Every maintenance job has a billing mode
When you create a recurring maintenance job, you choose how it bills: per visit (the default), a monthly or weekly flat rate, or externally (no in-app billing). The mode, the billing schedule, and any extra charges all live on the job itself, so different customers — and even different jobs for the same customer — can bill differently.
Flat-rate jobs bill the base rate automatically on the job's billing anchor date even if there were zero completed visits that period. If a customer shouldn't be charged for a period with no service, use per-visit billing instead — it only bills completed visits.
The three billing modes
| Billing mode | How it bills |
|---|---|
| Per Visit (default) | Each completed visit is billed. Visits aggregate onto invoices according to the job's billing schedule. |
| Monthly / weekly flat rate | The flat base rate bills automatically on the job's billing anchor date — even if there were zero completed visits that period. Extra visits beyond the included count can bill as overage. |
| Bill Externally | No in-app billing for the job. Use this when the job is billed outside Pool Founder. |
$0-rate jobs are allowed — for example, chemicals-only billing where the service rate is $0 and only chemical charges are billed.
Set up billing on a job
- 1On the job (the create form or the job's page), pick a billing mode from the tabs: Per Visit, Monthly (flat rate plus a "First Bill Date"), or Bill Externally.
- 2Choose a billing schedule: manual only, after a set number of visits, monthly from a start date, monthly on a fixed day, weekly from start, or weekly on a fixed day. The form previews "Next invoice: {date}" so you can confirm it before saving.
- 3In the Chemical Billing section, choose how chemicals bill: billed separately, all included, or partially included (with allowances).
- 4Use Add recurring charge to add recurring line items (e.g. "Chemical fee") billed "Per invoice" or "Per visit" alongside the base rate.
Billing mode is set per job. To switch many jobs at once, push it from their job template — which lets you send the billing change alone, so every pool keeps the price you negotiated for it.
The Maintenance Billing page: your worklist
The Maintenance Billing page (Billing → Maintenance in the sidebar) is a unified worklist of every maintenance job's billing state — not a period report. Each row is a job (or a consolidated customer rollup) with a status badge that tells you whether anything needs your attention:
| Badge | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready to invoice | A per-visit job with uninvoiced completed visits. Click Create Invoice — a confirm dialog shows the visits included and the total before anything is created. |
| Scheduled date + Auto-billed | A flat-rate job that bills itself on the shown date — nothing to do. Jobs set to bill on zero completions also show a Bills without service badge. |
| Suspended | The job is suspended, so scheduled billing isn't running. |
| No visits yet | A flat-rate job with no completed visits this period (and "bill without service" off) — no invoice will generate. |
| Consolidated | A customer-level rollup of enrolled jobs billing as one invoice — shown as one row with the jobs enrolled, and auto-billed. See consolidated billing. |
Summary tiles at the top show the Pending total (charges ready to invoice now) and the Scheduled Monthly total (what auto-bills on schedule). Rows needing action sort first, and you can search by customer or job name.
Recurring line items
Recurring line items are flat recurring charges on a maintenance job — a monthly chemical fee, an equipment rental — billed per invoice or per visit alongside the base rate, and shown as their own line on the invoice. On an existing job, manage them through the Recurring line items dialog.
- Job templates carry recurring charges too: open Job Templates, edit a template, and use the Recurring charges section.
- Template recurring charges pre-fill on new jobs created from that template.
- Apply changes to open jobs pushes the template's recurring charges to jobs linked to it. A template with no recurring charges leaves each job's own charges alone.
Queue a one-off charge on the next invoice
An ad-hoc charge — a repair, a part — can ride along as its own line item on a maintenance job's next invoice instead of going out as a separate one-time invoice.
- 1Open the customer's maintenance job page and find the Queued for Next Invoice card.
- 2Click Add charge, fill in a "Description" (e.g. "Acid wash, equipment swap") and an "Amount", then click Add charge.
- 3Queued charges are listed with a running total; the trash icon removes one before it bills.
- 4When the job's next invoice generates, the charges attach automatically as their own line items.
The "Queued for Next Invoice" card only appears on monthly- or weekly-billed maintenance jobs — per-visit jobs don't have it. If the charge came from a work order, complete the work order as usual and don't create a separate invoice for it — work orders never invoice automatically. See work order billing.
Chemical billing options
- Billed separately — chemicals used on visits are billed to the customer.
- All included — chemicals are covered by the service rate.
- Partially included — per-visit allowances, with usage beyond the allowance billed as overage.
- Alternatively, charge a flat chemical fee as a recurring line item instead of billing by usage.
Customer-level consolidated billing
A customer can be switched to one consolidated invoice on a customer-level monthly or weekly schedule that rolls up their enrolled flat-rate jobs — useful when one customer has several jobs and you want a single bill. It's enabled per customer, with its own fee-passing and bill-without-visits options. Full walkthrough: consolidated billing.
Charge a specific card for one job (AutoPay override)
A maintenance job's page has an AutoPay card card that controls which saved payment method autopays that job. By default it's Use customer default — the customer's standing AutoPay card. Pick a specific saved card instead and only this job charges it, so one customer can pay different jobs (say, different properties) on different cards.
- A per-job card makes the job bill on its own schedule — it won't be combined into the customer's consolidated invoice.
- If the customer's AutoPay is currently off, the chosen card takes effect once AutoPay is enabled for the customer.
- Selecting Use customer default clears the override and the job goes back to the standing AutoPay card.
Seasonal schedules
Jobs can have seasonal rate and frequency segments across the year — for example, a higher rate and weekly visits in summer, and a lower rate with fewer visits in winter.
Frequently asked questions
Will maintenance bill automatically even if no visits happened?
Yes, for monthly or weekly flat-rate jobs — the base rate bills on the anchor date regardless of completions. Per-visit jobs bill only completed visits.
How do I charge a flat chemical fee or equipment rental separately from the rate?
Add a recurring line item on the maintenance job. It bills per invoice or per visit and shows as its own line.
Can I queue a repair charge on a per-visit job?
No — the "Queued for Next Invoice" card only exists on monthly- or weekly-billed maintenance jobs. Per-visit jobs don't have it.
Can I have a job with a $0 rate?
Yes. $0-rate jobs are allowed — for example, chemicals-only billing where only chemical charges are billed.