• How often do you need to bill your customers for service contracts? Do you bill quarterly? Monthly? The answer depends largely on the prices of your contracts. If a one-year contract costs $250, is it worth breaking up the total into smaller monthly payments? What if the contract costs $24,000 a year? Are your customers willing to pay that amount in a single payment?

• Do you want to bill in advance of service or in arrears? The trend in aftermarket sales support is to pay in advance of service. This is true because companies typically like to receive revenue before committing to service. Often the sale of the service contract coincides with the sale of a product. However, customer relationships may dictate another approach where the bill is issued at the completion of the billing cycle, rather than at the beginning.

• Who typically receives the invoice for a contract? In some organizations, a central office handles billing. In others, each end user is responsible for paying coverage charges for the items they own and use.

• What kind of information should appear on the contract invoice? Some organizations prefer detailed information. For others, a summary statement is sufficient.