Bill a Verified Meld

Coordinators bill each verified Meld that needs a bill, turning its captured costs into an accurate bill and syncing it to AppFolio. Billing is how your company recovers the full cost of a Meld instead of absorbing it, and gives Owners a bill they can trust. Billing a Meld is sometimes called owner billing.

Before You Start

Billing a Meld needs the right access and settings, so check these details first.

• Who this is for: Coordinators.
• Applies to: Companies that bill Owners or their own entities for maintenance.
• Access needed: Agent (the platform role for property management company staff who coordinate Melds), with the Add/Edit Bills permission to see Bill. Margin requires the Ops plan.

People who manage billing settings usually set up labor rates, cost markup, billing profiles and bill sync first. See Set Your Labor Rates and Cost Markup, Set Up and Use Billing Profiles, and Set Up Bill Sync to AppFolio.

How Billing Works

Billing turns every cost captured on a Meld into a charge, so nothing your company paid for is left off. Billing is the step where TrueCost recovers the full cost of a Meld: Vendor invoices, plus Technician labor, plus Costs.

After a Coordinator verifies a Meld, the Meld waits on Ready to Bill until it's billed or marked No Bill Needed. A Meld that a No Bill Needed rule closed at verification doesn't appear there.

You build each bill. Draft Bill fills a draft from the costs you choose, and MAX doesn't draft bills. Bill lines fill in this way:

• Technician labor at your billing rate. Labor is never marked up.
• Costs and receipts, with your default cost markup. A receipt adds as one line unless you turn on Itemize on Bill.
• Vendor invoices, each added as a line item, which you can mark up like Costs.

Each line shows Amount, Markup, QTY and Total. The bill the Owner receives shows each line's total, never the amount before markup or the markup itself. Where bill sync is set up, each line can also carry a GL code, which your AppFolio settings may require. Open work logs don't stop you from billing a Meld.

Bill a Meld

Working from Ready to Bill makes sure every verified Meld that needs a bill gets one, with every cost on it. To bill a Meld:

1. In the sidebar, under Melds, select Bill to open Ready to Bill. Melds verified longest ago appear first. Each row shows Bill Status, Total Cost and Total Bill. Where margin is available, the row also shows Margin.
2. Find the Meld. Use Search Melds, or narrow the list with Filters.

Decision Point: Bill the Meld or Close It Without a Bill

• Bill it: select Draft Bill, or Review Bill if a draft already exists. Fits any Meld someone will be charged for.
• Close it without a bill: select the arrow next to Draft Bill or Review Bill, select Mark No Bill Needed, then choose a reason. The Meld moves to Closed. See Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill.
• Considerations: a cost left off a bill is a cost your company absorbs, so close a Meld without a bill only when no one will be charged for the work.

3. Select Draft Bill. Create a Bill opens.

Decision Point: Where to Create the Bill From

• Meld Costs (marked Recommended): builds the bill from the labor, Costs and Vendor invoices on the Meld. Fits most Melds.
• Estimates: imports the lines from the Meld's estimates. Fits work billed at the quoted amount. Shows No Cost Data Available when the Meld has no estimate.
• Considerations: Meld Costs bills what the work actually cost. Estimates bills what was quoted, which may not match what you paid.

4. Check Line Items Markup, select the labor, Costs and invoices to include, then select Continue.
5. Choose the Billing Profile, check the description, due date and Bill Items, then select Create Bill. The bill is saved as a draft with a bill ID.
   • To add a line, use Add Costs From This Meld or New Line Item.
   • To simplify the bill, use Collapse Lines to combine lines by type or into one line. The total doesn't change. A combined line keeps the GL code of the last line, so check its GL code afterward.
6. Select Preview Bill to see the bill as the Owner will receive it. To finish later, select Save, or use Place on Hold or Place in Review in the Finalize and Sync menu.

7. Select Finalize and Sync, then Confirm.

If Your Situation Is Different

How billing fits your work depends on who bills and how bills reach AppFolio.

• If someone else bills: at some companies, a Property Manager or a dedicated billing person bills Melds. The steps are the same for anyone with access.
• If you start from verifying: Verify and Create a Bill in the Verify Work Completed flyout opens Create a Bill directly. See Verify Completed Melds.
• If bill sync isn't set up: the button reads Finalize Bill, followed by Mark Billed. Selecting Finalize Bill moves the Meld to Closed, because there's no sync to wait for.

What Happens Next

After you finalize and sync a bill, the Meld moves to Closed only once the bill reaches AppFolio, so a Meld never looks closed when its bill didn't arrive.

• If the sync succeeds: the Meld leaves Ready to Bill and appears on Closed. Accounting can record the bill in AppFolio.
• If the sync is still in progress: the Meld stays on Ready to Bill and shows the sync in progress. Don't finalize the bill again.
• If the sync fails: the Meld stays on Ready to Bill, and the bill shows an error message. Fix the problem it describes, then select Retry Sync. If the sync keeps failing, see Set Up Bill Sync to AppFolio.

Related Articles

These articles cover the rest of closing out a Meld and where to get help.

• Closing Out Completed Melds
• Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill
• Contacting Customer Support