Third-party billing
When someone other than the owner pays - a rescue or foster carer, or a company you subcontract to. Set up a paying account, point a pet's bills at it, and invoice the lot at period's end.
Sometimes whoever owns an animal isn't whoever pays for it. A rescue covers a foster carer's pet. A company sends you in-home euthanasia work and wants one bill, not a bill per pet.
Both work the same way: mark an account as a payer, point each pet's bills at it, then generate one invoice at period's end.
The pet's charges always stay on the patient's own record. Only the balance moves.
New to billing? Read Charges vs invoices first.
The three steps
| Step | Where | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mark the payer | The rescue or company's client file | Tick Third-party payer on the Details tab → Save. For a business, set Client type to Organisation |
| 2. Point each pet at it | The patient's Details tab | Billing & insurance → Default payer → choose the payer → Save |
| 3. Bill the period | The payer's Financials tab | Invoice contracted work → pick a date range → generate |
Step 1 does exactly one thing: it makes the account selectable as a Default payer in step 2. Only accounts you've ticked appear in that list.
Step 3 builds one invoice covering every patient billed to that payer in the range, itemised with each patient's name and date so the payer can see what they're paying for. From there it's a normal invoice - finalise, then print, download or email.
Gotchas
- Setting a Default payer is not retrospective. Only charges added after you set it move. Anything already on the owner's account stays there. Set it before the work starts.
- An empty invoice, or a missing pet, means that pet's Default payer doesn't point at this payer, or its charges fall outside your date range.
- "Invoice contracted work" is only on the payer's file, not an ordinary owner's.
- GST follows your clinic, not the payer. Your invoice uses your own Settings → Clinic → Tax & GST setting. That's separate from whatever the company charges the pet's owner.