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Client Invoices

Preparing and Sending Client Invoices, Variations & Retention Invoices

Updated over a week ago

In this article, we will cover:

  1. Client Invoices Flow & Status: Understanding how JACK & Xero communicate

  2. Invoices for Fixed-Price Contract Jobs

  3. Invoices for Cost-Plus Jobs

  4. Invoices for Percentage Complete Jobs

  5. Retention Invoices in Percentage Complete Jobs

  6. Adding a Variation to a Client Invoice

1) Client Invoices Flow & Status

The chart below illustrates the flow of information between Xero and JACK, along with the corresponding statuses.

*When clicking , the invoice will be issued as a Draft Invoice to process in Xero. Once in Xero, the draft can be edited, approved and then issued to the Customer.

✏️ = Can Edit

🔒 = Updated from Xero, cannot be edited in JACK

Please see guides below on how to prepare the different Client Invoice Types.

2) Fixed-Price Contract Invoices

To create an invoice on a fixed-price job, navigate to Jobs > select the relevant Job > Job Financials > Client Invoices and complete the following steps:

  1. Click on the button in the top right-hand screen.

  2. Edit the issue date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to Schedule Send. You can set the invoice trigger to be a specific date or use the start or end date of a schedule item. The due date will be calculated based on your Company-wide default payment terms. You can also manually change the due date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to due date.

  3. Link the scheduled send date for the client invoice to a scheduled item on the Gantt chart. When the scheduled item is marked as complete the invoice will be shown as ready to send prompting you to send the client invoice.

  4. To add an invoice amount to the invoice, click and enter either the amount of the claim in $ or the percentage (%) of the contract price you want to invoice to the client.

  5. You can then close and click Save and Send. This will send the Invoice to Xero.

    NOTE: A pop-up will open giving you the option to send a PDF copy to the customer. To avoid sending multiple invoices, we suggest only sending your invoices from your accounting software, Xero.

3) Cost-Plus Job Invoices

To create an invoice on a cost-plus job, navigate to Jobs > select the relevant Job > Job Financials > Client Invoices and complete the following steps:

  1. Click on the button in the top right-hand screen.

  2. Edit the issue date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to Schedule Send. You can set the invoice trigger to be a specific date or the start or end date of a schedule item. The due date will be calculated based on your Company-wide default payment terms. You can also manually change the due date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to due date.

  3. To add bill costs to the client invoice, click

  4. Clicking on Invoice Items will bring up the Manage Invoice Items side menu, where you can view all bills assigned to this Job. Select the bill by clicking the tick box on the left-hand side, and then click Close at the bottom right.

    Note: If a bill is not showing up, check that it is set to status Approved for Payment.

  5. To add timesheet entries (if any) to the invoice, click Timesheet Items and select the individual timesheet entries to be added. Once completed, close the pop-up.

  6. You may also add custom line items (if needed), edit the description and markup, giving you full flexibility to customise the invoice.

  7. You can then preview the invoice line by line and Save as a Draft, or click on Save & Send to send the invoice to Xero.

    A pop-up will open, giving you the option to send a PDF copy to the customer. To avoid sending multiple invoices, we suggest only sending your invoices from your accounting software, Xero.

4) Percentage Complete Job Invoices

To create an invoice on a percentage complete job, navigate to Jobs > select the relevant Job > Job Financials > Client Invoices and complete the following steps:

  1. Click on the button in the top right-hand screen.

  2. Edit the issue date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to Schedule Send. You can set the invoice trigger to be a specific date or the start or end date of a schedule item. The due date will be calculated based on your Company-wide default payment terms. You can also manually change the due date by clicking on the ✏️ icon next to due date.

  3. Link the scheduled send date for the client invoice to a scheduled item on the Gantt chart. When the scheduled item is marked as complete the invoice will be shown as ready to send prompting you to send the client invoice.

  4. To add a $ value to the invoice, click

  5. The Manage Invoice Items side menu will appear on the right of the screen where you can enter the percentage of the cost code you want to add to the client invoice. You can invoice multiple cost codes. Once you have entered the percentage amount click Close.

  6. You can then add variations to the claim by ticking the variations (if any) at the bottom and they will be added to the client invoice. You can then close and click Save and Send.

    Note: You can have retentions on percentage complete invoices.

    For further details on retention, refer to our section below on retentions.

5) Retention Invoices in Percentage Complete Jobs

To create an invoice, navigate to the relevant Job > Job Financials > Client Invoices, and click on + Invoice at the top right of the screen.

1. Clicking on Invoice Items will take you to the Manage Invoice Items pop-up, where you will need to add a percentage to be invoiced for each cost code. The retention amount will be automatically calculated at the bottom of the screen. Click Close at the bottom right to save the cost items.

2. The retention amount will be automatically offset against the total invoice amount. Add a scheduled send date based on a specific date or a schedule item completion date, check the invoice due date, and then either save as Draft, Save and Schedule, or, if ready to send to the client (invoice the client), click Save and Send.

3. The total retention amount on all invoices will be displayed within the Client Invoices tab. After completing the job or meeting the required obligation(s), you can invoice the retention amount to the client by clicking on "+ Retention Invoice" in the top right.

4. Give the invoice a title, schedule the send date as you would with a regular invoice, and then enter an amount or percentage of the retention amount to be invoiced. Any remaining retention amount will be displayed. Click Save Draft, Save and Schedule, or if the invoice is ready to be sent to the client click on Save and Send.

6) Adding a Variation to a Client Invoice

JACK stores a list of approved variations for each Job and allows you to invoice your client for any variations as the job progresses.

To add a variation to a client invoice, navigate to Job > select the relevant Job > Job Financials > Client Invoices.

  1. Click in the top right OR select an existing draft invoice.

  2. Add a title to the invoice, which will typically relate to the job name, address, or stage of invoicing (deposit, progress claim, practical completion), and click on Invoice Items.

  3. Enter the $ progress claim amount or the % of the contract price you wish to invoice.

  4. To add variations to the invoice, select the tickbox next to an available (approved) variation on the Job. You may choose a percentage or enter an amount to invoice only part of the variation.

  5. The total invoice amount (including GST) will be updated to include the variation.

  6. To save and exit, click Close at the bottom of the page.

  7. Once you add a scheduled send date and a due date, you can either Save Draft, Save and Schedule or Save and Send the invoice.

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