HaloITSM Guides
Documentation to assist with the setup and configuration of the HaloITSM platform
Surcharges in Halo
Surcharges
HaloPSA provides the option to use Surcharges, such that you invoice respective clients accurate amounts.
In this lesson, we'll see where to go to enable/configure & apply surcharges, & how they interact with billable time.
How Surcharges Work in HaloPSA
Before we look into configuring Surcharges in HaloPSA, lets make sure we understand how Surcharges work.
There are two primary places to enable/configure surcharges: Charge Types & Client records.
Charge Types
Each Charge Type has an option "Apply Surcharge". Generally speaking, this option would be enabled on a Charge Type like 'Site Visit' or 'On-Site Support' & would equate to an additional call out fee. Where to go to enable this is explained later on in this lesson.
Client Records
The above option in your Charge Types simply states that a Surcharge can be applied when using that Charge Type, however the specific Surcharge band that will be applied is set at Client level. In the Billing tab (or Setting tab, depending on the version of HaloPSA you have) for a client, you will find a single select 'Surcharge' field. The option you select in here will be the Surcharge applied to the client fee, when using a Charge Type that applies Surcharges.
Surcharges will then apply a flat fee (based on the band selected at Client level) for each Action that uses a Charge Type with Surcharges applied.
Lets now take a look at enabling, configuring & applying Surcharges via a brief example.
Enabling & Creating Surcharges
If you head to Configuration>Billing, you will find a 'Surcharges' module:
Fig 1. The Surcharges Module.
Hover over the module & click '+' to enable associated functionality. If you head into this module, you'll find a series of records (rows) that equate to surcharge 'bands' - each record simply has a name and a rate:
Fig 2. Surcharge Records.
In here, you can add new records or amend existing records via clicking into them.
Enabling Surcharges for Charge Types
If you now head to Configuration>Billing>Charge Types, then into a Charge Type, you'll see an 'Apply
Surcharge' flag on the Rates tab:
Fig 3. The 'Apply Surcharge' option within a Charge Type.
Click 'Edit', then the Pencil on the RHS of the Rate to edit the details. This is where you can enable applying Surcharges in your Charge Types:
Fig 4. Enabling the 'Apply Surcharge' option.
Selecting the Surcharge to Apply for a Client
We just saw how we enable the application of Surcharges to certain Charge Types, but we still need to tell HaloPSA what Surcharge to apply. This is done per Client - if you head into the Billing tab for a Client record you will see the 'Surcharge' field:
Fig 5. Selecting Which Surcharge to Apply to my Client.
Click edit, select the relevant Surcharge & click Save to save your changes.
Surcharges in Action
In the above explanation, I enabled applying Surcharges to my 'On-Site Support' Charge Type & applied the 'Band 2' Surcharge to my Client 'HaloAcademy' - so now let's take a look at invoicing the Client for some On-Site Support time in order to see the end-result.
Let's say we have the following scenario to consider:
Fig 6. Example Ticket.
The first thing I'm going to do in this example is add an Action & apply the 'Remote Support' Charge Type. Remember, we did not specify that we are applying Surcharges on Remote Support - only On-Site Support. This may equate to an initial troubleshooting call with the client:
Fig 7. Emailing the end-user via the 'Email User' Action.
NB: I have applied the 'Remote Support' Charge Type by selecting 'Remote Support' in the Charge Type drop down.
The Technician has established that a site visit is required to fix/replace the faulty hardware. After the visit is complete, the Technician comes back into Halo & closes the Ticket, this time applying the 'On-Site Support' rate:
Fig 8. Closing the Ticket via the 'Close' Action & specifying the time on site (4hrs) & the 'On-Site Support' Rate.
The resulting invoice that is generated would look something like the below:
Fig 9. The Resulting Invoice From the Billable Time on Our Example Ticket.
Note how there are 3 lines on our invoice for:
1. Remote Support.
2. On-Site Support.
3. Surcharge.
While our Remote/On-Site Support Rates have been billed at an hourly rate (which you can see via the Quantity), our Surcharge has a Quantity of 1 - this is because there was one Action added to our Ticket that used a Surcharge applying Charge Type.
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