Company Settings

Departments

Overview

The Departments tab displays all your business departments with key information at a glance:

• Department names (clickable for editing)
• Number of active technicians per department
• Timezone settings for each department

Creating a New Department

Click the New button in the upper right corner.

Required fields:

• Name: Enter your department name
• Timezone: Select the appropriate timezone for this department
• Hourly Labor Cost: Enter the labor cost per hour (critical for COGS calculations)
• Default Billing Terms: Set standard payment terms for this department
• Default Accounting Category: Link to your QuickBooks GL code/account
• Default Accounting Class: Select if using QuickBooks Classes for reporting

 

Managing Existing Departments

To edit a department:

1. Click on the department name in the list
2. Update any settings as needed
3. Save your changes

To archive a department:

1. Click on the department name
2. Select Archive

⚠️ Important Notes About Archiving:

• All technicians in that department will be deactivated
• Pricebook items linked to the department will be archived
• Active jobs remain scheduled but should be reassigned before archiving
• Departments can be unarchived: Click on the department name and select unarchive
• After unarchiving: Technicians and pricebook items will need to be manually unarchived as well

Pricing/Finance

Overview

The Pricing/Finance tab manages your global pricing defaults and tax settings that apply across your entire account.

Tax Configuration

Setting default taxability:

• Taxable vs. Non-taxable: Choose your company's default tax status
• Tax Zone: Select a default zone or leave blank to set per customer
• Tip: Leave Tax Zone blank if you service multiple tax jurisdictions

 

Finance Markup

What it does: Covers incidental costs across all jobs

• Credit card processing fees
• Financing fees
• Other transaction costs

Typical range: 3-7% markup

• Applied automatically to all task pricing
• Helps turn cost centers into profit centers

Quote & Invoice Display

Choose your format:

• One Column: Standard pricing display
• Two Column: Enables membership comparison pricing

If using Two Column pricing:

1. Ensure you have membership programs set up in Company → Programs
2. Select your default membership program from the dropdown
3. This program will appear as the comparison on all quotes/invoices unless changed 

Accounting Settings

Overview

Accounting Categories (GL Codes)

What they are: These items are requested to assign revenue from your invoices that are processed in Sera to the appropriate areas in QuickBooks through our batching process.

Also known as:

• GL codes
• Accounts (within your Chart of Accounts)
• Product/Service names in QuickBooks

How Sera handles them by default:

• Sera automatically passes the Accounting Category as the Product/Service name during the batching process
• This simplifies the display and service tracking in QuickBooks on the invoice
• Streamlines the income reporting process

To add categories:

1. Click + Add button
2. Enter the category name (should match a Product/Service in QuickBooks)
3. That Product/Service will be mapped to the appropriate Income account in QuickBooks
4. Save

Accounting Classes

What they are: Optional categorization for department or location-based reporting in QuickBooks

Important requirements:

• Must match your QuickBooks Classes exactly
• Include all spaces and special characters
• Character-for-character match required for proper syncing

To add classes:

1. Click + Add button
2. Enter the class name exactly as it appears in QuickBooks
3. Save

Feature Settings

Overview

The Feature Settings tab controls optional functionality that enhances your team's workflow.

Enable Appointment Pre-Work

What it does: Allows technicians to view job details before the customer is notified

Benefits:

• Technicians can prepare parts in advance
• Office can provide special instructions
• Reduces on-site delays
• Maintains read-only access until job starts

To enable:

1. Toggle the Appointment Pre-Work switch to "On"
2. Click Save

Common use cases:

• Jobs requiring special parts from warehouse
• Complex repairs needing preparation
• Multi-tech coordination
• Jobs with specific customer requirements