Halo have removed this guide from their knowledge base. This is our last mirrored copy, kept so existing links keep working — it may now be out of date.
Billing Configuration
In this guide we will cover:
- Overview on setting up billing
- Integrating your Accounts Package
- Creating Stand-Alone Invoices
- Creating Agreements
- Recurring Invoices
Admin Guides:
As an absolute minimum, you will likely want to have Service Desk & Billing features in your instance. This will allow you to provide support & get paid – both on a recurring basis & for any additional support charges that are incurred.
Eventually, you will likely want to include Project Management functionality to better distinguish between a standard enquiry & a full blown Project – however, to start with, simply using the service request ticket to track details relating to a project should be enough to get you going.
Using the CRM module to track opportunities & send out quotes is arguably a more important point, but still not integral to an initial set up of HaloPSA (you may have been using some 3rd party to track these beforehand anyway, at which point you can continue to do so until you are ready to bring these into Halo).
There are 3 primary points to address when it comes to initially using billing functionality:
- How to create a stand alone Invoice (if a quote for a new laptop is approved by the customer, you’ll need to know how to create an invoice for that laptop)
- How to create Agreements (so you can get paid on a recurring basis for things such as licences, managed device fees etc..)
- How to specify what time on a Ticket would be billable & what time would not.
Integrating your Accounts Package with HaloPSA
The first thing you will want to do is connect your accounts package to HaloPSA. This is going to allow you to import your customers & products from said package & will allow for invoice syncing from Halo to your respective billing platform.
Guides on the required configuration to sync your accounts package can be found here:
Creating Stand-Alone Invoices
Creating a stand alone invoice is a simple process. All you need to do is head to the Invoices module, then click New>New Invoice in the Top Right-Hand Corner of the screen. This will present you with the new Invoice screen. Simply select the customer you’re invoicing, then add your invoice lines – either via clicking ‘Add Product’ (to add a product from your existing inventory) or ‘Add Generic Product’ (to add an Ad-Hoc line that does not equate to any product in your inventory).
Creating Agreements
Creating Agreements for your repeat charges will be an integral part of your initial set up of HaloPSA.
Firstly, head to Configuration>Agreements & enable ‘Create recurring Invoices after Creating Agreements’
Now, head to the Agreements module, and click ‘New’ (Top Right). Pick your customer, set a unique Agreement Reference (or let Halo generate one for you by clicking the ‘Generate’ button) & click Save. Upon clicking Save, you should be automatically redirected to the Recurring Invoice Schedule Screen.
Recurring Invoices
Recurring Invoices can be thought of as templates for invoice creation, in a similar fashion to how email templates are templates for emails sent to customers. There are two primary components to consider when creating Recurring Invoices – Setting a schedule & adding invoice lines.
Setting your schedule is done via the schedule screen (the screen which you’re directed to upon saving your Agreement) or via clicking the ‘Set Schedule’ button on the RHS of the new Recurring Invoice Screen. Setting your schedule is a simple case of specifying your start date & repeat period. You should see the calendar at the top of this screen highlight the dates in blue based on the schedule you set, so if you don’t see expected dates highlighted in blue, you may need to double check your schedule.
Adding your Recurring Invoice lines works in a similar fashion to adding stand-alone Invoice lines – via the ‘Add Recurring Product’ button. A Recurring Product is simply a product that is marked as recurring:
For more detailed information on how to set up your billing please see the Billing course.