Method Community

Hi,

I am trying to learn the software before I start using it in real business scenarios; 

Therefore, when I schedule work orders, I am making sure to set both the "due date start" and "due date end" to days and times before today's current date to simulate a job that has been created and already completed.  I make sure to set the status to "not started" and the invoice type to "to be invoiced" to simulate a job that's yet to be "completed" in the database but ready to be invoiced.  A few times, I have successfully created an invoice that displays the correct information including the invoice amount.  However, this does not consistently work, although I follow the exact same steps. 

I always make sure to enter a "job line item" including a price.  I am also sure to "update", "refresh" and then "save" before creating the invoice.  Still the invoice amount usually shows "$0.00" - What could be going on?  Am i doing something incorrectly?

Am I to understand that you can only invoice after a job has been "completed"?  Is there an order of events that i should be following?

Thanks for your help!

Hello Adam,

I like your approach of learning the software before using it in a real business scenario. :)

I'm not sure if you have read the Method Field Services Quick Start Guide, if you haven't then I strongly recommend you do since it would answer most, if not all your questions. You can access the guide by clicking on the following link: http://www.methodintegration.com/web/self-service-documentation.aspx

The 'due date start' and 'due date end' are meant to be a reflection of when the job you are scheduling will take place.

When you enter your 'job line item' do you see the 'amount' for that item? Also when you click on update do you see a 'total amount'? If they show up as $0.00 then you would want to verify you actually have the 'Sales Price' filled in correctly for each item. Based on your reply to these questions we can do further investigation as to why your invoices are showing up with $0.00.

In terms of when you should invoice the work order that depends on your business model. Some companies invoice before they do the jobs and others invoice after. Once you review the Quick Start Guide you would have a better understanding of the process. Let me know if you have further questions once you've read through the guide and actually perform the examples provided.

Thanks for the quick response.

I have indeed read both the Field Services Quick Start Guide and the Method CRM user guide and they have been very helpful.  I made sure to go step by step before contacting you. 

When I enter the "job line item" I do indeed enter the "amount" and when I hit update, the "total amount" does appear in bold under the "amount" I have entered.  I then update, refresh, and save.  The problem occurs when I then hit "create invoice...".  It creates the invoice, and then pops me to the invoice it just created - most of the time the "amount" and "total amount" say "0.00" although they had values when i created the work order.

As far as our business model, we invoice the customer either after every job has been completed (if they are paying per job), or after the first job in a series of jobs (if they pay the upfront seasonal price).  I hope Method allows invoices to be created in both scenarios.

Thanks for your help,

Adam Shew

 Hi Adam,

I'm unable to replicate the scenario you are encountering with the invoice being $0.00. Have you done any customization to the FieldService_AddEditWorkOrder or FieldService_CreateInvoice(s) or Invoice screens? Can you try copying the original 'FieldService_AddEditWorkOrder' screen and then try entering work orders and converting them to invoices and let me know if you still encounter the same issue.

Yes, Method would support both scenarios. 

Keep me posted.

Amanda,

I have not done any customization on screens. I double checked just to make sure.  I copied the screen as you suggested but the problem persists when I create an invoice.  Still shows "$0.00".  I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with creating the job start and end dates before the current date because I've successfully created an invoice a few times before using that process.

Just to clarify...it has worked only a few times before.  Now it doesn't at all.  Thanks for all your help!

 Hi Adam,

Thanks for all the info. At this point it is probably best for you to contact your Business Systems Consultant and they can log on to your account and do some further investigation.

FYI, I've had the "0" replacing an entered amount issue on several occasions.