Billing Overview
The Billing module gives your MSP the tools to quote work, formalize contracts, catalog products and services, invoice clients, and record payments. It connects directly to ticket time tracking so billable work can become an invoice in a few clicks.
The entire Billing section requires the usage-based billing license feature.
If your plan does not include it, the Billing group will not appear in the sidebar.
Individual pages are further gated by RBAC permissions (for example, viewing
invoices requires the invoices read permission).
Overview
With Billing you can:
- Create and send Invoices, including invoices generated from billable ticket time.
- Automate repeating charges with Recurring invoices on a defined schedule.
- Record and review Payments against invoices.
- Build and send Quotes, then convert accepted quotes into invoices.
- Maintain a catalog of Products and services with pricing.
- Manage client Contracts, including value, term dates, and SLA targets.
Navigate to the Billing section
In the left sidebar, open the Billing group. It contains six pages:
| Page | Sidebar path | What it manages |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices | /invoices | Client invoices and their payment status |
| Recurring | /recurring | Automated recurring billing schedules |
| Payments | /payments | Payments recorded against invoices |
| Quotes | /quotes | Proposals and estimates for clients |
| Products | /products | Product and service catalog |
| Contracts | /contracts | Service agreements and SLAs |
Invoices
The Invoices page lists every invoice with search, a status filter, and pagination. Each row shows the invoice number, client, status, total, amount paid, and due date.
Invoices use the following statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created but not yet published |
| Published | Published without sending an email |
| Sent | Published and emailed to the client |
| Viewed | The client has opened the invoice |
| Partial | Partially paid |
| Paid | Paid in full |
| Overdue | Past the due date with a remaining balance |
| Void | Cancelled |
The status filter at the top of the list offers Draft, Sent, Viewed, Partial, Paid, Overdue, and Void.
To create an invoice:
- Click Create Invoice.
- Select the client (and optionally a Bill To Contact) and set a Due Date (defaults to 30 days out).
- Add line items — each with an optional product, a description, quantity, unit price, an optional per-item discount (percentage or fixed amount), and a taxable flag. Selecting a product auto-fills the description and unit price.
- Apply an optional invoice-level discount and add notes.
- Click Create Invoice to save it. New invoices start as a draft.
Once created, an invoice can be published (which makes it visible in the client portal and optionally emails the client), have its email resent, be voided, or have a payment recorded against it.
Recurring
The Recurring page manages billing schedules that generate invoices automatically. Each recurring invoice belongs to a client, can be linked to a contract, and runs on a frequency: Weekly, Every 2 Weeks, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual, or Annual. The list shows the client, status (Active or Paused), frequency, amount, next run date, and the number of invoices generated so far.
- A background job processes due recurring invoices and creates new invoices on the schedule's next run date.
- On a recurring invoice's detail page, use Generate Invoice Now to produce an invoice immediately.
- Use Pause Schedule to stop a recurring invoice from running (its status changes to Paused), and Resume Schedule to set it back to Active.
Recurring invoices carry template line items, an optional discount (percent or fixed), and notes that are applied to each generated invoice.
Payments
The Payments page lists payments recorded against invoices, with summary cards for Total Received, Payment Count, and Average Payment. You can search and filter by payment method.
Supported payment methods are Cash, Check, Credit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer, and Other.
To record a payment, click Record Payment, then choose the invoice, enter the amount, select a method, set the payment date, and add an optional reference. Payments update the related invoice's amount paid and status.
Quotes
The Quotes page lists proposals with search, a status filter, and expiration tracking. Each quote has a number, optional name, client, total, and an optional expiration date.
Quotes use the following statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created but not yet published |
| Published | Published without sending an email |
| Sent | Published and emailed to the client |
| Viewed | The client has opened the quote |
| Accepted | The client accepted the quote |
| Declined | The client declined the quote |
| Expired | Past the expiration date without a decision |
| Converted | Converted into an invoice |
Quotes follow a lifecycle: create a draft, publish it (visible in the portal and optionally emailed), mark it Accepted or Declined, and convert an accepted quote into an invoice. Converted quotes cannot be deleted.
Products
The Products page is your catalog of billable items, used to populate line items on invoices and quotes. Filter by type and by active/inactive status. Each product has a name, optional SKU, optional category, price, and active state.
Products are typed as:
| Type | Use |
|---|---|
| Service | A service offering |
| Product | A physical or one-time item |
| Subscription | A recurring charge (priced per billing cycle) |
| Labor | Time-based labor |
Products support optional cost, a taxable flag, and a billing cycle for subscriptions. When inventory tracking is enabled, the catalog shows stock quantity and flags items at or below their low-stock threshold.
Contracts
The Contracts page manages client service agreements. Filter by status or toggle Expiring Soon to show agreements ending within 30 days. Each contract row shows the name, client, status, value, start and end dates, and SLA targets.
Contracts use the following statuses: Draft, Pending, Active, Expired, and Cancelled.
A contract can include catalog items, a contract value, response and resolution time SLA targets, support hours and support days, and notes. Contracts can be linked to recurring invoices and are referenced by tickets for SLA tracking.
Time-to-invoice flow
Billable work tracked on tickets can be turned into an invoice without re-entering it:
- Log time on a ticket and mark the entries Billable.
- On the ticket's Time tab, review the time summary, which shows total, billable, and unbilled minutes.
- When there is unbilled time, click Create Invoice to open the Create Invoice from Billable Time dialog, choose how to group the line items (By Ticket, Individual Entries, or Summary), and confirm. The invoice is created as a draft.
The resulting invoice follows the same publish, email, payment, and void workflow as any other invoice. Time entries that have already been billed are not invoiced again.
A note on platform billing
The Billing module described here is for invoicing your clients. It is separate from your organization's own Ascent subscription — the plan, payment methods, and Stripe-backed checkout for paying for Ascent itself are managed elsewhere and are not part of the client-facing Billing pages above.
Best Practices
- Invoice from time while it's fresh — convert billable ticket time to invoices regularly so nothing is missed.
- Automate steady revenue — set up recurring invoices for managed-service clients instead of billing them manually each cycle.
- Quote before you commit — send a quote, get it accepted, then convert it to an invoice to keep an audit trail.
- Keep the catalog current — maintain accurate Products so line items and pricing stay consistent across invoices and quotes.
- Record payments promptly — recording payments keeps invoice statuses and the Payments summary accurate.