Prepare one billing run across repeat clients

What the period rule actually does

At 15 October 2026, a Sunday-cutoff weekly group uses 5–11 October; a month-end group uses 1–30 September. October work remains visible as open-period work, while August work is shown as older backlog. Neither is declared unbillable. Review both separately instead of losing them in a total. A per-job group uses service dates through the planning date, with one proposed document group per unique work reference.

“Ready” only means the entered fields passed these planning checks. It does not verify completion, approval, prior invoicing, customer identity or entitlement. Change a field and the prior result is cleared, so downloads cannot silently use an old answer.

11 COMPLETE FICTIONAL CASES

Different work decisions, with expected results

Every case uses 15 October 2026 as its planning date. The fixed summaries below do not change when you edit the form.

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
CLEAN-A,C-A,Example Client A,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
CLEAN-A,C-A,V-01,2026-10-06,complete,OK-01,120,direct,no
CLEAN-A,C-A,V-02,2026-10-09,complete,OK-02,140,direct,no
CLEAN-A,C-A,V-03,2026-10-10,planned,OK-03,120,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
W,C-A,Example Weekly Client,weekly,7
M,C-B,Example Monthly Client,monthly,last

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
W,C-A,W-01,2026-10-07,complete,OK-01,180,direct,no
M,C-B,M-OLD,2026-08-25,complete,OK-02,220,direct,no
M,C-B,M-NEW,2026-10-06,complete,OK-03,240,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
ORDER-7,PRINCIPAL,Example Principal Co,per_job,-

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
ORDER-7,PRINCIPAL,WORK-01,2026-10-07,complete,WO-7,350,direct,no
ORDER-7,SITE-OWNER,WORK-02,2026-10-08,complete,WO-8,250,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
PO-A,C-A,Example Client A,weekly,7
PO-B,C-A,Example Client A,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
PO-A,C-A,SESSION-A,2026-10-06,complete,PO-A,300,direct,no
PO-B,C-A,SESSION-B,2026-10-08,complete,PO-B,450,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
E,C-E,Example Electrical Client,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
E,C-E,E-01,2026-10-05,complete,WO-1,180,direct,no
E,C-E,E-02,2026-10-07,complete,,220,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
PHOTO,C-P,Example Photo Client,per_job,-

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
PHOTO,C-P,DEL-01,2026-10-09,complete,DEL-OK-1,600,direct,no
PHOTO,C-P,DEL-02,2026-10-20,complete,DEL-OK-2,400,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
F,C-F,Example Freelance Client,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
F,C-F,REV-01,2026-10-06,complete,REV-A,200,direct,no
F,C-F,REV-01,2026-10-07,complete,REV-B,200,direct,no
F,C-F,REV-02,2026-10-09,complete,REV-C,300,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
BUILD,C-B,Example Builder Client,per_job,-

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
BUILD,C-B,STAGE-1,2026-10-03,complete,CERT-1,1000,direct,yes
BUILD,C-B,STAGE-2,2026-10-09,complete,CERT-2,1500,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
PET,C-P,Example Pet Owner,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
PET,C-P,PET-DIRECT,2026-10-06,complete,OWNER-OK,80,direct,no
PET,C-P,PET-PLATFORM,2026-10-08,complete,PLATFORM-REF,90,platform,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
R,C-R,Example Repeat Client,weekly,7

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
R,C-R,R-01,2026-10-06,complete,OK-1,100,direct,no
R,C-R,R-02,2026-10-07,cancelled,OK-2,100,direct,no
R,C-R,R-03,2026-10-08,complete,OK-3,0,direct,no

billing_group,customer_key,bill_to,cycle,cutoff
Q,C-Q,Example Quoted Client,per_job,-

billing_group,customer_key,work_ref,service_date,work_status,approval_ref,amount,bill_via,already_invoiced
Q,C-Q,Q-DONE,2026-10-06,complete,QUOTE-OK,250,direct,no
Q,C-Q,Q-PLANNED,2026-10-09,planned,QUOTE-OK,500,direct,no

Reference and limits

Official guidance describes clear invoice records and consistent billing schedules. The calendar grouping and fictional examples here are our manual planning aid, not government certification or tax advice. business.gov.au.