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By Bharath
• 10 articles

Create services: a detailed guide

Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Service details 1. Description 2. Terms 3. Invoice line item description 4. Default account 3. Pricing options 1. Pricing models 2. Pricing factors 4. Billing preferences 1. Billing types 2. Bill on dates 5. Auto-invoicing 6. Service categories 7. Service templates 1. Introduction With Cone, you can create detailed, customizable, and client-specific services that enhance the value and professionalism of your proposals. Cone's dynamic service management tools ensure that every aspect of your service offerings is accurately reflected and easily managed, streamlining the proposal process and improving client engagement 2. Service Details Beyond establishing the financial parameters of a service, delineating its scope and terms is crucial for setting clear expectations between you and your clients. Cone facilitates this through several descriptive fields: 2.a Description Here, you articulate what the service entails, its benefits, and why it's valuable to the client. A well-crafted description not only informs but also persuades, making it an essential component of your proposals 2.b Terms This section allows you to outline the specific terms and conditions related to the service. These details will be appended to engagement letters or contracts, providing a legally binding explanation of what the client can expect and what is expected of them. It’s crucial to be precise and thorough in this section to avoid misunderstandings and establish a solid contractual foundation 2.c Invoice line item description When it comes to invoicing, clarity is key. This description specifies how the service will be listed as a line item on invoices. It should be concise yet descriptive enough for clients to easily recognize the service they are being billed for. This reduces queries and streamlines the payment process 2.d Default account If you have connected Cone with an accounting integration, then you can also specify default invoicing account for this service When no invoicing account is selected, it will use the default account specified at the accounting integration level 💡 Service terms, invoice line item description and default account options can be found when you expand More options under service description field 3. Pricing options 3.a Pricing models Cone offers diverse pricing models to cater to the varied nature of services businesses provide. When creating a service, select the model that aligns with its nature, ensuring transparency and fairness in billing - Fixed pricing is ideal for services with a straightforward, unchanging rate regardless of the scope or duration. This model provides simplicity and predictability for both you and your clients - Per-unit pricing suits services priced based on the quantity or volume of work, offering flexibility to accommodate different client needs and project scopes 💡 Currently, Cone supports following per unit entities: hour, transaction, entity, individual, item - Variant pricing offers a dynamic pricing model that allows for different pricing tiers or variations based on specific criteria set by the service provider. This model is particularly useful for services that can be customized or adjusted based on client preferences, project complexity, or additional features. Variant pricing enables: - Customizable service levels: Offer your services at different levels or bundles, each with its own price point, to cater to a broader range of client needs and budgets - Feature-based pricing: Adjust service prices based on the inclusion of additional features, options, or customizations that add value to the client - Complexity or scope adjustments: Set pricing variations based on the project's complexity or scope, allowing you to accurately charge for the effort and resources required - Commission-based pricing aligns with services where the fees are a percentage of the total value derived from the service. This model is often used in sales-related services or where the service outcome has a direct monetary value ℹ️ Currently, only percentages are supported in commission based pricing 3.b Pricing factors - To accommodate client-specific or project-specific nuances, use pricing factors such as the client's quality of books, projected annual revenue, or number of employees for services like payroll management - Cone allows you to set these factors, automatically adjusting the service price to match the specified criteria, ensuring tailored pricing for each client You can learn more about pricing factors here 4. Billing preferences Cone provides flexibility in how services are billed. Selecting the appropriate billing type directly within the service setup process ensures that the billing strategy aligns with the service nature and client expectations 4.a Billing types - One-time billing for services provided on a singular occasion - Recurring billing for ongoing services, with options for setting a finite duration or allowing the service to recur indefinitely When you choose Custom , you can specify custom recurring frequency - Milestone billing aligns payments with the completion of significant phases or benchmarks in a service's delivery ℹ️ Currently, only 2 milestones are supported with Cone. Amounts for these can only be as percentages of the total value. Percentages have to be manually adjusted to total 100% 💡First milestone is billed immediately once proposal is signed ❗Milestones are only available for services with fixed and variant-based pricing methods 4.b Bill on dates ℹ️ Bill on dates options can be found by expanding section under Billing type options Establishing when the billing for a service should occur is crucial for ensuring timely payments and aligning with client agreements. Cone offers various triggers for initiating billing: - When proposal is accepted: Triggers billing once the proposal containing the service is accepted by the client - On contract start date: Initiates billing at the beginning of the contractual agreement, ensuring that payment processes align with the formal start of service delivery. This option is particularly useful for services that begin delivering value immediately upon contract commencement - On Contract end date: Sets billing to occur at the conclusion of the contractual period, typically used when the full scope of a service is completed ℹ️ Billing starting on contract date is supported only for one-time services - Custom date: Allows the selection of specific billing dates, catering to unique billing arrangements or schedules agreed upon with the client ℹ️ Billing on custom date can only be accessed when adding services to a proposal 5. Auto-invoicing Cone's auto-invoicing feature streamlines the payment process by generating invoices based on the billing preferences set for each service. You can enable auto-invoicing by switching on Enable auto invoicingtoggle ℹ️ Auto-invoicing is disabled by default for a service. You will have to explicitly enable it ℹ️ Auto-invoicing is not supported for commission based pricing ℹ️ For a milestone based service, when auto-invoicing is enabled, it will be applicable only for the first milestone. Second milestone will have to be manually billed even when auto-invoicing is enabled You can learn more about service auto-invoicing here 6. Service categories You can organize services for simpler navigation through the use of service categories. Such categorization allows for a more structured and visually intuitive presentation of your offerings, facilitating ease of access and understanding for both you and your clients You can learn more about service categories here 7. Service templates Cone's service templates serve as a foundation for quickly adding services in your account. To use service templates: - Access the templates from services under Cone templates - Browse through the available templates, covering a wide range of standard industry services - Select and clone a template to your service list, where it becomes fully customizable. Tailor the service details, including pricing, billing preferences, and associated categories, to fit your specific business model

Last updated on Apr 04, 2026

How to manage and bill hourly services

In this article - Creating hourly services - Recurring services - Actions for hourly services in proposals - Fixed hourly services - Variable hourly services https://www.loom.com/share/1b0fe246a8a449fb938004489eaaab75 Cone offers robust capabilities for managing hourly services, enabling you to efficiently bill clients based on time spent. This guide will walk you through how to set up, manage, and invoice for both fixed and variable hourly services within Cone Creating hourly services 1. Go to the service management section in your Cone account. Here, you can create new hourly services 2. Choose to price the service based on per unit, and define the unit as hour 3. Set the hourly rate and, if desired, input a default value used for automated invoicing, so you don’t have to specify it each time. Recurring services - If you wish to create a recurring hourly service, specify the recurrence frequency (e.g., monthly) and start billing on proposal acceptance Actions for hourly services in proposals Fixed hourly services - For fixed hourly services, you will know ahead how many hours will be billed each month - Enable the auto-invoicing feature to automatically generate invoices based on the agreed-upon hours and rate - After the proposal is accepted, invoices will be automatically generated based on the default hours Variable hourly services - For variable hourly services, where the number of hours can fluctuate, you will need to disable auto-invoicing since exact hours are only known after the service is rendered - Upon completing the service, you'll need to manually update the number of hours worked - Cone will display the service in un-billed items under the Overview section. You can select the service when ready to invoice and adjust the number of hours as needed before sending the invoice to the client You can learn more about services here

Last updated on Apr 04, 2026

Manage Services

In this article - ## Service Details - Pricing and Billing - Billing Type - Billing start date - Auto-invoicing In Cone, you can create various services that can be used in proposals. With proposals software, services are the fundamental entities that can be billed New service can be added from here or by going to Services tab in the left nav bar and clicking on Create service Service Details You can add the following general details for the services Name Name of the service Description Rich text description of the service. This appears as service summary on the web and PDF proposal views. It's used to explain the service in more details Invoice line item description This would be synced with the accounting software system and as a descriptor for the invoice line item Pricing and Billing Following outlines the pricing and billing details for services Pricing Method Pricing method determines how a service gets priced There are 4 types of pricing methods in Cone 1. Fixed 2. Variant 3. Per Unit 4. Commission Fixed Select fixed fee if you charge the constant price for a service all the time Variant Select variant pricing to charge different fixed fees depending on specific client-related factors as you define. For example, Basic is $5, Essentials is $10, Pro is $20 etc. Per unit Select unit pricing if you charge by the units. For example, $25.00 per hour, $100 per person 🗒️ Currently, Cone supports following per unit entities: hour, transaction, entity, individual, item 💡 Auto-invoicing is not supported for per unit pricing Commission Select commission fee if you charge a percentage of total value delivered in the service. Eg. 15% commission on total profits 💡 Currently, absolute commissions are not supported 💡Auto-invoicing is not supported for commission pricing Price Define the price for the service. You can change this after adding this in a proposal. Changing the value there will be applicable only for the service in that service and not outside Tax Rate Define the tax rate for the service. Tax rates can be managed from here Billing Type Billing type determines how a service gets billed 3 billing types are supported 1. One-time 2. Recurring 3. Milestone One-time This is used when service is billed only once Recurring This is used when service is billed on a recurring basis. You can use the following recurring frequencies 1. Daily 2. Weekly 3. Monthly 4. Every 3 months 5. Every 6 months 6. Yearly 7. Custom When you choose Custom , you can specify custom recurring frequency You can also specify how many times the service billing has to recur Milestone Milestone type is used when you want to bill based on specific milestones 💡 Milestones are only available for services with Fixed and Variant based pricing methods 💡 Currently, only 2 milestones are supported with Cone. Amounts for these can only be as percentages of the total value. Percentages have to be manually adjusted to total 100% 💡 First milestone is billed immediately once proposal is signed 💡 When auto-invoicing is enabled, it will be applicable only for the first milestone. Second milestone will have to be manually billed even when auto-invoicing is enabled Billing start date With service, you can specify when it should get billed once a proposal is accepted Following options are supported 1. When proposal is accepted 2. On contract start date 3. On contract end date 4. On custom date When proposal is accepted With this, billing starts on the date when proposal is signed On contract start date Billing starts on the contract start date as specified in the proposal On contract end date Billing starts on the contract end date as specified in the proposal 💡 Billing starting on contract date is supported only for one-time services On custom date Billing starts on a custom date 💡 Billing on custom date can only be accessed when adding services to a proposal Auto-invoicing When enabled, invoices will be automatically created for this service. More information about service auto-invoicing is here

Last updated on Apr 04, 2026

Service Categories

Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Managing service categories 1. Creating a service category 2. Assigning service to a category 3. Change service category 4. Deleting a service category 1. Introduction Categorization of services within Cone allows for a more structured and visually intuitive presentation of your offerings, facilitating ease of access and comprehension for both you and your clients 2.Managing service categories 2.a Creating a service category: - To create a new category, navigate to the services section in Cone. Here you'll find the option to manage categories - Click on Manage categories . It opens a sidebar where you can see existing categories - You can create a new category by clicking on Create category . Enter a name that encapsulates the group of services (e.g., "Bookkeeping", "Compliance", "Financial Advising") and choose a unique color to associate with this category. The color coding aids in quickly identifying services under a particular category, enhancing the proposal's visual appeal and organizational structure 2.b Assigning service to a category: - During the service creation process, or when editing an existing service, you have the option to select a category from a dropdown menu of your pre-defined categories - Assigning a service to a category helps in organizing your services more efficiently, making them easier to manage and reference in proposals 2.c Change service category: - If at any point you need to re-categorize a service, Cone allows you to easily modify the category assignment via the service editing function. This flexibility ensures your service organization remains aligned with your evolving business strategy or service offerings 2.d Deleting a service category: - Should a service category become redundant or no longer reflective of your offerings, it can be removed from Cone - Delete a category by navigating to the service categories section and selecting the delete option from the triple-dot actions for the relevant category ❗Ensure that no services are assigned to the category you wish to delete, or reassign those services to a different category beforehand to maintain organizational integrity in your proposals

Last updated on Apr 04, 2026

Service Pricing Factors

Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Configuring pricing factors 3. Examples 1. Quality of books 2. Annual revenue range 3. Support factors 4. Frequency of reconciliations 5. Loyalty discount 1. Introduction Pricing factors are dynamic variables that influence the final price of a service, adding or adjusting the base cost based on specific criteria. Users can define these factors, determine how they interact with the base price (add, subtract, multiply, divide), and choose between a numerical input or a predefined list to set the adjustment mechanism 2. Configuring pricing factors Pricing factors can be added to services during service creation or while editing a service Name the pricing factor: Begin by naming your pricing factor to reflect the aspect it represents (e.g., "Quality of Books", "Annual Revenue Range") Define interaction type: Specify how the factor should adjust pricing: - Add: Increases the base service price - Subtract: Decreases the base service price - Multiply: Applies a multiplication factor to the base price - Divide: Applies a division factor, reducing the base price Choose Input Type: - Number Input: Directly enter a value to adjust the base price - List: If selecting 'List', input options and associated values for each, creating a structured selection Service Pricing Factors 3. Examples Quality of books: - Action: Multiply | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Value | Outcome | | High | 0.9 | Multiplication factor for well-maintained books, resulting in a lower charge | | Medium | 1.0 | No change | | Low | 1.1 | Resulting in a higher charge due to increased workload | Annual revenue range: - Action: Add | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Value | Outcome | | Less than $100K | 0 | Add $0 for base services | | $100K-$500K | 200 | Add $200 for increased complexity | | More than $500K | 500 | add $500 for extensive service requirements | Support factors (e.g., Hours of Support Required): - Action: Add | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Value | Outcome | | Basic (up to 2 hours) | 50 | Add $50 for base services | | Standard (up to 5 hours) | 120 | Add $120 for more time | | Premium (unlimited) | 250 | add $250 for premium | Frequency of reconciliations: - Action: Multiply | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Value | Outcome | | Weekly | 1.2 | 1.2 multiplication factor for intensive reconciliation needs | | Monthly | 1.0 | 1.0, standard rate | | Quarterly | 0.8 | 0.8, less frequent thus a discount applied | Loyalty discount: - Action: Subtract | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Option | Value | Outcome | | Bronze (1-2 years) | 50 | Subtract $50 from the baseline service fee, offering a modest reward for early loyalty | | Silver (3-5 years) | 100 | Subtract $100, acknowledging a more extended commitment with a greater discount | | Gold (Over 5 years) | 200 | Subtract $200, providing a substantial reduction in fees to honor longstanding client relationships | Minimum + variable fee for variants: For example, I have a minimum fee of £35 per month for sole traders, and £155 per month for limited companies

Last updated on Apr 04, 2026