Invoicing for pre-pay

sonyawiprud

We have a discount set up in SiteLink that if a customer pays 12 months in advance they get the 13th month free. The problem I have is this:
we try to set ourselves reminders to go in after that payment has been made and set them for a 30 days in advance invoice when it is due again, just as a courtesy. However, to do that you are setting up an invoice for 12 months that shows the 13th month free (ours has a button in discounts that does the math).
What if the customer chooses to pay by month after that? It shows in payments that the 13th month is still free because we invoiced them. Which means that if they start paying month to month, that 13th month is showing as free. 
Is there a different way to set up that discount? Is there a different way to invoice them in advance? I have tried sending an invoice for one month, letting the customer do the math, but then they call and ask for a full invoice showing all 13 months. THEN they go online and start making one time payments monthly. 
I have a few customers that have learned the glitch works in their favor. 

MamaDuke7

If they only paid 1 month, I would just go in and delete the free month and add it back at regular price.

sonyawiprud

MamaDuke7 said:

If they only paid 1 month, I would just go in and delete the free month and add it back at regular price.

Yes good idea, its a matter of catching it, my staff is not as diligent as I am at looking at the ledger, or even looking at the bottom of the screen to see they're paying down a balance. 

ESS

sonyawiprud said:

Yes good idea, its a matter of catching it, my staff is not as diligent as I am at looking at the ledger, or even looking at the bottom of the screen to see they're paying down a balance. 

When you go into their tenant notes, you could set a reminder for yourself or all staff and it will show up on your calendar in SL. I use this frequently so I don't have to have a ton of sticky notes in my desk.

sonyawiprud

ESS said:

sonyawiprud said:

Yes good idea, its a matter of catching it, my staff is not as diligent as I am at looking at the ledger, or even looking at the bottom of the screen to see they're paying down a balance. 

When you go into their tenant notes, you could set a reminder for yourself or all staff and it will show up on your calendar in SL. I use this frequently so I don't have to have a ton of sticky notes in my desk.

This is the problem, no one remembers to set a reminder once the payment has been made.

Orkocean

I personally wouldn't invoice them showing a 13th month free. It sounds like with your customers the best way to answer them would be "when you make the 12 months at once payment your RECEIPT will show your free month". If they question it, a simple "our software does not work that way as the 13th month free only populates when the 12 month prepayment is made". They want to be sneaky with you, be sneaky right back with them. 

Faye

Orkocean said:

I personally wouldn't invoice them showing a 13th month free. It sounds like with your customers the best way to answer them would be "when you make the 12 months at once payment your RECEIPT will show your free month". If they question it, a simple "our software does not work that way as the 13th month free only populates when the 12 month prepayment is made". They want to be sneaky with you, be sneaky right back with them. 

That is how we did it here when we offered 13 month free