Understanding Service Rates and Fees in Time To Pet

The Time To Pet software is designed with the flexibility to meet the diverse needs of pet care providers, offering a comprehensive system for managing service rates and fees. In this article, we'll review the types of rates that can be set in Time To Pet and how to manage them through the software.

How Invoices Are Generated

Events are invoiced at the time they are scheduled, whether that be when an Admin or Manager schedules an event or when a client's service request is approved. Events will be part of a Service Order as soon as they are scheduled. Service Orders are viewed through the scheduler and will list all of the events associated with an invoice.

At the top of the Service Order view will be a few details, such as the Client's name, Office Note, and Invoice Number. The invoice number is hyperlinked, and clicking this will take you to the Edit Invoice Screen:

Screenshot of Service Order with arrow pointing to an invoice number

Note: To learn more about the functions, format, and editing of invoices in Time To Pet, check out our Understanding Invoicing In Time To Pet help article.

How Service Rates Are Generated

As events are invoiced, the rates and applicable fees are automatically calculated on the invoice. The rates for their services are based on the default rate set in the Services List or any Custom Rates they have set.

This is what Admins or Managers (with invoicing permissions) will see on the Edit Invoice screen:

Admin view of the edit invoice screen with service charges and totals shown

This is what a client sees when an invoice is emailed or view the invoice in the Client Portal:

client view of an invoice with listed service charges

Note: Additional information on setting and managing custom client rates can be found in the Adding Custom Rates For A Client help article.

If your company has any Frequency Discounts enabled, these rates will also automatically be generated on the invoice. Events with a Frequncy Discount will appear with a symbol next to the listed price on the invoice:

list of services on an invoice with red box around the charges for each service

Note: These discounts can be configured through the "Frequency Discounts" tab in the setup page of a service in your Services List. We also share more details in our Frequency Based Discounts help article.

If a discount is manually applied to an invoice or the Client has an automated discount, this will be reflected in the "totals" section of the invoice:

edit invoice screen with red arrow pointing to a discount option

We share more details about applying and managing discounts here: Adding Manual And Automatic Discounts To Client Invoices

How Fees Are Calculated

Automated Fees

Time To Pet supports a variety of automated fees:

Note: To learn more about each fee type, click any of the fee types listed above to open the Knowledge Base article!

Should a scheduled event meet the criteria for a fee, it will be automatically included on the client's invoice.

On the Edit Invoice screen that is accessible to Admins and Managers, fees are shown as a line item below the event they are connected to:

edit invoice screen with red arrows pointing to the fees included on the invoice

When clients review their invoices through email or the portal, applicable fees are listed below the listed event:

client view of an invoice that has fees included

When editing scheduled events, any automatically applied fees will appear under the "Extras" section:

view for editing an event with red arrow pointing to a section called

Note: In cases where an event may meet the criteria for multiple automatic fees such as Weekend, After Hours, and Holiday fees, you can adjust which fee will apply using the "Auto Fee Stacking" feature in the Automated Fees tab of a service's setup. For information and examples on how to use this feature, check out our Advanced Auto Fee Stacking Guide.

Add-On Services & Fees

Add-On Fees are services that are manually applied and attached to primary services. For example, the primary service is a "30-Minute Pet Sitting" and the add-on would be "Plant Care". Add-On Fees are technically services that are created through your Services List, making them selectable when applying to a scheduled event:

view of editing an event with service drop down menu shown

Add-On Fees can also be applied in bulk through Bulk Edit:

view of the bulk edit screen with various categories shown

These fees also populate as line items on the client invoice:

edit invoice screen with line item for an add on service visible

client view of invoice with add on service line item shown

To learn more about Add-On fees, check out our help article for How To Add Additional (Add On) Fees To An Event

Fees For Cancelled Events

Scheduled events can be marked as canceled either manually or through a client's request. The fees charged are determined at the time the event is canceled. If an event meets the criteria of your company's Automatic Cancellation Fees, this fee will automatically populate the window that appears when processing the cancellation. However, the fee can be adjusted before finalizing the cancellation.

view of cancellation fee confirmation window

When an event has been cancelled, it will be indicated in the invoice visible to Admins and the invoice visible to clients:

edit invoice screen with cancelled service line items

client view of invoice with cancelled services listed

Note: For more information on cancelling services in Time To Pet, check out these help articles:

Updating Service Rates and Fees

When rates or fees are updated through the Services List or in the Client's profile, the rates will only apply to events scheduled after the rate was updated. To update any applicable events to the new rates, you'll need to use Bulk Update- Bulk Refresh Rates which can be accessed through the Scheduler.

view of scheduler page with red box around a Bulk Update button

It is also possible to update fees when manually editing single events or in bulk using Bulk Edit.

view of bulk edit screen with the fee categories checked off

To update Holiday Fees in bulk, you would need to use Bulk Update.

view of bulk update actions with holiday rate selected

Time To Pet has a number of helpful articles that outline how to update rates, which can be accessed here:

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Automatic Extra Pet Fees be customized by client?

It is not possible to customize this through the "Rates" section on a client's profile. If you need to charge a custom amount for extra pets, you can edit this for each event or in bulk using Bulk Edit.

Can the Automated Holiday Fees be customized by service?

Holiday fees are not customizable by service. If you want to charge a specific amount for the holiday fee, you can edit this on each event in the "Extras" section or through Bulk Update.

Is it possible to create custom automated fees?

Time To Pet does not allow for custom automated fees such as "Admin" or "Processing" fees to be created and applied to invoices. Custom fees that you'd like to charge to a client can be added as a Custom Line Item on invoices. Alternatively, you can add custom fees as an Add-On Fee to a scheduled event.

Can I add an automatic fee for payment processing?

At this time, we are unable to include automatic surcharges/convenience fees as a feature in Time To Pet. However, we do recommend incorporating these fees into your pricing structure so that clients can cover them through their service charges. Alternatively, you can add them as a separate line item on your client invoices. You can learn more on how to add a custom line item to an invoice here: Custom Line Items

Are clients able to see the rates and fees when they request services through their client portal or mobile app?

It is possible to show prices and applicable fees through your Settings > Client Settings > Portal Settings when both "Show Prices In Portal" and "Show Fees & Discounts in Portal" are enabled. See Show Fees And Discounts In Portal for more information.