If your business charges seasonal fees, like winterization or methanol fees, you no longer have to add them manually to invoices. With seasonal fee automation, ServiceCore applies the fee to invoices automatically based on the products on a rental and the dates you set, with proration built in so customers are only charged for the portion of the season the fee actually applied.
Set it up once for the season and let ServiceCore handle the calculations. This cuts down on manual invoice edits, reduces billing errors, and keeps things consistent for your team and your customers.
Before You Start
Here are a few things to know before you continue:
- To see if you have access to this feature in ServiceCore, please check out this article on user permission levels.
- This article covers several features in ServiceCore. If you're new to any of them, we suggest reviewing the linked article for more detail.
- Add Services - You’ll use a service for your invoice line item.
- Add a Product - You’ll use a product to trigger the automation.
- Add a Price Book - You can customize pricing by using Price Books for your invoice line item.
- Seasonal fee automations only apply as rental rates. You can't select a surcharge or a percentage-based service as the charge for a seasonal fee.
How It Works
You'll set a rule that follows something along the lines of:
- "If I have this product on a rental during this date range, charge the customer a seasonal fee for it."
Once the rule is configured, ServiceCore automatically calculates and adds the seasonal line item to invoices, prorated for the number of days the fee applied and the number of units on-site. This works for invoices generated through batch billing, through the "create next" recurring invoice flow, and on one-time invoices.
Create a Seasonal Fee Automation
Setting up a seasonal fee automation lets ServiceCore apply the fee automatically to qualifying invoices.
To create a seasonal fee automation, follow the steps below:
- Click your name in the top right corner.
- Select "Settings."
- Click "Automations."
- When you click “Automations” the subtab “Accounting” will open.
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Click the "+ Create New" button.
- Select "Seasonal Fee" for Automation Variable.
- Enter an Automation Name (e.g., Winterization Fee.)
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Under "Trigger Products," search and select the product or products that should trigger this fee.
- You can select more than one product to trigger your seasonal fee automation.
- Under "Seasonal Date Range," set a Start Date and an End Date for the fee.
- Rentals active outside this date range will have the fee automatically prorated to cover only the days that fall within it. See "How Proration Works" below for more detail.
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Under "Seasonal Line Item," select the Calculated Charge service you'd like to use for this fee (e.g., Winterization Fee.)
- The rate charged comes from the default rate set on this service in Accounting Services. You can't enter a custom rate directly on the automation. If you want to charge a different rate for specific customers or territories, use a price book instead. See "Using Price Books to Customize Seasonal Fee Rates" below.
- Under "Fee Exclusions," select an Exclusion Type: Customers, Customer Site Types, Sites, or Territories.
- Search for and select the specific customer, site, site type, or territory you'd like to exclude from this fee.
- You can add more than one exclusion, and you can mix exclusion types.
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Click "Save."
You'll now see your new seasonal fee automation added to your Accounting Automations list. This list is where you can via a Rule Summary for the automation as well as edit the automation or toggle it on or off.
Please Note: A seasonal fee automation won't show up on the rental record itself, even when it's active. To confirm an automation is applying to a rental, check that rental's recurring invoice template instead. The fee only appears there when it falls within the invoice's next billing period.
How Proration Works
Seasonal fees are prorated based on how much the rental's on-site window overlaps with the automation's date range. If a rental is only on-site for part of the season, or the season starts or ends mid-billing cycle, the fee adjusts automatically so customers are only charged for the days that applied.
Because of this, you might see a fractional quantity on the invoice, like 1.964, instead of a whole number. That's not an error. It reflects the exact portion of the billing period the fee applied to, for the number of units on-site.
Please Note: Once a seasonal fee posts to an invoice, you can't edit its rate directly, either on the invoice or in the "Create Next" recurring invoice flow. If you need to charge a different amount on a single invoice, delete the automated line item and add the corrected charge manually.
View the Seasonal Fee Icon on Pending Transactions
When an invoice includes a line item added by a seasonal fee automation, you'll see a seasonal fee icon next to it in your pending transactions list. This gives you a quick way to spot which invoices include an automated seasonal fee before you send out your batch billing.
Add a Price Book to Customize Seasonal Fee Rates
In some cases, you might want to charge a different seasonal fee rate for a specific customer, territory, or customer or site type.
To use a price book for customizing a seasonal fee rate:
- Click your name in the top right corner.
- Select "Settings."
- Click "Price Books."
- Click the "Add Price Book" button.
- Enter a Name.
- Select a Category.
- Select a Sub-Category. This will either be a customer name, territory, or one of your created customer or site types.
- Click the "Add Services" button.
- Find the service you used for your seasonal fee (e.g., Winterization Fee.)
- Add your Adjusted Rate.
- You can make the Adjusted Rate either higher or lower than the default rate on your seasonal fee automation.
- Click "Save."
As an example, you could have the automation be a $10 per portable winterization fee for your customers, but could have it be a $20 fee for a specific customer. When the winterization fee is automatically applied to an invoice, for this customer, we can see that the Seasonal Fee is now $20 per portable on the invoice instead of the $10 on the invoice example shown earlier in the article.
Edit Dates for Next Season
Seasonal fee automations don't automatically repeat from year to year. When a new season comes around, you'll need to go back into the automation and update the Start Date and End Date. This only takes a few seconds and can be updated any time after the season ends and before the next season begins. We'll also follow up with a reminder before each season so it's never missed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
These FAQs address common questions and quick clarifications to help you use this feature with confidence.
Will my seasonal fee automatically come back next year?
No. Seasonal fee dates don't auto-recur. You'll need to edit the Start Date and End Date on the automation each season. This takes just a few seconds.
Why does my invoice show a fee quantity like 1.964 instead of a whole number?
That's the prorated quantity. It reflects the exact portion of the billing period the fee applied to, based on the number of units on-site. The math is correct, even though the number looks unusual.
Can I use a surcharge or a percentage-based service for my seasonal fee?
No. Seasonal fees only work with standard services billed as rental rates, not surcharges or percentage-based charges. This keeps the fee tied directly to the number of units on-site, so the automation and proration work correctly.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@servicecore.com!