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 Renewal

        Hello, If I am not going for zoho email renewal. will i get back my free zoho account? and if yes then is it possible to get back my all free user. how many user get back 10 or 25?

      • Not reciving emails

        Apparently i cannot recive emails on my adress contact@sportperformance.ro I can send, but do not recive. The mail i'm trying to send from mybother adress gets sent and doesn't bounce back... but still doesn't get in my inbox. Please advise

      • Not receiving MailChimp verification e-mail

        It seems that their verification e-mails are blocked. I can receive their other e-mails, but not their verification of domain ownership e-mail. I've checked and double checked how I typed the e-mail, using different e-mails (my personal e-mail can receive it), white listing the domain and all that is left is for the IP's to be white listed, but I don't have that power.  If a staff member could take a look at this -> http://mailchimp.com/about/ips/ And perhaps white list them for me, that would be

      • Creating my 2nd email account

        After creating my first email address, I decided to get another email address. I would like to use this new address as the primary address too. I don't know how to set it up there doesn't seem to be an option for that

      • Cannot - create more email account - Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time

        Hello, I come across the error message in Control Panel. Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time and i cannot create any more users We are an IT company and we provide service for another company Please unlock us.

      • "Unable to send message;Reason:553 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain"

        Good day. When I try to send mail through ZOHO mail I get the following error : "Unable to send message;Reason:553 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain" I need help with this. My zohomail is : @eclipseweb.site Thank you,

      • Transfert de domaine pour création des comptes emails

        Bonjour , je ne parviens point à créer des mails avec le domaine 'raeses.org' suite à la souscription du domaine auprès d'un autre hébergeur, dont j'ai fait la demande du code de transfert qui est le suivant : J2[U8-l0]p8[ En somme, attente de l'activation

      • Help! Unable to send message;Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

        Kindly help me resolved this issue that i am facing here.

      • How are people handling estimates with Zoho inventory?

        We are often using Zoho Books for estimates that then get converted to invoices within Books. We would like the sales team to migrate entirely to Zoho Inventory and no longer need to use Zoho Books so that they are only on one system. How are people managing

      • Relative Date Searches

        Currently in the search options, it has "date", "from date" and "to date". I think it would be great if there were options like "date greater than x days ago" and "date less than x days ago". I realise that as a once off you can just use the existing

      • Performance is degrading

        We have used Mail and Cliq for about three years now. I used to use both on the browser. Both have, over the past 6 months, had a severe degradation in performance. I switched to desktop email, which appeared to improve things somewhat, although initial

      • Ask the Experts 23: Customize, utilize, and personalize with Zoho Desk

        Hello everyone! It's time for the next round of Ask the Experts (ATE). This month is all about giving Zoho Desk a complete makeover and making it truly yours. Rebrand Zoho Desk with your organization’s details, customize ticket settings based on your

      • Dear Zoho CEO: Business Growth is about how you prioritise!

        All of us in business know that when you get your priorities right, your business grows. Zoho CRM and Zoho Books are excellent products, but sadly, Zoho Inventory continues to lag behind. Just this morning, I received yet another one-sided email about

      • Payroll In Canada

        Hi, When can we expect to have payroll in Canada with books 

      • Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my domain

        Hello Zoho Support, I have recently purchased a new domain and set up email hosting with Zoho. However, my account shows "Outgoing Email Blocked". I am a genuine user and not sending bulk/spam emails. Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my

      • Payroll without tax integrations (i.e. payroll for international)

        It seems as though Zoho waits to develop integrations with local tax authorities before offering Zoho Payroll to Zoho customers in a country. Please reconsider this approach. We are happy Zoho Books customers, but unhappy that we have to run payroll in

      • goingout e mail block

        info@ozanrade.com.tr

      • Incoming mails blocked

        Zoho User ID : 60005368884 My mail Id is marketing#axisformingtechnology.com .I am getting following message "Your Incoming has been blocked and the emails will not be fetched in your Zoho account and POP Accounts. Click here to get unblocked." Please

      • Assistance Needed: Ticket Status Not Updating and Sorting by Last Customer Reply in Zoho Desk

        Hello, I’m facing two issues in Zoho Desk that I’d like your guidance on: Ticket Status Not Updating: When a customer replies to a ticket, the status does not change to Reopened. Instead, it remains in Waiting on Customer, even after the customer’s response

      • Configuring Email Notifications with Tautulli for Plex

        Hi I'm new to Zoho. I am from Canada and I have a I use a web based application called Tautulli for Plex that monitors my Plex media server. It also sends a newsletter to my followers. To set this up they require a "From" email address., a smtp server

      • Is there a way to automatically add Secondary Contacts (CCs) when creating a new ticket for specific customers?

        Some of our customers want multiple contacts to receive all notifications from our support team. Is there a way to automatically add secondary contacts to a ticket when our support team opens a new ticket and associates it with an account? This would

      • How to Set Up Zoho Mail Without Cloudflare on My Website

        I'm having some trouble with Cloudflare here in Pakistan. I want to configure Zoho Mail for my domain, but I'm not sure how to set it up without going through Cloudflare. My website, https://getcrunchyrollapk.com/ , is currently using CF, but I'd like

      • Spam is Being Forwarded

        I am filtering a certain sender directly to the Trash folder. Those messages are still being forwarded. Is this supposed to happen?

      • IMAP Block

        My two accounts have been blocked and I am not able to unblocked them myself. Please respond to email, I am traveling and this is urgent.

      • "DKIM not configured"

        Hello. I have been attempting get the DKIM verified but Toolkit keeps sending the message that it is not configured, but both Namecheap and Zoho show it as configured properly. What am I missing?

      • Zoho mail with custom domain not receiving email

        i registered zoho mail with my own domain. I can login and access the mail app. I tried to send email from an outlook email account and an icloud email account. Both emails were not received. My plan is free. I also tried to send email from this zoho

      • Set connection link name from variable in invokeurl

        Hi, guys. How to set in parameter "connection" a variable, instead of a string. connectionLinkName = manager.get('connectionLinkName').toString(); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/freeBusy" type :POST parameters:requestParams.toString()

      • Waterfall Chart

        Hello, I would like to create a waterfall chart on Zoho analytics which shows the movement in changes of budget throughout a few months, on a weekly basis. Should look something like the picture below. Does anyone know how to?

      • Help Center and SEO: Any Benefit to My Domain-Mapped Website Ranking?

        First of, I love the Help Center which I've just decided to integrate into my website to replace its old-fashioned FAQs. So much more to achieve there now! Lots of new benefits to the site visitors and to me in terms of organizing and delivering all the

      • Issue with Importing Notes against Leads

        Hi, I am attempting to import some Notes into Zoho CRM which need to be assigned to various Leads. I have created a csv file which I am testing that contains just one record. This csv file contains the following columns: Note Id Parent Id       (I have

      • Trigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added

        Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no trigger

      • Option to Hide Project Overview for Client Profiles

        In Zoho Projects, the Project Overview section is currently visible to client profiles by default. While user profiles already have the option to restrict or hide access to the project overview, the same flexibility isn’t available for client profiles.

      • Creator Add Records through API - Workflows not triggered ?

        Hi Everyone, I am trying to add records to my Creator application through a third party app that I am developing. Currently, I am testing this through Postman. The records I need to add have a lot of workflows to run to populate dropdowns, fields, use

      • Important Update: Changes to Google Translate Support in Zoho SalesIQ

        We’re updating our default chat translation options across all Zoho SalesIQ data centres to offer a more secure, in-house solution for your translation needs. What’s changing? We will be offering Zoho Translate (our in-house tool) as the default translation

      • Zoho CRM Community Digest - July P1 | 2025

        Hey everyone, The start of July 2025 marked a special milestone: 200 posts in our Kaizen series! For those new here, Kaizen is a go-to series for Zoho CRM developers, where we regularly share best practices, tips, and expert insights to help you build

      • What’s New in Zoho Expense (April – July 2025)

        Hello users, We're happy to bring you the latest updates and enhancements we've made to Zoho Expense over the past three months, which include introducing the Trip Expense Summary report in Analytics, extending Chatbot support to more editions, rolling

      • Weekly Tips: Insert frequently used phrases in a jiffy using Hotkeys

        You often find yourself using similar phrases in an email —like confirming appointments or providing standard information. Constantly switching between the mouse and keyboard interrupts your flow and slows you down.Instead of typing the same phrases over

      • Undo Command in Notebook

        It would be handy to have an Undo in the row of icons at the bottom of the notes.

      • Improved UI for a Seamless User Experience - Calls, Tasks, and Meetings

        Hello all, We are making UI unification across CRM so that the UI experience is seamless across the product. As part of that effort, we have made changes to the details page of activity-based module records—Meetings, Calls, and Tasks. Let's look at these

      • New Customization options in the module builder: Quick Create and Detail view

        Hello everyone, We have introduced two new components to the module builder: Quick create and Detail view. The Quick Create Component It is a mini form used to create a record and associate it to the parent record from a lookup field. For example, if you have a Deals lookup in the Contacts module, then you can associate existing deals or create a deal and associate it with the contact. You can customize this Quick Create form by adding standard as well as custom fields. There is no limit to the number

      • Next Page