Latest updates from the Dubsado team
Originally posted: June 26th, 2019
Everybody loves a discount! We are very excited for this release of discounts and coupon codes to your Dubsado invoices!
With this release we have added:
- Percentage based discounts that can be applied manually or via coupon code.
- Coupon codes for packages (invoices), schedulers, and proposal templates for a fixed or percentage amount off.
This release is PACKED full of tips and how-tos for this new feature. Be sure to read through its entirety and click the links to find out more information as you go along.
Before you can apply a discount to apply to a package (invoice), proposal or scheduler, you'll need to create a template. Here's how:
Here's a breakdown of the settings:
Discount name: what the discount is called, visible to clients as the line item name for fixed discounts (not percentage, i.e. $100 off).
Discount type: how the discount is calculated, fixed or percentage.
Value: the amount of the discount.
Discount code (optional): a case-sensitive code that your client can enter on a proposal or scheduler invoice to apply the discount.
Category (optional): an income category for this discount in the chart of accounts.
Max. number of uses (optional): the maximum number of times a discount can be applied through the use of a discount code.
Expiration date (optional): a fixed date and time to expire use of the discount code for this discount.
Let's take a closer look at the options for setting up your discount.
A fixed discount will subtract a specific dollar amount from the invoice total, no matter what the total is. It will be added as a negative line item to the invoice. The item name for the discount will be the Discount Name you entered while creating the template. So a fixed discount for $100.00 will show on your client's invoice like this:
A percentage discount will reduce all of the line items on the invoice by the chosen percentage. So a percentage discount for 50% will show on your client's invoice like this
After the percentage discount has been applied to the invoice, you will have the option to remove the discount from individual line items. Learn more about applying discounts to invoices here.
If you provide your client with a discount code, they can enter it on their invoice after completing a proposal or scheduler with a required deposit. This is a great tool for running promotions and rewarding loyal customers!
Simply enter the code you would like to use in the Discount Code field while creating your discount template. Please note that the code is case-sensitive!
Once enabled on your proposal template or scheduler template, your client will see a field on the invoice where they can enter their discount code:
Discount codes are not compatible with invoices you have created manually. Learn more about enabling a discount code on a proposal or enabling a discount code on your scheduler with required deposit!
Assign an income category to your discount here. The category will be visible under Reporting >> Chart of Accounts.
Discounts will be logged as negative income, per standard accounting practices. By creating a separate category for each discount, you'll be able to see how much income you've discounted per code under Reporting >> Chart of Accounts.
The following settings will automatically deactivate the discount code for your clients to use. However, discounts can be applied manually to an invoice by you at any time, even if they are expired or maxed out based on these settings.
This setting will allow you to limit application of the discount code to a fixed number of uses. For example, if you enter the number "10" here, the discount code for this discount will only work 10 times. The 11th time the code is used, the client will receive an error message and the discount will not be applied.
TIP: As soon as a client applies this discount code to an invoice, that will be logged as a use of the code, even if they do not ultimately pay. To recover uses of a discount code, you can increase the max number you set in the discount template or manually remove the applied discount from an unpaid invoice.
Setting an expiration date will deactivate the discount code at the specified date and time in your time zone. If a client attempts to use the discount code after the expiration date, they will receive an error message and the discount will not be applied.
- Manually adding a negative line item to an invoice will no longer reflect in the subtotal. So any open invoices that have negative line items should be removed and replaced with a proper discount. This also affects the previous workaround for balancing invoices with refunds. Bottom line: do not add negative line items to your invoices. Use a proper refund or discount feature instead since it is available. Any past paid invoices are fine. Just for future use, do not use negative line items to reflect discounts or refunds. Use the proper discount and refund features now!
- If you are using smart fields in your contracts, forms or emails, and would like for them to also reflect discounts, be sure to readd the smart field to the document due to this update.
Deleting a discount template will not affect any invoices to which the discount has already been applied. Once a discount template is deleted, its discount code (if set) will no longer be valid and you will not be able to manually apply the discount to an invoice.
No, only one type of discount code can be applied to an invoice at a time.