What You'll Learn

This article will guide you through creating and managing fixed billing contracts in Uptick. Fixed billing contracts allow you to charge a flat fee at regular intervals, ensuring predictable invoicing and simplified administration.

Setup

You will need the following permissions in your security group:

Can view property list page
Can view property
Can view invoices and credit notes
Can create and update billing contracts

Click here to learn about permissions and security groups.

How to create a fixed billing contract

Fixed billing contracts are used when all maintenance services are charged as a flat fee at regular intervals throughout the year. This ensures predictable budgeting and simplifies administrative efforts as invoices are sent at predetermined intervals (e.g., annually, quarterly, monthly).

Billing contracts can also be created via Service Quote completion, which opens the Billing contract creation page at step 4.

1. Go to Customer Data > Properties and View the relevant property

2. Open the Billing tab on the property page, then click + Create.

3. Complete the required fields Billing Type, Recurrence, Contract Start Date and First Invoice Date.

Available fields on a billing contract

Name: Contract identifier
Billing Type: Fixed or Do and Charge - when, relative to the work, an invoice is issued. The type cannot be changed after creation.
Recurrence: How often invoices are sent (Monthly, Bi-monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Annual)
Contract Start Date: Start of the first billing period
First Invoice Date: When the first invoice is issued
Price Increase Policy: How prices will be adjusted:
- No bulk price increases: No automatic or bulk increases apply
- Automatically, each year by a fixed percentage: Set the Date and Percentage for automatic annual increases
- Manually, by a percentage set at the time: Prices can be increased manually in bulk via the Billing Contracts page
Date of Increase (if automatic): When to apply the first increase
Percentage (%) Increase to Apply (if automatic): Annual increase percentage (e.g., 12.34%)
Review Date: When to review the contract next
Contract Finish Date: The date when the contract becomes inactive after the final invoice. Leave blank for the contract to continue indefinitely
⚠️ Important: When setting a contract finish date on an existing contract, make sure the next invoice date is before the contract finish date. If the next invoice date is after the contract finish date, please also make the contract inactive.
Next Invoice Date: Override the first invoice date if needed
Billing Card: Inherit from property or specify a different billing card
Authorisation Limit ($): Maximum amount a technician can spend on site (excluding tax)
Authorisation Ref.: PO or WO numbers to appear on invoices
Notes: Internal notes about the contract

4. Click + Load routines from property to automatically pre-fill the Routine Service and Levels columns based on existing routines on the property.

Update the Routine Service type and link to the Labour rate for Product to be selected automatically when adding a routine to the contract.
Customise the description and set pricing against Labour rates to automatically populate on the Billing Contract.

5. For each line item, finalise

Product: Select the Labour rate
Description: Enter text visible on the invoice
Price: Set the amount (excluding tax)
Price Period: Choose:
- Annual: Divides the price by recurrence frequency for each invoice
- Invoice: Applies the full price to each invoice

Use the Duplicate (two overlapping rectangles) and Delete (X) buttons to manage line items.

6. Review all details and line items, then click Create Billing Contract.

How to edit a fixed billing contract

1. Go to Customer Data > Properties and View the relevant property

2. Open the Billing tab on the property page, click Edit on the existing billing contract.

4. Modify any details except the Billing Type (which cannot be changed after creation), then click Save Billing Contract.

How to create fixed Billing Contracts via Uptick CSV Importer

1. Download and open the Fixed Billing Contracts - Simplified Data Import Template.csv.

2. Complete the spreadsheet, adding or removing optional columns as needed. Save it as a Comma-separated values (CSV) file, the only format supported by the Importer.

Field name:	Property	Name	Type	Recurrence	Start Date	Send Invoice	Review Date	Priceincrease Policy	Priceincrease Auto Next Date	Priceincrease Auto Percentage
Field description:	Reference number of property in Uptick, ie P-0021	Name of Billing contract (Free text field). Optional	Fixed	Monthly, Bi-Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, Annual	Start date of the first billing period. Format is YYYY-MM-DD.	When the first invoice to be issued in Uptick. Format is YYYY-MM-DD.	When the contract should next be reviewed. Format is YYYY-MM-DD.	N = No bulk price increases A = Automatically each year by a fixed percentage M = Manually, in bulk, by a percentage set at the time	Only applicable for "A = Automatically each year by a fixed percentage." Date of when to apply the first price increase. Format is YYYY-MM-DD.	Only applicable for "A = Automatically each year by a fixed percentage." What percentage increase to apply each year Format as 0.1234 (for 2.34%)
Field example:	P-0461	Bobs Burgers Annual Invoices	Fixed	Annual	2023-08-01	2023-08-01	2024-09-01	A	2024-09-01	0.1234

3. Follow the instructions on How to create new data via Uptick CSV Data Importer.

How to create fixed Billing Contracts Line Items via Uptick CSV Importer

Billing Contracts MUST exist in the workspace before line items can be imported.

1. Download and open the Fixed Billing Contracts Line Items - Simplified Data Import Template.csv.

2. Complete the spreadsheet, adding or removing optional columns as needed. Save it as a Comma-separated values (CSV) file, the only format supported by the Importer.

Field name:	Property	Billing contract ID	Routineservicetype	Levels	Product	Description	Unit Price	Price Period
Field description:	Reference number of property in Uptick, ie P-0021	The unique identifier of the existing billing contract.	Routine Type that this line item is related to. MUST match Routine Service Type name in the workspace.	Level(s) included. MUST match Routine Service Level Type name in the workspace. If multiple levels share the same price, list them in one cell on separate lines. If priced differently, create a separate line item for each.	The name of the labour rate from the product catalogue. MUST match Product name in the workspace.	The description of the labour rate visible on the invoice.	Amount charged for this item, excluding taxes. Format is numeric value without currency symbols.	Is the Unit Price per: Invoice; or Annual
Field example:	P-0461	35	Fire Extinguishers: Portable & Wheeled (AS 1851:2012 Section 10)	Annual Six-monthly	Fire Extinguishers: Portable & Wheeled - Inspection & Maintenance	Complete service, inspection and maintenance of Fire Extinguishers: Portable & Wheeled.	123	Invoice