How to Create and Send Invoices for T&M and Fixed Price Projects (Milestone-based) in SPM?

pranaybarmo
Tera Contributor

yesterday

I am looking for guidance on how to manage invoice creation and dispatch for projects managed in ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM), specifically covering the following scenarios:

Requirement Overview:

We have projects that run under:

  • Time & Material (T&M) model, and
  • Fixed Price model (milestone-based billing)

Expectations:

  1. Invoice Generation:

    • Ability to generate invoices based on:
      • Actual effort/time logged (for T&M projects)
      • Defined milestones and completion criteria (for Fixed Price projects)

  2. Milestone-based Billing:

    • For fixed price projects, invoices should be triggered when a milestone is completed and approved.
    • Need clarity on how milestones can be tied to financial/billing events in SPM.

  3. Integration with Financials:

    • How can we leverage:
      • Demand/Project Financials
      • Cost plans / benefit plans
      • Rate models
    • To drive billing calculations and invoice generation?

  4. Invoice Creation Mechanism:

    • Is there any out-of-the-box capability in SPM for invoice generation?
    • If not, what is the recommended approach? (e.g., custom tables, integrations with external billing systems)

  5. Invoice Dispatch:

    • How can invoices be sent to customers?
      • Email automation?
      • Integration with ERP systems like SAP/Oracle?

         

        Any Recommended architecture or design patterns for implementing billing scenarios in SPM Any reusable frameworks or accelerators for T&M and milestone-based invoicing

Additional Context:

  • Projects and financials are already being managed in SPM.
  • Time tracking (via time cards) is enabled.
  • Looking to align project execution with billing processes.
0 Helpfuls
  • 161 Views
1 REPLY 1

phil_bool_unifi
Kilo Sage

2 hours ago

Hi @pranaybarmo ,

Procurement services are offered as a separate product to SPM, typically associated with Asset Management services, which are part of ITSM.  If you were to investigate that product, you may find a very easily configured ready-to-use service is available to you.

 

That doesn't mean you can't do much of what you're asking within the platform, but it's very likely you would need to align with a partner to build the required elements.  For example, you could use a document template to create outbound invoices from projects, from specific cost plans or from combinations of cost plans.  Outbound email is a supported function within the platform, so if you had a Project task lifecycle wrapper (best done in a playbook) around the creation of the invoice and confirmation it was ready to send, you'd be able to create the outbound notification with the printed PDF attached.   ServiceNow also has the ability to respond to inbound emails based on their sender and subject line, so you could trigger actions or updates of the task based on the response.

 

I strongly recommend investigating Procurement options in ServiceNow's ITSM service before building anything custom restricted just to your SPM lifecycle.  Options start from the basic functionality you describe above, but extend right into managing the whole 'source to pay' lifecycle, including finding the right supplier, completing sales, maintaining supplier relationships and scaling for future growth.

0 Helpfuls