Spotlight: Flat Fee Billing

March 2022    Tags: Fees, Statements, Tabs3 Billing

Do you make manual adjustments for flat fee clients when you’re ready to bill them? If so, you may be making billing more difficult than it needs to be. Tabs3 Billing provides a way to streamline billing for flat fee clients.

To set a client up to be billed a flat amount, specify that they are a flat fee billing client and assign them to a statement template that does not bill fees. You can then enter your time normally. Once you are ready to bill the client for the flat amount, run the Adjust Flat Fee Clients utility, and then bill them using a statement template that does bill fees.

To set up a client for Flat Fee Billing

1. In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Client Information.”
2. Select the desired Client ID.
3. From the Rates tab, select a Billing Rate Code of 0 – Flat Fee Amount.
4. Enter the desired Flat Amount. This is the amount that will be billed to the client when you run the Adjust Flat Fee Clients utility.
5. From the Statement Options tab, in the Statement Format section, select a Final Template that has a Fee Format of No Fees or Info Only. Optionally select a Draft Template that uses the same setting.
6. Press Ctrl+S.

If desired, you can bill interim statements to show the client progress on the matter. Using a Final Template with a Fee Format of Info Only will show the fees, but not bill for them.

To process a final bill for the flat fee amount

1. In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Adjust Flat Fee Clients.”
2. Select the desired Client ID.
3. Click OK.
4. In the Client file, change the Final Template (step 5 above) to a statement template that has a Fee Format of Standard. (As an alternative, you can select the statement template via Generate Statements.)
5. Generate a statement for your client.

Note: Due to the number of transactions that may be changed, we recommend making a backup of your data prior to running the Adjust Flat Fee Clients utility.

When the Adjust Flat Fee Clients utility is run, all of the client’s fees are automatically adjusted to equal the client’s specified Flat Amount, making billing a breeze and leaving you time to work on other projects.