What does the Autopay flag do in lawn care software?

The Autopay flag tells the system that a client is billed externally. When you complete a job for an autopay client, the appointment is marked completed normally and the price is recorded for tracking, but no collecting invoice line item is created. This prevents duplicate invoices when the client already pays through QuickBooks autopay or a property manager's billing system.

Can I still create manual invoices for autopay clients?

Yes. The Autopay flag only prevents automatic invoice line items from completed appointments. You can still create manual invoices, send estimates, schedule appointments, and use SMS and email notifications for autopay clients. The flag is specifically about the collecting invoice workflow.

What if I accidentally set a client to autopay and completed jobs without creating invoices?

The completed jobs are still recorded on the appointments with their prices. No invoice line items were created for those jobs. Turn off the autopay flag and future completed jobs will create invoice line items normally. For the missed jobs, you can manually add line items to the client's collecting invoice with the correct amounts and dates.

Does autopay affect the accounting module in lawn care software?

Autopay jobs do not create invoices, so they will not appear in Accounting as invoice income. The work is tracked on the appointment only. If you need to record income from autopay clients, use manual income entries in Accounting. This keeps your books accurate even when billing happens outside the software.

How to Set Up Autopay Clients in Your Lawn Care Software (When They're Already Billed Elsewhere)

Some of your clients are already billed through another system. Maybe they pay via QuickBooks autopay. Maybe a property management company handles their own billing and just wants you to show up and do the work. You still need to schedule and complete those jobs for tracking, but if your lawn care software creates an invoice every time you complete a job, you're generating duplicate invoices for clients who are already paying.

The Autopay flag solves this. It tells the system: this client is billed externally. Complete their jobs normally, track the work, but don't create invoice line items. No duplicate billing. No confusion. No deleting empty invoices every week.

When You Need the Autopay Flag for Lawn Care Billing

Three common scenarios where autopay makes sense.

First, clients who pay through QuickBooks autopay. You send them a recurring invoice in QuickBooks and their payment processes automatically each month. You still service them weekly in FieldPlexus. Without the autopay flag, every completed job creates a collecting invoice line item, which generates a second invoice on top of what QuickBooks already handles.

Second, property management companies that use their own billing system. The PM pays you based on their internal records, not your invoices. You still need to schedule the work and complete jobs for your own tracking, but creating invoices would be redundant since the PM isn't going to pay from them.

Third, any client whose payment is handled completely outside of FieldPlexus. Maybe they have a standing payment arrangement through their bank, or they prepaid for the year. Whatever the reason, if billing happens elsewhere, the autopay flag prevents FieldPlexus from generating unnecessary invoices.

Setting Up an Autopay Client

Go to Clients in the sidebar. Find and tap on the client. Tap Edit. Scroll to the Account Relationships section. Check the "Autopay" checkbox. Tap Save.

That's it. A purple "Autopay" badge appears on the client detail page and on the client card in your client list, so you can always tell at a glance which clients are set to autopay.

If you're importing clients from a spreadsheet, include an "Autopay" column with Y for autopay clients. The system recognizes Autopay, Auto Pay, AutoPay, and Auto-Pay as column headers during client import.

What Changes When You Complete a Job

The job completion workflow stays exactly the same. You tap the green "Complete" button on the appointment card. The Complete Service modal opens with description, rate, quantity, and notes, just like any other job. You fill it in and tap complete.

The difference is what happens after. For a normal client, the toast says "Added to INV-0042" because a line item was created on their collecting invoice. For an autopay client, the toast says "Job completed." No invoice reference because no line item was created.

The appointment itself is still marked as completed with the green checkmark, the completion date, and the price. Your schedule shows the job was done. The price is recorded for your tracking. The only thing that doesn't happen is the invoice line item.

What Autopay Does Not Affect

The flag is narrowly scoped. It only changes one thing: whether completing a scheduled appointment creates a collecting invoice line item. Everything else works normally.

Manual invoices still work. If you need to send an autopay client a one-off invoice for extra work outside their normal billing arrangement, create a manual invoice and it works like any other.

Estimates still work. You can send estimates to autopay clients and convert them to invoices if the work falls outside the autopay arrangement.

Scheduling is unchanged. Appointments work the same way. Recurring schedules generate the same way. Complete and skip buttons work the same way.

SMS and email notifications are unaffected. If the client has SMS opted in and you send them a manual invoice, they'll get the text notification just like any other client.

Parent-child relationships are separate from autopay. A parent client can be set to autopay, but it only affects jobs completed directly for that parent. Child properties have their own autopay setting. If you want all properties under a parent to be autopay, set it on each child individually.

Handling Income for Autopay Clients in Accounting

Because autopay jobs don't create invoices, the income from those clients won't appear automatically in your Accounting module. The automatic income flow (mark invoice as paid, income appears in Accounting) only works when there's an invoice.

If you want to track income from autopay clients for profitability reporting, use the manual income feature. Go to Accounting, tap the Income tab, tap "Add Income," and enter the amount, date, payment method, client, and description. This puts the income into your Reports so your profit number includes what autopay clients pay you.

Some landscapers don't bother tracking autopay income in FieldPlexus because it's already in QuickBooks or the PM's system. That's a valid choice. Your FieldPlexus profit number will just reflect non-autopay clients. Depends on whether you want one complete picture or two separate systems.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Setting a client to autopay when they should be invoiced through FieldPlexus. If you complete 4 weeks of jobs before noticing, those jobs are recorded on the appointments but no invoice line items exist. Fix: turn off autopay, then manually add the missed line items to the client's collecting invoice.

Forgetting to set autopay on a new client who pays through QuickBooks. You complete a job, a collecting invoice line item appears, and now you have a FieldPlexus invoice and a QuickBooks invoice for the same work. Fix: set the autopay flag, delete the empty collecting invoice (remove line items to get the total to $0 first, then delete).

Assuming autopay affects child properties. Setting a parent to autopay doesn't cascade to children. Each property needs its own autopay flag if billing is handled externally for that specific property.

If you have clients who are already billed through QuickBooks or a property manager's system, FieldPlexus handles this with a single checkbox. Track the work, skip the duplicate invoice. Try it free for 14 days.