Costs that never make it onto the invoice
A garage invoice for a client's van is paid in March, but the vehicle had moved to a different cost centre in February, so it is rebilled to the wrong one. An admin fee for handling a parking notice should have been charged under the client's contract, and was not. A damage repair that should be recharged to the client's driver is paid and forgotten. None of these is large. Together, across a client book, they are a meaningful leak.
Clients also notice the errors that go the other way, which is worse.
Why rebilling leaks
Costs are incurred in many places and rebilled in one, and the tags that say which client, cost centre and fee they belong to are added at the end.
- Supplier invoices are paid in accounts, fines are handled by another team, damage by a third.
- Management fees and admin fees differ by client contract.
- Vehicles move between clients' cost centres, and the rebill uses whichever is current at month end.
- Some costs are passed through at cost, some with a margin, some included in a fixed fee.
- The rebilling spreadsheet is maintained by one person.
What a leaky rebill costs
Unrecovered costs, fees not charged, and credit notes for costs charged wrongly. Month-end work that grows with each new client. And client trust, because the rebill is the document that tells the client whether you know what you are doing.
The rebilling ledger we build
- Every cost is recorded in the ledger when it is incurred: supplier invoices when approved, fines when processed, damage when authorised, fuel when imported.
- Each cost is tagged with the client, vehicle, driver and cost centre that applied on the date of the cost, not the date of rebilling.
- Each client's contract terms are held as rules: which costs are passed through, at what margin, which are included in a fixed fee, and which admin fees apply to which events.
- Fees are added automatically when the triggering event is recorded, such as a notice processed or a vehicle delivered.
- Before month end, the ledger checks for costs without a client, vehicles without a cost centre and events with no fee where one was expected.
- The monthly rebill is posted to your accounts system as an invoice per client, with a supporting schedule by cost centre and vehicle.
| Cost type | When it enters the ledger | Rule applied |
|---|---|---|
| Garage and tyre work | When the invoice is approved | Pass through or margin per contract |
| Parking and traffic notices | When processed | Notice cost plus admin fee if contracted |
| Damage recharge to driver | When authorised | Passed to the client or recharged under their policy |
| Fuel | When imported | Pass through or included per contract |
Clients who can see the detail
Most rebilling disputes are really requests for detail. The supporting schedule shows each line with its vehicle, date and source document, and a client portal can let their finance team look up any line themselves. Queries are logged against the line, so the rest of the invoice is not held up.
A rebill that is right first time
Credits need the same treatment as costs. When a garage issues a credit note or a lessor refunds a rental billed after return, the credit enters the ledger against the same client, vehicle and cost centre as the original charge, so it reaches the client on the next rebill instead of sitting in your accounts as an unexplained balance.
Month end becomes a review of a ledger that has been building all month. Fees are charged because they were added when the event happened. Costs land on the cost centre that was correct at the time. Clients get invoices they can check, and your finance team stops dreading the first week of the month.
Is your rebill leaking?
- Rebilling is built in a spreadsheet each month.
- Admin fees under client contracts are sometimes missed.
- Costs land on the wrong cost centre after vehicles move.
- Clients query rebill lines and hold payment.
- Only one person understands how the rebill is put together.