Not everything you sell is a product in the cart. Website migrations, paid support hours, design work or a one-time setup fee are easier to handle as billable items. WHMCS can add them to the client's next invoice, invoice them immediately or repeat them on a schedule.
Before you start
- Administrator access with billing permissions.
- Your hourly rate or fixed prices for typical extra services.
Create a billable item
- Open the client's profile and go to the Billable Items tab (or Billing → Billable Items → Add New).
- Enter a Description, for example
Website migration from previous host. - Enter Hours and Rate, or a fixed Amount.
- Choose the Invoice Action:
- Don't Invoice for Now – keep it open while work continues.
- Invoice on Next Cron Run – create an invoice tonight.
- Add to User's Next Invoice – include it with their next renewal invoice.
- Invoice as Normal for Due Date – invoice on a date you set.
- Recur Every – charge repeatedly, for example monthly maintenance, for a number of times.
- Save.
Bill time from support tickets
On a ticket reply, staff can log time spent (if time tracking is enabled in support settings). From the ticket, use Add Billing Entry (or the billable items option) to turn the logged time into a billable item at your hourly rate. This keeps paid support transparent: the client sees which ticket the charge relates to.
Review open items
Billing → Billable Items lists all items with their status (uninvoiced, invoiced, recurring). Filter for uninvoiced items regularly so no work is forgotten, and edit or delete items before they are invoiced if plans change.
Billable items vs other options
| Need | Best tool |
|---|---|
| One-off extra work for an existing client | Billable item |
| A standard service anyone can order | Product with "One Time" payment type |
| Price agreed before work starts | Quote converted to an invoice |
| Extra resources on a hosting plan | Configurable option or addon |
Tax and currency
Billable items use the client's currency and follow tax rules if you tick Taxed. Check the tax setting for services such as consulting, which may be taxed differently from hosting; see tax configuration.
Troubleshooting
- Item not invoiced: its action is Don't Invoice for Now, or the cron did not run.
- Recurring item stopped: the configured number of recurrences was reached.
- Wrong amount: hours times rate is calculated automatically; check both fields.