You may sometimes wish to apply a discount to an invoice you are preparing:
- to encourage the client to pay on or before the due date
- as an incentive to obtain further work, or
- as a way of reducing your overall charges, possibly to avoid a dispute.
In , a discount is a negative cost that is used to reduce the amount invoiced to the client. A discount can be applied as a lump sum or a percentage amount as you create an invoice.
You can apply a discount only while you are creating an invoice.
Apply a discount
To apply a discount to a draft invoice, you need to add a negative cost as follows:
- If required, open an existing draft invoice:
- In the Business menu, select Invoices.
- On the All Invoices screen, drill down on the Draft link for the invoice you want to work with.
- On the New Invoice screen, scroll down to the Costs section and click + Add cost.
- On the Add new cost dialog, provide the following information, as required.
Field Description Quantity To apply a discount, quantity has a negative value, which is used to multiply the value in the Unit Price field.
Highlight the Quantity field, then do one of the following:
- For a lump-sum discount, type -1.
- For a percentage discount, type the discount you require, divided by 100. For example, for a 10% discount, type: -0.1.
Search or create a new cost For a discount, create a name for the cost that shows the reason for the discount. For example, type: Prompt payment discount and click the Create link at the bottom of the search drop-down.
Unit cost This cost is not used when applying a discount, so the value can be zero. You must type a 0 value - you cannot just leave the field empty.
Unit price The amount shown in this field (multiplied by the Quantity value) will be subtracted from the other costs in the invoice. This is the pre-tax amount, so do not include tax in this price. will calculate the correct tax amount, based on the value you select in the Tax drop-down list.
Type As a discount is not a physical object, leave this as Service.
Cost Code This reference code is not required for a discount. Leave the Cost Code field blank.
Phase If you are using phases in the job associated with the invoice, select the phase that the discount will appear in, otherwise leave as Unassigned.
Billable Make sure the Billable toggle is selected
.
Tax 1, Tax 2 The tax name and rate to apply to the discount. Select the same rate that was applied to the original invoice. Two tax rates can be applied (at a federal and local level, for example), if required.
Cost Notes Any comments or notes relating to the discount.
- Save your changes.