Manual Invoice Building
The manual method lets you move through each billing section and decide what should be added to the invoice.
Bill Fixed Fee Work in Progress
For fixed fee phases, you can bill work in progress manually. BaseBuilders uses the available WIP for each fixed fee phase and creates the invoice line items.
You can bill phases one at a time, bill the remaining amount, or use Rocket Billing within that section to bill multiple fixed fee phases at once.
Once billed, BaseBuilders shows the fixed fee totals, including fee amount, prior billings, bill-to-date, and the current amount being billed.
Bill Hourly Time
For hourly phases, BaseBuilders displays the available billable time slips.
You can select time slips one by one, select all available time slips, or remove specific time slips if you do not want to bill them on the current invoice.
Once the time slips are added, BaseBuilders creates the hourly billing lines using the billing rates and quantities tied to those slips.
You can edit invoice quantities if needed, but this should be done carefully. The cleaner approach is usually to make sure the underlying time slips and project billing setup are correct before billing.
Remove Time from an Invoice
If a time slip was added to the invoice and should not be billed, you can remove it from the invoice.
This does not delete the time slip. It only removes that time slip from the invoice so it can remain unbilled or be billed later.
Bill Expenses
Expenses can be added to the invoice one at a time. As expenses are added, BaseBuilders updates the invoice totals.
Bill Specialty Services
Specialty services can also be added manually or with Rocket Billing. These are billed based on the available billable services entered on the project.
Bill Pass-Through Items
If the project includes pass-through items, you can add those to the invoice as well.
Add Discounts or Add-Ons
Before reviewing the invoice, you can add discounts or add-ons if needed.
Discounts may also be created automatically when BaseBuilders detects that a not-to-exceed limit has been exceeded.
Review the Invoice
After billing items have been added, go to the review step.
The review screen summarizes the invoice by billing category, such as:
Fixed fee billing
Hourly billing
Expenses
Specialty services
Pass-through items
Discounts
Total invoice amount
This gives you a final checkpoint before saving the invoice.
Not-to-Exceed Warnings and Discounts
If the project has not-to-exceed limits and the current invoice would bill beyond those limits, BaseBuilders warns you before finalizing the invoice.
When this happens, you can choose how to proceed:
Add discounts to bring the invoice back within the not-to-exceed limits
Continue editing the invoice
Proceed without adding the discounts
If you choose to add discounts, BaseBuilders adds discount line items to the invoice. This allows the client to see what was billed, where the overage occurred, and how the invoice was reduced to honor the contract limit.
Preview the Draft Invoice
After saving, BaseBuilders creates the draft invoice.
The invoice preview shows the client-facing invoice, including your company logo, billing information, fixed fee phases, hourly billing, expenses, specialty services, pass-through items, and any discounts that were added.
If not-to-exceed discounts were applied, those discounts appear directly on the invoice so the client sees the adjustment.
Deleting a Draft Invoice
If you need to start over, you can delete a draft invoice.
When a draft invoice is deleted, BaseBuilders unbills the items that were tied to that invoice. Those items become available again for billing on a new invoice.
Using Rocket Billing
Rocket Billing is the faster way to create an invoice.
Instead of moving tab by tab through fixed fees, hourly time, expenses, services, and pass-through items, Rocket Billing can gather the billable items based on the parameters you provide.
When creating the invoice, choose the billing date or date range you want Rocket Billing to use. You can also choose whether to bill available WIP.
Once launched, Rocket Billing pulls the eligible billable items onto the invoice automatically, including applicable discounts for not-to-exceed limits when needed.
After Rocket Billing finishes, you can still review and edit the invoice before saving it.
Rocket Billing Does Not Lock You In
Rocket Billing automates invoice creation, but it does not take control away from you.
You can still edit the invoice, remove items, adjust billing, review the totals, and make changes before the invoice is approved or issued.
The invoice remains your invoice. Rocket Billing simply does the repetitive billing work faster.
Invoice Status After Creation
Once the invoice is created, it begins as a draft invoice.
From there, it can be reviewed, approved, and issued according to your billing workflow.
This gives your team a chance to confirm the invoice before it becomes final.
Best Practice
Use the manual method when you need close control over exactly which items are billed.
Use Rocket Billing when the project activity is already clean and ready to bill. This is usually the faster option for routine monthly billing because BaseBuilders can gather the billable work, expenses, services, pass-throughs, and applicable discounts automatically.
Summary
BaseBuilders gives you two ways to create an invoice. You can build it manually, one billing section at a time, or use Rocket Billing to automate the process.
Manual billing gives you detailed control. Rocket Billing gives you speed. In either case, you can review the invoice, make changes, handle not-to-exceed limits, and save the invoice as a draft before it is approved or issued.