Packages & Bundles
Creating bundled product and service packages with automatic discount pricing.
A package bundles several catalogue items and sells them as one discounted line - a puppy or kitten wellness package, an annual health plan, a pre-op bundle.
Catalogue → Packages tab. Needs Manage the catalogue, which by default only a Practice Manager or the clinic owner holds.
Creating one
Add Package, then:
- Package Code - a short unique reference like
PKG-PUPPY. Required. - Package Name - what appears on invoices. Required.
- Description - optional, for your team.
- + Add Item for each catalogue item, with a quantity. The dropdown shows each item's standard sale price. At least one item is required.
- Pricing - how the discount is worked out. Two options, below.
The contents total, the discount and what the client pays update as you go. Create when done.
Only active catalogue items can be added - ones with Active switched off don't appear in the picker.
The two ways to price one
| Pricing | What you type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| % off | a percentage | takes that share off whatever the contents come to |
| $ off | a dollar amount | takes that fixed amount off |
Prefer % off. It's the one that keeps behaving sensibly when things change: it scales with the contents, so a package that grows, shrinks or has a component price rise still discounts by the share you intended.
$ off is the one to watch, because the discount doesn't shrink when the contents do. Take a $90 item out of a $240 package with $60 off and the client pays $90 for $150 of goods - an intended 25% off has quietly become 40%.
A package is a starting point, not a fixed list
Add it to a visit, then delete what this animal didn't need. That never breaks the package: the discount re-works itself against what is actually there. That's why it's fine to put several forms of the same drug, or $0 items, into a package - the vet deletes what doesn't apply.
You can also just type over the discount on the visit. Once you do, nothing recalculates it again.
Using one when billing
Pick the package from the item picker on an invoice, estimate or consultation, exactly as you'd pick an individual item.
Behaviour differs by surface. On an invoice or estimate the package adds as a single line at the discounted price - the client sees the package name and its price, with the contents listed underneath by name. In a consultation's Billing Items card, picking a package adds all of its items as separate charges at their package prices.
That second behaviour has a catch worth knowing: there's no single "undo the package" button. If you add the wrong one in a consult, remove each unwanted charge from its row menu. Check the package before clicking it.
Editing, hiding and deleting
Click any package to edit it. To stop it appearing in billing without deleting it, untick Active and save. Tick it again to bring it back.
Deleting a package you've sold is fine. It used to be impossible - the package simply refused to go, with a database error you couldn't do anything about. Past sales keep their items, their prices and the package name they were sold under; they just stop pointing at a package that no longer exists. The confirmation tells you how many times it's been sold before you commit.
There's no Deactivate on the row menu any more, on either tab. Active on the package form does the same job and is the only place it belongs.
Gotchas
- Deleting a catalogue item removes it from every package that used it, and the discount stays as it was - so the package now holds less and charges less. The item's delete confirmation names each affected package. With $ off especially, check the price afterwards.
- Switching an item's Active off doesn't do this - it stays in the package and still charges.