Creating Retainers
Retainers are always associated with Accounts in Ravetree. To create a new retainer you will need to navigate to the account for which you wish to create a retainer. On the Account page click on the blue "+ Retainer" button located in the upper right of the page.
Title
It's helpful to be descriptive when giving your retainer a title. You may have multiple retainers with the same name, which could be confusing when looking at the main Retainers page.
Account
This is the account for which the retainer applies. There can only be one account per retainer.
Invoice To
After you select an Account you will need to specify the person (i.e., Contact) at the Account who will be responsible for any invoices generated against the retainer.
Owner
The owner is the person at your company who is responsible for the retainer.
Retainer Amount
This is the amount of money the Account is charged for each retainer instance.
Start Date
The start date is the date on which the retainer's first instance begins.
Frequency
The Frequency is where you specify how often each retainer instance occurs.
Instances
This is where you can specify how many retainer instances will occur during your retainer. You can select "Unlimited" if your retainer has no end date.
Auto Renew
Turn this switch on if you want each new instance of your retainer to be automatically generated. You can specify the number of days before the current retainer ends before the next retainer instance is generated. If you choose not to have your instances automatically generated, then you will need to manually create each retainer instance.
Track By
Retainers can be tracked by Amount (the amount of money paid for the retainer), or by hours. For example, if "Amount" has been selected, then you are choosing to have all time and expenses logged against the retainer to subtract from the amount paid for each retainer instance. In this case, time logs are multiple by the relevant billable rate to determine a monetary amount. Alternatively, if you select "Hours", then you are tracking how many hours have been logged against the retainer. In this case, you are asked to enter a total number of hours to be allocated for each retainer instance.
Include
If you are tracking your retainer by "Amount", then you can determine if Labor (i.e., time logs) and/or Expenses contribute to the retainer Amount.
Retainer Rate
This is where you determine the billable rate that is used for each hour logged against the retainer. If you select "Dynamic" then the billable rate is determine by the billable rate specified at the project or work role level.
Charge For Overage
If you exceed the retainer amount or allocated hours for your retainer, then you can specify if you will charge for overages.
Overage Fees
If you have selected to charge for overages, then you can specify the amount to charge for any overages that occur.
Rollover
You can use this option to determine if unused amounts for a given retainer instance will be added to the next retainer instance.
Files
Upload files to your retainer. For example, you could attach written retainer contracts/agreements directly to the retainer.
Tags
You can add tags to your retainer, which may be useful if you want to filter your retainers by tag.
Details
Add a detailed description of your retainer.