*********NOTE* - Due to changes in terminology, all references to Bills have been changed to Invoices, all references to Billings have been changed to Time Entries, and all references to Costs have been changed to Expenses in the Guide below. At some point, the Video above may also be updated. *************
Introduction
Invoicing in Curo365 is robust, doing (hopefully) everything that you want it to do, but not necessarily in a way that you would expect it to do it. We understand that coming from other Case Management Software and finding yourself Invoicing in Curo365 can be a daunting task, so we’ll walk through the whole process here. In this Guide, we’ll give a brief description and breakdown of each of the moving parts for an Invoice in Curo365, link to a ton of helpful Guides, and bring it all together with the video above.
Let’s get started!
First, we need to Create a Charge. Below, we have three methods for creating Charges that will then be applied to a Client’s Invoice. Each of these methods will likely be employed during the life of a Client/Matter, so be sure to have your head around them before you move on.
Flat Fee Services
In Curo, there are three main Charge types. First, you can create a Flat Fee Service – anything for which there is a set charge. You can also track time against the Flat Fee by creating Time Entries for it. You don’t actually charge the Client for the time – they still pay the set Fee Amount – but this allows you to find out if you’re charging enough for the Flat Fee by seeing how much time you spent vs how much your time is worth. Below, we have three guides for these processes.
Flat Fee Invoicing
Time Entries
This method of Invoicing allows you to create an entry for everything that you do for a Client or for a Matter, and these charges are set based on the amount of time that you worked and your personal Invoicing Rate. Rates are a whole other monster in themselves, so for a guide on everything Rates, click here. Otherwise, click the link below for a Guide on Time Entries.
Time Entries
Matter Expenses
Matter Expenses are moneys that you pay from your own coffers for goods and services related to the life of a Matter. They can be known as Hard or Soft Expenses. Hard Expenses are Expenses for which someone will need to be reimbursed, such as pulling a medical record or performing an inspection. There are people who will need to be paid in order to get those services, and so a Hard Expense denotes money that will need to go out of your Firm and to another party. A Soft Expense, by contrast, is money that your firm spends on basic products and services for which the Firm itself would like to be recompensed, such as office supplies or travel gas, but do not require a payment to another source.
Either way, these are Expenses that you’re going to pass on to the Client. Follow the Guide below for creating Expenses.
Adjusting your Charges
The next set of Guides comprises all of the different Adjustments and changes that you can make to a Time Entry, either during creation or after it’s already been made. I won’t go into these on the videos, as there are just too many scenarios in which you might use these Adjustments, but you’ll know when it’s time to use these based on your own practices.
Invoice the Client
The next step in our process is Generating an Invoice. When you Generate an Invoice, the system looks for all Uninvoiceed Charges (Charges that have yet to be added to an Invoice) and adds them to any Unsubmitted (unfinalized) Invoices or, in lieu of an existing, Unsubmitted Invoice, will create a new Invoice. Once created, the Invoice will need to be Submitted and Approved. After these, you’ll Generate the Invoice and then send it to the Client based on their preferred Invoice Delivery Method (mail or email). It’s the second most important step, so check the Guide below!
Get Paid
The next section is for getting that money that your client has happily paid you. One or more Clients will send in one or more Checks or send money over from a Credit Card, and our system refers to those as Payments. Payments then need to be Allocated to the Invoice for which they’re paying, and then all those Payments can be gathered together in a Bank Deposit and sent to you Bank or Online Financial Service. Lots of info in the single Guide below, so check it out!
Send a Little Back
Finally, your Client needs to be paid as well, along with many other entities to whom you need to Disburse Funds, and Curo handles that through a Disbursement. This one’s pretty easy, so follow the Guide below!
And that’s it! You can now take a little, baby Charge, turn it into a big grownup Invoice, and then send it out into the world with instructions to ‘bring back money’. Congratulations!