# Set up Services

Define the documents, scheduled work, and default fees for the Services your firm offers.

Source: https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/services

## Create or edit a Service

1. Open **Settings → Services**.
2. Select **Add Service**, or **Edit** beside an existing Service. Use search and the group filter to find it.
3. If creating from a template, choose the appropriate starting template.
4. In **Add Details**, check the name, group, applicable client types, and frequency.
5. In **Select Document Requirements**, choose the documents needed and check the requirements for each relevant client type.
6. In **Select Deadlines**, choose the scheduled work associated with the Service. These are the Job Templates described in this guide.
7. In **Service Fees**, where available, set the [billing trigger](#billing-trigger), [billing start](#billing-starts), [revenue account](#xero-revenue-account), [default fee](#default-fee), [tax rate](#tax-rate), [line items](#default-line-items), and [registered company](#registered-company).
8. In **Emails**, choose whom to notify when Ziffa cannot identify a document's type or the document fails validation. **Client** sends to the main Contact's email address. **Partner** sends to eligible colleagues for that Entity. Follow [Configure document emails](#configure-document-emails) below and read [Understanding document emails](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/document-emails) for the recipient rules.
9. Continue to **Review**, check the summary, then select **Create Service** or **Save Changes**. Check that the Service appears in the catalogue with the intended details.

The step numbers depend on whether you are creating or editing and on your access. Use the step names to find them. **View** access shows saved commercial settings; **Manage** access lets you change them. Fees and Billing have separate access controls.

![Services settings filtered to the fictional Monthly bookkeeping Service, with document requirements, frequency, and actions visible.](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/images/service-settings.webp)

*Use search to find the Service. The row summarises its frequency, documents, and linked Job Templates before you open it.*

## Choose when document collection begins

In **Add Details**, check **Share service folder when client reaches**. This sets the Entity status at which the Service's shared folder becomes eligible for creation. The default is **Active**, but your firm can choose an earlier status. For example, due diligence collection can begin at **Pending Review** while bookkeeping collection begins at **Active**.

Choose **Do not share** when the Service should not create a shared folder. This does not disable the Service or prevent manual uploads and supported email intake. See [Collect client documents](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/collect-client-documents) for the collection options and the separate automatic-sharing switch.

Job generation also checks whether the Service applies at the Entity's current status, along with the Job Template's client types, scope, schedule, and required dates. A folder appearing does not mean every Job has been generated.

## Add Details fields

Check each field before continuing:

| Field | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Service Name** | The name shown in the catalogue, on assignments, and on documents. Two Services in the firm cannot share a name. |
| **Service Group** | Groups the Service with similar work, such as Accounting or Tax, so the catalogue is easier to filter. |
| **Description** | Optional text, up to 500 characters, available to document templates. It appears only when the template includes it. It does not change the fee. |
| **Default Frequency of Service** | How often the Service is provided. **Service frequency** billing uses this same frequency. It is separate from a Job Template's schedule. |
| **Client types** | Chosen before the details step. Only these types can be assigned the Service, and they are the columns in **Document Categories Required**. |

## Document requirements and Job Templates

In **Select Document Requirements**, tick the client-type columns for each **Document Category** your firm needs. **All** selects every chosen client type for that category; **Clear** clears that row. These choices define requirements, rather than uploading any files. Follow [Collect client documents](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/collect-client-documents) to collect them.

In **Select Deadlines**, move Job Templates from **Available** to **Selected** using the add/remove controls or drag and drop. Use **Search deadlines** to find one. A template can be shared by several Services. Its schedule and client scope determine which Jobs are generated; see [Set up Job Templates](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/job-templates).

## Service Fees

Open the **Service Fees** step to set the defaults copied when you select this Service for a new client. Check the trigger first, then the amount, VAT, and any line items.

![Service Fees with Service frequency billing, a status-based start month, firm-default revenue account, a 250-euro fee, 18 percent Tax Rate, and Registered company.](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/images/service-fees.webp)

*The account controls where revenue is recorded. The fee and VAT control the amount offered to a new client. Step numbers can differ between Create and Edit.*

## Billing trigger

On **Service Fees**, **Billing trigger** decides whether Ziffa creates invoice drafts for this Service, and what makes a draft due. It does not send an invoice. The choices are **No billing trigger**, **Service frequency**, and **Deadline**.

The trigger is the starting point for a new assignment. On **Services & Proposal** the same choices read **billed manually**, **billed by its frequency**, and **billed on deadlines**. You can change that sentence for one client without changing the catalogue.

Billing has two automatic triggers: **Service frequency** and **Deadline**. Choose **No billing trigger** to use neither.

### No billing trigger

Choose **No billing trigger** when this Service should not create an automatic invoice draft. On a client assignment this is the phrase **billed manually**. **Generate** does not add this Service to a draft.

The Service can still have a **Default Fee**. That amount can appear on a proposal and on the client's assignment. It is not turned into a draft by **Generate**. Use this when you bill the work some other way, or when the fee is only for the proposal.

**Billing starts** is hidden for this choice.

### Service frequency

Choose **Service frequency** when the fee is due on the Service's **Default Frequency of Service**: monthly, quarterly, annually, or once.

When the fee is due, Ziffa includes it in that Entity's draft for the month. Other frequency-billed Services due in the same month are grouped onto that draft. **Generate** creates or refreshes the draft. It does not issue it.

Billing waits until the month chosen under [Billing starts](#billing-starts). Rejected and terminated clients are not billed.

The first billable month anchors the frequency. If it is May, a monthly Service is due every month, a quarterly Service in May, August, November, and February, and an annual Service each May. **One Time** is due only in that first month.

The fee covers the full period. Ziffa does not automatically reduce it for a partial first month. A monthly Service starting on 20 May is billed for May in full when its rule starts in May.

### Deadline

Choose **Deadline** when a fee should be billed because a Job is coming due, rather than because a calendar period has arrived. The app labels this trigger **Deadline**. In this guide, the thing you map is a Job Template.

Add the Job Templates on **Select Deadlines** first. Then give every [default line item](#default-line-items) a **Bill when** value. **Bill when** is the Job Template that makes that line eligible.

A line becomes eligible when its Job's due date falls inside the invoice-draft lead time. That lead time is the firm's [Billing setup](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/billing) value, unless the Job Template sets its own. The Job does not have to be marked completed. Past-due Jobs remain eligible.

Each matching Job is billed separately from the monthly frequency draft. Lines mapped to the same Job share its draft; lines mapped to different Job Templates follow their respective Jobs. For example, a €600 annual-accounts line can be billed when its annual-accounts Job enters the lead-time window, without waiting for a monthly bookkeeping charge.

If a line has no **Bill when** value, the client's Service shows **Billing setup required** and that Job-based draft is not created. Frequency billing is not used for this trigger, so **Billing starts** is hidden.

## Billing starts

**Billing starts** is shown only when the trigger is **Service frequency**. It chooses the first month a new assignment may be billed. The month is fixed when the triggering event happens. Later edits to this Service setting do not move a start month that is already saved on a client.

The two **From the start of the next month** choices have different meanings. Check the group heading in the list.

### Wait until the client reaches the selected status

The status comes from **Add Details → Share service folder when client reaches**. It is commonly **Active**, but a due diligence Service might use **Pending Review**.

- **From the start of that month:** begin in the month the client reaches that status. Reaching it on 20 May starts billing from May, for the full fee.
- **From the start of the next month:** begin in the following month. Reaching it on 20 May starts billing from June.

If the client already meets the status when you assign the Service, the assignment month is used. **Do not share** skips folder creation and removes the status wait, so the assignment month is used instead. **Rejected** and **Terminated** clients are excluded from billing; do not choose either as the status you are waiting for.

### Start from client creation

These options use the Entity's creation date, rather than the date you add this Service or activate the client.

- **From the start of the creation month:** an Entity created on 20 May starts from May.
- **From the start of the next month:** the same Entity starts from June.

Client status does not delay these options, although Rejected and Terminated clients are still excluded. Adding a Service to an older Entity can therefore produce a start month in the past. Check the month shown on the assignment.

### Set a month for each client

Choose **Choose a start month for each client** when agreements begin in different months. Select **Billing starts on** in that client's **Services & Proposal** step. Frequency billing does not start while the month is unset.

The start month anchors the billing cycle. It does not ask Ziffa to generate every missed month's invoice. Check the [billing draft](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/create-and-issue-bills#3-generate-and-find-the-draft) for the current month.

## Xero revenue account

**Xero revenue account** is where this Service's invoice lines are recorded in Xero. It applies to every invoice line for the Service. Additional fees that are separate from Services use the firm default.

**Firm default** uses the **Default Xero revenue account** from [Billing setup](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/billing). Choose a specific account when this Service should be reported separately, for example bookkeeping against a different account from corporate work.

The account does not change the amount charged, discount, or VAT. Review the account on each draft line before issuing. It is used when the draft is issued. If you change the firm default first, a draft that still says it uses the firm default is issued to the new account. A Service that names its own account keeps that account.

If the saved code is marked **unavailable**, Ziffa could not find it among the accounts available from the selected Xero organisation. Choose a current account before you rely on new drafts.

## Default Fee

**Default Fee** is the amount offered when this Service is assigned to a new client. On **Services & Proposal**, selecting the Service fills this amount and its currency. You can change the amount for that client before you save. The saved client amount is what proposals and later invoices use.

The catalogue amount is exclusive of VAT. **Tax Rate** is applied on top.

Leave the amount blank when the Service has no fee. The info hint says **Leave blank if no fee**.

Once you add [default line items](#default-line-items), this field shows **From line items** and becomes the total of those lines, still exclusive of VAT. Change the lines to change the total. Removing the lines lets you type an amount again.

Editing this default later does not change fees already saved on Entities. Use the Entity's assignment for one client, or [Adjust client fees](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/fee-adjustments) for many.

## Tax Rate

**Tax Rate** is the VAT rate applied to the **Default Fee**. The list is **Exempt**, **0%**, **5%**, **7%**, and **18%**. A new Service starts at **18%**, described in the form as Malta's standard rate. Choose the rate that matches how you record this fee.

The rate is part of what a new assignment starts from, and it is used when a proposal annualises the fee. A [line item](#default-line-items) can use a different VAT rate from this Service rate. The line's own rate is the one used for that line.

## Default line items

**Default line items** split the fee into lines. Use them when you need a quantity, a price, a different VAT rate on part of the fee, or **Deadline** billing. When you select this Service for a new client, Ziffa copies these lines into **Services & Proposal**. You can then adapt them to that client's agreement.

Select **Add line**.

| Column | What to enter |
| --- | --- |
| **Description** | What the line is for. This is the line title. |
| **Detail** | Optional text under the title. Open it with the arrow beside the line. |
| **Qty** | How many. The line total is quantity times **Price each**. |
| **Price each** | The unit amount, exclusive of VAT. |
| **VAT** | The rate for this line. It can differ from the Service **Tax Rate**. |
| **Total** | Quantity times price. Ziffa calculates it. |
| **Bill when** | Shown only when the trigger is **Deadline**. Choose the Job Template that makes this line billable. Every line needs one. |

Expand a line using its arrow to see **Detail**, **Up**, and **Down**. Use the bin icon (**Remove line**) to remove a line. **Up** and **Down** change the order. The order is kept when the lines are copied onto a new assignment.

![Two default fee lines: Bookkeeping at 150 euros and Monthly review at 100 euros, both with 18 percent VAT. The second line shows Detail and ordering controls.](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/images/service-fee-lines.webp)

*The two lines total €250 before VAT. Expand a line for its detail and ordering controls.*

On **Services & Proposal**, a newly selected Service shows these lines. Change them there if that client’s agreement differs. Saving the client keeps the client’s lines. It does not write those edits back to the catalogue.

## Registered company

**Registered company** is the legal identity printed on documents that include this Service, such as a proposal. It is not the Xero organisation that issues invoices. Invoice issuing is set in [Billing setup](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/billing).

**Firm default** uses the firm identity in [General settings](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/general). Choose another company only when this Service should be offered by a different legal entity. Add those identities under **Registered Companies** on the General page first.

When a proposal is prepared, Ziffa looks at the registered company on the Entity's active Service assignments:

- If every assigned Service uses the same identity, including all of them using **Firm default**, that identity is used.
- If the assigned Services use more than one identity, you are asked to choose the issuing company before the document is sent.

The field is hidden when the firm is not using registered companies. See [Send a proposal](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/send-proposal) for the send step.

## Configure document emails

These messages ask someone to address a document-processing problem. They are separate from reminders asking a client to provide missing documents.

![The Service Emails matrix offers separate Client and Partner configurations for Unknown Document and Invalid Document problems.](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/images/service-email-setup.webp)

*Choose Client or Partner separately for Unknown Document and Invalid Document. Read the recipient rules below before enabling a message.*

1. In the Service's **Emails** step, find **Unknown Document** for files Ziffa cannot classify, or **Invalid Document** for files that fail validation.
2. Select **Add email** under **Client** or **Partner**, or select an existing configuration. You can configure both recipients for each problem.
3. Enter the **Subject** and **Template**. **Use default** provides starting wording. Check that the message suits its recipient: instructions for your team may differ from instructions for the client.
4. Select a subject or template field, then a variable to insert the relevant client, Service, document, or issue details.
5. Leave **Active** enabled for messages that should send automatically. Switch it off to keep a configuration without using it for future processing. **Remove** removes that configuration from the Service when you save.
6. Continue to **Review** and save the Service.

Saving does not send a test email. An active configuration is used when processing finds the matching problem for this Service.

**Client** means the main Contact's email address, even if a Supporting Contact supplied the file. **Partner** means active colleagues assigned to the Entity or its main Contact, with document email notifications enabled. When nobody is assigned, it falls back to the firm's Partners who have those notifications enabled. Read [who receives these emails](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/document-emails#who-receives-the-email) before enabling a configuration.

For missing-document chases and their timings, use [Configure client document reminders](https://ziffa.io/user-guide/settings/document-reminders).

## Check the result

Review the Service's document requirements and Job Templates before assigning it to clients. A wrong default can repeat across many new client assignments.

If only one client's agreement differs, edit that Entity's assignment instead of changing the firm's catalogue to match it.