If clients want to pay in advance for services, use the pre-bill feature. The first step is to create a new service code that will only be used when pre-billing clients. This will make it easier to find services that have been pre-billed later on.
The next step is to attach a fee schedule to the code. Make sure the fee schedule is set to $0, so you can manually enter an amount after generating a timesheet.
Now that you have your pre-billing code set up, the next step is to create a new timesheet:
- Navigate to Billing and select Add New Timesheet
- In the Client section, choose the client that is paying in advance
- In the Provider section, add an admin employee or any employee that is salaried. This is to prevent the service from being included in payroll
- Select the service code and finish filling out the timesheet
- Click Save
Once the timesheet is saved, you will need to enter the pre-billed amount:
- In the Billing module, click the icon next to the timesheet you created above
- Select a payment date, payor, payment type, and add a reference number. We recommend that you add a note like “$___.00 paid upfront,” so you will know what this payment was later on
After the payment has been added, the Owed column will display the overpayment in red, reflecting the prepaid amount.
- Let’s say you provide services to the client on 6/8 and the client now owes $200. To correctly apply this payment, expand the pre-paid timesheet entry, and the actual service timesheet, then add a payment of $200 to each entry. A recommended best practice is to keep the reference numbers the same for easier tracking between the payments

- As you deduct the amount owed from multiple entries, make sure to deduct the same amount from the credit, until the pre-paid amount reaches $0
- Keep in mind, applying a positive amount will decrease the amount owed, and a negative will increase it. While the amount paid to the actual date of service will be positive, the amount deducted from the pre-billing entry will be negative. Applying payments to the actual timesheet, as well as the pre-billing timesheet, allows billers to track between multiple payments while ensuring that the receivable amounts remain accurate