Launch
Grant Thornton Professional services02893-01Solar Century Africa Energy engineering 73992-01
  1. Getting started
  2. The organization
  3. Project management
  4. Task management
  5. Budgeting
  6. Change management
  7. Resource allocation
  8. Time tracking
  9. Expenses
  10. Clients and invoicing
  11. Leave tracking
  12. Real-time reporting
  13. Proposals
  14. Templates
  15. Integrations
  16. Vendors and invoicing
  17. Equipment
  18. Account settings
  19. Open API

Managing clients

Client records hold everything that appears on your invoices: the client code used in invoice numbers, the bill-to address, tax details, default currency and tax rates, contacts and client PO numbers. Every billable project must be linked to a client.

Clients live in the Customers tab of Clients + Invoicing in the Organization workspace.

The customers list

The Customers tab lists every client, and each client row expands to show its projects. Use Quick find... to search, and the Excel button to export visible rows with filters to Excel.

ColumnWhat it shows
StatusActive (green) or inactive (pink).
Active projects, Upcoming, Cancelled, CompletedNumber of the client's projects in each state.
OpportunitiesOpen proposals for the client (when proposals are enabled).
SpentActual cost of work on the client's projects.
InvoicedTotal of the client's invoices that are Sent, Partially paid or Paid. Drafts and cancelled invoices are not included.
ProfitInvoiced minus actual cost. The list is sorted by this.
PipelineValue of bids on the client's proposals.

Click a client name to open Client Details. Click a project row to open that project's Budget Pro.

Add a client

Click Add a Client. The New client record form asks for:

FieldDetails
Client name *Required. If a client with the same name exists you are warned and " (Copy)" is added to the name.
Client code *Required, up to 10 characters, uppercase (e.g. GTR or SHLL). It must be unique in your organization. It prefixes this client's invoice numbers, e.g. GTR-0001.
Domain(s)Optional. The last part of the client's email or website (e.g. acme.com). Used to optionally grant client users access to their projects.

Click Add New Client. You can also ask mAX to create a client; it reuses an existing client with the same name, and generates the client code from the name.

Who can add clients: organization admins and managers. Project managers can too if an admin has enabled "Project managers CAN add new clients AND create new PO numbers" in the Config panel.

Client details

Client Details is where you manage everything used to generate invoices for this client. Changes save automatically.

General

  • Client name: cannot be blank.
  • Active / Inactive: deactivating a client stops any more projects from being linked to it. Existing projects and invoices are kept.
  • Client domain(s): email or website domains that identify the client's people.
  • Limit by department: which department(s) can create projects for this client. By default any department can.

Details to appear on invoices

FieldDetails
Client codeRequired, up to 10 characters. Shown with a preview of the next invoice number.
Next invoice numberUse this to continue numbering from a previous system (e.g. start at 120). It must be at least one more than the number of invoices already created for the client. See invoice numbering.
AddressNumber/Unit, Street/Location, Address Line 2 and 3, City, State/Province, Country, Post/Zip and PO Box. Printed in the "Bill to" section of invoices.
Customer emailThe client's accounts email for invoices.
Their Tax ID/NumberOptional. Printed on invoices under the bill-to address.
Default currencyUsed for new invoices for this client when the invoice is not tied to a project. Defaults to your organization currency.
Default Tax Rate 1 / Default Tax Rate 2Optional percentages (0-100) pre-filled as Tax 1 and Tax 2 on new invoices for this client (e.g. VAT, GST/HST, PST).

Invoice numbering

Invoice numbers are counted per client, not across the whole organization. The format is <client code>-<number padded to 4 digits>, e.g. CDR-0001, CDR-0002. The next number is one more than the highest invoice number for that client, or the Next invoice number you set, whichever is higher. If a client has no code yet, the invoice shows ---- and asks you to add one; the code you enter is saved to the client for all future invoices.

Client contacts

Add contacts you can reference on invoices with Add a Contact. Each contact has:

  • Bill to: replaces the client name on the invoice (e.g. a subsidiary or "Accounts Payable").
  • Contact person, Contact number, Department or reference and Address (replaces the client address on the invoice).

Deleting a contact also removes it from any unsent invoices.

Client PO numbers

Client PO numbers (purchase orders your client issues to you) are referenced on projects, invoices and client reports. They are different from the POs you issue to vendors in Vendors and invoicing.

Click Add a New PO Number and enter:

  • PO Number * and Description * (both required)
  • Approved amount (in the client's currency)
  • Contact to reference on invoices: invoices using this PO will automatically use this contact's bill-to details.
  • Comments: appear on invoices and client reports. Used as the default comments for invoices that reference the PO.

For each existing PO you can:

  • Edit (PO #, description, default invoice comments, default invoice contact, amount) or Delete it, only while no invoice references it.
  • Close it ("no more work against it") or Re-open it. Closed POs cannot be picked on new invoices.
  • Start a new project with this PO number.
  • Click a PO to filter the client's invoice list to that PO.

PO numbers can also be created from a project's budget settings with New PO#, and from the new invoice flow when you type a PO that does not exist yet.

Invoices

A list of this client's invoices with number, due date, status and amount. Click one to open it.

Rate card

Override your organization's role bill rates for this client. Roles are defined by an admin in the Config panel.

Deleting a client

Delete this client only appears when the client has no projects and no invoices. Otherwise, set the client to Inactive.

Making projects billable

Only billable client projects produce items you can invoice. In the project's Budget Pro → Settings:

  1. Link the project to a client (projects without a client have revenue and billing fields disabled).
  2. Tick Project is billable.
  3. Choose a revenue model:
    • Fixed bid: lump-sum fundable milestones, invoiced when approved.
    • Time and material: billable hours (from timesheets, priced by role bill rates) and line items.
    • Retainer: a recurring monthly amount.
  4. Set the project Currency (invoices and revenue use it) and optionally pick the client PO number.

Switching to Fixed bid resets role and line-item bill rates to zero. Switching to Time and material deletes existing fundable milestones, and this cannot be undone.

Next steps

Set up your company's invoice details in the Config panel, then generate your first invoice.