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Invoicing billing with Revenue recognition

Updated

Once you've set up a billing plan for a job, you can turn it into a draft invoice in seconds. This saves time at month end and keeps invoicing consistent. You can also use revenue recognition to match when you invoice the client with when you actually recognise the income in your accounts — particularly useful for retainers, milestone work and long-term projects.

This article explains how to invoice from a billing plan and how to set up revenue recognition.

How to invoice from a billing plan

You can invoice from the Billing Plan tab on a job. Whether you're invoicing one plan or several at once, the process is the same.

  1. Open the job.
  2. Go to the Billing Plan tab.
  3. Tick the checkbox next to each billing plan you want to invoice. You can select one or multiple plans at once.
  4. The Actions buttons will appear at the bottom of the list.
  5. With your billing plans selected, click Actions. Choose one of two options:
    • Invoice selected using BP content — Creates a draft invoice using the description you entered in the billing plan.
    • Invoice selected using quote content — Creates a draft invoice based on any linked quote. Choose this if your invoice needs to match the quote structure your client approved.
  6. Click Create invoice.

A draft invoice will open, pre-populated with the amounts, dates and descriptions from your billing plan or quote. You can review it and make any final adjustments before sending.

Tip: Invoice from multiple billing plans at once to speed up month end. Just tick all the plans you want to invoice in one go.

What happens next

The draft invoice is ready to review. You can:

  • Edit it — Adjust line items, descriptions, amounts or dates before submitting.
  • Submit it — Mark it as a real invoice and send to the client.
  • Discard it — Delete it without affecting the billing plan or job.

The billing plan itself remains unchanged. You can invoice from the same plan again later if needed.

Revenue recognition with billing plans

When you invoice a client, the invoice date and the date you recognise the income don't always match. With retainers, milestone work or long-term projects, you might invoice upfront but recognise the revenue gradually. Synergist handles this through revenue recognition.

When you create a draft invoice from a billing plan, the auto phase allocation menu gives you the option to allocate revenue as BP (billing plan). This uses your planned and recognised values to calculate two things:

  • Invoice billed — The amount that appears on the invoice sent to the client.
  • Recognise now — The amount of revenue you recognise in the current period, based on your revenue recognition plan.

For example, you might invoice a client £3,000 for a three-month retainer in January, but recognise £1,000 in January, £1,000 in February and £1,000 in March. The invoice shows £3,000, but your revenue is spread across three months.

Note: Revenue recognition rules depend on your accounting standards (for example, IFRS 15 or ASC 606) and your specific contract terms with the client. Set up your billing plan's revenue recognition plan to match your obligations before invoicing.

Tips

  • Use the billing plan's description field to store text that should appear on every invoice. This keeps your invoicing consistent without retyping each month.
  • Review the draft invoice carefully before submitting. Check amounts, dates and any custom descriptions match what the client expects.
  • If you're using revenue recognition, confirm your planned and recognised values are correct in the billing plan before creating the invoice.
  • Test your revenue recognition setup with one invoice before rolling it out across multiple plans.

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