FFP Guides

ServiceM8 how-to

How do you invoice the real estate agent but send the tech to the tenant?

Make the agency the ServiceM8 client with its billing contact and billing address, put the rental in the job address and the tenant as the job contact. Invoice templates then use {job.billing_address} and {job.company_name} for the agency. In Xero, the client's billing address becomes the contact's postal address, per ServiceM8's help centre.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Yes, natively

Yes, natively: agency as client, rental as job address, tenant as job contact, with Smart Contacts or Client Sites for property managers and per property history.

Step by step

  1. Create each agency once as a client. On the Billing Details tab set the billing contact (the accounts or property management email) and the agency's billing address.
  2. For owner invoicing, choose 'Property Owner, C/- Company Name' on the Billing Details tab, as in ServiceM8's real estate template article.
  3. Activate Smart Contacts (Settings, ServiceM8 Add-ons) so you can add a Property Manager contact to each job.
  4. Create jobs under the agency. Enter the rental's address as the job address and the tenant's name and mobile as the job contact. Add the property manager.
  5. Edit your invoice template so the 'To' block uses {job.billing_address} and {job.company_name}, and add a 'Work performed at' line with the job address field and the property manager fields.
  6. Optional: turn on Client Sites and add rentals as sites under the agency (Clients, Open Client, Sites, New Site) for per property history and statements by site.
  7. Decide what goes in the PO number (the agency's work order number is best) so it appears in Xero's Reference field.
  8. Approve one test invoice and check the Xero contact is the agency, not the tenant or the house.

Gotchas

  • A job created from a tenant's phone call is easily saved with the tenant as the client. Train the office to pick the agency first, then type the tenant as the job contact.
  • With Smart Contacts on, only the first contact of each type saved on a job is copied to the client card, so a tenant added as a job contact can end up on the agency's card. Review the agency's contacts now and then.
  • Sites have no billing contact. If one landlord pays you directly, keep them as a separate client rather than a site of the agency.
  • Sites cannot be created from a job card. Add new rentals from the Clients page before booking the job, or use a job address under the agency instead.
  • The job address is not the Xero contact's address. If the Xero contact shows a street address, the client was set up wrong in ServiceM8.
  • If a wrongly created 'house' client has already synced to Xero, merge it into the agency in ServiceM8 (Clients, Actions, Merge Clients) and tidy the Xero contact.

What the official help article misses: It shows the Billing Details setting and two template fields, but does not explain why invoices pick up the house, does not mention Smart Contacts or Client Sites, and says nothing about what reaches Xero. Read ServiceM8's article.

Why the invoice keeps picking up the house

ServiceM8 separates three things that a paper docket runs together: who pays (the client and its billing contact), where the work is (the job address) and who lets you in (the job contact). When an invoice shows the tenant's house, it is almost always because the job was created with the tenant or the property as the client. ServiceM8 then treats the house as the payer, and the invoice, the Xero contact and the payment reminders all follow.

The fix is to create each agency once, as the client, with the property manager's office as the billing contact and the agency's postal address as the billing address. Each job is then created under the agency, with the rental's street address as the job address and the tenant's name and mobile as the job contact. The tech works from the job address and job contact; the invoice works from the billing side.

ServiceM8's own help centre has a real estate recipe for this: on the client's Billing Details tab choose "Property Owner, C/- Company Name", then put {job.billing_address} and {job.company_name} on the invoice template so it addresses the owner care of the agency while listing the tenant's job address.

Property managers and the sites option

Agencies have several property managers, and each wants the paperwork for their own rentals. The Smart Contacts add-on adds a Property Manager contact type to the job card, and invoice templates have fields for the property manager's name, email and phone. Use it so the invoice goes to the right manager while the client stays the agency.

The Client Sites add-on (free) is the other option: each rental becomes a site under the agency as head office. Sites have no billing contact; quotes and invoices use the head office's name and billing contact, and every site's invoices reach your accounting package under the head office. The gain is per property history: notes, photos, badges and assets are stored against the site, and statements can be run by site. It suits agencies that send you repeat work at the same rentals. For one off jobs, a job address under the agency is simpler.

What reaches Xero

Xero sees the client, not the job site. ServiceM8 maps the client's billing address to the Xero contact's postal address, and a client that is not yet synced is created as a new Xero contact on its first approved invoice. With sites, the invoice goes to Xero under the head office's name.

If your bookkeeper needs the property address in Xero, use the Reference field. When Xero's invoice number is ServiceM8's job number, the Reference carries the ServiceM8 PO number, so entering the agency's work order number or the property address as the PO number puts it on the Xero invoice. When Xero issues its own numbers, the Reference carries the ServiceM8 job number instead.

Sources

  1. ServiceM8's real estate invoice set up uses the client's Billing Details tab (Property Owner, C/- Company Name), a job with the tenant's name and address, and the template fields {job.billing_address} and {job.company_name}. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. The Smart Contacts add-on enables Property Manager contacts on job cards and saves the first contact of each type (job, property manager, billing) from a job to the client card. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. Invoice and quote templates can use job address, billing address, billing contact and property manager name, email and phone fields; job.company_name is the head office name for sites. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. Sites under the Client Sites add-on have no billing contact, use the head office's details on quotes and invoices, are invoiced to the accounting package under the head office's name, support statements by site, and cannot be created from a job card. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. A client's billing address in ServiceM8 becomes the contact's postal address in Xero. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. If Xero's invoice number is the ServiceM8 job number, Xero's Reference field contains the ServiceM8 PO number; if Xero issues the invoice number, the Reference contains the ServiceM8 job number. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  7. ServiceM8 creates a new contact in Xero when an invoice is approved for a client that is not already synced. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.