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This article applies to:

  • Product: Practice CS
  • Subject: Billing

Use progress billing to bill without relieving work-in-process (WIP)

A progress bill gives a way to make a bill without relieving any work in progress (WIP). Some reasons why you might use a progress bill include:
  • Time hasn’t been entered yet.
  • You're billing the client in advance for work that hasn't been completed.
  • You're billing the client for work that will last more than 1 billing cycle. Using progress bills while the project is ongoing results in a more correct allocation of billings and adjustments for firm management purposes. This is because billings and adjustments are allocated proportionally to all work at the end of the project, instead of being allocated to only certain items for that month.
Progress billing is commonly used for retainers where work may not coincide with the agreed-to billing schedule.
Progress bills must be finalized once the work has been completed and you're ready to close out the progress bills against the accumulated WIP. The following procedure will relieve the original progress bill transaction and reallocate those billings against the WIP entries that have accumulated since the original progress bill.

Create a progress bill

  1. Select
    Actions
    , then
    Billing
    .
  2. Select the client, engagement, or project you want to enter a progress bill.
  3. Select
    Detail Bill Selected
    .
  4. In the
    Summary
     tab, select Options to open the
    Progress Bills
     window.
    note
    In the
    Time & Expense
     tab, you can right-click and select
    Add Progress Entry
     to open this window.
  5. Enter an engagement, project, activity, staff, and amount, then select
    OK
    .
  6. The values you enter will be used on the initial billing transaction you create. The billing will be recorded as having occurred for the staff and engagement/activity entered only until the progress bill is finalized. At that point, the billings will be reallocated to the actual WIP transactions entered.
  7. If you will be printing an invoice, select the
    Compose
     tab to edit the text that will display on the invoice.
  8. Select
    Save
    .

Clear a progress bill

  1. Select
    Actions
    ,
    Billing
    , then the client you previously progress billed.
  2. Select
    Detail Bill Selected
    .
  3. Select the original progress bill line item and any WIP items that will be relieved by the original progress bill on the
    Time & Expenses
     tab.
  4. Right-click and select
    Smart Bill Selected
    .
  5. In the
    Billed
     field, enter a 0 if you're clearing the progress bill without creating a final bill (that is, if you are not billing more amounts). If you'll be issuing a final bill, enter this billing amount in the
    Billed
     field. Practice CS will automatically enter the WIP adjustment, either positive or negative.
  6. Select
    OK
    .
    note
    The progress bill line will display a negative bill amount, and the WIP line items will display a positive bill amount. This enables Practice CS to allocate the billings to the staff who performed the work.
  7. If you'll be printing the invoice, select the
    Compose
     tab to edit the text that will display on the invoice.
  8. Select
    Save
    .

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