PROJECTS - More flexibility with task and pricing

PROJECTS - More flexibility with task and pricing

Hi Everyone,
I would like to use PROJECTS in my Zoho Booking app but it does not fit into my business.
For example: I charge per sessions fixed price. My session usually are 2 hours  and I bill the customer on the end of the month. My session can have different time length and different fee. Generally, I charge per session and if someone booked the session and did not come I still charge for it. I cannot set it up with current properties of the PROJECT options. It can be done but it is too much clicking and the report or invoice could be misleading as there is only option per hour as a billing rate.
Let's analyse how the PROJECTS can be improved  based on car mechanics business:

Billing Method:
1)  Fixed cost per project -  this option is fine, mechanic can agree with customer that the car will be repaired for the fixed fee no matter of how long it takes. But if mechanic would like to do teaching session charging £100 for 2 hour session , this will not fit into this option. Mechanic would need to create for each session new project - not good option - better to invoice each time.

2) Based on project hours -  this option has a fixed rate per hour.  Project can be split into different tasks like changing  tyres in the car or changing the brake pads etc . But ... still not perfect when it comes to teaching and charging per session. It can be that for each session there is new task, but too much clicking and misleading hourly rate instead sessions. Imagine that you have 5 students for each teaching session you have to spend a bit of time to register it. 

3) Based on task hours -  this one is the most close almost perfect for those who charge clients per session. Each task can have separate rate but there is only option per hour. Perfect for mechanic who can say that changing the engine will cost more per hours as require more experienced mechanic where topping up the oil can be done by les experienced employee. 
Probably most of the business will be charging per hour as it is the most profitable approach, but when you are teaching , you know that 2 hours session is booked, it would be better just by one click record that student came for the session, instead two clicks like start the session and end of the session and adjusting the time when you finished session just 10 minutes late. Better to have just one click to record the attendance. 

in my opinion following option for the task would add much more flexibility for many businesses. Each task could be billed by:  
  1. hour - it is billed for every minute spend on this task - the only option which is currently available
  2. per session - it is billed fixed amount per each session, no matter if it take 5 minutes more or less
  3. simple  - billed just per task, each task with different rate and no time counting.

than our mechanic could for each student create project and for different teaching subject have different task. Theory of car design could be charged per session - each time when student come for lecture, it can be clicked the task button and it automatically register the date of the session. On the end of the billing period it list when and how many session were taken and listed on the invoice.  Practical teaching could be charged by hours, and like above it will later list when and how many hours were taken.  Exams and feedback could be billed as simple task.

In such situation this option should be called : "based on task " instead based on task hour

Also task could be listed as sale items, than the question is what is the difference to invoice client vs creating the project for client.
well, if the client come for session once out of blue moon, the invoice is the best option. But if we have regular client it is unpractical to send 20 invoices per month. It is better to create project with no fixed time and billing the client on regular basis like a month.  It could be said that just open a draft invoice and add manually item as a session to it. Well, project have timesheet with listed opened tasks , there is a list for projects what allow quickly access the particular project and client. There is dashboard space for quick access to projects. Do I need every time search the client and manually list time and date for the session in the invoice? Also projects have a budget expenses etc. In my opinion, above option for the task, would give many businesses more flexibilities to monitor regular clients. Each business is different, but one common denominator for all of us it time. We do not want to spend hours fiddling  with the invoices and monitoring revenue from clients. Projects option is great idea in accounting app. But probably there is a question where to draw the line how complex it should be in the accounting app as there is separate Project app? 

4) based on staff hour -  this is self explanatory, I do not have a staff members so probably I cannot  have more detailed look into this option. 


let me know what you think about it
M
 

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Books

        How do I manually insert opening balance?

      • Profit / margins on Sales orders / Invoices / Estimates

        When we select an SKU or item name in any of these documents, much info such as invoice.line_items.rate is pulled from the item & filled into the document being worked on. If we had another lineItem DB field (hidden) auto filled at the same time: invoice.line_items.purchase_rate

      • Inventory to Xero Invocie Sync Issues

        Has anyone had an issue with Invoices not syncing to Xero. It seems to be an issue when there is VAT on a shipping cost, but I cannot be 100% as the error is vague: "Unable to export Invoice 'INV-000053' as the account mapped with some items does not

      • How to activate RFQ? What if a price list has ladder price for items?

        Where can I find the option to activate request for quotation? How does it work? If the item has ladder price, does it gets calculated depending on how many items are in the cart?

      • Mailk got blocked / Inquiry About Email Sending Limits and Upgrade Options

        Dear Zoho Support Team, My name is Kamr Elsayed I created this account to use for applying for vocational training in Germany. As part of this process, I send multiple emails to different companies. However, after sending only 8 emails today, I received

      • Can't join canal Developers Zoho User

        Hello, I received an invitation to join this channel, but I get an error when I try to join it, and I get the same error when I go to the Zoho Cliq interface > Search for a channel. Is this because I don't have a license linked to this email address?

      • Desk Email reply - set default font / use custom font

        Hello, in our e-mails, which we send to our customers, a certain font must be used (Corporate Design): Segoe UI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segoe#Segoe_UI How can this be included? How can this be set as the default font to ensure that this font is

      • PDF Templates - Checkbox Borders

        Is there a way to remove the border of a radio/checkbox on a PDF? I'd like to use the function of checkbox but if there's no easy way to remove the border (the PDF form already has a rectangle so it gets cluttered), then I'm forced to create a single

      • Settings Icon No Longer in ZOHO Desk?

        In ZOHO desk, there has been a gear icon for settings. as of yesterday, it is no longer there. I showed up briefly this morning but is gone again. Anybody else experiecing this?

      • Introducing the all-new email parser!

        Greetings, We are pleased to introduce to you, a brand-new, upgraded version of the Zoho CRM Email Parser, which is packed with fresh features and has been completely redesigned to meet latest customers needs and their business requirements. On that note,

      • Tip #43 - Track, Review, and Analyze Your Assist Sessions with Reports-'Insider Insights'

        Did you know you can generate detailed reports for both remote support sessions and unattended access sessions in Zoho Assist? This makes it easy to monitor technician activity, measure efficiency, and review customer interactions. Let us now take a closer

      • Function #20: Custom calculation in item table of invoices

        When you create an invoice in Zoho Books, the 'Amount' of a line item is typically calculated as the product of the "Quantity" and the "Rate" of the item. For instance, if an item has a sales rate of $50 and a quantity of 5 is sold, then the amount would

      • CBSA - GST CHARGES on imports

        Hi there, We have a questions about landed cost categorization. We received a shipment from overseas. CBSA invoiced us for the GST on the items. Now we entered the CBSA-GST as a separate bill and attached it as landed cost to the main invoice based on

      • Simplified Call Logging

        Our organization would like to start logging calls in our CRM; however, with 13 fields that can't be removed, our team is finding it extremely cumbersome. For our use case, we only need to record that a call happened theirfor would only need the following

      • Sub form doesn't as formula field

        Is it possible to get formula field in sub form in futures?

      • Week date range in pivot table

        Hello, I need to create a report that breakouts the data by week.  I am using the pivot table report, and breaking out the date by week, however the date is displayed as 'Week 1 2014' format.  Is there anyway to get the actual dates in there? ex. 1/6/2014-1/12/2014 Thanks,

      • How do I get Status History data of my Projects?

        I want to build a table in Zoho Analytics that Groups by Date, when Projects entered a certain status. I cannot find Status History or any such useful data available in the Setup of my Data Source sync. Please advise how I can achieve this?

      • Is it possible to hide fields in a Subform?

        Since layout rules cannot be used with Subforms, is there another way, or is it even possible, to hide fields in a subform based on a picklist fields within said subform? For example, if the Service Provided is Internet, then I do not want to see the

      • Weekly Tips :Instantly find what you need with Attachment Viewer

        Your inbox must be packed with project emails, shared notes, and scattered attachments. You are looking for one specific file—a presentation slide or maybe a media clip from a team update—but don’t want to dig through endless email threads or switch between

      • Putting Watermark on Zoho Sheet

        Can this be done?

      • Missing Zoho Desk integration option for form workflows

        According to the help page "Configure Zoho Desk integration in form workflows" we should be able to select Zoho Desk as an integration target but when I open the integrations list then Zoho Desk is not being listed in it. We are on the Premium plan which should already support Zoho Desk integrations.

      • Gantt for 2 or more projects

        Hello, I'm trying the free version of your produtc. It is veryyy good!!!! I don't know if in the Standard plan, I can overview a Gantt Graph for 2 or more Projects Milestone. This would be very helpfull for managing teams and taking decisions about who I will assign a task to. In the paid plan Do I have this possibility? Thank you.

      • Integrating a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into Reports

        Is is possible to integrate a Zoho Project Gantt Chart into a Zoho Report Dashboard. I am in the process of creating Project Status Dashboards for the projects that we track in Zoho Projects and I would like to incorporate the gantt chart within Reports.  Please let me know! Thanks

      • ZOHO BOOKS - EXCESSIVELY SLOW TODAY

        Dear Zoho Books This is not the first time but it seems to be 3 times per week now that the system is extremely slow. I work on Zoho Books 95% of my day so this is very frustrating. Zoho you need to do something about this. I have had my IT guy check

      • Gantt Chart - Zoho Analytics

        Are there any plans to add Gantt Charts capabilities to Zoho Analytics?

      • Displaying related quotes in sales order and back

        Hi, My colleague liked to see to which sales orders, the quote has been converted. Quote shows Invoices, but not SO. Same, they would like to see the quotes in the sales order, as they can see invoices, packages, shipment, How can we achieve this ? Thank

      • Tip of the Week #71–Auto-move incoming messages to the right inboxes with keywords

        We all know that customer-facing teams, especially your sales and support teams, can’t afford to miss even a single customer conversation. But sometimes, sales queries or support requests can easily get lost in a crowded inbox or even end up in the wrong

      • Clearing Fields using MACROS?

        How would I go about clearing a follow-up field date from my deals? Currently I cannot set the new value as an empty box.

      • Migrating a Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator

        Hi, How can I migrate my Zoho Forms form into Zoho Creator? Thanks. Truly, Emad

      • Is there any way to recall an email sent using Zoho CRM?

        If an email is sent using Zoho Mail, there is a recall option/functionality that is available to the sender. Is there any way to recall an email if it was sent using Zoho CRM? I can't seem to find that option. Any help would be appreciated.

      • Quick Create needs Client Script support

        As per the title. We need client scripts to apply at a Quick Create level. We enforce logic on the form to ensure data quality, automate field values, etc. However, all this is lost when a user attempts a "Quick Create". It is disappointing because, from

      • is it possible to add more than one Whatsapp Phone Number to be integrated to Zoho CRM?

        so I have successfully added one Whatsapp number like this from this User Interface it seems I can't add a new Whatsapp Number. I need to add a new Whatsapp Number so I can control the lead assignment if a chat sent to Whatsapp Phone Number 1 then assign

      • Problem with reports due to "Connected" items change - Yes this IS a problem

        Now that the change has been made to use "connected" items I can no longer run the reporting I need in CRM. I should be able to start with Deals as the parent, connect down to the Account (Account_Name) on the deal as the child, then to any child items

      • Introducing notifications in the vendor portal

        Imagine this: You're a recruiter working with multiple vendors on a high-volume hiring project. You’ve just updated a job description after a last-minute change from the hiring manager. One of your vendors, however, is still working off the older version

      • CRM limit reached: only 2 subforms can be created

        we recently stumbled upon a limit of 2 subforms per module. while we found a workaround on this occasion, only 2 subforms can be quite limiting in an enterprise setting. @Ishwarya SG I've read about imminent increase of other components (e.

      • LESS_THAN_MIN_OCCURANCE - code 2945

        Hi I'm trying to post a customer record to creator API and getting this error message. So cryptic. Can someone please help? Thanks Varun

      • How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

        Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

      • Analytics for notes created

        Is there a way I can see how many notes were created per day? Via reporting or analytics?

      • No TDS Deduction

        In some of our case, where we are reselling items at the same rate we purchased. In this scenario, Indian IT Law has a provision to request customer not to deduct TDS if the transaction value is same. TDS is paid by us (intermediary reseller) before we

      • Cannot update Recurring_Activity on Tasks – RRULE not accepted

        Hello, I am trying to update Tasks in Zoho CRM to make them recurring yearly, but I cannot find the correct recurrence pattern or way to update the Recurring_Activity field via API or Deluge. I have tried: Sending a string like "RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1"

      • Next Page