Maintenance contract retainer fee

Sets a recurring fee on a maintenance contract - amount, period and description - that the nightly run bills as a draft invoice each period.

Use a recurring retainer fee when a maintenance agreement includes a periodic charge separate from individual work activity.

Before you start

Availability: Business plan and above. Enabled business features, role permissions, connected providers and supported devices may add requirements.

Documented roles: Owner, Office. A role name alone does not override the permissions set by your business.

Where to find it: Work > Maintenance > Contract billing.

Confirm the contract, fee amount, billing period and customer-facing description.

Using this guide in United Kingdom

  • Set your business country in Business settings before entering customer addresses or preparing documents. The country selected on the public website does not change an existing business.
  • Check the business currency (GBP), time zone and document tax settings. Only enable tax collection if your business is registered and the settings match your requirements. Your customer invoice tax settings are separate from tax on your AllQuote subscription.
  • Screenshots use demonstration records. Their sample currency, addresses and tax amounts do not override your business settings.
The office service agreement is a draft in the maintenance-contract register. Configure the service level, scope and any agreed retainer before activation; this example has not been billed.
Demo screenshot. The office service agreement is a draft in the maintenance-contract register. Configure the service level, scope and any agreed retainer before activation; this example has not been billed. Select the image to view it at full size.

Step by step

  1. Open Maintenance, choose the contract, and go to its billing section.
  2. Set the fee amount, the billing period, and the description the customer should see.
  3. Save the fee; the nightly run raises a draft invoice each period for review before sending.
  4. Set the fee to 0 to clear it when the retainer ends; the contract and its history stay intact.

Worked example

Set an agreed monthly fee, then review the draft invoice created by the nightly run for the relevant period before sending it.

This is an illustrative scenario. Use your own approved scope, quantities, rates and business rules.

Check the result

Check the contract, period, amount and draft status. Confirm the customer wording matches the agreed fee.

Limits and troubleshooting

Creating a draft is not issuing an invoice or collecting payment. Setting the fee to zero ends future fee generation without deleting the contract history.

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