ATS v1: Job Billing
Job Billing helps you track key billing milestones during an executive search so your accounting team knows when to create invoices. Executive search firms often bill at specific stages—such as when a candidate
A person looking for a job. A candidate can also be referred to as a Job Seeker, Applicant, or Provider. is submitted, when an offer is accepted, or when a placement The stage that occurs after a candidate accepts a job offer and facilitates their information being copied to the back office. starts work. This feature lets you flag important events that trigger invoicing activity, making it easier to coordinate between your recruiting team and your billing department.
Job Billing provides fields for tracking projected and actual compensation numbers, along with a way to mark tasks as billing events that notify your accounting team when completed.
Common Scenarios for Using Job Billing
You might need this feature if you:
- Need to notify your billing team when a candidate submission An internal submission (submission, shortlist) is used to save the candidate against a job for which they may be a good fit. triggers a retainer invoice
- Track projected fees at the start of a search and compare them to actual placement fees when the search completes
- Want to document when specific billing milestones are reached (candidate submitted, offer accepted, placement started)
- Need to store salary information for fee calculations based on candidate compensation packages
- Work with retainer agreements where invoices are sent at predefined stages of the search process
- Want to automate notifications to accounting when billable events occur instead of manually emailing them
- Need to report on projected versus actual fees across your executive search portfolio
How Job Billing Works
Job Billing combines compensation tracking fields on jobs with a billing event flag on tasks. When you complete a task marked as a billing event, your firm can trigger notifications or workflows to alert accounting that an invoice should be created.
Track Projected and Actual Compensation
Job Billing adds fields to job records where you can document projected compensation at the start of a search and actual compensation when a placement is made. This helps you estimate fees upfront and calculate final invoices based on real placement data.
The following billing-related fields are available on Job records:
Projected Compensation Fields:
- Projected Fee: Your estimated placement fee for this search
- Projected Base Package: Expected base salary for the position
- Projected Bonus: Expected bonus compensation
- Sum Projected Base and Bonus: Automatically calculated total of base plus bonus
Actual Compensation Fields:
- Actual Base Salary: The actual base salary for the placed candidate
- Actual Bonus: The actual bonus compensation
- Actual Total: Automatically calculated total of actual base plus bonus
These fields help you estimate fees at the beginning of a search and calculate final invoices based on actual placement compensation when the search closes successfully.
Mark Tasks as Billing Events
You can flag specific tasks as billing events—important milestones that trigger invoicing activity. When someone completes a task marked as a billing event, your accounting team can be notified through workflows or process automation that an invoice should be created.
The Billing Event A Salesforce term used to describe an activity that involves invitations being sent out and calendar appointments being made. checkbox can be added to Task page layouts. When you create tasks for key billing milestones (such as Candidate Submitted or Placement Started), check the Billing Event box to identify them as invoiceable events.
Common billing event tasks include:
- Retainer Invoice Due
- Candidate Submitted to Client A Company is the organization where the contact works. This can also be called the Client.
- Offer The fourth Stage of Job application flow. This is when the candidate is offered the position (details about salary, locations etc are shared and candidate decides if he wants to take the job) Accepted
- Placement Start Date Reached
- 30-Day Guarantee Period Completed
Configuration Steps
Follow these steps to enable Job Billing in your Bullhorn for Salesforce org. You must be a Salesforce administrator to complete these configuration tasks.
Step 1: Add Billing Event Field to Task Layout
- Go to
- Edit the relevant Task page layout
- Add the Billing Event checkbox field to the layout
- Save your changes
Step 2: Add Billing Fields to Job Layout
- Go to
- Edit the relevant Job page layout
- Add the billing fields you want to track:
- Projected Fee
- Projected Base Package
- Projected Bonus
- Sum Projected Base and Bonus
- Actual Base Salary
- Actual Bonus
- Actual Total
- Organize the fields in a logical section (for example, create a Billing Information section)
- Save your changes
Step 3: Assign Permission Set to Users
- Go to
- Find and open the Job Billing permission set
- Click Manage Assignments
- Add all users who need to view or edit billing information
- Save your changes
Step 4: Configure Billing Event Notifications (Optional)
To automatically notify your billing team when billing events are completed, you need custom automation. Work with your Salesforce administrator to create:
- Workflow Rules: Trigger email alerts when a task is marked complete and the Billing Event checkbox is checked
- Process Builder: Create more complex automation that sends notifications, creates records, or updates fields when billing events occur
- Flow: Build sophisticated billing workflows that handle multiple conditions and actions
Example notification criteria:
- Task Status equals Completed
- Billing Event checkbox is checked
- Send email to billing team email address or queue
- Include job details and task information in the email
Troubleshooting
If the Billing Event checkbox does not appear on Task records
Verify that you added the Billing Event field to your Task page layout (Setup > Object Manager > Task > Page Layouts). Also confirm that you assigned the Job Billing permission set to your user account and refreshed your browser.
If billing fields do not appear on Job records
Check that you added the billing fields to your Job page layout (Setup > Object Manager > Job > Page Layouts). If fields are present but not editable, verify that your profile or permission set grants edit access to these fields.
If notifications are not being sent when billing events are completed
Job Billing does not automatically send notifications out of the box. You must configure workflow rules, Process Builder, or Flow automation to send alerts when tasks with the Billing Event checkbox are marked complete. Contact your Salesforce administrator to set up this automation.
If calculated fields (Sum Projected Base and Bonus, Actual Total) are not calculating
These fields use formula calculations based on the base and bonus fields. If they are blank or showing zero, verify that you entered values in both the base and bonus fields. If values are entered but calculations are still incorrect, check the field formulas in Setup > Object Manager > Job > Fields & Relationships.
If you need to track additional billing milestones beyond the standard fields
Create custom fields on the Job object for additional billing data points your firm needs to track. Work with your Salesforce administrator to add fields and update page layouts accordingly.
If billing information needs to sync to your accounting system
Job Billing stores data in Salesforce but does not integrate directly with accounting software. You will need middleware or integration tools to sync billing data between Salesforce and your accounting system. Contact Bullhorn Support or your implementation partner for integration options.
If users are accidentally marking tasks as billing events
Consider making the Billing Event checkbox read-only for most users and only editable by accounting or operations staff. You can control this through field-level security settings or by creating different page layouts for different user profiles.
If you want to report on billing events across multiple jobs
Create a custom report on the Task object and filter by Billing Event equals True. Group by Job or by Task Subject to analyze billing milestone trends across your searches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Job Billing automatically create invoices?
No. Job Billing tracks billing milestones and compensation data, but it does not generate invoices. You will need to integrate Salesforce with your accounting system or use billing software to create actual invoices based on the data tracked in Job Billing.
Can I use Job Billing without setting up notifications?
Yes. You can use the billing fields and Billing Event checkbox simply as a way to document billing milestones and compensation data without any automation. Some firms manually check for completed billing events and create invoices accordingly.
What is the difference between Projected Fee and the calculated compensation fields?
Projected Fee is your estimated placement fee (typically a percentage of expected compensation). The Projected Base Package and Projected Bonus fields represent the expected candidate compensation, which you use to calculate your fee. Some firms enter the fee directly, others calculate it based on compensation.
Can I hide billing fields from recruiters and only show them to accounting staff?
Yes. Use field-level security to control which profiles or permission sets can see billing fields. You can also create separate page layouts for different user groups, showing billing fields only to accounting staff.
How do I handle retainer billing versus contingency billing?
Job Billing fields can accommodate both models. For retainer searches, create multiple billing event tasks for each retainer payment milestone. For contingency searches, create a single billing event task for when the placement is made. Customize task subjects and billing workflows to match your firm's billing structure.
Can billing events trigger actions beyond email notifications?
Yes. Using Process Builder or Flow, you can configure billing events to trigger various actions such as creating records, updating fields, posting to Chatter Use Chatter features like feeds, profiles, groups, and more to share information, collaborate, and keep up with the latest updates in your company., or calling external systems. Work with your Salesforce administrator to design automation that matches your billing processes.