UCM Blog

Here is a rundown on how a Freelance Web Developer could use UCM to manage a website design project all the way through:

1. Create a Lead record with all the relevant contact details
2. Create a Website (which is linked to the Lead)
3. Create a Quote called “Website Design” (which is linked to the Lead and the Website)
4. Add tasks to the Quote (such as “Graphic Design”, “Logo Design” and “HTML/CSS”)  and how much each will cost
5. Send the PDF Quote to the Customer
6. Customer can approve the Quote online
7. Convert the “Lead” into a “Customer”
8. Convert the approved “Quote” into a “Job”
9. Mark off each Job task as completed and record how long each task took (for your own future reference)
10. Enter all the (encrypted) FTP, domain login and hosting account details for the Website as you are setting everything up
11. Generate an Invoice from the completed Job tasks
12. Send the PDF Invoice to the Customer
13. Customer pays for the Invoice online via PayPal
14. Invoice is automatically marked as paid in the system
15. Happy customer!

This is how you would bill for recurring services such as Website Hosting or Domain Name Renewal

1. Create a recurring Subscription called “Website Hosting” that renews every 12 months (Settings > Subscriptions)

2. Open the Customer Website and tick this Website Hosting subscription, choose a starting date.

3. The Customer will be automatically emailed an invoice every 12 months for Website Hosting
4. Customer can pay for each invoice individually, or they can setup automatic recurring billing (eg: through PayPal or Stripe) so future payments happen automatically.

See this FAQ article for more on recurring billing options