The Invoice section of your Billing Settings area is where you’ll configure invoice-specific terms and conditions, tags, automations, and fields, among other things.
Before You Start
Here are a few things to know before you continue:
- We recommend that only the Account Owner(s) or main Office Admins(s) set up or change the settings covered in this article.
- Depending on how your permissions are set up you may not be able to access some or all of these settings. Please reach out to your Account Owner if additional access is needed.
- As you make changes to your default settings, don’t forget to click the “Save Settings” button in the top right corner!
Navigate to Billing Settings
To access the Invoice section of your Billing Settings area, just follow the instructions below:
- Click on “Account” in the bottom left corner.
- Click on “Settings” at the top.
- Click on “Company” right below.
- Click on “View” on the Billing Settings card.
- Click on “Invoice” at the top.
Billing Settings: Invoice Directory
You’ll see 8 expandable lists of settings organized by function:
- Automations
- Additional Fields
- Additional Options
- Client Dashboard
- Credit Memos
- Recurring
- Settings
- Tags
As you make changes to your default settings, don’t forget to click the “Save Settings” button in the top right corner!
Automations
Create Dumpster Task after Invoice Creation
This setting is OFF by default.
This setting only applies to you if you’re using Invoices as your billing method in Docket (instead of Charges).
Turning this setting on tells Docket to open the Dumpster Task editor after you create an invoice, so it’s not left floating in your account with no associated task.
As a best practice, Dumpster Tasks and Rental Tasks should be created before an invoice is created. If you think you’ll be creating invoices before tasks for some reason, we strongly recommend turning this setting on so nothing’s missed.
Create Job after Invoice Creation
This setting is turned OFF by default.
This setting only applies to you if you’re using Invoices as your billing method in Docket (instead of Charges).
Turning this setting on tells Docket to open the New Job editor after you create an invoice, so it’s not left floating in your account with no associated job.
As a best practice, Jobs should be created before an invoice is created. If you think you’ll be creating invoices before jobs for some reason, we strongly recommend turning this setting on so nothing’s missed.
Automatically Determine Line Item Description
This setting is turned ON by default.
This setting only applies to you if you’re using Invoices as your billing method in Docket (instead of Charges).
This setting controls whether or not there’s a description for each line item in an invoice created from a task or job.
If you turn it off, each line item will be listed with no description and there’s no way for you to add one. For that reason, we recommend leaving this setting on.
Share Invoice Automatically
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on tells Docket to automatically send every invoice you create to its associated client. We strongly recommend leaving this off so you and your team have time to review and adjust it if needed before sending it to your client.
Additional Fields
Show Line Item Merged Invoice Date
This setting is turned OFF by default.
If you merge two invoices together, this setting controls whether or not the date of the original invoice appears on each of its line items on the newly merged invoice.
Show Line Item Merged Invoice Number
This setting is turned OFF by default.
If you merge two invoices together, this setting controls whether or not the number of the original invoice appears on each of its line items on the newly merged invoice.
Show Line Item Project Name
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that any project name you’ve added to an invoice will appear next to each line item on that invoice.
Display Client Account ID
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that the associated client’s Account ID will appear on any invoices you create for them.
Show Line Item PO Number
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that any PO number you’ve added to an invoice will appear next to each line item on that invoice.
Show Line Item Service Date
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that the service date for each line item will appear next to it on an invoice.
Show Line Item Service Address
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that the service address for each line item will appear next to it on an invoice.
Show Project Name
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that any project name you’ve added to an invoice will not appear on that invoice.
Show PO Number
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that any PO number you’ve added to an invoice will not appear on that invoice.
Show Summary of Work
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that no summary of the work performed for a client will appear on their invoices.
Additional Options
Charge Card Processing Fees to Client
This setting is turned OFF by default.
If you’re using DocketPay, you can turn this on and charge them a card processing fee to help cover some of your payment processing costs.
This is a common business practice across many different industries and helps make it easier for your business to offer clients the convenience of paying invoices online.
New Client Prompt for Card on File
This setting is turned ON by default.
If you’re using DocketPay, this setting controls whether or not you’ll be asked to save card or ACH information when adding a new client.
If your business accepts online payments from clients, we recommend leaving this setting on and saving payment information as part of your process with new clients.
Pre-Authorization Card Payment
This setting is turned ON by default.
If you’re using DocketPay, this setting controls whether or not you’ll be able to select how to process client payments when manually entering a transaction.
There are two ways DocketPay captures client payments:
- Pre-authorized charges
- Captured sales
A pre-authorized charge is when a client’s payment method is temporarily approved for a specific amount, but the funds haven’t been taken out of their account yet.
Captured sales happen when the full amount of money is taken out of a client’s account and deposited into yours.
If this setting is left on, you’ll have the ability to choose whether to pre-authorize (place a hold on) the client’s owed amount or try to charge it in full immediately. Pre-authorizing the amount owed is a good way to protect your business from fraud.
Prompt for Tips on Payment
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on means that you’ll see an option to add a tip when manually applying a client’s payment.
Save Card on File
This setting is turned ON by default.
If you manually apply a credit/debit card payment to a client’s invoice, Docket will automatically save it to their profile unless this setting is turned off. We recommend leaving it on to save you and your team extra steps.
Client Has Option to Save Card on File:
This setting is turned OFF by default, so when clients pay their invoices with a credit/debit card via their Client Dashboard Docket will automatically save their information for future payments.
If you turn this setting on, clients will have the option to not save their credit/debit card information to their profile for future use. We recommend leaving this setting off to save you, your team, and your clients extra steps.
Signature Required
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that your clients won’t be required to sign/accept your terms and conditions before paying an invoice via their Client Dashboard. We strongly recommend leaving this setting on so you have a record of each client accepting your T&Cs.
Signature Required by Client Type:
This setting will be blank until/unless you add Client Types in your Client Settings.
If you add Client Types, this setting will be turned ON by default and you’ll see your Client Types listed like you see in the above screenshot. Clicking on one gives you the option to turn off the signature requirement for that particular Client Type.
Simple Print & Download
This setting is turned OFF by default.
This setting is usually used for sending a client’s invoices to their automated accounts receivable system.
Turning this setting on means that printed or downloaded invoices will only include basic information and not details like payments, balance due, summary of work, etc…
Client Dashboard
Show Void Details
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that void details like voided date, voided reason, voided by, etc…won’t be shown on a client’s voided invoice when they look at it via their Client Dashboard.
We recommend leaving this setting on to improve transparency and clear communication between your business and your clients.
Credit Memos
Reasons
This setting is BLANK by default.
Crediting a client’s account is an alternative to outright refunding them most of the time and is a common business practice across many different industries. To learn more about managing and applying credit memos, click here.
In order to begin creating and applying credits (also known as credit memos) to a client in Docket, you’ll need to add your commonly used reasons to this setting.
Credit memo reasons can differ from business to business, but some examples are invoicing errors, discounts, property damage, and overpayments.
Just type in a reason and click the + button to the right, repeating this for every reason you want to save to your Docket account.
Recurring
Recurring Invoice Start Date
This setting defaults to 0.
This setting only applies to you if you’re using Invoices as your billing method in Docket (instead of Charges).
This setting tells Docket when to start creating recurring invoices. For example, the 0 in the above screenshot tells Docket to immediately create a recurring invoice after a recurring task or job is created.
If you added a 1 or a 2 to this setting, Docket would wait 1 or 2 days after the task/job is created to create the associated recurring invoices.
Settings
Can Edit Sent Invoice
This setting is turned OFF by default.
Turning this setting on allows you and your team to edit an invoice after it’s been sent to a client.
As a best accounting practice, we strongly recommend leaving this setting off so no one can edit an invoice after it’s been sent to a client.
Once an invoice has been sent to a client, it becomes part of your official financial record and editing it can break the future audit trail, causing confusion and potential legal/tax compliance issues.
TIP: If you need to edit an invoice, create a new one with the necessary changes and send it fresh to your client. Void out the old, incorrect invoice (never delete!) to keep the paper trail while ensuring your client doesn’t pay the wrong invoice.
Days Late Label
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that you and your team will no longer see a label on each overdue invoice with the number of days the invoice has been left unpaid.
We recommend leaving this setting on to make it easier and faster for you to locate overdue invoices.
Invoice Date Sorting
This setting is set to ‘Invoice Date’ by default.
This setting controls how your Invoices page is sorted when it first loads.‘ Invoice Date’ refers to the Due Date in an invoice. ‘Created On Date’ refers to the date the invoice was actually created.
Next Invoice Number
This setting defaults to 1.
Every invoice that Docket creates is given an ID number so it’s easier to locate them.
The system starts at ‘1’ and continues increasing in numerical order for each new invoice that’s created. The number displayed in this setting will change as invoices are created in your account.
To keep your Docket account and list of invoices as organized as possible, we don’t recommend changing this number unless your business is already tracking invoice numbers and you want Docket to pick up where you last left off.
Payment Terms (Days)
This setting defaults to 7.
This setting controls how many days a client can wait to pay their invoice before it’s marked overdue.
Apply Late Fee Automatically:
Turning this on will bring up all the related sub-settings listed below. Docket will use the sub-settings to automatically apply a late fee to any overdue invoice.
Late Fee Name:
This is the name of your late fee that’ll appear on the overdue invoice. Clients will be able to see this when they receive the invoice.
Tax Late Fee:
If your local/state government requires you to collect tax on any fees you charge your clients, we recommend turning this on.
Percent Base:
If you base your late fees off a percentage of the overdue invoice instead of a flat dollar amount, you can select whether you’d like that late fee percentage to be calculated on the invoice’s Subtotal or Total amount.
Days Past Due:
You can set up as many Late Fee Rules as your business needs, such as increasing late fees for 1 day overdue, 3 days overdue, etc…
When you create a new Rule, enter the number of days an invoice can be overdue before Docket adds a late fee to it.
Fee Type:
This is where you’ll select whether you want the fee to be a flat dollar amount or a percentage of the overdue invoice’s amount.
Require Delete Reason
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that you and your team will no longer be required to add a reason when deleting an invoice.
We strongly recommend leaving this setting on so you always have a paper trail to follow. It’s an accounting best practice to never delete an invoice, only void them, so if someone’s deleting an invoice in your Docket account it’s very important to know why in the future.
Require Void Reason
This setting is turned ON by default.
Turning this setting off means that you and your team will no longer be required to add a reason when voiding an invoice.
We strongly recommend leaving this setting on so you always have a paper trail to follow. You never know when you’ll need to remember why an invoice was voided out!
Terms and Conditions
This setting says ‘Due upon receipt’ by default.
If you have a specific message you want to appear at the bottom of each invoice you create, add it to this setting.
Please Note: A “general type” invoice is one that isn’t connected to a Dumpster or Rental Task. If you want to add T&Cs to task-related invoices, you’ll need to set that up in the Terms & Conditions setting under Dumpster Management: Billing.
Tags
This setting is BLANK by default.
Adding a “tag” (think of it like a label) to an invoice can help you and your team to find it faster later on in your list of invoices. You can also use invoice Tags as a way to organize your invoices and report on them using the Sales by Invoice Tags report.
To add tags to invoices, you first need to create a list of tags to choose from. Just type in what you want to use as a tag and click the + button to the right, repeating this for every tag you want to save to your Docket account.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@yourdocket.com!