Configure memberships for revenue paid up front

Overview

When adding memberships, you can require a customer to pay for a membership up front by recognizing revenue immediately after the customer pays once when using cash basis accounting rather than accrual accounting. To learn more about deferred revenue and accrual accounting, see Setup deferred revenue for recurring services.

Note: All information in this step-by-step workflow is based on a membership paid up front for which revenue is realized at the point of sale.

Who uses this feature

Administrators, Managers, and Accountants
Primarily benefits Residential Service and Replacement business types
Applies to all trades

Feature configuration

Account configuration is required to use this feature. Please contact Technical Supportfor details.

Things to know

If this accounting scenario does not apply to you, see Membership accounting options to learn about other membership accounting options.
You will need to set up recurring service types and recurring service invoice templates before you set up membership add-ons.

Step 1: Add a membership

Membership setup, including creating a new membership, is done in the Memberships wizard:

Go to the to toolbar and click Settings .
From the side panel, click Invoicing > Membership Types.
Click Add.
In the Basics section, add membership basics, then click Save & Next.
In the Duration & Billing step of the Basics section, select Duration as Fixed.
For the Billing Frequency select Upfront.
Click Save & Next.
Fill out the rest of the information in the Billing section and click Save & Next.
In the Recurrences section, click Point of sale.
Click Save & Next.

To learn more about membership settings, see Create membership types.

Step 2: Set up tasks for the membership

The Memberships Wizard or Pricebook column shows whether membership setup is part of the Memberships wizard or done directly in Pricebook.

After you’ve added a membership, you can configure the membership to create a new sale or renewal task.

Task	Purpose	Fields	Membership Wizard or Pricebook
Create a new sale task	A new sale task is placed on the invoice to sell a membership.	Details Code—Service code entered when adding a task Name—Display name technicians see when adding the task from the field Item Description—Description of the task that appears on the invoice Price—Standard price of the task General ledger account (income account)—Choose which income account the new service is tied to. Enter the name of the account only. Taxable—Select this box to enable taxable status. Commission tab Enter a bonus amount or commission you want to pay when the membership sells. Hours—Sold/billable hours for the task $ Bonus—Flat rate bonus for this task % Bonus—Bonus percentage paid for this task Pay tech-specific bonus—Selecting this checkbox will pay the Default Adjustment Rate according to the technician's bonus settings. This allows a different percent bonus for each technician. Pays Commission—Select this box if the technician should receive a commission for this service. Materials Tab Materials are usually not attached to a new membership sale. Equipment Tab Equipment is usually not attached to a new membership sale. Workflow tab Text in the tab will be automatically populated with the membership name.	Membership wizard Creating a new sale task is done in the second step of the memberships wizard. If you want to select an existing pricebook task, you can use the Memberships wizard. Click Billing>New Sale Tasks>Existing Tasks. In the Existing Tasks field, select from an existing pricebook task.
Create a renewal task	Renewal tasks are used when you generate renewal estimates. You can also add renewal tasks to an existing invoice if the customer indicates they want to renew their membership.	Details Code—Service code entered when adding a task Name—Display name technicians see when adding the task from the field Item Description—Description of the task that appears on the invoice Price—Standard price of the task General ledger account (income account)—Choose which income account the new service is tied to. Enter the name of the account only. Taxable—Select this box to enable taxable status Commission tab Enter any bonus amounts or commission you want to pay out when the renewal sells. There is no need to enter sold hours on the renewal task. Materials tab Materials are usually not attached to a membership renewal. Equipment tab Equipment is usually not attached to a membership renewal. Workflow tab The number of months is the duration of the renewal (number of months before the renewal membership will expire).	Membership wizard Creating a new sale task is done in the second step of the memberships wizard. If you want to select an existing pricebook task, you can use the Memberships wizard. Click Billing>New Sale Tasks>Existing Tasks. In the Existing Tasks field, select from an existing pricebook task.

Task

Purpose

Fields

Membership Wizard or Pricebook

Create a new sale task

A new sale task is placed on the invoice to sell a membership.

Details

Code—Service code entered when adding a task
Name—Display name technicians see when adding the task from the field
Item Description—Description of the task that appears on the invoice
Price—Standard price of the task
General ledger account (income account)—Choose which income account the new service is tied to. Enter the name of the account only.
Taxable—Select this box to enable taxable status.

Commission tab

Enter a bonus amount or commission you want to pay when the membership sells.

Hours—Sold/billable hours for the task
$ Bonus—Flat rate bonus for this task
% Bonus—Bonus percentage paid for this task
- Pay tech-specific bonus—Selecting this checkbox will pay the Default Adjustment Rate according to the technician's bonus settings. This allows a different percent bonus for each technician.
- Pays Commission—Select this box if the technician should receive a commission for this service.

Materials Tab

Materials are usually not attached to a new membership sale.

Equipment Tab

Equipment is usually not attached to a new membership sale.

Workflow tab

Text in the tab will be automatically populated with the membership name.

Membership wizard

Creating a new sale task is done in the second step of the memberships wizard.

If you want to select an existing pricebook task, you can use the Memberships wizard. Click Billing>New Sale Tasks>Existing Tasks. In the Existing Tasks field, select from an existing pricebook task.

Create a renewal task

Renewal tasks are used when you generate renewal estimates.

You can also add renewal tasks to an existing invoice if the customer indicates they want to renew their membership.

Details

Code—Service code entered when adding a task
Name—Display name technicians see when adding the task from the field
Item Description—Description of the task that appears on the invoice
Price—Standard price of the task
General ledger account (income account)—Choose which income account the new service is tied to. Enter the name of the account only.
Taxable—Select this box to enable taxable status

Commission tab

Enter any bonus amounts or commission you want to pay out when the renewal sells.
There is no need to enter sold hours on the renewal task.

Materials tab

Materials are usually not attached to a membership renewal.

Equipment tab

Equipment is usually not attached to a membership renewal.

Workflow tab

The number of months is the duration of the renewal (number of months before the renewal membership will expire).

Membership wizard

Creating a new sale task is done in the second step of the memberships wizard.

Step 3: Set up recurring services

While you are at a customer job site, you may have time to perform work related to the customer’s membership. By marking a recurring service as complete, you will make sure that the office does not schedule unnecessary work, or work that you have already performed.

Task	Purpose	Fields	Membership Wizard or Pricebook
Create a recurring service type	Every service included with a membership needs to have a separate recurring service type. The recurring service type will determine the frequency of the membership service. To assist customer service representatives, you can enter job details in the Memberships wizard.	Tags—Recommended: Enter a tag for the recurring service. This tag will be applied to all jobs when the service is booked. Invoice template—The invoice template used when the service is booked. Business Unit—Business units allow you to keep multiple business sectors separate. Job Type—Job types are used to preset certain variables when the job is booked, including duration, tags, priority level, and default included services. See How to set up and use Job Types for more information. Priority—Urgency level for the job Campaign—Campaigns help you automatically track the source of all your incoming leads. Job Summary—A description of the job visible to the technician and back office employees Recurrence type—The interval at which the service is repeated. Choose from weekly, monthly, seasonal, or daily Interval—Amount of time between service Duration Type—Choose from a continuous type of duration of if the customer purchased a finite number of visits.	Membership wizard Create deferred revenue tasks in the third step of the Memberships wizard by clicking Recurrences>Create New Service>Save). You can also use the Memberships wizard to attach an existing recurring service (Step Three:Recurrences>Add Recurring Services>Add Existing Service). The deferred revenue tasks are already be on the recurring service invoice template.

Task

Purpose

Fields

Membership Wizard or Pricebook

Create a recurring service type

Every service included with a membership needs to have a separate recurring service type.

The recurring service type will determine the frequency of the membership service.

To assist customer service representatives, you can enter job details in the Memberships wizard.

Tags—Recommended: Enter a tag for the recurring service. This tag will be applied to all jobs when the service is booked.
Invoice template—The invoice template used when the service is booked.
Business Unit—Business units allow you to keep multiple business sectors separate.
Job Type—Job types are used to preset certain variables when the job is booked, including duration, tags, priority level, and default included services. See How to set up and use Job Types for more information.
Priority—Urgency level for the job
Campaign—Campaigns help you automatically track the source of all your incoming leads.
Job Summary—A description of the job visible to the technician and back office employees
Recurrence type—The interval at which the service is repeated. Choose from weekly, monthly, seasonal, or daily
Interval—Amount of time between service
Duration Type—Choose from a continuous type of duration of if the customer purchased a finite number of visits.

Membership wizard

Create deferred revenue tasks in the third step of the Memberships wizard by clicking Recurrences>Create New Service>Save).

You can also use the Memberships wizard to attach an existing recurring service (Step Three:Recurrences>Add Recurring Services>Add Existing Service). The deferred revenue tasks are already be on the recurring service invoice template.

Note: To edit an existing recurring service type, click Settings > Invoicing > Recurring Service Types.

Optional: Set up add-ons for the membership

Task	Purpose	Fields	Membership Wizard or Pricebook
Add membership add-ons	You can customize membership plans with add-on services and add-on charges. When you sell an add-on, the add-on price will be rolled into the membership (the customer does not see a breakdown). If the add-on is for an extra recurring service or recurring service upgrade, these services will automatically appear on the membership.	Set up a pricebook task for each membership add-on. When doing so, you can: Add up-front charges to the membership Add a new recurring service to the membership Upgrade an existing recurring service See How to set up membership add-ons for more information about setting up membership add-ons.	Pricebook Create membership add-ons in the pricebook by clicking Settings>Invoicing>Pricebook). When adding a new service, add the membership add-on price to the Add On Price field in the Details tab.

Task

Purpose

Fields

Membership Wizard or Pricebook

Add membership add-ons

You can customize membership plans with add-on services and add-on charges.

When you sell an add-on, the add-on price will be rolled into the membership (the customer does not see a breakdown).

If the add-on is for an extra recurring service or recurring service upgrade, these services will automatically appear on the membership.

Set up a pricebook task for each membership add-on. When doing so, you can:

Add up-front charges to the membership
Add a new recurring service to the membership
Upgrade an existing recurring service

See How to set up membership add-ons for more information about setting up membership add-ons.

Pricebook

Create membership add-ons in the pricebook by clicking Settings>Invoicing>Pricebook). When adding a new service, add the membership add-on price to the Add On Price field in the Details tab.

Want to learn more?

See Using membership features