One Time Block Agreement

A One Time Block Agreement is one of the five ConnectWise agreement types. It lets a customer prepay a fixed dollar amount for future services — you deliver the services over time and draw down against the prepaid balance. Common uses: offering a discount for prepayment, or requiring prepayment from a customer who’s a credit risk.

How deferred revenue works

When you enable the Prepayment option on the agreement type, ConnectWise posts the invoice amount to a deferred revenue account instead of recognizing it as income immediately. Each time you invoice against the agreement, ConnectWise moves the invoiced amount from the deferred account into the appropriate revenue account.

Note: The Prepayment checkbox lives on the Agreement Type, not on the agreement itself. Set it in Setup Tables > Agreement Types before creating agreements of that type.

To use deferred revenue, you must map the agreement type to a deferred revenue GL account. Go to Setup Tables > GL Accounts and add a mapping for the agreement type, entering the deferred account in the Account field.

Set up a one-time block time agreement

Create the agreement type

Agreement Types are templates defined in Setup Tables > Agreement Types. You can maintain separate types for each agreement structure you sell; ConnectWise tracks them independently.

1. Go to System > Setup Tables > Agreement Types, then select the New Item icon.
2. In Application Parameters, select the One Time checkbox.
3. In Recurring Invoicing Parameters, select the One Time checkbox.
4. If you want deferred revenue posting, select the Prepayment checkbox.
5. Select Save.

A One Time Block Time Agreement supports break-fix work, products, and expenses. Set Application Limit to a dollar amount or number of hours depending on what you’re selling. The agreement does not auto-renew.

For full field-by-field detail on Agreement Maintenance, see the Agreement Maintenance Screen documentation.

Create the agreement

Once the agreement type exists:

1. Go to Finance > Agreements, then select the New Item icon.
2. Select your One Time Block Time agreement type.
3. Set Application Units to Hours (or Amount if selling dollars of service).
4. Set Application Limit to the contracted quantity — for example, 30 hours.
5. Confirm Available Per is set to One Time Only.
6. Set Billing Cycle to One Time and enter the Billing Amount.
7. Select Save.

ConnectWise sends one invoice to the client. As work is performed and $0 progress invoices are transferred to the accounting package, ConnectWise moves the dollar value from the deferred revenue account into income — letting you recognize revenue at the time the service is delivered.

Set up a workflow rule for low balance

When a block agreement’s hours run low, you want a heads-up so you can sell a renewal. A workflow rule can create an activity for the territory manager when the balance drops below a threshold.

Set up the header

1. Go to System > Setup Tables > Workflow Rules, then select the New Item icon.
2. Enter a Description for the rule.
3. In Table Reference, select Agreements.
4. Select Save.

Set up the events

1. Select Events +. The Workflow event dialog appears.
2. In Set trigger, select Agreement is of type {value}.
3. In Set value, select your block time agreement type.
4. Select Save next to the event.
5. Select the New Item icon to add a second condition.
6. In Set operator, select AND.
7. In Set trigger, select {value}% or less agreement amount remaining.
8. In Set value, enter a percentage — for example, 10 triggers when 10% or less of the allocation remains.
9. Select Save next to the event, then select Save.

Set up the run schedule

1. Select the run schedule (defaults to Just Once).
2. In Frequency, select Continuously.
3. In Check Every, enter 1.
4. In Period, select Days.
5. Select Save.

Note: Setting Check Every to 30 and Period to Days scans daily but only notifies once a month — useful if you want to reduce alert noise on accounts that are slow to renew.

Set up the action

1. Select Actions +.
2. In Action Type, select Create Activity, then select Next.
3. In Create for, select Territory Manager.
4. In Member from, select the member the activity comes from.
5. Select an Activity Type and Activity Status.
6. Enter a Subject and message. Use Available Variables to include agreement details dynamically.
7. Select Save & Close.

Activate the workflow rule

1. Select Activate now.
2. Set Run Every to 1 and Period to Days.
3. In During, select 24 Hours.
4. Select Save.

Renew a one-time block agreement

When a customer buys another block, add the new hours via an Addition and then create the invoice.

1. Go to Finance > Agreements and open the agreement.
2. Go to the Additions tab, then select the New Item icon.
3. In Product ID, search for and select your block time renewal product.
4. In Total Quantity, enter the number of units being renewed.
5. Confirm pricing in Unit Price, fill out any remaining fields, then select Save and Close.
6. Go to the Adjustments tab, then select the New Item icon.
7. In Adjustments, enter the number of units the customer purchased.
8. Fill out remaining fields, then select Save and Close.
9. Go to Finance > Invoicing and select the Agreement Invoicing tab.
10. Find the agreement and select its checkbox.
11. Select Create Invoices, then select Yes in the confirmation dialog.