Using Fixed Fee Billing

In this article:

• Setting Up a Fixed Fee Billing Arrangement
• Generating an Invoice with Fixed Fee Billing
• Setting Up a Fixed Fee Billing Schedule
• Using Time Entries to Apply Fixed Fees

Using fixed fee billing, you can charge a predetermined, flat fee for services rather than billing by the hour. This approach is commonly used for work such as drafting contracts, estate planning, or certain litigation matters.

There are two ways to bill fixed fees in Actionstep:

• Set the matter up to have a fixed fee billing arrangement, enter a quoted amount and then choose whether to add this as a time entry or a total fee. 
• Add a time entry as a fixed fee. 

Setting Up a Fixed Fee Billing Arrangement

You can designate fixed fee billing at the matter level.

To do this:

1. In Actionstep, view the matter you want to set up the billing arrangement for. (See Editing a Matter for help.)
2. Click the Billing menu icon. The Billing page appears.
3. On the left side of the page, click Matter billing options. The page is updated to show Matter Billing Options.
4. In the Billing arrangement section, click the Arrangement drop-down list and choose Fixed fee. 
5. In the Estimate section, enter a quoted amount in the Estimate amount field.
   
6. Click Save to save your changes.
   The Invoice Now button on Billing page now displays the quoted amount.
   

Regardless of fees and expenses, the matter will be billed at the quoted amount each time the matter is billed. The matter will keep this setting whether billed in the matter or the mass billing page.

Generating an Invoice with Fixed Fee Billing

When creating a fixed fee invoice, the Fixed Fee Bill window will be displayed with the following options: 

• Create time entry: When you choose this option, you can create a time entry for the fixed fee amount but you have the ability to enter Hours Worked and Hours Billed, choose a quick-code or enter a narration in the description field. 
• Hide line pricing and show total only: When you choose this option, you will see an invoice with a fee adjustment only. It will not be associated with any time entries. You can, however, include an Invoice description on the invoice. (To ensure the narration appears correctly, make sure you use the right invoice template. To learn more, see Invoice Templates.)

Setting Up a Fixed Fee Billing Schedule

You can choose your bill frequency for fixed fees. 

To do this:

1. In Actionstep, view the matter you want to set up the billing arrangement for. (See Editing a Matter for help.)
2. Click the Billing menu icon. The Billing page appears.
3. On the left side of the page, click Matter billing options. The page is updated to show Matter Billing Options.
4. Make sure Arrangement is set to Fixed fee in the Billing arrangement section. 
5. In the Fixed fee section, click the Bill frequencydrop-down list and choose which schedule you prefer:
   • Custom schedule: Choose this option to identify key points in the matter workflow that you want bill/pay the specified amount.
     
   • Every billing cycle: Choose this option to bill every billing cycle.

Using Time Entries to Apply Fixed Fees

You can also enter time as a fixed fee without changing the matter's billing arrangement. (Make sure you have the option to enter a rate as a fixed fee.)

To do this:

1. Follow the instructions outlined in Creating a Time Entry.
2. Click the Rate drop-down list and choose Fixed Fee.

You can then enter the details required to create a fixed-fee invoice. To learn more about creating a rate label for a fixed fee, see Creating a Rate Label.

Related Articles:

• Billing Settings
• Fee Entries