The way splose handles decimal rounding is dictated by the accounting systems it integrates with. When syncing to accounting platforms like Xero, the system rounds time durations to two decimal places to generate a quantity for invoicing. This rounding ensures compatibility with how quantities are handled in Xero and other accounting systems.
Why rounding happens
Most financial systems require time-based services to be sent as decimal quantities. For example:
A 45-minute appointment becomes 0.75 hours
A 1-hour 5-minute appointment becomes 1.08 hours (rounded to two decimal places)
splose performs this rounding to create accurate, compliant invoice data that both systems can interpret and calculate against unit prices.
How splose rounds invoice calculations
In splose, invoices are calculated using two decimal places by default, a common standard in many financial systems. This method ensures consistency and simplicity across all financial calculations within splose.
Here’s how you can effectively manage entries that require more detailed precision:
1. Understanding system calculations
splose’s approach to calculating invoice items and totals may differ slightly from other software applications. This standardisation to two decimal places typically meets the requirements of most transactional needs efficiently.
2. Manual adjustments for precision
Direct line item editing: For transactions where additional precision is needed, you can manually adjust the total for a specific item line directly on the invoice.
Adding custom line items: You can also add a custom line item to reflect any additional precision needed for your financial records. This helps ensure your invoice totals align precisely with your financial analysis.
Key consideration:
The use of two decimal places is a deliberate design in splose, aimed at reducing complexity in financial processing. This streamlined approach is well-suited to handling typical business transactions and is a standard practice in financial applications.
By understanding and applying these methods, you can maintain accurate and precise financial documentation in splose. This approach not only aligns with standard financial practices but also provides the flexibility to adapt to specific transactional details when necessary.
Impact on compensable schemes (e.g. NDIS)
Some schemes, like the NDIS (Australia), do not round time before multiplying by the unit price. As a result, you may notice minor rounding differences, either slightly over or under, due to the two-decimal place rounding applied by splose for accounting integrations.
These differences typically occur for appointment lengths that:
Do not align with 6-minute (0.1 hour) increments
Do not align with 30-minute (0.5 hour) increments
For example, a session lasting 20 minutes will be rounded to 0.33 hours instead of the exact decimal of 0.33333.
‼️splose's NDIS Bulk Upload report gets its values from the calendar entry and not the invoice, so ensure that any changes that can impact the invoice are made on the calendar entry before invoicing.
How to avoid rounding differences
To reduce or eliminate rounding discrepancies, we recommend billing in standard time blocks commonly used in professional services:
6-minute increments (0.1 hours)
15-minute increments (0.25 hours)
30-minute increments (0.5 hours)
This approach is widely adopted in industries such as accounting and legal services, where accurate time billing is critical and rounding errors are minimised by standardising time entries.
Rounding in splose keeps your invoicing accurate, simple and compliant. And when you need more precision, you've got flexible options.