The Invoice Schedule Feature: Value-Based Pricing in 3 Steps

No one buys time. So, why are you still trying to sell it?

You sell outcomes – benefits, features, and (most ideally of all) measurable results. Put yourself in the client's shoes. Do you like knowing what you're going to get for your money in advance?

Your customers feel the same way you do. They prefer to buy benefits – such as peace of mind and improved profitability – rather than buying "time."

Fortunately, for Ignition users, there is one feature, called "invoice schedule," that helps you set pricing according to what you do and the value of your services to your clients.

To help you understand this feature (and more importantly, its value to you) we've put together this how-to consisting of only three steps.

Step 1: Focus on value

We know a thing or two about fixed pricing here at Ignition Mission Control. In fact, the app started off, as a fixed-fee platform.

But in the time since its first release, Ignition has gone on to accommodate more types of pricing scenarios. This has been done to allow you to align your pricing model with your clients' expectations of value.

Just like you, your clients only buy value – not time. Most recently, Ignition has added invoice scheduling, which facilitates great transparency between you and your clients, when it comes to pricing.

Step 2: Show what you're doing and a price, keep it simple

If you're using invoice schedule, you can do the following:

• Build a proposal with one service at a time
• Move services into "job groups" to deploy workflow, but, also allow for milestone or project billing
• Choose your preferred pricing method for billing service-by-service upfront, recurring (with or without a pro-rata component) or after the fact
• Choose what clients see. Let customers see prices based on a line-by-line level or an overall total

The best part: it's great for creating proposals this way as you retain all the data on how much charge for a particular service as well as a particular proposal, which, will come in handy for some later future releases here at Ignition).

Inside the invoice schedule, you can bill however you like.

Step 3: Think about client perspective

There are two places the client will see your value-based fee proposal. The first is in the online client acceptance page of your engagement:

And the second place where the clients will see your value-based fee is in the engagement letter itself, shown here:

You'll notice that there is also an invoicing and payment schedule able to be viewed on the client accept page (this is also shown in the engagement letter). This feature is covered off in the invoice schedule update.

Step 4: Cut the scope creep

As a client relationship continues, the list of services rendered tends to outsize the list of services billed. This is called scope creep and it's been the bane of many accounting practices. With Invoice schedule, Ignition carries forward the source data of the pricing make-up so you don't have to worry about what you were pricing particular services as they are changed or added.This helps you get paid for all that you do, even as you do more.

Do you want value pricing at your practice?

Sure you do!

Having built one of the fastest growing cloud accounting practices globally, let me tell you, it will set you apart and your growth will be unparalleled. If you're not in the business of growing, you're not in business, you are just maintaining the status quo and you're shrinking.

Make sure you have invoice schedule enabled so you can value price with ease and professionally and begin to build your practice towards a path of growth and sustainability whilst keeping your clients happy!