How to offer discounts to your clients

In this article, you'll learn how to give a client a discount on a job or an estimate, and how that discount ends up on the invoice. It comes in handy when you're matching another quote, thanking a repeat customer or making up for a rough day on the job.

Every discount is either a dollar amount or a percentage. A percentage stays a percentage, so if you add or remove items later, the dollars off update on their own. A dollar amount stays exactly what you typed.

To open a job's discount:

1. 1.Open the job.
2. 2.On a computer, click the Items tab. On a phone, tap Finance, then tap Items to open that section.
3. 3.In the totals under the items, click Discount.

Adding a discount to a job

The Discount box in a job's totals opens the Set discount sheet. It works the same on a computer, in your phone's browser and in the phone app.

To add a discount to a job:

1. 1.Open the job and find the Discount box as above.
2. 2.Click Discount. The Set discount sheet opens.
3. 3.At the top, pick % for a percentage or $ for a dollar amount.
4. 4.Type the number in the Discount box.
5. 5.Check the yellow button under it. It reads the discount back both ways, for example Apply $25.00 (10.00%).
6. 6.Click that button to apply it.

The Discount line now shows the dollars off, with the percentage in brackets when you chose one. Total and the balance update to match.

Adding a discount to an estimate

Estimates have the same choice of dollars or a percentage, right in the totals under the items.

To add a discount to an estimate on a computer:

1. 1.In the menu, click Estimates, then click the estimate number.
2. 2.Scroll down to the totals under the items.
3. 3.Next to Discount, pick $ or % from the small dropdown.
4. 4.Type the number in the box.
5. 5.Click anywhere outside the box. The discount saves on its own and Total updates.

On a phone, in the browser or the app, the $ and % are two small buttons beside the Discount box instead of a dropdown. Tap one, type the number, then tap outside the box to save.

When you use a percentage, a small line under Discount shows what it works out to, for example $25.00 off.

A few things to know:

• •Optional items don't count toward the discount. They aren't part of the total until the client takes them.
• •Once an estimate has been turned into a job, its discount is greyed out and can't be changed. The same goes for an approved estimate when Lock approved estimates is on in Settings › Estimates.
• •When you create a job from an estimate, the discount comes across with it. A percentage stays a percentage on the job.

How discounts show up on invoices

When you create an invoice from a job, it takes the job's discount along with its items, tax and total. On a phone, the invoice page shows the Discount line but you can't edit it there. On a computer, the invoice page shows the job's items and totals under the invoice card, and the Discount box there is the same one as on the job.

While that invoice is still open, meaning it hasn't been paid in full, refunded or voided, it keeps up with the job. Change the discount on the job and the open invoice changes with it, so the client never pays a number you've already changed. Once the invoice is paid, it stays as it was.

Related articles

• •How to set your sales tax rate
• •Offering discounts on the phone app
• •How to create and send estimates
• •Applying an approved estimate to a job
• •Creating estimates and invoices from jobs