Creating a service contract
The contract fields, what each one means and what you can change later without breaking anything.
Creating the contract is the only thing you do by hand. From then on the charges come out on their own.
Before you start
- The client must already be registered. A service hangs off an existing client.
- You do not need the cash drawer open. Creating a contract does not move money: it only declares what the client will owe you. An open drawer is required to collect, not to create.
- You need the
services:writepermission.
The fields
Field | What it is | Details |
|---|---|---|
Client | Who you are billing | Required. Must exist in your book |
Name | What you call the service | Required. Up to 200 characters. E.g.: "Monthly security", "Gym membership" |
Description | Free-form detail | Optional. Up to 2,000 characters |
Amount | What is charged each period | Required. Minimum RD$ 0.01 |
Frequency | How often a charge is issued | Daily, weekly, biweekly (15 days) or monthly (default) |
Grace days | How many days late are tolerated before arrears start running | 10 by default. From 0 to 365 |
Start date | Due date of the first charge | Required |
Assigned agent | Which agent handles it | Optional. Only the owner can assign it |
What happens the moment you create it
- The contract is saved as Active.
- Charge #1 is issued immediately, due on the start date.
- The next period cutoff is scheduled (one month/fortnight/week/day later, depending on frequency).
Nothing is posted to accounting and the cash drawer is untouched: an issued charge is just a receivable. The accounting entry is created when you collect, not when you issue.
The start date
- Today or in the future: this is the normal case. If you set it in the future, charge #1 is issued but with a future due date and accrues no arrears until it comes due.
- In the past: allowed, but up to 31 days back. Older than that and the system rejects it.
Why the 31-day cap? Because the contract materialises at once every charge that "should" have been issued since the start date. A daily contract starting a year ago would generate hundreds of overdue charges in one go. If you truly need to record old history, create the contract with a recent date and collect the outstanding amounts separately.
Assigning an agent
It is optional, but it defines who sees the service:
- With an agent assigned, that agent sees it in their list (and only sees their own).
- Assigning is exclusive to the account owner. If an agent tries to create a service and assign it to someone, they get a permissions error. An agent can create a service without assigning it.
- The agent must be an active member who has already accepted their invitation. If they have not accepted yet, they cannot be assigned.
Errors you may see when creating
Message | What happened | What to do |
|---|---|---|
The client does not exist | The client was deleted or does not belong to your account | Register the client first |
The agent is not an active member | You invited the agent but they have not accepted, or they are no longer active | Wait for them to accept, or leave it unassigned |
Only the owner can assign an agent | An agent tried to assign | Create the service unassigned and let the owner assign it |
The start date cannot be more than 31 days in the past | Start date too old | Use a more recent date |
Editing the contract later
You can change the name, description, amount, frequency and grace days at any time, as long as the contract is not cancelled. A cancelled contract can no longer be edited (it is terminal).
Watch out for the effect of each change: they do not all behave the same:
If you change… | Effect |
|---|---|
Amount | Only affects future charges. Charges already issued keep the amount they were born with |
Grace days | Re-prices the arrears of ALL open charges, not just future ones. Raising the grace lowers (or erases) the arrears you already saw accrued |
Frequency (active contract) | The next charge is re-scheduled from today, with the new cadence. It does not generate retroactive charges |
Frequency (paused contract) | It is saved, but resumes nothing. Charges return only when you reactivate |
Name / description | Cosmetic |
Grace is retroactive and the amount is not. This is the asymmetry that surprises people most: if you raise the grace days on a contract with overdue charges, the arrears you were seeing are recalculated downward instantly.
A note about deleting clients
While a client has an active or paused service, you cannot delete them. Cancel their services first (see Pausing, resuming and cancelling); an already-cancelled service does not block deletion.
Next step
Charges and collections: how to collect what the contract issues.