Billing model overview

Billing model overview

Fluent’s billing system is designed to handle the complexity of interpreter services billing, where every client may have different rate structures, minimums, and rules.

How billing flows in Fluent

The billing process follows this path:

Appointment Complete → Voucher Submitted → Time Reviewed → Invoice Generated → Payment Tracked

1. Time tracking

When an appointment completes, the interpreter submits a voucher with:

• Actual start time
• Actual end time
• Any notes or adjustments
• Client signature (optional)

2. Rate application

Fluent applies the appropriate rates based on:

• Customer rate package
• Service type (in-person, phone, video)
• Language pair
• Time of day (if you have after-hours rates)
• Special modifiers

3. Invoice generation

Completed appointments roll into invoices:

• Group by customer
• Group by billing period
• Apply billing rules (minimums, rounding, etc.)
• Calculate totals

4. Payment tracking

Track invoice status through payment:

• Sent/Unsent
• Paid/Unpaid/Partially Paid
• Overdue

Rate packages

A rate package defines how to bill (and optionally pay) for appointments. Rate packages include:

Hourly rates

• Base rate: Standard hourly rate
• Service-specific rates: Different rates for in-person vs. phone vs. video
• Language-specific rates: Premium rates for rare languages

Minimums

• Minimum duration: Bill for at least X hours (e.g., 2-hour minimum)
• Minimum charge: Bill at least $X regardless of duration

Increments

• Billing increment: Round up to the nearest X minutes (e.g., 15-minute increments)
• After minimum: Different increment rules after the minimum is met

Travel

• Travel time: Billable hours for travel
• Mileage: Per-mile rate for distance
• Travel minimum: Minimum travel charge

Assigning rate packages

Rate packages can be assigned at multiple levels:

1. Organization default — Applies when nothing more specific is set
2. Customer rate — Specific rates for a customer
3. Appointment override — One-off rate for a specific appointment

The most specific rate always wins.

Example calculation

Consider an appointment with these parameters:

• Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Customer rate: $60/hour, 2-hour minimum, 15-min increments

Calculation:

1. Actual time: 1h 20m
2. Round to increment: 1h 30m (next 15-min boundary)
3. Apply minimum: 2h (minimum is higher)
4. Total charge: 2 × $60 = $120

Invoice structure

A Fluent invoice includes:

Header

• Customer name and address
• Invoice number and date
• Billing period
• Due date

Line items

Each appointment becomes a line item with:

• Date and time
• Service type
• Duration (as billed)
• Rate
• Amount
• Interpreter name (optional)

Summary

• Subtotal
• Any discounts or adjustments
• Tax (if applicable)
• Total due

Payment terms

Configure payment terms per customer:

• Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, etc. — Days until payment is due
• Due on receipt — Payment expected immediately

Billing vs. payroll

Fluent keeps billing and payroll separate but connected:

• Billing = What you charge customers
• Payroll = What you pay interpreters

These can have completely different rate structures, and Fluent calculates both from the same appointment data.

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Learn about specific rate configurations in Rate packages.