Latest updates from the Dubsado team
Originally posted: March 19th, 2021
Our development team just used to consist of one, Jake, our co-founder. Now we have a team of about 15 incredible developers.
They are split up on 3 teams:
Customer Experience
Platform Infrastructure
And our second Dubs HQ in Canada (they are working on a super secret project right now)
It is always easy to think that all these awesome devs do all day is create new, fun features, but it isn't always the case. They work on other cool, important things like site improvements, squashing bugs, and making sure our site infrastructure stays in tip-top shape...and features too. They do a lot. And we are so thankful for them and all they do.
Below are some of the bugs knocked out this last week.
Bugfix
Originally added: March 10th, 2021
A new smart field was created to populate the discount amount on your invoice. This is perfect if you wanted to use a smart field to show in the contract a percentage or amount off the invoice has.
Now when a discount is added to your invoice:
You can use a smart field to have it populate that discount total in the contract:
Originally added: March 10th, 2021
The Activity Tracker will now show edits made to payment plans on a project, making it easier for you to keep track of who does what and when in your account.
To see it in action, make an edit to a payment plan or remove it. Then head to NOTES >> ACTIVITY LOG to see the new item tracked.
Originally posted: March 10th, 2021
When editing a form within a project, clicking Save and Close will now take you back to the Forms tab within that project rather than the emails tab as it did before. This allows you to take immediate action with the form you were just editing.
Originally posted: March 2nd, 2021
We have made an improvement to the way refunds are handled in Dubsado. Now it is more clear how refunds are documented for yourself and your clients.
**note: this feature is on a slow rollout and is releasing to a percentage of our users over the next couple weeks.
When you click Apply >> Refund on an invoice, you'll see an updated modal. You can enter the date, amount, and method for the refund just like before, but now you can choose a percentage amount (whole number percents only) or a fixed dollar amount. Also, you can now enter a note for your client in addition to an internal transaction description.
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Applying a refund now generates a refund receipt that you can manually send to your client. The refund receipt will include the note to your client if you entered one. Clients can also navigate back to the original invoice.
You can find and send refund receipts from the new Refunds tab. Click on the three dots next to the refund to open the receipt in a new window or send it via email to your client.
The default email used to send refund receipts can be customized under Templates >> Canned Emails >> Edit Templates >> Send Refund.
Sending a refund receipt is completely optional. Invoices with refunds automatically include a link to view the receipt.
And just in case you're publicly sharing a scheduler that requires a deposit without a lead capture to create a project (we still don't recommend it), we added an Apply Refund button to the invoice view accessible from Reporting >> Invoices. Previously, if an invoice was generated by a scheduler without a project, there would be no option to apply a refund.
⚠️ Heads up! Keep in mind that applying a refund in Dubsado does not return any money to your client. In a real life situation, always process the refund through your payment processor first, then apply the refund in Dubsado.
In the past, we reported refunds as expenses. This meant that you might not see refunds counted in your chart of accounts if you didn't have a matching expense category for every income category.
Refunds will now be accounted for in your Income. Your gross revenue in this section will be your total income minus any refunds. Refunds are also accounted for in category totals.
Refunds are still applied to the invoice as a whole, distributed evenly across all income categories on the invoice.
Finally, we've updated the look of our filters on the transactions page. In addition to all the filters we had before, you can now also filter by transaction type (transaction or refund).
Originally posted: December 1st, 2020
We are excited to announce the arrival of our integration with Xero. Xero is world-leading online accounting software built for small business. When you connect Xero to Dubsado, you'll be able to automatically sync invoices and payments from Dubsado to your Xero account.
After completing the connection process, you'll be redirected back to the Xero integration page in Dubsado.
⚠️ Heads up! There are a few more settings you'll need to configure before the integration is ready to use.
Before you can set up automatic syncing, you must select which Xero payment account will receive your Dubsado invoice payments.
You can choose any account in your Xero chart of accounts that has a code and the enable payments option turned on.
👋 Here's a tip... if you have your bank or payment processor connected to Xero, we recommend setting up a separate "clearing account" to receive payments from Dubsado. Here's an article from Xero on reconciling bulk payments.
There are three options for configuring automatic syncing with Xero:
This option is for you if... you would like payments received through Dubsado invoices to be added as transactions in Xero.
Turn both automatic sync settings ON if you would like to sync both invoices and payments:
This option is for you if... you do not want to see Dubsado payments added to Xero when an invoice is paid.
Turn the setting to sync invoices ON, and the setting to sync payments OFF to sync invoices only:
This option is for you if... you want full manual control over syncing individual invoices and payments with Xero. With this option, you will need to manually sync each invoice and payment.
Turn both automatic sync settings OFF to prevent automatic invoice syncing.
All Dubsado tax items must be mapped to corresponding tax items in your Xero account. For each tax item in Dubsado, select the corresponding Xero tax item in the dropdown.
👋Here's a tip... you'll need to have tax rates set up in Xero before you can map them in Dubsado. This article from Xero explains how to set up tax rates.
⚠️ Heads up! Dubsado invoices with tax items that have not been mapped to Xero tax items will not sync. If you add more tax items to Dubsado in the future, remember to return to the Xero integration settings page and map them.
⚠️ Heads up! Xero does not support line items with more than one tax applied. If you apply more than one tax item to a line item in Dubsado, the invoice will encounter an error when syncing.
In Xero, every invoice line item must be assigned to an account in your chart of accounts. Even if you do not use income categories in Dubsado, you must select a default Xero account here. Xero will automatically assign any "Uncategorized" line items to this account.
Income categories in your Dubsado chart of accounts can be mapped to Xero accounts here. Just use the dropdowns to select the matching Xero account for each of your Dubsado income categories.
⚠️ Heads up! If you add more income categories to Dubsado in the future, remember to return to the Xero integration settings page and map them. Line items with unmapped categories will be applied to the default Xero account.
When you delete an invoice or payment in Dubsado, you will have the option to also delete the invoice or payment in Xero.
Dubsado will try to match clients to Xero contacts using their email address. If no match is found, or multiple matches are found, a new contact will be created in Xero.
No. Payment processing fees are not recorded separately when Dubsado syncs a payment with Xero, just like they aren't recorded separately on Dubsado invoices. You are responsible for reconciling payment processing fees inside your Xero account.
You need at least one "current asset" type of account in with the setting to enable payments turned on to select as your default payment account in Dubsado. You also need at least one "revenue" type of account to set as your default account in Dubsado for categorizing your income.
If you set up separate income categories for different services in Dubsado, it may make sense to do the same in your Xero chart of accounts so you can match them up. Beyond that, it's up to you and your accountant to decide how best to categorize your income and set up your chart of accounts!
You can connect one Xero organisation to each Dubsado brand. After you have connected a Xero organisation to one brand, you cannot connect it to another brand. If you have multiple Xero organisations, you'll be able to select which organisation you want to connect during the connection process.
If you need to disconnect from Xero, click Disconnect Xero on the Xero integration settings page. Disconnecting your Xero account will remove all Xero-related data inside Dubsado and prevent you from syncing further invoices and payments to your Xero account. Dubsado invoices and payments already synced to Xero will remain in your Xero account.
You have the option to delete all Dubsado invoices and transactions from your Xero account as well, however this action cannot be undone.
Originally posted: August 6th, 2020
Dubsado now integrates with 8x8, Google Meet, GoTo Meeting, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom to automatically generate a video conferencing link for your scheduled appointments! The link can then be sent in your appointment confirmation and reminder emails.
This integration is managed through Cronofy, which is also used to connect your calendar to Dubsado (something you've already, most likely, been using).
That's it! Google Meet is active as your conferencing service, but you can switch to 8x8 using the dropdown. You are now ready to add conferencing to your scheduler templates.
Adding Video Conferencing to Scheduler Templates
That's it! You are now ready to add conferencing to your scheduler templates.
Adding Video Conferencing to a Scheduler Template
⚠️ Heads up! Do not make any changes in Cronofy other than in the Conferencing Services tab. You will still manage your calendar connection and scheduling inside Dubsado.
No! You are in full control over which schedulers will generate links for video conferencing. There are also some changes you'll need to make to your canned emails for appointment confirmations and reminders. Check out this article.
Yes! Just return to the conferencing integration page and select a different service from the dropdown. If needed, you can click Add conferencing service and follow the steps above to connect a new account.
You may only have one video conferencing service active at a time, per brand. The service you select on the conferencing integration page will be used for all schedulers that have conferencing enabled in your brand.
Originally posted: July 16th, 2020
Today we are releasing some awesome improvements to our Quickbooks Integration! With these upgrades, sending over invoices to your Quickbooks account becomes both easier and more reliable!
Getting started with connecting your Quickbooks account to Dubsado is largely the same. One key difference is that we have removed the toggle for Quickbooks Online Locale, or the setting for you to choose whether you are using a U.S. or Non-U.S. version of Quickbooks. This setting affected how taxes would need to be applied in Dubsado in order for an invoice to sync over. Our system will now automatically detect that same information right when you connect your Quickbooks account!
If you add tax to your line items in Dubsado, the invoice must have a QuickBooks tax code to sync with QuickBooks. This step is still necessary
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For example, the Quickbooks Tax for Burbank, CA creates 4 different Dubsado Tax items: CA State Tax, Los Angeles County Tax, Los Angeles County District Tax, and Burbank City District Tax. Collectively, these add to the 10.25% tax rate in Burbank.
In order for an invoice from Dubsado to sync to Quickbooks, any tax on that invoice will need to be a Dubsado Tax item created when Quickbooks was connected. When making an invoice, you can still apply a Quickbooks tax to your invoice the same you are currently! This method has you click on the "QuickBooks Tax Codes" button dropdown underneath the line items on your invoice and selecting which tax code you wish to apply.
In addition to this method, you can now apply the taxes directly on to your line items! When editing a line item, you can select which taxes you wish to apply directly in the tax section. The taxes created when you synced your Quickbooks account will appear on this list and are able to be applied to your line item!
This change my seem small but it has some big implications! Since the taxes can be applied directly onto the line items, you can now have the QuickBooks tax applied to Packages and any other template! This is especially useful for invoices that are created by proposals, schedulers, or recurring invoices and can ensure that these invoices are synced to Quickbooks right away!
We also made some pretty big changes to the Invoices page to help manage your all of your invoices as a whole! The first addition to this page is the new Date filter that will allow you to find all of the invoices whose invoice date falls within the entered date range.
The Invoice list gives information the specific parts of each invoice such as invoice date, payments made, and due dates of upcoming or missed payments, but will include information on the QB sync status more clearly.
This page will also show the sync status of each invoice within the brand if Quickbooks is connected. There are 4 different statuses for each invoice:
This page can be used to sync over invoices manually! If you have Quickbooks connected, you will see the "Sync Invoice" option and the "Sync Invoice and Payments" option in the action dropdown to the right of the Sync status.
New to this page is the option to sync information over to Quickbooks in bulk! You can use the checkboxes to the left of each invoice to select a group of invoices you wish to sync over. Once selected, the dropdown option in the header of this column will give you the option to sync over all of the selected invoices! There are options to just have the invoices brought over and to have the invoices brought over with any payments attached.
We will attempt to match Dubsado clients to Quickbooks clients when an invoice is synced over. If a new client in Dubsado makes a payment, we will now search that user's connected Quickbooks account to see if there is a QB client with the same email address. If there is a match we will sync the invoice to that client. If there are multiple Qb clients with the same email address, we will create a new client rather than choosing one or the other. In this scenario the user can manually make the newly created client a "sub-customer" of the correct QB client in your account
Previously, if there was an Quickbooks account in Dubsado, one of the suggested steps we would tell users would be to disconnect and reconnect their account. We found that doing so often fixed the issue but would sometimes create more issues in a user's account since we were not resetting the QB data within Dubsado.
In place of this, we added a Reconnect button to reset the connection between your Dubsado and Quickbooks accounts that will not remove any of the data. This Reconnect button will appear on the Quickbooks Integrations page when there is an error syncing an invoice to Quickbooks. If you encounter an error but do not see the reconnect option, please reach out to support and we will gladly help!
Note: If you do disconnect your Quickbooks account from Dubsado, any QB data in theDubsado will be completely removed. We only recommend this option if you are switching over to a new Quickbooks account. If you do so, you will need to go through the entire sync process over again for each invoice.
Originally posted: May 11th, 2020
Browser Alerts are similar to our Dashboard Alerts (clicking the bell icon), but they have two primary benefits! The first is that they are more apparent and will be shown to you right as an action has happened, once these notifications are enabled. This message will slide in from the upper right corner and alert you without ou having to click on the bell icon or check your email.
The second benefit is that these can alert you even when you are not on a Dubsado page. Since these are set up on a browser, these alerts can be sent at any time you are using your computer. This feature is great for users who want to be made aware of everything that happens within their business right as it happens!
To set up the Browser alerts, go to the Notifications page (Settings>>Notifications). There, you will see a new notification type: Push notifications. In the description of this type, you will see a Subscribe button.
Clicking this button will prompt a message from your web browser to give Dubsado permission to send out these notifications. You MUST allow these notifications on their browser in order to receive our new Browser Alerts. Here is an example message on Google Chrome.
NOTE: If you decline permission for Dubsado to send notifications, you still have the option to set up Browser Alerts at a later time. In order to give that permission, you will need to go into the settings of whatever browser you are using and enable notifications for Dubsado. For Chrome, you can click on the "Lock" icon in the URL bar and update the notification preference from there.
Once that permission is granted, you will be set up to receive Browser Alerts from Dubsado. Like our other Notifications, you will have the ability to customize what actions trigger these Browser Alerts. After you make your selections click Save Changes at the top of the page and you're set!
While similar to other notifications, there are some details about the Browser alerts that should be noted.
When an alert comes in you will be shown three pieces of information. Different web browsers may show the information differently but the same info will all be there.
Like our Dashboard Alerts, clicking on a Browser Alert will take you to the corresponding Dubsado page. This will open up in a new tab of your web browser IF they are logged into Dubsado. If you are not logged in, you will be taken to the login page. Upon logging in, you will be taken to the Dashboard, not the page for the alert.
*****Browser alerts for scheduler appointments (confirmed, rescheduled, and canceled) will NOT redirect to the appointment. This is in line with the dashboard bell alert functionality
Not all web browsers currently support these Browser Alerts. The primary browsers where these will not work right now are Internet Explorer and Safari. Most other commonly used browsers allow for these alerts. The full list can be found here: https://caniuse.com/#feat=push-api
This can be used to set up mobile alerts if a user uses one of the supported browsers on their phone. That you will need to run through the set-up the alerts for each device separately.
*This will not work on iOS devices, even if the user is using mobile Chrome.
Originally posted: April 16th, 2020
We have been gradually making changes to the user interface of our application to prepare for the larger features we have coming down the line. Today, we have released a new look for our Integrations page. This will be making way for our Xero, Wave and Zoom integrations that will be coming later. We just cannot wait!
