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Service Types: Building Blocks of Your Budget
Service Types: Building Blocks of Your Budget

Service types define what you sell to your clients and help you analyze your profitability in the long run.

Updated over a month ago

Service types form the backbone of your client assignments in Productive.

These service categories, or types, delineate the various services you offer and are crucial for organizing your workflow, tracking time, and later analyzing your profitability in Productive.


They also help you synchronize and send your invoices to any of the accounting tools you integrated with Productive.

Adding a service type to your budget is an obligatory step and you cannot save it without it, so make sure to set them up correctly and update them as needed.

Setting Up Service Types

To manage your service types, navigate to Settings > Service types.

Here, you'll find a default list of service types preloaded into your account. However, you can tailor this list to match your specific offerings by adding new service types with ease.

Adding Service Types

Click on "Add service type" to create new classifications that align with your business's service offerings.


Assigning People to Service Types (optional)

For more accurate resource allocation and simplified time tracking, you can assign individuals to specific service types.

That way you ensure that they can only log time against services categorized under those types when you restrict time tracking by service type in the budget.

Quick Add from Budget

Switching the Quick add toggle on allows users to quickly create new service types directly from a budget.


Adding a new service type from a budget will result in that service being added to the service type list in the Settings.



Managing Service Types

While service types are pivotal for organizing your workflow, they're also adaptable to changes in your business dynamics.

Editing service types

If you need to rename the service type, or reassign people to it, simply head over to the Service type settings and click on the desired service type. The changes will be applied as you type!

Deleting service types

When necessary, you can delete service types. To do so, select the three-dot menu on the right and select "Delete".

It's important to note that this action requires careful consideration. Deleting a service type disables further time entries for that classification.

Any existing time entries, expenses, and invoices, along with any assigned people associated with the deleted service type will be transferred to a new service type of your choosing, ensuring continuity in tracking while reflecting updates in your service offerings.

Service Types and Accounting Integrations

Integrating your accounting tools with Productive enhances efficiency and accuracy in financial management. One key aspect of this integration is mapping service types to corresponding items and accounting codes in platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, Exact, or Fortnox.

For detailed instructions on connecting your accounting tools to Productive and mapping service types during setup, refer to our guide on integrating accounting tools.

Service Types and Reports

Once service types are set up and maintained, you can analyze costs, revenue, and profit margins associated with each type.

Use the "Profitability by service type" pre-made report or create custom reports with the Financial items data source report for deeper insights into your agency's performance over time.

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