separate time entries for bookkeeping services rendered for this client. Since we have already billed the client for this service, we will associate the time entries with the appropriate invoice.

1. Select the time entries you wish to add. 
2. Click Add to Invoice
3. Select Link to existing invoice 

A list of recent invoices will populate. You can filter by a specific time period to find the correct invoice. 

• Select the applicable invoice. 
• The time data will be added to the invoice. 

You will be able to view the time entries and associated invoices on the client record page. 

Track Payments 

It’s time to watch those payments come in! If you haven’t signed up for Canopy Payments yet, now is a great time. Your clients can easily make payments from their client portal or via email using Quick Pay. You can set up one-time payments, scheduled payments, and recurring payments. 

To access your Payments dashboard:

1. Select Billing in the global navigation bar.
2. Choose Payments.

In the Payments dashboard, you can view collected payments, see upcoming payments, track deposits, and view refunds.

Learn more about Canopy Payments here. 

Now you are ready to track your time, send invoices, and manage your payments in Canopy! 

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