SolarWinds N-able MSP Manager Documentation Version 2.2 Last Updated: Friday, November 20, 2015
Copyright 2015 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds. All right, title, and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its respective licensors. SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS, NOR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The SOLARWINDS and SOLARWINDS & Design marks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC and its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks, registered or pending registration in the United States or in other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and may be or are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Version 2.2, revised 11/20/2015 2
About SolarWinds SolarWinds, Inc. develops and markets an array of IT management, monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of today's IT management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the company as the leader in IT management and discovery technology. The SolarWinds customer base includes over 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and customers from over 170 countries. Our global business partner distributor network exceeds 100 distributors and resellers. Contact SolarWinds TEAM CONTACT INFORMATION Sales mspmanager-sales@solarwinds.com www.mspmanager.com 1-877-655-4689 Technical Support https://nrc.n-able.com/support mspsupport@solarwinds.com 1-866-302-4689 (United States and Canada) +800 6225 3000 (International) User Forums https://nrc.n-able.com/community
Table of Contents About SolarWinds 3 Contact SolarWinds 3 Quick start 8 Introduction 8 Quick start 8 Track work with helpdesk tickets 8 Add a new helpdesk ticket 8 Create a quick ticket 8 Log time spent on a ticket for accurate billing 8 Start a ticket timer directly from the ticket list 9 Start a ticket timer from the Quick Ticket menu 9 Add ticket information and change status 9 Give ticket access to your customers 9 Enable the customer portal for each contact 9 Add company branding to the customer portal 9 User guide 10 Schedule your workday with appointments 10 Update an appointment time 10 Associate a new ticket with an existing appointment 10 Share knowledge with your team 10 Mobile apps 11 Start a ticket timer on mobile devices 11 Remember login credentials 11 4
Admin guide 13 Add customer information 13 Run reports to track business 13 Set notifications for system and user actions 13 Reveal any password with the owner secret 13 Set the owner secret 13 Use the owner secret 13 Bill your customers to collect revenue 14 Define your prices with rates 14 Add a new rate 14 Add a new rate template 14 Charge for your work with service items 14 Add a new service item 15 Add a new service item template 15 Run a billing batch 15 Export invoices to your accounting software 15 Accounting software integration 16 QuickBooks Online 16 Configure QuickBooks Online integration with MSP Manager 16 Export an invoice to QuickBooks Online 16 QuickBooks Desktop 16 Configure QuickBooks Desktop integration with MSP Manager 16 Export an invoice to QuickBooks Desktop for the first time 17 Export an invoice to QuickBooks Desktop moving forward 17 Xero 17 5
Configure Xero integration with MSP Manager 17 Export an invoice to Xero 18 Automatically assign inbound tickets 18 How does ticket routing work? 18 Rate users and group into teams 18 Create issue types to classify tickets and define user skills 18 Rate users on their skills 19 Group users into teams for easier assignment 19 Define rules for ticket routing 19 Assign users to customers 19 Assign users to locations 19 Define rules for ticket routing 19 How are users scored during ticket routing? 20 Ticket routing questions 20 Service level agreements 20 Create and assign an SLA policy 21 Add a new service level agreement (SLA) policy 21 Assign an SLA policy to a service item 21 SLA ticketing 21 Sort tickets by service level agreement (SLA) 21 Knowledge base 22 Bill for a recurring service 22 Bill for open tickets 22 Bill tickets individually 22 Billing errors 22 6
Common errors 23 Billing scenarios 24 Hourly retainer with overage 24 Hourly support 24 Managed desktops or servers 25 Monthly fee with additional hourly rate 25 Off-site backup 26 One-time fee 26 Project estimate with hourly rates 27 Change the currency, date format, and time zone 27 Create a contract that does not expire 27 Override default mappings to accounting software 28 Set customers as inactive 28 Set individual services as taxable or not 29 Share internal knowledge about your company 29 Store resolutions to common customer issues 29 Troubleshoot your ticket mailbox 30 Turn inbound email into tickets 30 7
Quick start Introduction MSP Manager is cloud-based service management software that helps you support customers and run an effective IT service business. Quick start Check out our MSP Manager quick start video. Click > Quick Start, and add users, rates, service items, customers, and your company's support ticket mailbox. Track work with helpdesk tickets Manage your helpdesk with MSP Manager's intuitive ticketing and time tracking system, designed for service providers with many customers. Add a new helpdesk ticket 1. Click Helpdesk. 2. Click Add a New Ticket. 3. Enter the ticket information. 4. Click Save Ticket, or Save and Start a Timer to start tracking your time worked. Create a quick ticket Create tickets with the Quick Tickets feature, which is accessible from anywhere in MSP Manager. 1. Click to load the Quick Ticket menu. 2. Enter the ticket information, and click Start Timer to immediately start tracking your work. 3. Click Save Ticket. If the task is already complete: 1. Click next to Save Ticket. 2. Enter the Completed Date. 3. Click Save and Mark Complete. Log time spent on a ticket for accurate billing The ticket timer feature tracks time spent working on a ticket. Starting a timer is as easy as one click. Switch between tasks while tracking your billable or non-billable time. 8
Start a ticket timer directly from the ticket list 1. Click Helpdesk. 2. Use the filters on the left to locate a ticket, and click to start a timer. 3. Click again to stop the timer. Start a ticket timer from the Quick Ticket menu 1. Click to load the Quick Ticket menu. 2. Locate a ticket under Recently Updated Tickets, and click to start a timer. 3. Click again to stop the timer. Add ticket information and change status The detailed ticket history contains all time entries, expenses, appointments, correspondence, and notes in chronological order. 1. Click Helpdesk. 2. Use the filters to locate a ticket. 3. Click on the right to show the ticket options. Give ticket access to your customers Access to helpdesk tickets through the customer portal allows customers to add new support requests and check existing tickets. Enable the customer portal for each contact 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Contact Info. 3. Expand a location, and click next to a contact. 4. Under Customer Portal, select one or both user roles for the contact: Portal users can view their tickets and create tickets for themselves. Portal admins can view and create tickets for all users within the company. Add company branding to the customer portal 1. Click > Account Settings > Portal. 2. Add the portal URL prefix, company display name, and company logo. 3. Set the primary and accent colors. 4. Click Save Settings. 9
User guide Schedule your workday with appointments Check out this video on scheduling. Use the scheduling feature to add an appointment to your calendar as a reminder to look into an issue. Appointments typically represent an on-site visit, remote desktop troubleshooting session, or a followup phone call. 1. Click Scheduling. 2. Click Add an Appointment, or place your cursor on the calendar at the desired start time and double-click. 3. Enter the appointment information, and search and select tickets to associate with the appointment. 4. Click Add an Appointment. MSP Manager automatically sends an icalendar meeting invitation to the consultant's email. Compatible software includes Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and any other calendar application that supports the icalendar file format. Changes made to the appointment in the calendar application are not synced back to MSP Manager. All updates to appointments should be made in MSP Manager. Update an appointment time Drag the appointment to the new start and end time. Whenever updates are made to an appointment, an icalendar meeting update will automatically be sent to the consultant's email. Associate a new ticket with an existing appointment 1. Double-click an appointment. 2. Locate the new ticket. 3. Select the new ticket, and click Save. Share knowledge with your team As an IT service provider, you need to make sure everyone on your team has access to up-to-date customer knowledge. Click Knowledge to centralize and share everything with MSP Manager. 10
Passwords MSP Manager stores the login, password, and notes fields using 256-bit encryption and securely transmits using a 128-bit SSL connection. For an additional layer of security, you can set a password secret for individual passwords, giving you two-factor authentication. If you forget your password secret, your encrypted data is only recoverable by the owner secret. Procedures Document steps for common tasks and edge case scenarios. Examples include: Software or hardware installations Migrating user settings to a new computer How to set up a new printer Serial Numbers Store unique identifiers for hardware and software. Examples include: A volume license key for Microsoft Windows The Service Tag for a Dell server The serial number on a Cisco router Expiry Add expiration dates for software licenses and support contracts. Set email notification options for expiry items in Account Settings > Notifications > Knowledge Notifications. Mobile apps Start a ticket timer on mobile devices 1. On the Menu tab, tap Ticket List. 2. Use filters to locate a ticket. 3. Swipe left on the ticket entry, and tap More. 4. Tap Start timer. 5. From the More menu, stop the timer. Remember login credentials The MSP Manager mobile app allows you to set a four-digit passcode for easy access. 11
1. On the Menu tab, scroll to the bottom and tap Settings. 2. Turn on Passcode Enabled. 3. Set a four-digit passcode. 4. When you relaunch the app, enter the passcode. 12
Admin guide Add customer information MSP Manager organizes and manages all of your customer information in one place, including locations, contacts, rates, knowledge, and billing information. 1. Click Customers. 2. Click Add a New Customer. 3. Complete the four-step new customer wizard. 4. Click Finish. Run reports to track business Click Reports to access information on tickets, customers, and billing. After you generate a report, click Print to PDF and save the report. Set notifications for system and user actions Click > Account Settings > Notifications. Set company-wide and external email notifications for users and customers. Notifications can be set to trigger when an action is taken on tickets, knowledge information, or service items. You can define who within your company is notified when an inbound ticket is received, and which customer is notified when a ticket is created. Reveal any password with the owner secret Under Knowledge > Passwords, you can set a password secret for individual passwords. For forgotten or inaccessible password secrets, the business owner can create an owner secret. MSP Manager applies the owner secret to every password. Passwords can be unlocked with the individual password secret or the owner secret. Set the owner secret 1. Click > Account Settings > Owner Secret. 2. Enter and confirm a secret. 3. Click Save Changes. Use the owner secret 1. Click Knowledge > Passwords. 2. Click next to a password. 13
3. Enter the owner secret, and click Validate Secret. Bill your customers to collect revenue Define your prices with rates Rates are attached to service items and determine the price of your services. You can attach one or more rates to a service item. Create rates on a per-customer basis, or create templates that can be applied to new customers or multiple customers at once. Add a new rate 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Rates. 3. Click Add a New Rate. 4. You can add a new rate from an existing template, or enter a new one. 5. Enter the associated service item, name, dollar amount, and status. 6. If you have integrated your accounting software, select the mapped item. 7. Click Create Rate. Add a new rate template 1. Click > > Account Settings > Rates. 2. Click Add a New Rate Template. 3. Enter a name and dollar amount. 4. If you have integrated your accounting software, select the mapped item. 5. Click Create Template. Charge for your work with service items Check out this video on service items. Service items let you charge for different work in different ways, such as hourly contracts or one-time projects. MSP Manager connects service items to ticketing, so your time and rates are linked automatically and you can export the resulting invoices to your accounting software. Create service items on a per-customer basis, or create templates that can be applied to new customers or multiple customers. 14
Add a new service item 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Add a new service item from an existing template, or enter a new one. 5. Enter the service, billing, rates, and invoicing information. 6. Click Create Service Item. Add a new service item template 1. Click > > Account Settings > Service Items. 2. Click Add a New Service Item Template. 3. Select the type, enter a name and the billing, rates, and invoicing information. 4. Click Create Template. Run a billing batch Check out this video on how to bill a customer. 1. Click Billing. 2. Click New Billing Batch. 3. Select which customers and services to include in the new billing batch: Click Select All. Click Filter Service Items to narrow down the customers and services. Expand a customer in the list, and select Include. 4. Name the batch, and click Run Billing Batch. 5. Click Select All, or select Include to choose individual service items and create separate invoices. 6. Select One Invoice Per Customer to combine each customer's billing into one invoice. 7. Click Generate Invoice. Export invoices to your accounting software MSP Manager's functionality stops at billing. Your accounting software is responsible for handling payment. See one of the following topics to integrate your accounting software with MSP Manager and export invoices: 15
QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Desktop Xero Accounting software integration QuickBooks Online Check out this video on integrating QuickBooks Online. Configure QuickBooks Online integration with MSP Manager 1. Disable the pop-up blocker in your browser. 2. In MSP Manager, click > Account Settings > Integrations > QuickBooks Online > Configure. 3. Click Import from QuickBooks Online. 4. Click OK to confirm you disabled the pop-up blocker. 5. Click Connect to QuickBooks, and log in with your QuickBooks account. 6. Click your company's account, and click Authorize. 7. Once connected, click Import from QuickBooks Online. 8. Select the products and services you want to import into MSP Manager, click Import, and click Close. 9. Under Default Mappings, map each line item to the defaults listed, and click Save Default Mappings. Export an invoice to QuickBooks Online 1. Click Billing, and click the Review & Export Invoices tab. 2. Select QuickBooks Online from the Export Format list, and click Export Invoices. 3. Your invoices appear instantly in QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop Check out this video on integrating QuickBooks Desktop. Configure QuickBooks Desktop integration with MSP Manager 1. Disable the pop-up blocker in your browser. 2. Start QuickBooks Desktop, and click Lists > Item List. 3. In MSP Manager, click > Account Settings > Integrations > QuickBooks Desktop > Configure. 4. Click Add a QuickBooks Item. 16
5. Refer back to the Item List in QuickBooks, and add an item in MSP Manager for each item. The names must match exactly, including spacing and capitalization. 6. Under Default Mappings, map each line item to the defaults listed, and click Save Default Mappings. Export an invoice to QuickBooks Desktop for the first time 1. Click Billing, and click the Review & Export Invoices tab. 2. Select QuickBooks Desktop from the Export Format list, and click Export Invoices. 3. Open QuickBooks Desktop and your company file. 4. Click the QuickBooks Web Connector link to download the QWC file. 5. Open the downloaded QWC file. 6. Click OK to authorize MSP Manager to connect with QuickBooks. 7. On the Application Certificate window, click Yes, Always Allow Access Even If QuickBooks Is Not Running, and click Continue. 8. Click Done on the Access Confirmation window. 9. In QuickBooks Web Connector, enter your MSP Manager password in the MSPManagerService. 10. Click in a blank portion of the window, and click Yes to save the password. 11. Select the check box to the left of MSPManagerService, and click Update Selected. Export an invoice to QuickBooks Desktop moving forward 1. Click Billing, and click the Review & Export Invoices tab. 2. Select QuickBooks Desktop from the Export Format list, and click Export Invoices. 3. In QuickBooks Web Connector, click Update Selected. 4. Your invoices appear instantly in QuickBooks Desktop. Xero Check out this video on integrating Xero. Configure Xero integration with MSP Manager 1. Disable the pop-up blocker in your browser. 2. In MSP Manager, click > Account Settings > Integrations > Xero > Configure. 3. Click Import from Xero. 4. Click OK to confirm you disabled the pop-up blocker. 5. Log in with your Xero account. 17
6. On the Authorize Application window, click Authorize. 7. Click Import from Xero. 8. Select the inventory items you want to import into MSP Manager, click Import, and click Close. 9. Under Default Mappings, map each line item to the defaults listed, and click Save Default Mappings. Export an invoice to Xero 1. Click Billing, and click the Review & Export Invoices tab. 2. Select Xero Online from the Export Format list, and optionally select an Invoice Date and Invoice Due Date. 3. Click Export Invoices. 4. Your invoices appear instantly in Xero. Automatically assign inbound tickets MSP Manager allows ticket creation from external sources, including by email, the customer portal, and from remote monitoring and management (RMM) software. To view inbound requests, click Helpdesk > Inbound Tickets. Click Create Ticket to convert an inbound request to a new ticket. The ticket routing feature allows an externally created ticket to be automatically converted to a new ticket, and assigned to a user. How does ticket routing work? Ticket routing uses rules that you create to determine the users to assign to a ticket. MSP Manager uses an algorithm to evaluate each user against the ticket routing rules. Each ticket routing rule produces a value in the range of 0-1 for each user. The user with the highest score is assigned the ticket. In the case of a numerical tie, MSP Manager assigns the ticket to all of the users with the highest score. Rate users and group into teams Create issue types to classify tickets and define user skills 1. Click > Account Settings > Ticket Issue Types. 2. Click Add a New Issue Type. 3. Enter an issue type and description, and click Save. 4. Click to add a subtype. 18
Rate users on their skills 1. Click > Account Settings > User Skills. 2. Select users from the Filter Users list. 3. Rank the competency of users for each issue type by entering a number in the 0-5 range. Group users into teams for easier assignment 1. Click > Account Settings > Team Configuration. 2. Click Add a New Team. 3. Enter a name and description, and click Save. 4. Click the team you just created. 5. Select users from the Team Members list. 6. Click Save Settings. Define rules for ticket routing Assign users to customers 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Edit Customer. 3. Select users from the Assigned Users list. 4. Click Save Changes. Assign users to locations 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Contact Info. 3. Click next to a location. 4. Select users from the Assigned Users list. 5. Click Save Changes. Define rules for ticket routing 1. Click > Account Settings > Ticket Routing Rules. 2. Each section represents an inbound ticket source. Expand one of the sections. 3. Select the users eligible for that rule. 4. Click Save Settings. 19
How are users scored during ticket routing? MSP Manager asks the following questions of each inbound ticket in order to calculate a user score. The score determines which user is assigned the ticket. The score is additive. The customer, location, and skill level questions add assigned users. Ticket routing questions Is this user assigned to the customer? Yes = 1 No = 0 Is this user assigned to the location? Yes = 1 No = 0 What is the user's skill level for this ticket issue type? Skill level 5 = 1 Skill level 4 = 0.8 Skill level 3 = 0.6 Skill level 2 = 0.4 Skill level 1 = 0.2 Skill level 0 = 0 How was this user selected? Individually = 1 As part of a team = 0 Service level agreements A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between the service provider and the customer that defines the level of service expected from the service provider. MSP Manager uses SLAs to sort tickets, send email notifications, and report on met and breached policies. You can use SLAs to build alerts in MSP Manager, even without contracts. SLAs do not affect ticket assignment or billing. SLAs are defined globally and assigned to service items. 20
Create and assign an SLA policy Add a new service level agreement (SLA) policy 1. Click > Account Settings > SLA Policies. 2. Click Add a New SLA Policy. 3. Enter a policy name and description. 4. Under Alert Thresholds, expand an alert level and define the following: The percentage to breach when the alert is triggered. The color displayed on the associated tickets. The users to receive email notifications. The percentage reaches 200 to accommodate a breach of up to twice the length of the SLA policy. 5. Under Policy Setting, expand the default setting and enter a time in hours for each ticket status. Repeat this step for each priority section that needs adjustments. 6. Click Save. Assign an SLA policy to a service item 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click next to a service item. 4. Under SLA, select an SLA Policy. 5. Click Save Service Item. SLA ticketing Sort tickets by service level agreement (SLA) 1. Click Helpdesk. 2. Click the Sort by list, and select SLA. 3. The alert level color displays on the left side of each ticket. 4. The percentage to breach displays on the right side. 21
Knowledge base Bill for a recurring service I provide my customers with recurring services that I bill them for each month. Do I have to open and complete a ticket each month? You can set up flat fee contracts, which do not need tickets attached in order to create bills. Flat fee contracts are great for managed services, and with only a few clicks you can create an invoice and export it to QuickBooks. Bill for open tickets How do I bill all tickets at the end of the month, including partial time for tickets that are still open? MSP Manager can only bill for completed time. Duplicate the ticket to create a copy without time entries, and complete the original ticket. Bill for the completed ticket and continue tracking time on the duplicated ticket. Bill tickets individually Can I bill tickets individually when the work is completed, or does it have to be part of a billing batch? You can bill a completed ticket at any time. Mark the ticket as complete and it will appear ready for billing under the appropriate customer in Billing. Billing errors Under Billing, the Previous Billing Batches are listed on the right. If all invoices in a batch were successfully exported, appears next to the Bill Amount. If there was an error during export, appears next to the Bill Amount. How do I troubleshoot a billing batch with an error? 22
1. Click the billing batch. 2. Click the Review & Export Invoices tab. 3. Check the Exported column for each invoice. 4. Move your cursor over the to see the error message. Common errors QuickBooks error There was an error when saving an invoice. QuickBooks error message: You have no items or one or more of your amounts is not associated with an item. Please enter an item. An amount in the invoice is not associated with an item on QuickBooks or Xero. Make sure all items on this invoice are correctly mapped to existing items in your accounting software. Misspellings and incorrect formatting can cause this error. After default mappings or spelling mistakes are corrected, export the invoice again. Application error There was a problem adding the application. Check the QBWCLog.txt for details. This error has two possible causes: The company file moved from its original location. This is usually caused by installing QuickBooks on a new computer. A problem with QuickBooks Web Connector. In both cases, do the following: 1. QuickBooks Desktop > Edit > Preferences > Integrated Apps > MSP Manager Service > Remove. 2. Load the QuickBooks Web Connector file again. See Export an invoice to QuickBooks Desktop for the first time for instructions. 23
Billing scenarios Hourly retainer with overage I charge a customer $1000 per month for 10 hours of work. If my work exceeds 10 hours, I charge $150 per hour for the additional time. How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Hour Retainer from the Service Type list. 5. Type 1000.00 in the Retainer Amount field. 6. Type 10 in the Retainer Hours field. 7. Type 150.00 in the Overage Rate field. 8. Enter comments to display on invoices in Service Item Description. You can note a change in hours or rate. 9. Click Create Service Item. Hourly support I charge different hourly rates based on the time and location of my work: Default: $100 per hour After-hours: $150 per hour Off-site: $175 per hour How do I charge for that? 1. Click > Account Settings > Service Items. 2. Click Add a New Service Item Template. 3. Select Hourly from the Service Type list. 4. Select $100 from the Default Rate list. 5. Select $150 and $175 from the Additional Rates list. 6. Click Create Template. 24
Apply this service item template to a ticket. For each time entry, choose one of the rates. Managed desktops or servers I manage my customers' computers for a flat fee of $50 per computer per month. How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Flat Fee from the Service Type list. 5. Type 50.00 in the Unit Price field. 6. Enter the number of computers in the Quantity field. 7. Enter comments to display on invoices in the Service Item Description field. You can note a change in quantity. 8. Click Create Service Item. Monthly fee with additional hourly rate I charge a customer $3500 per month to manage their network. That includes all work specified in the contract. Any work outside the scope of the contract is billed at $100 per hour. How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Flat Fee from the Service Type list. 5. Type 3500.00 in the Unit Price field. 6. Type 1 in the Quantity field. 7. Select $100 from the Additional Rates list. 8. Enter comments to display on invoices in the Service Item Description field. You can note a change in quantity. 9. Click Create Service Item. 25
When you add time to a ticket for this customer, choose the base rate of $0 for work inside the scope of the contract. For work outside that scope, choose the additional hourly rate. Off-site backup I back up my customer's data remotely for a flat fee of $5 per gigabyte per month. How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Flat Fee from the Service Type list. 5. Type 5.00 in the Unit Price field. 6. Enter the amount of gigabytes used in the Quantity field. 7. Click Create Service Item. One-time fee I sell network audits for a one-time fee of $5000, but I still want to track hours worked. How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Flat Fee from the Service Type list. 5. Type 5000.00 in the Unit Price field. 6. Type 1 in the Quantity field. 7. Under Invoice Options, make sure Create Detailed Invoices is selected. 8. Click Create Service Item. Open a ticket for each issue to track time worked for this customer. All work will be included in the $5,000 fee, and each time entry will show $0. You can attach detailed invoices to the customer's bill that show all time entries for work you did. 26
Project estimate with hourly rates I design websites for customers. I provide an estimate at the beginning, but charge hourly for time worked at the end. I charge different hourly rates based on the type of work: Design: $60 per hour Development: $80 per hour Consulting: $100 per hour How do I charge for that? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click Add a New Service Item. 4. Select Project from the Service Type list. 5. Type 1500.00 in the Project Estimate field. 6. Type 15 in the Estimated Hours field. 7. Select $60 from the Default Rate list. 8. Select $80 and $100 from the Additional Rates list. 9. Click Create Service Item. Change the currency, date format, and time zone My business is in a different country. How do I change my currency, date format, and time zone? 1. Click > Account Settings > Default Settings. 2. Select a language from the Culture list to change your currency and date format. 3. Change the Time Zone and Tax Rate, if necessary. Create a contract that does not expire Can I create a contract that does not expire every year? 27
When you create a service item, select an end date that is a few years in the future to prolong the expiration. Set the Service Item Notifications for expiration by clicking > Account Settings > Notifications. Override default mappings to accounting software How do I override my default accounting mappings that I defined in account settings? Select a customer, and click Rates. You can edit each rate and set a specific accounting item different from the defaults in account settings. When you add an expense item to a ticket, you can specify a different accounting item to map to from the New Expense menu. Set customers as inactive I have a customer who no longer uses my services. How do I hide them from my active customer list, but not delete their information entirely? 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Edit Customer. 3. Click Inactive as the Status. 4. Click Save Changes. If this customer hires you again, set their status back to active. First, locate them in the customer list: 1. Click Customers. 2. Click Showing Active Customers, and click Inactive Customers. 3. Click Edit Customer. 4. Click Active as the Status. 5. Click Save Changes. 28
Set individual services as taxable or not Can I set an individual service as taxable or not taxable? For example, when I repair a computer the labor is not taxable, but when I install a new computer the labor is taxable. You can set your service items to default to taxable on all tickets. Any tickets that are opened using this service item are marked as taxable. 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Service Items. 3. Click next to a service item. 4. Under Billing > Tax Default, select Default All New Tickets to Taxable. 5. Click Save Service Item. Expenses that are tied to a taxable ticket can be marked as taxable or not, separate from the service item. Share internal knowledge about your company How can I create a list of internal processes and procedures for my employees? Create your company as a customer in MSP Manager, and use the knowledge section to track internal processes and procedures. Create a $0 hourly service item to track time spent not working on tickets for customers. Store resolutions to common customer issues Is there a way to keep a log of fixes and resolutions? Use the Knowledge > Procedures section to store solutions to reoccurring issues and previously encountered problems. Create your company as a customer in MSP Manager to track internal passwords, procedures, and serial numbers. 29
Troubleshoot your ticket mailbox Why am I not receiving inbound tickets that are sent in emails from my customers? Click > Account Settings > Ticket Mailbox, and check the status. Verify it reads OK in green. Click Change Settings to enter new credentials, or set up a new mailbox. In some cases, deleting and recreating the mailbox fixes the issue. Turn inbound email into tickets Why does MSP Manager not automatically create tickets from inbound emails? Emails come into MSP Manager as ticket requests in Helpdesk > Inbound Tickets. Click Create Ticket to turn the request into an open ticket. To conveniently create a support ticket, assign an email domain and a default service item to your customers. The ticket is then automatically assigned to the customer and service item. 1. Click Customers, and click a customer in the list. 2. Click Edit Customer. 3. Enter the customer's email domain in the Email Domain field. 4. Click Save Changes. 5. Click Service Items. 6. Click next to service item. 7. Under Service Info > Status, select Default Service Item. 8. Click Save Service Item. 30