Convert and take payment for an estimate at the office level

[LockLevi]

Hello, new Titan user here. We have a bit of an odd workflow it seems cause I can't find a good solution to the following problem. We are a Locksmith and lots of times our office staff will sell large quantities of padlocks to customers that take a number of weeks to build. The customer first requires an estimate and then once the estimate is approved the padlocks are ordered and built and then we take payment and they get delivered via delivery company. It is important to note that our road techs never touch these jobs and they do not need to go through the job board at all. Is it possible to get payment on these without going through the job board?

[Rob]

Hey, @LockLevi .  Automatic swing and sliding door company here 😊  

What I do is create a job, build the estimates, etc. but don't assign a tech to the appointment until it's time to bill it.  You only need to have a timesheet for a managed tech on the job in order to invoice, receive payment, etc.  Here's how I handle it:

1. When it's time to invoice, I'll add a tech to an appointment at midnight, so it's not really noticeable on their schedule. 

2. Add a time sheet to the job manually.  I make it as 12:01 AM for everyting (Dispatch, Arrival and Completion)

3. Using the dropdown in the job to complete the job.  This will prompt you to mark the appointment as done.  You won't need to dispatch, arrive, etc.  It will let you complete the job, invoice and receive payment

Possibly a workaround for you. 

[LockLevi]

Hello Rob, this is definitely a good solution thank you for mentioning it.

[DonaldAnnapolis]

All I want is the ability to take an estimate and "upgrade" it to an invoice!!!!!!!

[tschraypa]

Ugghh.  Can't believe paying users of this software have to figure out jenky solutions to basic business work processes because ST refuses to allow business to work in an efficient manner.  Knowing how much I pay every month to use this vaporware, I literally cry every time I have do this.  I feel so abused.

[AdamCronenberg · Accepted solution]

Hi Levi,

You would need to book the estimates into a job, but you don't necessarily need to actually "run" that job.  A lot of shops use a house technician account (sometimes it is the owner/GM of the business's Tech Account).  You could create the estimate and then when the customer approves it, book it into a job and assign it to the "House Technician Account".  Note, this will need to be a managed tech as the job will have money on it.  If you dont have a house account or dont want to pay for an extra managed tech for the time period, you can assign it to an existing tech, but you will want to be mindful of any payroll implications or sales reporting metrics this action will have.  (This is why a lot of times companies will assign this job to an owner or manager if they dont have a house technician account as they dont as actively track the performance/payroll in Service Titan for an owner/GM).  When the delivery company is done, you can just manually go in from the office side and Dispatch/Arrive/Complete the job.  You can then take payment on this invoice just as you would any other invoice where a technician actually went out and completed the work.  

I know that having a job is a little clunky but is probably the cleanest work flow to also give you tracking and visibility of the estimate you sold. Hope that helps!

[LockLevi]

Hello Adam, yeah this is probably what we are going to do but I think we will end up paying for another account that will only be used in-house that way we can keep our reports as accurate as possible. It is unfortunate that there is not a more cost-effective solution but it will work. Thanks