Controlling how charges appear on invoices and quotes: labour lines, dates, addresses and rates

This article answers common questions about how charges look on your invoices and quotes. It covers combining labour lines, showing dates, invoice numbers and references, staff names, GST totals, site addresses on quotes, and fixing rates, markup and supplier invoice charges.

How do I combine several labour lines into one line on an invoice?

If the same labour item appears on several lines, you can combine them on the finished invoice. This also works when a lunch break splits a day's time into two entries.

1. Open the invoice and select Preview & Send > Print Options.
2. Select a section and tick Combine Duplicate Line Items.
3. Select Apply to All Sections to use it across the invoice.
4. Select Set as default to use it on future invoices.

You'll still see the separate lines while you edit the invoice. They're combined on the finished version your customer receives. Lines only combine when they use the same labour item and rate.

For more on these settings, see Customising your Quotes & Invoices.

Can I combine labour from different staff or labour rates into one line?

Not with Combine Duplicate Line Items, as that only combines identical items. Instead, you can show the section total only:

1. Rename the section to "Labour".
2. Go to Preview & Send > Print Options.
3. Select the section and choose Hide All Line Items.

The customer then sees only the section name and its total, so the invoice won't show who did the work. To keep track of who worked on the job, have staff timesheet against the job. You can then see each person's hours in the job's Charges.

How do I reduce someone's hours on an invoice without showing a negative line?

Make the change on the invoice, not on the charge. This leaves the staff member's timesheet unchanged.

1. On the invoice, add a labour line with the hours you're taking off as a negative (for example, -1).
2. Use the exact same labour rate as the hours you're reducing.
3. Turn on Combine Duplicate Line Items in Print Options (see above).

The invoice then shows the net total, for example 7 hours instead of 8 hours and -1 hour. The customer doesn't see the deduction line.

How do I show the date of each timesheet entry on invoice lines?

1. Open the invoice and select Preview & Send > Print Options.
2. Unhide the Date field.

The date the work was done then shows against each line item. You can't show the time range (start and finish times) on the invoice itself. If your customer wants to see time ranges, you can send a timesheet report alongside the invoice.

Why doesn't my invoice have an invoice number?

If your account uses Xero's invoice numbering, the invoice won't have a number in NextMinute yet. Xero assigns the official invoice number when you sync the draft invoice to Xero. Until then it stays as a draft.

See How to sync NextMinute invoices with Xero/MYOB/QuickBooks.

How do I show staff names against labour lines?

Time is attributed to the user who is logged in when it's entered. If one person enters everyone's time from their own login, it all shows under their name. To show each worker's name on the invoice, either:

• Type the staff member's name into the line item description, or
• Create a custom labour rate in that person's name and select it when logging their time.

Can the invoice Reference show the job title instead of the job number?

No. The invoice Reference can only pull the job number by default.

Can section totals show the price including GST?

There's no automatic way to show GST-inclusive prices in section totals. Some users type the GST-inclusive price into the section description instead. This has to be typed manually and appears differently from the section total.

How do I show the job's site address on a quote instead of the customer's address?

The customer details in the quote header show the customer's billing details. That area isn't designed to show the site address. To show the site address:

1. Add a Site to the job. See Adding a Site for a Job or task.
2. In your quote template, use the Site Address or Job Address merge field. See Merge Fields.

If the customer isn't showing in the header, click into the header, select Customer, and attach them. Quotes created from a job usually pull the customer through automatically.

Adding a customer to a job afterwards doesn't update quotes that already exist. The best order is: create the job, attach the customer, then create the quote.

How do I quote separate pieces of work at different sites for the same customer?

You have two options:

• Separate jobs: Create a job for each quote. On each job, use the Site Address field to create a Site linked to the original customer. Then use the Job Address merge field in the quote header to pull through the job's address.
• Same job: Create the quotes on the same job and edit each quote header manually to include the address. When you create tasks from the quote, adjust each task's address manually.

Estimates and jobs each have their own numbering, so when an estimate is accepted a new job number is created. This can't currently be changed.

How do I change the sell rate on labour charges already added to a job?

Job Specific Rates don't change charges that are already on the job. See How to assign 'Job Specific Rates' to an individual job. To update existing labour charges, you can:

• Edit them one by one: Update each labour charge's sell rate. This is slow if you have a lot to change.
• Reset them to list prices:
• Note the current sell prices of the labour rates used on the job.
• Temporarily change those sell prices in Sale Items > Labour Rates.
• In the job's Charges, click Select items > All labour items.
• Click Selected items > Reset to list prices. This updates the charges to the buy and sell prices in your labour rates.
• Check the charges, then change the labour rates in Sale Items back to their original sell prices.

Changing them back stops the temporary prices affecting other jobs.

Why aren't my supplier invoices showing in the job's charges?

Supplier invoices only appear in Charges if they're added as actual charges.

• Bringing bills through from Xero adds them as actual charges. See Xero Bills Import to NextMinute.
• If you add them manually with Quick Add, select Add as Actual Charge.

For supplier invoices already added without this, go to Job > Charges > Import > Supplier Invoices. Import any that don't show "Added as a charge" in green.

Why do my materials show the same buy and sell price?

Your default markup is applied when you add a material to a quote or invoice. So the Materials list can show the same buy and sell price, but the markup is still applied on the quote or invoice. See How to set your Default Rates & Markup/Margin.

The Xero integration doesn't interact with your materials or pricing, so disconnecting or reconnecting Xero won't change them.

Supplier invoices imported from Xero use their own default markup. Set it in Admin > Suppliers > Supplier Invoice Import Defaults. When it's turned on, the Set markup to box is already ticked when you import.