> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.dieagenturverwaltung.de/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.dieagenturverwaltung.de/die-agenturverwaltung-en/finanzen-1/kva/abrechnung-von-kostenvoranschlaegen.md). # Billing estimates In this video we explain the most common billing processes in an agency. If you prefer to read this content, just scroll past the video. {% embed url="" %} ### Mark individual items of an estimate as billable {% embed url="?" %} ## Manually creating an invoice The simplest form of billing is manually creating an invoice. After our job is completed, we create an invoice and send it to the customer. This method is simple, but it also has **Disadvantages**: * On the one hand, the customer has not received or approved an estimate. * On the other hand, this method does not benefit from any form of automation. That means I create the invoice by hand after each job. ## Billing an estimate Typically we create an estimate and the customer approves it. In the next step we create a job and add the estimate to it. Initially we can issue an advance invoice, i.e. a deposit, on a portion of the quoted amount. This can be, for example, a fixed amount or a percentage share. During the job, working hours and external services are recorded. At the end we create a final invoice that offsets any previously issued advance invoice. In this step Die Agenturverwaltung supports us, calculates the remaining invoice amount and references the previously issued advance invoices and, if applicable, the estimate for the customer. ## Recurring services under a retainer agreement Billing recurring services under a retainer agreement is used, for example, when we have a framework agreement with a customer in which we bill partial amounts monthly. In doing so there are **three options**: With the **monthly billing based on effort** we invoice the services incurred in the previous month on the first of each month. This includes all hours worked and all external services. Die Agenturverwaltung supports us by automatically creating an invoice to the customer based on time-tracking data and recorded external services. With the **flat monthly billing** the same amount, i.e. a flat rate, for example one twelfth of the annual budget, is billed every month. In this case the invoice can either be created from a template or copied from the invoice of the previous month. In the job I am shown which services have been incurred so far and how they relate to the flat rates already billed. For the **billing of a customer account with multiple jobs** we resort to a construct consisting of a large estimate whose services are recorded across different jobs and are thus individually analyzable. An example: {% hint style="info" %} The sneaker brand "Rerun" hires us to create a new website for its company, design banner motifs, and a series of landing pages. For this we create a customer account called "Rerun Digital." In this customer account we first create a job named "Accounting." It serves only as a container for our estimate (which includes all parts of the Rerun Digital campaign). Initially we also create an **advance invoice**, i.e. a deposit invoice to the customer. Afterwards we create the jobs "Website", "Banner" and "Landing pages." {% endhint %} Why? We can review the agency and external services incurred on these jobs separately. The customer account "Rerun Digital" tells us whether the entire campaign is being executed profitably; the individual jobs allow us to take a detailed look at the individual campaign parts. **If the entire customer account is to be billed at the end**, we open the "Accounting" job in the "Rerun Digital" customer account that we created at the beginning. We bill the estimate contained within it. That means the budget and revenue are allocated to the Accounting job, while all costs, i.e. external services and agency services, are allocated to the individual campaign parts/jobs. ## Can external services be billed twice? {% hint style="info" %} **Example 1** I have an external service line item in an estimate … … and have already billed it in a partial invoice … and now create the final invoice … then the item will indeed be listed again as in the partial invoice, but the total amounts of the previously issued partial invoices will be deducted again at the bottom. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **Example 2** I have an external service line item in an estimate … … and previously manually created an invoice without reference to the estimate, in which I clicked this external service in via “New external service” … and now create the final invoice for the estimate … then the item will indeed be listed again as in the estimate only with the price of the external service, but below the net total the external service billed in the manually created invoice will be deducted again. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} **Example 3** I have an external service line item in an estimate … … and create a final invoice from the estimate … and then create another final invoice from the estimate … then the item will indeed be listed again as in the estimate only with the price of the external service, but below the net total the external service billed in the manually created invoice will be deducted again. {% endhint %} So in none of these cases is an external service billed twice. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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