6 Common ServiceTitan Membership Billing Blunders (and Practical Solutions)

Memberships (and Service Agreements) in ServiceTitan are a powerful, revenue-generating tool for your business. But what happens when something is missed in setup? The team of ServiceTitan experts at Powerhouse Consulting Group has put together a list of 6 common ServiceTitan Membership billing blunders, and what to do about them.

1. Missing ServiceTitan Membership Templates 

One of the most common mistakes our team sees is the absence of templates. Depending on the frequency of your program billing, ServiceTitan automatically generates an invoice on a monthly or yearly basis. As our lead trainer, Rosario, points out, if there’s no invoice template, ServiceTitan doesn’t know what the invoice should contain, or how much to charge. 

Due to this mishap, ServiceTitan fails to generate the invoice, and the member is not billed for that month.

To remedy this issue, click the edit pencil icon while viewing your membership. Navigate to the billing template section, and create/add the invoice template. Be sure to adjust the price to the monthly membership fee!

A missing Recurring Service Event (RSE) invoice template will cause the system to fail to calculate how much deferred revenue needs to be allocated to income once the RSE is marked as complete. It’s important to create a template that includes the positive (income) and negative (liability), so ServiceTitan knows which tasks to use on the invoice. Without this information, ServiceTitan is unable to assign the value.

When viewing the membership, scroll down to the bottom, where Recurring Service Events populate. Click on the “Invoice Template” tab, and add or create the template the RSE is associated with.

Missing templates is just one of the common membership setup mistakes the Powerhouse team often sees. 

2. Incorrectly Booked Recurring Service Events

When your CSRs book a membership service, it’s important to be sure an RSE is used to ensure the job is invoiced correctly, and revenue recognized appropriately. A tune-up or maintenance job not linked to an RSE will not be invoiced properly.

This can be caused by a job type setup issue, or a training issue with your call center. If there are four unused RSEs, does the CSR know which one to choose? We recommend dismissing old RSEs from the previous fiscal year(s) and using the RSE closest to the actual date of service. 

Expert ServiceTitan consultant and lead trainer, Rosario, says the best practice is to have a job type specific for use with membership maintenance visits.

“Be sure to make the selection of a Recurring Service Event required when booking jobs, if RSEs exist for that location,” she says. “This forces the CSR to select the RSE that will be completed, and mark it as complete.”

Once the visit is marked complete, the visit is removed from Follow Ups, the customer is removed from any RSE-related campaign audiences, and deferred revenue is recognized.

3. Lingering Suspended ServiceTitan Memberships

Another common issue our team sees with membership billing is suspended memberships remaining in limbo. 

What is the definition of a suspended membership? This member hasn’t completely left, but their payment has failed. They are not being billed, or receiving benefits, but recurring services are still active. We recommend if the issue is not resolved within 90 days, to cancel the membership, and recognize any deferred revenue.

When memberships are suspended or terminated early, there are a few things to consider:

• Has the member received a tune-up, inspection, or other service?
• Did they receive discounted services?
• Are they owed a refund?
• Do you need to balance-bill for the membership before canceling?
• Are you able to recognize any deferred revenue?

Processes for handling these situations should be created, and one person, such as your Membership Coordinator (or similar role), should be responsible for them. 

4. Hidden Billing Task Category

Categories in your ServiceTitan Pricebook can be hidden to both clean up the view, and prevent incorrect tasks from being used. Our team at PCG often sees billing categories visible to technicians, which leads to the wrong tasks being added to invoices on the job. 

The team at Powerhouse recommends hiding the billing task category from technicians, so only the office staff can choose them. This will help your team properly set up membership billing, and allow for consistency throughout your program. Technicians should never see RSE billing tasks, membership fee billing tasks, etc. 

“It’s too easy for a tech to search the membership name, and accidentally charge a one-month billing task instead of selling the membership,” says consultant team lead, Kris. “Make it easy for the tech to do the right thing, and prevent headaches for your office team.”

5. Mismanaged ServiceTitan Membership Billing Runs

When selling a membership, are you explaining your billing rules clearly to the customer? You should be, so that when the customer signs, they are accepting the terms.

For example: Memberships sold from the 1st through 10th of the month will invoice on the 9th, and cards will be billed on the 10th. Memberships sold between the 11th and 20th will invoice on the 19th, and bill the 20th. Finally, memberships sold past the 21st will invoice and bill on the 27th and 28th, respectively. 

You will need to choose how many billing runs you want each month. Consider how much time your team can devote to these processes, balanced with a great member experience. Again, designate one person, such as your membership coordinator or AR clerk, to manage your billing runs. “Fewer people involved in these processes is better. Somebody must own the memberships,” Kris says.

When the billing run completes, your designated memberships guru should be monitoring failed payments. Review the customer’s payment method, update expired cards, and verify that the payment gateway is properly configured. Finally, ensure the customer’s billing information is correct!

6. Missed Training Opportunities for Technicians

One final common blunder the Powerhouse team encounters is technicians who are unclear on their duties or processes when selling a membership. 

One of these shortfalls is often not having a credit card on file in ServiceTitan for membership billing. Did your technician forget to ask? Unfortunately, accepting a check for ongoing membership billing isn’t feasible, so a credit or debit card will need to be saved to the account. 

Another item is to ensure technicians are marking the first visit “complete” if the service is performed at the time of the membership sale. The technician can visit History > Recurring Services > Upcoming Due RSE > Mark as Complete. Marking the RSE as “complete” is essential for recognizing the revenue properly!

Technician duties should be clearly defined, and trained, to help avoid future billing issues. Simplified membership structure can help avoid confusion in the field, and a strong selection of add-ons can empower your technicians to sell a membership that is customized to the individual customer and location.

According to PCG’s expert ServiceTitan consultant, Mike, it’s worth considering long-term staffing for the membership program. At first, it likely makes sense for responsibilities to be a shared duty across CSRs, A/R, etc. But, as the program grows, things like deferred revenue, billing runs, and RSE tracking will likely need a dedicated coordinator, and in larger setups, perhaps even a full membership team.

Ready to gain control of your ServiceTitan memberships?

Have more questions? Powerhouse Consulting Group can help you master your ServiceTitan memberships. From set-up to management to actionable reporting, let the team at PCG empower your team to take control of your memberships, and maximize profits. Book a free discovery call today to learn more.