Billing Guide

Colabmacs11/20/25About 4 min

Billing Guide

Overview

⭐ Premium Feature: Billing features require a premium plan.

The billing system provides flexible rules for generating charges from resource and material usage. It supports quotes, invoices, rates, and automated charge generation with customizable billing rules.

Key Components:

Quotes - Cost estimates for work
Invoices - Collections of charges for billing
Charges - Generated from usage records
Rates - Pricing for resources and materials
Rate Groups - Organize rates by customer type
Billing Rules - Automatic adjustments to charges

Quotes

Quotes provide cost estimates before work begins. They can be attached to requests or created independently.

Viewing Quotes

Navigate to Resources → Quotes.

Dashboard Widgets:

Quote Status - Distribution by state (0 total)
New Quotes (30 Days) - Recent quotes (0, No Data)

Empty State: "No Quote matched the given criteria"

Creating Quotes

Click Create Quote.

Create Quote Form

Required Fields:

Name (Required)

Descriptive quote name
Example: "CNC Machining Services - Project X"

State (Required)

Open - Quote in progress
Accepted - Customer approved
Rejected - Customer declined

Optional Fields

Team - Associate with team Project - Link to project Expires - Quote expiration date/time Description - Detailed quote information with rich text Discount - Discount amount (CA$ field)

Quote States

OPEN → User can edit and modify
ACCEPTED → Quote approved, locked
REJECTED → Quote declined, locked

⚠️ Important: Once accepted or rejected, quotes cannot be modified.

Save Options

Create Quote - Save and return
Create & Add Another - Save and create another
Cancel - Discard

Invoices

Invoices collect charges for a project and period for billing.

Invoice Generation

Select project and date range
System finds all pending charges
Applies invoice rules
Creates invoice
Charges marked as BILLED

Effect:

All charges change to BILLED state
Charges can no longer be modified
Invoice locked for payment

Charges

Charges are generated from usage records and represent billable amounts.

Viewing Charges

Navigate to Resources → Charges.

Charges List

Dashboard Widgets:

Charge Status (5 total)

Pending (5 - 100%)
Donut chart visualization

Average Charge Total (30 Days)

Shows average charge amount
Trend chart (currently 0)

Percentage of Charges Billed

Shows billing completion rate (0%)
Progress bar

Table Columns:

Column	Description	Example
BILLABLE	Resource or material	Resource: Drill Press
TOTAL	Charge amount	CA$13.00
QUANTITY	Amount used	0.26 HOUR
CHARGED RATE	Rate applied	CA$50.00
STATE	PENDING or BILLED	PENDING
CREATED AT	Charge creation date	29/09/2025, 12:36 GMT-6

Actions: 👁 View | ✏ Edit | 🗑 Delete

How Charges are Generated

From Usage Records:

User uses resource or material
Usage record created
System finds applicable rate
Charge automatically generated

Requirements:

✓ Resource/Material must have Rate
✓ Rate must be in Rate Group
✓ Rate Group assigned to Project
✓ Usage record exists

Charge Calculation:

Charge Amount = Quantity × Rate

Example:
Quantity: 0.26 Hours
Rate: CA$50.00/Hour
Charge: CA$13.00

Charge States

PENDING:

Not yet invoiced
Can be modified or deleted
Available for billing

BILLED:

Attached to invoice
Cannot be modified
Locked for audit trail

Unit Conversion

Charges use rate units, automatically converting usage units:

Usage: 15 Minutes
Rate: CA$50.00 per Hour
Converted: 0.25 Hours
Charge: CA$12.50

Supported Conversions:

Minutes ↔ Hours ↔ Days
Compatible time units only

⚠️ Invalid Conversions: Setting incompatible units (e.g., "Each" for time-based usage) prevents charge generation.

Rates

Rates define pricing for resources and materials. They must belong to a Rate Group.

Viewing Rates

Navigate to Resources → Rates.

Rates List

Table Columns:

Column	Description	Example
NAME	Rate name	Business - $50
RATE	Standard rate	CA$50.00
AFTER HOUR RATE	After-hours rate	— (none)
UNIT	Billing unit	Hour
RATE GROUP	Associated group	Business

Actions: ... | 👁 View | ✏ Edit | 🗑 Delete

Creating Rates

Click Create Rate.

Create Rate Form

Required Fields:

Name (Required)

Descriptive rate name
Example: "Business - $50", "Academic - $25"

Rate (Required)

Standard rate amount (CA$)
Used during business hours
Helper: "The rate used during normal business hours"

Unit (Required)

Billing unit dropdown
Options: Hour, Minute, Day, Each, etc.
Must match usage tracking units

Rate Group (Required)

Select rate group
Dropdown selection
Determines when rate applies

Optional Fields

After Hour Rate

Different rate outside business hours
CA$ amount
Helper: "The rate used outside of normal business hours"

Settings - Click Add row for custom settings

Description - Rich text rate details

After Hours Rates

Rates can have different pricing outside business hours.

How It Works:

System checks resource business hours
Calculates time during vs after hours
Applies weighted average rate

Formula:

Effective Rate = (Day Time / Total Time × Rate) +
                 (After Hours Time / Total Time × After Hour Rate)

Example:

Rate: $100/hour
After Hour Rate: $150/hour
Business Hours: 8:00-17:00

Usage: 16:00-18:00 (2 hours)
- 1 hour during business hours
- 1 hour after hours

Calculation:
Effective Rate = (1/2 × $100) + (1/2 × $150) = $125/hour
Charge = 2 hours × $125 = $250

More Examples:

Scenario	Hours	Day Time	After Hours	Effective Rate
All business hours	15:00-16:00	1 hr	0 hr	$100.00
All after hours	17:00-18:00	0 hr	1 hr	$150.00
Split	16:00-18:00	1 hr	1 hr	$125.00

Note: Weekends are separate from "after hours" for rule application purposes.

Save Options

Create Rate - Save and return
Create & Add Another - Save and create another
Cancel - Discard

Rate Groups

Rate Groups organize rates by customer type, allowing different pricing for different projects.

Viewing Rate Groups

Navigate to Resources → Rate Groups.

Rate Groups List

Table Columns:

Column	Description
NAME	Group name (Business, Personal, Industrial, Academic)
RATE COUNT	Number of rates in group

Actions: ... | 👁 View | ✏ Edit | 🗑 Delete

Creating Rate Groups

Click Create Rate Group.

Create Rate Group Form

Required Fields:

Name (Required)

Group name
Examples: "Academic", "Industrial", "Business", "Personal"

Description

Rich text details
Explain group purpose

Rate Group Examples

Academic Rate Group:

Name: Academic
Rates:
- 3D Printer: $50/hour
- Laser Cutter: $25/hour
- CNC Mill: $75/hour

Used for: University research projects

Industrial Rate Group:

Name: Industrial
Rates:
- 3D Printer: $150/hour
- Laser Cutter: $100/hour
- CNC Mill: $200/hour

Used for: Commercial manufacturing

How Rate Groups Work

Create Rate Groups (Academic, Industrial)
Create Rates for each group
Assign Rate Group to Project
Usage generates charges using project's rate group

Example Flow:

Project: Research Study
├── Rate Group: Academic
├── Uses: 3D Printer
└── Rate Applied: $50/hour (Academic rate)

Project: Product Manufacturing
├── Rate Group: Industrial
├── Uses: 3D Printer (same printer)
└── Rate Applied: $150/hour (Industrial rate)

Billing Rules

Billing Rules automatically adjust charges and invoices based on conditions.

Charge Rules

Applied when charges are generated from usage records.

Available Rules:

Rule	Description	Parameters
Cap Quantity	Limit maximum charged quantity	`cap` (interval)
Cap Quantity Per Interval	Cap per time period	`cap`, `interval`
Min Quantity	Set minimum charge quantity	`minimum` (interval)
Round Up To Booking Time	Charge booked time if more	None
Scale Quantity	Multiply quantity by factor	`factor`, `cap` (optional)
Grace Period	No charge if under threshold	`grace` (interval)

Rule Application:

Can apply to specific business hours, after hours, or weekends
Based on resource business hours
Weekends separate from after hours

Examples:

Cap Quantity:

cap = 8 hours
Usage: 10 hours
Charged: 8 hours

Cap Per Interval:

cap = 8 hours
interval = 1 day
Usage: 76 hours over 4 days
Charged: 28 hours (3×8 + 4)

Min Quantity:

minimum = 1 hour
Usage: 15 minutes
Charged: 1 hour

Grace Period:

grace = 15 minutes
Usage: 10 minutes → No charge
Usage: 20 minutes → Charged 20 minutes

Scale Quantity:

factor = 0.5
cap = 10 hours
Usage: 12 hours
Scaled: 6 hours (under cap, so 6 hours charged)

Invoice Rules

Applied when invoices are generated from charges.

Rule	Description	Parameters
Cap Total	Limit maximum invoice total	`maximum`
Scale Total	Multiply total by factor	`factor`, `maximum` (optional)

Examples:

Cap Total:

maximum = $1000
Charges Total: $1250
Invoice Total: $1000

Scale Total:

factor = 0.9 (10% discount)
maximum = $500
Charges Total: $600
Scaled: $540
Invoice Total: $500 (capped)

⚠️ Note: Invoice rules modify the total, not individual charges. Invoice total may not equal sum of charges.

Rule Filters

All billing rules support filters:

Include/Exclude:

includeTeams / excludeTeams
includeProjects / excludeProjects
includeProjectTypes / excludeProjectTypes

Example:

Rule: 50% discount
includeProjectTypes: ["Academic", "Research"]
Result: Only academic/research projects get discount

Best Practice: Don't use both include and exclude in the same rule.