Billing & fees
Manage client fees, review schedules, engagement agreements, and direct debit status.
Overview
OneHQ's billing module tracks fixed-fee arrangements for each client group. Fee records include the total fee amount, component breakdown, direct debit status, engagement agreement status, and review schedule.
The billing module is accessed from the Practice mode sidebar under Billing. It provides two tabs:
- Fees — view and manage fee records for all client groups, with expandable rows showing component breakdowns, EA status, and review dates
- Boarding — track onboarding and offboarding clients with associated fee targets and progress checklists
Billing records are scoped to client groups rather than individual entities, reflecting how accounting firms typically structure their fee arrangements at the group level.
Fee records
Each client group has a billing record that captures the key details of your fee arrangement. A fee record includes:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Total fee | The annual fee amount for the client group |
| Fee components | Line-item breakdown of the total (e.g. BAS preparation, Tax return, Bookkeeping) |
| Direct debit | Whether the client is on active direct debit (active or inactive) |
| Notes | Free-text notes about the fee arrangement, special terms, or history |
Fee records are created and managed from the Billing > Fees tab. Click the + button to add a new billing record, or click an existing row to expand it and view full details.
Fee components
Fee components let you break down the total fee into individual line items. Components are stored as structured data and displayed in the expandable row when you click on a billing record.
Common component examples include:
- BAS preparation — quarterly activity statement lodgement
- Tax return — annual income tax return preparation
- Bookkeeping — monthly or quarterly bookkeeping services
- Payroll — payroll processing and STP lodgement
- Advisory — tax planning, business advice, and ad-hoc consultations
- SMSF audit — self-managed super fund compliance
Components are particularly useful during fee review meetings. By showing clients a clear breakdown of each service and its cost, you can identify services that are underpriced relative to the work involved and have transparent conversations about scope changes.
Adding components
When creating or editing a billing record, use the components section to add line items. Each component has a description and an amount. The total of all components does not need to match the total fee exactly — this allows you to account for bundled discounts or rounded pricing.
Engagement agreements
Each billing record tracks the engagement agreement (EA) status for the client group. The EA status can be one of three values:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| None | No engagement agreement is in place for this client |
| Pending | An engagement agreement has been sent but not yet signed |
| Signed | The client has signed the engagement agreement |
Engagement agreements can be generated using OneHQ's document templates system. The built-in "Engagement Letter" template includes merge fields for client name, fee amount, and service scope.
Once generated, engagement agreements can be sent for e-signing through the signing module. When the client signs, the EA status on the billing record can be updated to reflect the signed agreement.
Fee reviews
Fee review tracking helps ensure your pricing stays aligned with the scope of services you deliver. Each billing record has a review status and an optional next review date.
Review statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Current | The fee has been reviewed recently and is up to date |
| Due | A review is coming up based on the next review date |
| Required | The review date has passed and a review is overdue |
Setting review dates
When editing a billing record, set a next review date to schedule the review. OneHQ will automatically update the review status based on this date, transitioning from "Current" to "Due" as the date approaches, and to "Required" once it has passed.
Dashboard alerts
The practice dashboard Alerts card shows a count of billing records with reviews due or required. Clicking this alert navigates directly to the Billing tab, filtered to show records needing attention. This ensures fee reviews do not slip through the cracks, even during busy periods.
Boarding fees
When onboarding or offboarding clients, the boarding module integrates with billing to track fee expectations. Each boarding client record can include:
- Target fee amount — the expected annual fee for the incoming client, or the fee being lost for departing clients
- Target days — the expected number of days to complete the boarding process
- Reason — context for why the client is onboarding or offboarding
Boarding records appear in the Billing > Boarding tab, which shows both onboarding and offboarding clients. Each record has a detail panel with a progress checklist — customisable steps that can be ticked off as the boarding process progresses.
Boarding checklists
Boarding checklist templates are configured in Settings > Setup & Menus. You can create separate checklists for onboarding and offboarding, with items like "Obtain signed authority", "Transfer Xero access", "Set up direct debit", and "AML/CTF identity verification".
When a new boarding client is added, the relevant checklist is automatically applied. Progress is tracked per client, and overdue boarding items appear as alerts on the practice dashboard.
Frequently asked questions
Fees are tracked at the client group level, not per individual entity. This reflects how most accounting firms structure their fee arrangements — a single fee covers all entities within a client group (e.g. the company, trust, and individual returns for the Henderson Group are covered under one fee).
If you need to track fees for a single entity that is not part of a group, create a group containing just that entity.
OneHQ has a separate timesheet module for time tracking, but the billing module itself focuses on fixed-fee arrangements. The two work together depending on your practice's billing approach.
The timesheet configuration supports three billing modes:
- Fixed-fee — time tracking is used for internal cost analysis, but clients are billed a fixed amount
- Time-based — staff record time and clients are billed based on hours at their hourly rate
- Hybrid — a combination where some clients are fixed-fee and others are time-based
You can configure your billing mode in Settings > Timesheets. Staff hourly rates and cost rates are set per team member.
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