How is retainage handled?

Set a retainage percentage on the contract. Kineo withholds it on each invoice and shows the retainage held on the project.

How do invoices get to the client?

Send them by email from Kineo, or mark them as sent if you deliver them another way. Clients can also see their invoices in the portal.

Bill

From accepted proposal to invoice, synced with QuickBooks Online

When a client accepts your proposal, its fee lines become the contract. Kineo drafts each invoice by phase from percent complete and approved hours and expenses, with retainage where your contracts need it, and syncs invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online.

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An invoice in Kineo with progress draws by billing line, retainage withheld, and its approval steps

1Each invoice moves from draft to approved, issued, sent, and paid.
2Progress draws are listed by billing line.
3Retainage is withheld at the contract's rate.
4Subtotal, retainage, and balance due, ready to send as a PDF.

Most invoicing tools don't understand phases or retainage

So the invoice gets built in a spreadsheet each month from the contract, the timesheets, and last month's invoice, and someone checks the math by hand.

Start billing when the client accepts

Every line on a proposal becomes a contract line when the client accepts, so nobody retypes the fees. Mark the lines you want billed right away, like a deposit, and Kineo copies them to a first draft invoice at the same moment.

An automation can also watch for accepted proposals and prepare the next draft for your team, such as an invoice or a change order.

A proposal's contract and invoicing section in Kineo: a design fee marked contract only, a deposit marked for the draft invoice, and the initial draft invoice total

Set up the contract once

Accepted proposals set up the contract for you, or you can create one directly. Each contract has its original value, retainage percentage, rate table, and invoice numbering. Its fee lines make up the schedule of values.

Each fee line bills one of two ways. Declared progress bills a percent complete. Observed time bills approved hours and expenses at their rates, with the line amount as its budget.

A billing contract in Kineo with its original value, approved changes, and billing schedule by phase

Catch over-budget work before it's billed

See what's budgeted, billed, ready, and blocked for every billing line. Work that would push a line or phase over budget is held back and flagged so someone can decide what to do with it.

A project budget in Kineo flagging a billing line that is over budget, with approved work blocked

See what every contract can bill today

The Ready to Invoice view lists each contract and the amount it can bill right now. Generate a draft, check it, and send it through approval.

Kineo's Ready to Invoice view listing each contract and the amount it can bill now

Change orders

Draft, submit, and approve change orders that adjust fee lines or phase budgets from an effective date, and preview the new budget before approving.

Invoice layouts and delivery

Show every line or a summary by phase. Email the invoice with the PDF attached, or mark it as sent. Issue credit notes when you need them.

Recording payments

Record payments by ACH, card, check, wire, or cash. Payments entered in QuickBooks Online update the balance in Kineo too.

Common questions

Percent-complete progress and time and materials.

Try Kineo on a project you're working on now

Set up a project with its contract and phases, invite your team, and give the assistant some of the routine work. Your first 14 days are free, with every feature included.