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Projects in Ruddr can have one of four possible billing types. These billing types include: The billing type is set when the project is created and can be edited within the Billing section (Figure 1) of the Overview on the project’s Settings tab.

Figure 1 - Specify the Billing Type in the Billing Section of the Settings Tab

The billing type of a project can be changed up until the point when an invoice is created for the project. Once a project has an invoice, the billing type will be read-only. Below is a description of each billing type and when it might be most appropriate.

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Time and Materials

The Time & Materials billing type is the most common billing arrangement in professional services. With this billing type, the client is billed for the hours that are worked and the expenses that are incurred. Additionally, if there are materials that are purchased during the delivery of the project, they are also charged back to the client. With Time & Materials projects in Ruddr, you have the option of associating bill rates to project roles or directly to project team members. To assign bill rates to team members, access the Team section (Figure 2) of the project’s Settings tab. For each member that you add to the team, you can designate whether that team member is billable or non-billable, and if billable, you can assign a bill rate to that member.

Figure 2 - Assign Workspace Members to the Project Team and Specify Bill Rates as Needed

To assign bill rates to roles, select the Use roles checkbox in the Settings section of the Overview on the project’s Settings tab. This will enable a Roles section (Figure 3) that will allow you to create roles, assign billable rates to those roles, and then assign team members to those roles. For more, see the Project Roles help article.

Figure 3 - Create and Manage Roles and Role Assignments for your Project

Smaller companies often associate bill rates directly to team members while larger companies tend to prefer associating rates with project roles. One advantage of using project roles is that a team member can be assigned to multiple project roles and can thus bill at different rates on the project. With Time & Materials projects, the Ready to Bill screen will show a running accrual of the time and expenses that have been tracked but not yet billed. This allows you to have a clear understanding of unbilled work.

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Fixed Fee

A Fixed Fee project is one in which the client agrees to pay a fixed amount for the delivery of the project. Once you select the Fixed Fee billing type, a Revenue Recognition Method field (Figure 4) will be shown where you can specify revenue should be recognized for reporting purposes. The five methods available are:
  • As Invoiced
  • Manual
  • Automated - Percentage of Billable Hours
  • Automated - Percentage of Time & Materials Revenue
  • Automated - Percentage of Services Cost
For more information, see the Ruddr Help Center article on Fixed Fee Revenue Recognition.

Figure 4 - Selecting a Fixed Fee Billing Type will Require Additional Information

In addition to specifying a Revenue Recognition Method for Fixed Fee projects, you can specify a Revenue Attribution Method (Figure 4) to determine how services revenue will be attributed across project team members. The three methods available are:
  • Percentage of Billable Hours
  • Percentage of Time & Materials Revenue
  • Percentage of Services Cost
For more information on these three methods, please refer to the Fixed Fee Revenue Attribution article in the Ruddr Help Center. Typically, fixed fee projects are billed to the client upon predefined dates (usually associated with important milestones). The billing schedule for fixed fee projects is found in the Accounting section (Figure 5) of the project’s Settings tab. New fixed fee projects will have an empty billing schedule. Billing schedule rows should be added until the total of the milestones equals the project’s total billable budget. For more on project budgets, please refer to the Ruddr Help Center article Create a Project Budget.

Figure 5 - Configure the Billing Schedule for a Fixed Fee Project

For Fixed Fee projects, a billing milestone will show on the Ready to Bill screen if the milestones falls within the selected date range, thereby allowing you to generate an invoice for that milestone and the specified milestone amount.

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Fixed Monthly

The Fixed Monthly billing type is ideal for projects in which you charge a fixed amount per month over a fixed number of months. The Fixed Monthly billing type is similar to the Fixed Fee billing type with the key difference being that Ruddr provides you with a mechanism to generate multiple, recurring items in the billing schedule (Figure 7) for Fixed Monthly projects. This schedule is located in the Accounting section (Figure 7) of the project’s Settings tab. For more on setting up a Fixed Monthly project’s billing schedule, please refer to the Fixed Fee Billing Schedule article in the Ruddr Help Center.

Figure 7 - The Add Multiple Button on the Fixed Monthly Billing Schedule Allows for Multiple, Recurring Milestones

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Non-Billable

The Non-Billable billing type is always used for internal projects and occasionally used for client projects. While it is rare to have a non-billable, client project, some companies use this billing type for a “loss leader” or for a proof-of-concept engagement. With the Non-Billable billing type, there can be project roles but there can not be bill rates or billing schedules. Team members can track time and expenses to non-billable projects just as they would with any other project. But, those time and expenses cannot be billed back to the client. A non-billable project will never show up on the Ready to Bill screen.