Features Below Available To: ✅ Grow Plan ✅ Track Plan ❌ Free Plan
When a collaborating consultant uploads a bill in-app or from a consultant bill reminder, the receiving firm can review it before accepting it or requesting that revisions be made. This helps ensure that the charges that are invoiced to clients are correct.
🚨 Admins or users with the “Edit invoices and consultant bills” permission enabled can execute this review flow.
Reviewing Bill Notifications
Once a bill is received, the review process can be started directly from the bill email or from the Bills page within Monograph.
In the email, click on Review Bill to open Monograph to the bill review workflow.
Aside from the email, a banner will also appear on the Bills page highlighting the number of new bills to review. Click Review Bills to start reviewing.
Review Process
When the review process begins, the system will present bills needing review one at a time, in order of the oldest issue date first. Use the left and right arrows to scroll through each bill.
For each bill, you'll have the option to approve it, reject it/request revisions, and send the bill to QuickBooks Online (if connected). Notes can also be added to the Internal Note field, which will appear above the bill's Activity log.
Click Accept to accept the bill or click Request changes to request revisions, which will notify your consultant that changes have been requested. Either option will also be reflected within the Activity Log.
Repeat the process for each bill until all reviews are complete. Click Done in the upper right corner to exit the review process.
Accepting Bills
After accepting a consultant bill, it will automatically be added to your Bills page and recorded in the bill's Activity Log. You'll then have the option to send the invoice to QuickBooks Online or download the PDF. Bill reminders can also be stopped at any time by selecting Stop bill reminders.
🚨 Only accepted bills can be linked to client invoices, sent to QuickBooks Online, or paid through Monograph.
Request Bill Changes
As a firm, you may need to request changes to a consultant bill even after it has been accepted. Monograph allows you to request changes under specific conditions:
The bill is not attached to an open client invoice
The bill has not been paid
To request changes to a consultant bill, follow the next steps:
Navigate to the Bills tab and locate the accepted consultant bill.
Click Request Changes in the three dots at the far right.
A confirmation message will appear explaining that the bill will be removed from the list of bills and that any linked client invoices will also be removed.
Select Yes to proceed.
Enter the details of the requested changes.
Select Send to notify the consultant.
Once the consultant updates and resubmits the bill, it will reappear in the Bills list for review and approval.
Rejecting Bills
After rejecting a bill, you can add a note explaining the reason for the requested changes. This note will be included in the rejection email sent to the user who uploaded the consultant bill, and in the bill's Activity Log. Rejected bills will not be included in your consultant bill list.
🚨 Rejected bills cannot be sent to QuickBooks Online, Downloaded, or paid through Monograph until they are revised and accepted.
Paying Consultant Bills
If both the paying firm and the collaborative consultant have signed up for Payments, consultant bills can be paid through Monograph.
To pay a consultant bill, navigate to Money > Costs > Bills. If the bill hasn't been approved yet, click on the Bill number, and the review page will appear. If the bill has already been approved, but you still need a refresher of what is included, click on the Bill number to see a preview.
When you're ready to pay, click Pay now for the bill that you'd like to pay. A new page will open where you can enter payment information via Stripe, mirroring the workflow for a client paying one of your project invoices sent from Monograph.
📚 Learn more about how to pay bills using Monograph Payments.
If online payments are not enabled for the consultant's company, the "Pay now" button will be disabled. In this case, the consultant will be responsible for marking their consultant bill as paid once they have received your payment outside of Monograph.
🚨 Collaborative consultant bills cannot be manually marked as "Paid" by the inviting firm. The collaborating consultant must mark their invoice as "Paid" on their end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to approve a bill that I uploaded on behalf of a consultant?
No, if you upload a consultant on behalf of a consultant, you do not need to be reviewed or accepted. These are initially accepted with a status of “unpaid”.
What happens if I exit the review process before I've reviewed all of the consultant bills?
If you leave the review process before all bills have been reviewed, nothing will happen. Any remaining invoices will remain in the review queue until they are approved or rejected.
I accidentally approved and paid a consultant bill, but it was incorrect. How can my consultant reverse the payment?
At this time, payments made in Monograph cannot be reversed. Instead, your client will need to issue you a refund outside of Monograph, via paper check, Zelle, etc.
Why can't I mark my consultant bill as partially paid?
Only consultant bills created in Monograph can be marked as partially paid. Consultants with free accounts can only upload PDF invoices, and PDF invoices cannot be marked as partially paid.