Configure memberships for revenue paid up frontLast updated on 09/14/2022

Last updated on 04/29/19

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.

Things to know
Step 1: Add a membership
Step 2: Complete additional setup
Optional: Set up add-ons for the membership

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 navigation bar and click the Settings icon. In the side panel, click Invoicing>Membership Types.
Click Add.
In the Basics section, add membership basics, then click Save & Next.
In the Billing section, click One Time.
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: Complete additional setup

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

Set up tasks for the membership

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.

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.

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.

Want to learn more?

Watch Introduction to Memberships
See Using membership features

Important note: Some features may not be currently included in your account and additional configuration may be required. Please contact technical support for details.