Charges are similar to line Items that are normally found within an invoice. They represent something the customer will need to pay you for and an invoice can be seen as the way in which you ask for that payment. 

Charges, by design, are super flexible yet very simple. They appear whenever you or a user does something that is chargeable, such as making a booking or subscribing to a membership plan. Charges are closely related to allowances which you can read about here.

Creating a booking is an easy way to get to grips with how charges work. Let's start with this screenshot:

In this example, we've created a booking with a duration of 1 hour 15 mins. In the detailed view of the booking we will see that a charge has automatically been created and is based on the length of the booking, price of the space and any discounts that apply. 

If we change the duration of the booking or price of the space then this will be immediately reflected on the charge. 

As you add resources to the booking you will see the associated charges appear in the list. Some resources such as the PA Kit are set up to be priced per hour and therefore it has a quantity of 1.25 hours. On the other hand, the projector is priced per booking and has a quantity of 1. 

You can read more about how resources work here.

While you're in 'Edit' mode you can modify both the 'Unit Price' and the 'Discount'.
Quantity cannot be edited.

You can create an invoice from these charges at any point; whether that is for a single booking, multiple bookings or anything that the contact has done throughout a month. 

Furthermore, you can automatically create an invoice on the 1st of each month for all outstanding charges. More information on this can be found here.

You can manually create an invoice for all charges or the selected charges by clicking 'Invoice'. A pop up appears with a preview of the invoice. You have the ability to edit:

You can save this email, or save and send it out. 

Read more on how invoices work here.  

Currently, charges can be created in 4 ways

If your booking changes after you have created an invoice, then new charges will be created showing the differences. Charges are designed to be a perfect reflection of your booking. 

This is very useful when a booking over-runs or extra resources are required, In these situations, it is quick to send out a second or even a third invoice. 

Q. Why are charges not showing up in a booking?
A. First, check that the booking is set to chargeable. If the charges still do not appear it may be that the booking is included in the Contact or Members allowances, these will be shown in the charges section. 

Q. I've created an invoice but I need to change the amount shown. How do I do this?
A. If the invoice hasn't been moved from draft state yet either by it being issued or emailed, you can can simply 'Remove Invoice'. You can then release the charges, edit them, and then re-invoice for the correct amount. If the invoice has been issued and you need to make changes, you have to 'Void' the invoice. You can then release the charges and create a new invoice from the edited charges.