Making a discount for the entire invoice is easy. When you create an invoice, just specify a discount for the total invoice value as a percentage or as a fixed sum.

Let's say that the total invoice value (before taxes) is $1,330.00 and you want to round it to $1,300.00. In this case, you apply a fixed discount of $30.00 and the invoiced value will be $1,300.00. The discount is not taxed if taxes apply to the invoice.

The total invoice discount makes sense when you need to discount the entire invoice but not if you want to discount only certain items. You may want to lower your rate or you may want to bill less work (hours or units). To discount a service item, go to the Billing section when you create or edit an item.

Let's see a few service discount examples and how they can help you.

Bill at a lower rate: You may want to offer introductory rates to first time clients. Let's say that you charge $100 for a service but this time you want to charge $80. When you create an item to record work for that service, just discount its rate using a fixed discount of $20. You could also use a percentage discount of 20% to get the same result.

Bill less work: If you've agreed to 10 hours for a service but it took you 12.5 hours then you can discount them to match the initial agreement. Just apply a fixed discount of 2.5 hours and you'll only bill 10 hours. On the invoice, you can show that it took you 12.5 hours but you only billed 10 hours.

Don't bill work: Another situation is when you are offering a service that should be included on the invoice but should not be charged. In this case, create an item and discount its units (hours) by 100%. The total invoiced value for such an item will be zero.

Once you have one or more discounted items, you can easily see in the application which ones are discounted. Discounted items have a red corner in the items table. Just move the mouse over them (don't click, just keep it over) to see more details.