How do I add design services and fees in MONA?

Quick answer: click Services in the sidebar, then New service. Give it a name, a Client rate and a Unit (Hourly or Flat for most design fees). Bill an hourly fee by logging time against the service and clicking Invoice unbilled on the project’s Billing tab. Add a flat fee to a proposal or the project schedule with Add service, then convert the proposal to an invoice.

The services catalog is your studio’s price list for labor: your own design services and hourly design time, plus the trades and contractors you bill through, such as installers, painters or a handyman. It sits next to Products and Inventory in the Library group of the sidebar, and on mobile too.

Who can use this

Services are included on every plan. By default everyone on the team can create and edit services; owners can change that in Settings, then Team, in the Roles section, under Create and edit services. The Cost rate is visible only to owners, admins and anyone your studio has given finance access. Everyone else sees the client rate only.

How do I add a service?

1. Click Services in the sidebar, then New service.
2. Type the Name (for example "Design services" or "Design fee, full home") and a Description. The description is what the invoice can say about it.
3. Check the Category. MONA fills it in from the name; pick another or type your own, such as Design.
4. Type the Client rate and pick the Unit: Hourly, Flat, Per sq ft, Per linear ft or Per day. Leave the rate blank to price it on each project; the catalog then shows Priced per project.
5. Optional: set a Tax rate (%). Blank uses your studio default.
6. Owners and admins can add a Cost rate, what you pay for it. Use Price by to set the client rate as Client rate, Markup % or Markup $ on that cost.
7. Under Performed by, pick Nobody in particular, a Vendor (a company from your contacts) or a Team member.
8. Leave Available on time entries and the timer ticked for anything you bill by the hour. Untick it for flat fees and trade work that should never appear in the timer.
9. Click Add service. The Image tab lets you add a photo.

On the Services page, search by name, filter by Vendor, click a category chip, or use Time tracking and Archived. Tick several services to move them to one category with Set category. Open any service to Duplicate it, or Archive it. An archived service stays on the entries and lines that already use it.

How do I bill design fees hourly?

Hourly fees run through time tracking. The service sets the rate; the time entries set the hours.

1. Create the service with the Hourly unit and a Client rate, for example 175 per hour.
2. Click Time in the sidebar, then New entry or Start timer. Pick the Project and the service under Service (optional). Picking an hourly service fills in Billing rate ($/hr), and you can still change it.
3. Tick Billable for hours you will charge. It is off unless the project’s billable default is on.
4. Open the project, click Billing, and in Time & expenses click Invoice unbilled. The button shows how many billable entries are waiting and their total.
5. MONA creates a draft invoice with one line per entry. Review it, then approve and send it from the Invoices list.

Which rate wins. A rate you type on the entry always wins. If you leave it, MONA uses the first of these that exists: a rate in the project’s Client rates card on the Billing tab (by date, for one person or Everyone), the service’s hourly rate, the person’s standard bill rate, then their own past rate on the project or team. A Flat, per sq ft or per day service never prices an hour, because its rate is not an hourly number.

For timers, the Mac app and approvals, see How do I track time in the browser? and How does MONA track my time automatically?.

How do I charge a flat design fee?

Create the service with the Flat unit. Then add it where the client will see it.

On a proposal:

1. Open the project, click the Proposals tab, and open the proposal.
2. Click Add service. Search, or filter by Vendor and Category, and pick the service.
3. Set Quantity and Client price ea. Owners and admins also see Cost ea. A service priced per project needs a price before Add to proposal turns on.
4. When the client signs, click Convert to invoice. See Proposals and contract signing.

On the FF&E schedule (spec sheet):

1. Open the project’s Schedule tab, click Add item, then Add service.
2. Pick the service, or create one on the spot with New service.
3. Set Quantity, the Room and a Section. Per sq ft and per linear ft services also ask for the amount.
4. Type the Client price for this project, or leave it blank to use the catalog rate or price it later. Owners and admins can set Cost and Markup (%) instead.
5. Click Add to schedule.

A service line on the schedule travels the same path as a product: client approval, a proposal with Add from schedule, a purchase order to the service’s vendor, and the invoice. Its trade is the service’s category, or Services when it has none. See How do I build an FF&E schedule?.

How do I take a design retainer or bill at milestones?

Go to Settings, then Finance, then Payment rules. For Design fees, set what is due Up front on approval and add milestones for the rest, for example 50 percent up front and 50 percent at final design. When you convert a proposal to an invoice, its design fee lines get that payment schedule. A line counts as a design fee when its title or description says design fee, design services, design retainer or retainer, so name your services to match. Owners and admins edit these rules.

Can I ask the agent?

Yes. In any chat, ask "add a service called Design services at 175 an hour", "make the handyman rate 55", "list our services by category", or "add a 4,500 flat design fee to the Harper proposal". MONA uses the same catalog, rates and permissions as the screens. See Ask the MONA agent.

What it does not do (yet)

• Invoices made from scratch can add products from your library, but not services. Put a service on a proposal or the schedule, or log time against it, and invoice from there.
• Only Hourly services fill in a rate on a time entry.

Want a hand?

If you want help setting up your fee structure, book 30 minutes with the founder at calendly.com/mona-justin/30min.

Related articles

• How do I track time in the browser?
• How does MONA track my time automatically?
• Proposals and contract signing
• How do I build an FF&E schedule?
• Trade pricing and markup
• Estimates
• Invoices and purchase orders

Frequently asked questions

Should I bill design fees hourly or as a flat fee in MONA?

Both work. For hourly, create a service with the Hourly unit and log time against it; the hours become invoice lines. For a flat fee, create a service with the Flat unit and add it to a proposal or the project schedule with the price for that job.

Which hourly rate does MONA use on a time entry?

A rate you type always wins. Otherwise MONA uses, in order: a client rate set for that project on the Billing tab, the service’s hourly client rate, the person’s standard bill rate, then their own past rate. If none exists the rate is left blank for you to fill in.

Can I leave a service unpriced and set the price per project?

Yes. Leave Client rate blank and the service reads Priced per project. When you add it to a proposal or schedule, you type that job’s price.

Can my team see what we pay a contractor?

Only owners, admins and anyone your studio gave finance access to see the Cost rate and the markup options. Other members see the service and its client rate, and on a time entry they do not see the rate box at all.

Can services go on the FF&E schedule?

Yes. On the project’s Schedule tab, click Add item, then Add service. The line travels like a product line: onto a proposal, to a purchase order for its vendor, and onto the invoice.

Can I take a deposit on design fees and bill the rest at milestones?

Yes. In Settings, then Finance, use Payment rules and set Design fees to a percent up front on approval plus milestones. Lines that say design fee, design services or retainer follow that rule when you convert a proposal to an invoice.

Who can create services?

By default everyone on the team. Owners can narrow it in Settings, then Team, then Roles, under Create and edit services.

Can I ask the MONA agent to add services?

Yes. Ask it to add a service, such as Design services at 175 dollars an hour, change a rate, or list your services by category. It uses the same catalog as the Services page.