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Maintenance fee with free allowance

Monthly maintenance with included free minutes: combine a time-duration item with effort and split bookings automatically via project-time splitting.

Video-Vorschau: Finance – Maintenance fees with included free time

Finance – Maintenance fees with included free time

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Prerequisites

  • An understanding of time-duration items (see Recurring invoices)
  • Project-time splitting enabled in the configuration

A time-duration item can carry an effort allowance: each period includes X minutes or hours, and everything beyond that is billed separately with an effort line item. The classic choice: monthly maintenance of €150, 45 minutes of free support per month, everything beyond at €100/hour.

Order billing with two line items: 'Maintenance (monthly)' and 'Maintenance over 45 min (By effort)'
1 Create two order line items: the monthly maintenance and an effort line item for the additional time.
Line-item dialog 'Billable' of the time-duration item: in the 'Time and costs' area, the assignment 'Billable time' with 'Max. billable time 0h 45' and 'Max applies per X time units 1 month'
2 Set the time-duration item as a time collector: 'Billable time', 'Max. billable time' 0h 45 per 1 month.
Project 'Maintenance with 45 minutes', tab 'Finance ▸ Billing': both order line items (001 Maintenance monthly, 002 Maintenance over 45 min by effort) are assigned
3 In the main project, both line items are assigned – the collector article is attached to the main project.
Order, tab 'Times': two billable bookings (1h15 and 0h45) for the maintenance over 60 min, total 2h00
4 A 60-minute booking is split: 0h45 into the inclusive allowance, the rest onto the effort line item.
Invoice preview (PDF) with the line item 'Maintenance (monthly)' and an additional line item for the maintenance over 60 min (By effort)
5 On the invoice, the monthly maintenance and the additionally billed time appear.

The setup – two articles, one mechanism

1. Article Support + 45 (time duration, monthly, €150). Under Pricing:

  • Billing method By time duration, period 1 month, price €150.
  • Define the inclusive time in the Time and costs area: Max. billable time 0h 45, Max applies per X time units = 1 month.
  • Set the article as a time collector – via the Billable time assignment (collect all time or only billable time).
  • Project creation = Do not create a project.

2. Article Additional support (effort, €100/hour). Project creation = Do not create a project, Link = Main project.

Both articles become line items in the order; from the order you create a main project. Make sure the support article registers itself with the main project – otherwise the additional line item bills first.

How the splitting works

If the customer books 60 minutes of support, the system splits the booking: 45 minutes fall into the inclusive allowance (free, green circle), 15 minutes land on the additional line item (blue, billed at €25). If they book 30 minutes, all 30 are free. If they later book more time that fits exactly into the remaining allowance, the system merges the bookings back into one.

⚠ Project-time splitting must be active. The automatic splitting into “free” and “chargeable” is a configuration setting: in Configuration → Finance → Settings (search for “Split”), Project-time splitting must be enabled. Without this option, the system rejects a 60-minute booking entirely (it does not fit into 45 minutes), and you would have to split it by hand.

Show free time on the activity report

By default, only the billed time appears in the activity report. If the free support time should also appear, enable the Show activity report option on the time-collector article (Support + 45) in the PDF and dispatch area. Then the invoice lists both the 45 free minutes and the billed minutes.

Common questions & needs

You want to …How to
Give X minutes of support per month includedInclusive time in the Pricing of the time-duration article, applies per month.
Split bookings automatically into free/chargeableEnable Project-time splitting in Configuration → Finance → Settings.
Also show the free minutes on the invoiceShow activity report in the PDF and dispatch area of the collector article.
Bill additional hours at a separate rateA second By effort article, Link = Main project.