Progress Payments

Overview

Progress Payments is used to setup your jobs payment stages, add sales invoices and payments received. You can customise each jobs payment stage with the number of stages required, details of each stage, and claim % amount. You can even setup default payment stages to select from to save time setting up in the future.

It features a 'Withhold Deposit Received' option, so you can start running the job cash flow positive. Then add the deposit withheld back into your last payment stage claim.

Track your balance owed, and keep your client updated on the amount owing throughout the building process. This includes the job Prime Costs, Provisional Sums, and Variations.


User Tips

  • Setup your job Payment Stages before adding your first Sales Invoice.
  • Always add Sales Invoices to each Payment Stage in chronological order.

Toolbar


Save

This will save all changes to current job open.


New Payment Stage

This adds a new Payment Stage to the Progress Payments view.

Learn more


Delete Payment Stage

This will delete the selected Payment Stage in the Progress Payments view.


Move Payment Stages

Use your mouse cursor to drag & drop a Payment Stage up or down. SoloAssist will automatically renumber the payment stages to suit their new locations.


New Sales Invoice

This adds a new Sales Invoice for the selected Payment Stage.

Learn more


Delete Sales Invoice

This deletes the selected Sales Invoice from the Payment Stage its been raised in.


Apply Payment

Lets you apply a received payment against the selected Sales Invoice.


Print Invoice

Opens the print setup of the selected Sales Invoice so you can Preview, Print or Save to PDF.


Progress Summary

Opens the Progress Summary for contract claim methods, Lump Sum (% Complete monthly / fortnightly) or Cost Plus. This is not used for standard fixed price and payment stage contracts.

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Progress Payments Settings

Opens the Progress Payment Settings so you can setup or edit the default text on Sales Invoice and Business Terms & Conditions. It also lets you customise the default Payment Stage selections. This makes it easier and faster for you to set up each jobs Progress Payments.

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Sales Invoice

This is where you setup the default Sales Invoice Terms & Conditions and Comment.

Payment Stages (default)

This is where you setup and edit your default payment stages to select from when setting up Progress Payments claim stages for each job.


() Add Payment Stage

To add a new default payment stage, select the add symbol () then change the Stage Name to the 'New Payment Stage' name required. Then fill-in the Description and % Claimed fields. Then click OK.


() Delete Payment Stage

To delete a default payment stage, select the Payment Stage, then select the delete symbol ().


Help Centre

This opens the SoloAssist Help Centre to the topic you are currently in.


Terminology

Sales Invoice

A Sales Invoice is typically raise for a job Deposit, Payment Stage, Variation, or an adjustment to Prime Cost or Provisional Sum allowances for the job.

Variations - Approved / Unapproved

1) Unapproved Variations will not show in Cost Control or Progress Payments until they are marked as Approved.

2) Variations set up with Bill to Client selected, will only show in Progress Payments.

Job #

Ensure you always enter a Job number into the Job Details when first starting a quote/job. The Sales Invoice number incorporates the Job # into its Invoice number.

This is handy for tracking job payments on your bank statement and reconciling them with the Jobs Sales Invoices in SoloAssist.

The Job # is also required for sending to MYOB & Xero.

PC and PS Item Credits

The PC & PS item credits back to the client, are default setup in SoloAssist to automatically deducted from the final Payment Stage claim.

If the PC & PS item credits are not balancing in the final Payment Stage, try the following.

1) Make sure you have entered the Actual Costs of each PC & PS against their respective budgets in Job Specifications.

2) Delete any unused Payment Stages marked as N/A in Progress Payments.

3) Make sure all Sales Invoices have been raised against each Payment Stage and the payments received to date have been applied against them.

XERO, MYOB Connection

For more information, see our XERO and MYOB Connection pages.

XERO Connection MYOB Connection

How do I...

Withhold Deposit Received

Withhold Deposit Received

This option is available in the 1st and final Payment Stages only. It's typically used for Lump Sum and Cost Plus claim methods.

When selecting Withhold Deposit Received, it appies a rule to the 1st Payment Stage typically called Deposit. Once selected you will not be able to raise multiple Sales Invoice for this stage. Once a Sales Invoice is added to this payment stage, it will park/withhold the received amount, not allowing it to calculate into the Totals Received amount. This will add positive cash flow to help run your job. Then in your final payment stage sales invoice, it allows you to deselect the Apply Deposit Withheld to add it back into the Totals Received amount. This then balances your Totals Received amount.

Add Sales Invoices, Preview, Print, Email

When printing reports from SoloAssist, select the Microsoft Print to PDF printer option, then select Preview. After reviewing the document in Preview, select Print and save the file to PDF. Then you can attach the PDF file to email.

Try the steps below.


Step 1) Select the Payment Stage you want to raise the Sales Invoice for.


Step 2) Select New Sales Invoice from the toolbar above, then select OK.


Step 3) Open the Payment Stage and select the sales invoice, then select Print Sales Invoice from the toolbar.


Step 4) Select the Printer type to print or save to PDF, then select Preview.


Step 5) In Print Preview, select Print to print or save to PDF.

Create multiple Sales Invoices for a Payment Stage?

Payment Stage amounts cannot be split within the same Payment Stage.

If you want to split a Payment Stage amount into two (2) separate Sales Invoices, you will need to create a new Payment Stage to split the amounts.

User Tip: Payment Stages can have multiple Sales Invoices and Sales Invoices can receive multiple payments.

Move a client credit into the next Payment Stage?

To move client credit into the next Payment Stage, follow the steps below.


Step 1
Add a new Sales Invoice to the Payment Stage.

Step 2
In the Items (tab), make sure the Items are selected (with a green tick). This will add there amounts into the Sales Invoice.

Step 3
Select the Payments (tab) and enter a received amount of 1 cent. e.g: $0.01 (Then click OK).

Step 4
After closing the Sales Invoice, the balance owing should have now moved to the next Payment Stage below. It should now be showing in red, as an Unclaimed Overpaid Residual in the Claim Amount column.

Note
a) A Sales Invoice cannot accept a received amount of $0.00

b) A Sales Invoice raised has to have a payment applied otherwise the payment stage will not calculate correctly.

Troubleshooting

Contract Total Lock - Adjustments

When the Contract Total has been locked, it will only allow you to set up progress payment claims to the Contract Total locked amount. After a Contract Total has been locked, a contract total adjustment can only be made through Variations or PC & PS Actual Costs in Job Specifications. The Progress Payments view will then show the Revised Contract Total.

Unlocking the Contract Total will cause SoloAssist to re-calculate the Contract Total to any previous adjustments made. If you have done this, then you will need to open the Contract Total Lock window and re-enter the original Contract Total amount again, then lock it. You should find your Progress Payment claim stages have re-balanced back to the Contract Total amount.

If you have run the job with the Contract Total unlocked and made adjustments that have affected the Contract Total amount, and you have to raise progress payment claims as well, then after re-entering the Contract Total and locking it, you will need to re-enter the Progress Payments Sales Invoices with the payments received in date order from the start of the job to re-balance the claim stages. You may also have to Unapprove then Reapprove some of your Variations so each claim stage balances correctly.

Claim Method - Lump Sum (% Complete / week / fortnight / month)
If you have manually adjusted the Contract Total in the Contract Total Lock window, and you're using a Lump Sum (% Complete) claim method in the Progress Summary, you will then need to adjust a Cost Centre in Cost Control to the same difference of the Contract Total manual adjustment to balance your claim amounts.

Payment Stage total isn't adding into a Sales Invoice?

Typically, this issue is caused by not entering a Payment Stage Description. Once entered, the Sales Invoice of its Payment Stage should allow its Payment Stage total to toggle between included () and not included (). By default, it should auto display as included.