Here are step by step instructions for how to create a job, and send an invoice.

To start, click "New" in the upper right corner, and select "Job."

Next, add the customer. You can use the search field to find an existing customer based on all or part of their name, email, or phone number. Or, you can add a new customer.

We recommend that you keep notifications on so your customers receive automated invoice status updates.

Next, add a line item, item description, and price for your service.

Then, push the blue "Save Job" button in the upper right corner.

Once you've saved the job, you can add a number of customizations. Customizing the job is not a requirement, but can add additional details for both you and your customers to track. These include:

If desired, you can edit the job number of any job you have created. To do this, click on the current blue job number located in the upper left corner of the job.

This will cause a popup to appear in the center of the screen, which will allow you to enter a new job number in the textbox. All jobs must have their own unique number. If you enter a number that is in use by another job, you will receive an error.

You can find the service and material line items located in the Price book tab or section toward the top left of the navigation bar. Once Price book is clicked, you will see Services and Materials at the left side of the screen.

Line items can be separated into Services and Materials.

Both Services and Materials allow you to add:

To add a services line item to an already created job, click the blue "+ SERVICES ITEM" button located in the middle right of the "Line items" section of the job.

To add a materials line item to an already created job, click the blue "+ MATERIALS ITEM" button located in the lower right of the "Line items" section of the job.

As you add any line items, the job will automatically save as you go.

Alternatively, you can always start typing any of your services or materials into a line item on your job, and Housecall Pro will automatically populate available options based on the items in your price book.

A common question is how to pass the credit card fee taken from a credit card transaction to the customer. The recommended business practice is to build that extra cost into your price book, so that it is reflected in the price of your services.

However, there is a less-preferred method if you would like to handle this without increasing the price of your services. The alternate method can be done by adding a separate line item to cover credit card fees. You will need to determine the 3% increase, and then add that as an additional line item.

On the bottom of the job, you can apply tax rates, discounts, or deposits.

Tax rates

Tax rates are created and managed in your Account Settings, under the Price book section. Once you've created tax rates, they can be chosen from the tax rate drop down at the bottom of the job. Only one tax rate may be added to a job at a time.

Additionally, each individual line item has a check box where you can determine whether the item is taxable or not. If your calculated tax looks incorrect, be sure that the TAX checkbox on each applicable line item is appropriately checked.

If you would like to edit the tax rate, simply choose a different tax rate from the drop down menu.

Discount

Clicking the blue "Discount" button will allow you to choose a percentage or flat dollar amount to be applied to the invoice. Only one discount may be added to a job at a time.

You may edit discounts at any time by pressing the blue pencil icon.

Deposit

Click the blue Add Deposit button at the bottom of the job. You can add either a flat dollar amount, or a percentage of the invoice total. You can also assign a specific due date, which will be applicable for the deposit only.

Only one deposit may be added to a job at a time.

You may edit deposits at any time by pressing the blue pencil icon.

Customer Tags are internal identifiers (meaning customers cannot see them) you can use to distinguish specific customer characteristics such as: referral sources, customer routes, commercial vs. residential, or any other details that identify and or group customers.

As you start typing in the Customer Tags field, if your tag has already been used, it will appear in a drop down list. Click on the existing tag to add it to the customer profile and remain consistent with your other customer tag usage. Or, when creating a new tag, simply press enter after typing it into the Customer Tags field.

Tags will remain attached to the customer until you edit or delete either the tag or the customer.

Job Tags are internal identifiers (meaning customers cannot see them) you can use to distinguish specific job characteristics such as: maintenance vs. service vs. install, commercial vs. residential, parts needed, or any other details that identify and or group jobs.

As you start typing in the Job Tags field, if your tag has already been used, it will appear in a drop down list. Click on the existing tag to add it to the job and remain consistent with your other job tag usage. Or, when creating a new tag, simply press enter after typing it into the Job Tags field.

Tags will remain attached to the job until you edit or delete either the tag or the customer.

A Private Note is custom text associated with your job that you will be able to see but the customer cannot.

Private notes can help you stay organized and even provide outstanding customer service.

For example: a private note might include reminders that are specific to your job including gate or lockbox codes, parking instructions, outstanding work that needs to be done, parts which need to be ordered, or even details like whether pets will be present when you arrive.

To add a private note, click the "+" button next to Private Notes.

Each note will also include a timestamp for when it was written.

By clicking the pencil icon, you can edit your note.

The clock with an arrow will show you the note history.

The three dots will allow you to delete a note.

Or, you can click the "+" button to add an additional Private Note.

To add an attachment to the job, click the "+" button and select the attachment from your computer. You can select photos, pdf documents, or videos. There is no limit to the number of attachments that can be placed on a job.

Attachments are for your internal reference only. They cannot be shared with customers or attached to invoices.

Lead Source is a tagging system that allows you to track where your customers are coming to your business from.

As you start typing in the Lead Source field, if your lead source has already been used, it will appear in a drop down list. Click on the existing lead source to add it to the job and remain consistent with your other lead source usage. Or, when creating a new lead source, simply press enter after typing it into the field.

In your account settings, you can edit the lead source name, which will change all jobs with the current lead source name to the newly changed name. Additionally, deleting a lead source means you will no longer be able to add the lead source to your customers or jobs. All past jobs and customers will still have that lead source associated with it.

Click the wrench and gear icon in the upper right corner of the job details page you would like to delete or cancel, and you'll see the ability to either Delete or Cancel a job in the drop down.

If you select 'Delete job', it will be completely removed from the customer's profile. This is not permanent and can be restored.

If you select 'Cancel', the job will remain on the customer's profile, but it will show as canceled.

The invoice number attached to a deleted or canceled job cannot be used for another job.

Once you've finished the job, you can either send an invoice or collect payment on the spot. This section will describe how to send an invoice.

To send an invoice, click the paper airplane icon at the top, or the "Send Invoice" button in the upper right portion of the job.

Next, you'll see a preview of the invoice and what your customer will see. There are a number of customizations you can make to your invoice.

If you click on the blue pencil icon in the upper right corner of the "Details" section of the invoice, you'll be presented with a few options you can use to customize the due date of the invoice.

By default, invoices will be set up to be due upon receipt. You can use these options to change the invoice to be due net 30 (or a different number of days that can be selected by use the "Net" dropdown) or change the invoice to be due a specific date that you can choose by clicking on the "On date" calendar icon and selecting the date from the calendar.

Clicking the blue pencil icon on the right side of the "Attachments" section of the invoice will allow you to see the attachments you previously added to the job. You may select any of the attached files that you would like to appear on the invoice when you send it to your customer.

Checklists are not supported on jobs or as attachments at this time.

You may set your default invoice message in the Settings section of your account. However, if you'd like a custom message on any particular invoice, click the blue pencil icon on the right side of the "Invoice Message" section. From here, you may customize the message your customers will see at the bottom of their invoice.

Near the upper right of the invoice, you will see the options to either download or print the invoice.

Clicking "PRINT" in the upper right of the invoice will prompt a popup to appear, confirming that you are ready to save and print the invoice. This is to ensure you do not have any additional edits to make, as once you click "SAVE AND PRINT," you will no longer be able to edit the invoice, and will need to make a new one if any changes are needed.

Clicking "SAVE AND PRINT" in the lower right corner of the popup will redirect you back to the job, and a window will open in the page in which you can select where you would like to print the invoice to.

Clicking "DOWNLOAD PDF" in the upper right of the invoice will prompt a popup to appear, confirming that you are ready to save and download the invoice. This is to ensure you do not have any additional edits to make, as once you click "SAVE AND DOWNLOAD," you will no longer be able to edit the invoice, and will need to make a new one if any changes are needed.

Clicking "SAVE AND DOWNLOAD" in the lower right corner of the popup will redirect you back to the job, and the invoice will be downloaded to your device.

You can use the "Payment Options" section of the invoice to toggle on or off specific payment types for the customer to be able to use. You can toggle on or off if a customer can pay with ACH, pay with a credit or debit card, and enable or disable if the customer can save their debit or credit card on file.

You may customize what job and invoice information your customers see on their invoice by toggling on or off:

Each time you toggle a "Job and Invoice" category on or off, the invoice preview on the left will update to reflect your changes so you can ensure the invoice looks the way you'd like it to before sending it to your customer.

The job and Invoice section also allows you to customize the invoice view. Customers today typically expect an electronic experience, and usually prefer to see and pay their invoices online. However, there may be an occasion where you need to print the invoice and physically mail it to your customer. For that reason, the View Format section within the Job and Invoice section is set to "email optimized" by default, however, you may select "envelope optimized" if you need to print your invoice.

You may customize what business and customer information your customers see on their invoice by toggling on or off:

Each time you toggle a "Business and Customer" category on or off, the invoice preview on the left will update to reflect your changes so you can ensure the invoice looks the way you'd like it to before sending it to your customer.

You may customize what Services information your customers see on their invoice by toggling on or off:

You also have the ability to hide all of the services details by using the "Line items" checkbox in the "Services" section of the invoice.

Each time you toggle a "Services" category on or off, the invoice preview on the left will update to reflect your changes so you can ensure the invoice looks the way you'd like it to before sending it to your customer.

Any line item added to the job with a price will be counted in the subtotal and totals even if the line item is hidden on the invoice. If you don't want the price to be included in the total set it to $0.

You may customize what Materials information your customers see on their invoice by toggling on or off:

You also have the ability to hide all of the materials details by using the "Line items" checkbox in the "Materials" section of the invoice.

Each time you toggle a "Materials" category on or off, the invoice preview on the left will update to reflect your changes so you can ensure the invoice looks the way you'd like it to before sending it to your customer.

Any line item added to the job with a price will be counted in the subtotal and totals even if the line item is hidden on the invoice. If you don't want the price to be included in the total set it to $0.

Once you've finalized all of your invoice customizations, click Next in the upper right corner.

The "To" field will automatically be filled out with the email address you included on the customer's profile.

You may edit the "to" field, subject line, or body of your invoice email. Once it looks good, hit send.

The customer will receive an email with the invoice. If you have connected your bank account in the My Money section of your account, the customer will also see a Pay Online button.