Overview
MotionOps lets you decide how many invoices a job can have. With Progress Invoicing, you bill a job in stages - a deposit, a mid-job draw, and a final invoice. With a Single Invoice, the job has exactly one invoice that always matches the latest approved job amount.
You set a default for your whole business, and you can override it on any individual job. Progress Invoicing is the default, so nothing changes on your existing jobs until you switch one.
How It Works
Every job uses one of two setups:
Progress Invoicing - the job can have as many invoices as you need. You choose what goes on each one. This is the default.
Standard Invoicing - the job has one invoice only, and it always carries the full latest approved amount. When an approved change order raises or lowers the job amount, that invoice updates itself.
Recurring jobs always use Progress Invoicing, because each billing period needs its own invoice.
When to Use Each
Use Progress Invoicing when:
You collect a deposit up front and bill the rest as the work moves along - for example, a $18,000 roof replacement billed in three draws.
A long job spans more than one month and you need to bill for what's been completed so far.
You bill per visit on a multi-visit job.
Use a Standard Invoicing when:
You need a single invoice per job with all the changes included inside it.
You bill once at the end of the job - most service calls and repairs.
Scope changes often mid-job, and you want the invoice to always match the approved amount without editing it by hand.
Your office team has been accidentally creating duplicate invoices for the same job.
Set the Default for Your Business
The business default applies to new jobs only. Jobs that already exist keep whatever they were created with.
Go to Business Settings > Workflow Settings > Proposal and Invoice.
Choose Progress Invoicing or Standard Invoicing.
Save your changes. New jobs will use this setup.
What Happens When a Change Order Is Approved
On a job using Standard Invoicing, approving a change order updates that invoice automatically.
Only the items the change order adds, updates, or removes are applied to the invoice. Everything else stays as it was.
The invoice total recalculates, and its status is recalculated from the amount you've already collected.
If the invoice is still in Draft, the totals update but the invoice stays in Draft. Approving a change order never sends an invoice that you haven't sent yourself.
On a job using Progress Invoicing, approved change orders update the job amount, and you decide which invoice to bill the change on.
Invoice Statuses After an Amount Change
When a single invoice's total changes, MotionOps compares the new total to what you've already collected:
Partially Paid - you've collected some, but less than the new total. A change order that raises the amount on a paid invoice moves it back here.
Paid - the amount collected matches the new total exactly.
Paid with an Overpayment - the new total dropped below what you've already collected. For example, you collected $6,000 and a change order reduced the job to $5,500, leaving $500 overpaid.
Heads up: A Paid Invoice with an Overpayment invoice means you're holding money the current job amount doesn't cover. Settle it with your customer - either refund the difference or apply it to their balance.
QuickBooks Online
If your account is connected to QuickBooks Online and sync is turned on for the invoice, approving a change order syncs the updated invoice automatically. The matching QuickBooks Online record updates with the new line items and total.
The sync runs in the background right after the change order is approved, so give it a moment to appear in QuickBooks Online.
A reduction that leaves the invoice Overpaid also syncs. QuickBooks Online shows the difference as an overpayment or credit on the customer.
A Draft invoice isn't sent to QuickBooks Online — it syncs once you send it.
If a sync fails, you'll see the reason in the sync log. For details, see the Sync Log & Error Resolution Flow article.
Tips & Best Practices
Pick the default that matches most of your work. If nine out of ten jobs are single service calls, set the business default to Single Invoice and switch the big projects over one at a time.
Decide before you invoice. Setting a job to Single Invoice is easiest before any invoice exists, since the switch is blocked once the job has two or more open invoices.
Use Single Invoice on jobs with frequent add-ons. An electrical panel upgrade that grows by two outlets stays accurate without anyone re-editing the invoice.
Check the status after every approved change order. A reduction on an already-paid job leaves an Overpaid invoice that needs a refund or a credit before the job is closed out.
Things to Know
Progress Invoicing is the default for every business and every job until you change it.
A job set to Single Invoice will not let you create a second invoice.
The business default applies to new jobs only - it doesn't change jobs that already exist.
Recurring jobs always use Progress Invoicing, no matter what the business default is.
Voided invoices don't count when MotionOps checks whether a job can switch to Single Invoice.
Overpaid is a status you'll only see when an invoice's total is reduced below the amount already collected.
Troubleshooting
I can't switch this job to a single invoice.
The job already has two or more invoices that haven't been voided, or it's a recurring job. Void the invoices you don't need, or keep the job on Progress Invoicing.
MotionOps won't let me create another invoice for this job.
The job is set to Single Invoice, which allows only one. Switch the job to Progress Invoicing if you need to bill it in stages.
My invoice says Overpaid.
An approved change order lowered the job amount below what you've already collected. The difference is the amount you're holding above the current total - refund it or apply it to the customer's balance.
A new job didn't use my business default.
The setup may have been changed on the job itself, which overrides the business default. Open the job and check its invoicing setup.
My change order updated the job but QuickBooks Online still shows the old total.
The sync runs in the background - wait a moment and refresh. If it still hasn't updated, check the sync log for the reason. Draft invoices aren't sent to QuickBooks Online at all.
Have questions? Reach out via the support chat or email support@motionops.com.