NDT Invoicing Software: Bill Timesheets, Equipment and Consumables

Invoices from timesheets and completed jobs, with payments and reminders. Request a demo. Affordable. Accessible. Fully customizable. Quote on request.

Why invoicing is where NDT companies quietly lose money

Most NDT companies do not lose money on the inspection itself. They lose it after the job, in the week when someone sits down with a pile of field sheets, a spreadsheet of technician hours, a rate sheet from the client's contract and an email thread about which crew stayed an extra night on site. The invoice gets built by hand, it goes out late, and it usually goes out missing something.

The patterns are familiar to anyone who has run an inspection business. Standby hours agreed on site never reach the invoice because nobody recorded them in a way the office could read. A phased array unit sat on a job for nine days but was billed for five because the equipment log lived in a different file. Couplant, film, penetrant kits and PPE were consumed and never charged. The client rejects the invoice because the PO number is wrong, or because the lines do not match the cost codes their accounts payable team expects, and the payment clock starts again.

None of this is really an accounting problem. It is an operational data problem. The information that makes an NDT invoice correct — who worked, on which method, with which instrument, for how many hours, at which rate, against which PO — is created in the field. If it has to be re-typed into a separate billing tool, some of it will be lost on the way.

The Invoicing app in the Atlantis NDT ERP is built around that reality. It is part of our NDT ERP, pre-configured for inspection companies and deployed by our team, so the hours, equipment and consumables recorded during the job are the same records that end up on the invoice.

What an NDT invoice carries in the Atlantis ERP

A generic accounting package knows about customers, products and taxes. An NDT invoice needs more context than that, because your client's approver has to match it to a job they commissioned weeks ago. The invoice header in the Invoicing app holds:

• NDT project — the job the invoice belongs to, so every invoice traces back to its scope, site and crew.
• Job or PO number — the reference your client's accounts payable team uses to approve payment.
• Site — the plant, yard, shop or location where the work was done.
• Invoice type — so you can separate an interim invoice from a final one, or a service invoice from a rental invoice, as configured for your business.
• Industry sector — oil and gas, power, fabrication, marine, aerospace and so on, which later tells you where your revenue really comes from.

The invoice then shows separate subtotals for labour, equipment and consumables. That split matters. Many clients approve labour against one budget line and equipment against another, and a single lump sum invites questions and delays.

Each invoice line can carry a cost centre, the NDT method (UT, RT, MT, PT, PAUT, TOFD, ET and others), the equipment serial number, the technician, the rate type and the days or hours billed. When a client asks why they were charged for a TOFD setup on a Tuesday, you can show them the line, the technician, the instrument serial and the hours without opening another system.

The invoice PDF uses a custom invoice layout set up for your company during implementation, so the document your client receives looks like yours and presents the information in the order their approvers expect.

From approved timesheet to invoice line

The labour on an NDT invoice starts on the timesheet. In the Atlantis ERP, timesheets are set up for inspection work rather than office hours. Each entry records the work type — inspection, travel, standby or setup — along with the method, the site, the client and the equipment serial used. Every entry has a billable flag and a rate multiplier, so overtime, night shift or weekend work is distinguished from standard hours without a separate spreadsheet.

A typical week looks like this:

1. Technicians log their hours against the project, split by work type. Travel to a remote site is recorded as travel, waiting for a permit is recorded as standby, and calibration and scanner setup is recorded as setup.
2. The supervisor or operations manager approves the timesheets. The ERP warns if a technician's certificate is not valid, so hours worked by someone whose cert has lapsed get noticed before they reach a client.
3. Billable hours flow into billing with their rate multipliers applied. Non-billable time — internal training, rework your company absorbs — stays off the invoice but remains visible in your costs.
4. The billing person reviews the draft invoice, checks the PO and site, and posts it.

The important change is that nobody is re-typing hours. The office is reviewing and correcting, not rebuilding. If a client disputes a standby charge, the approved timesheet entry is the evidence, with the date, the technician and the work type recorded at the time.

How your rates map to work types, methods and multipliers is part of the setup we agree with you. Some companies bill a day rate per technician level, others bill hourly by method, and many do both depending on the client. The configuration follows your contracts, not the other way round.

Billing equipment and consumables properly

Equipment is often the most under-billed part of an NDT job. A phased array kit, a TOFD scanner, a crawler or an eddy current instrument is expensive to own and calibrate, and clients often expect to pay for it separately. Yet in many companies the equipment charge depends on someone remembering which units went to site and for how long.

In the Atlantis ERP, instruments are tracked by serial number in the Asset Management app, with issue and return records, reservations and movements in and out. Rental rates can be recorded against equipment. Because invoice lines can carry the equipment serial, the equipment subtotal can be tied to the specific instruments actually issued to the job, and you can answer the client who asks which unit they paid for.

Consumables work the same way. Couplant, penetrant and developer, magnetic particles, film and chemicals, PPE — these are tracked in Asset Management and Inventory with a movement ledger. When consumables are drawn for a job, that usage becomes the basis for the consumables subtotal instead of a guessed allowance.

Field expenses are the other leak. Per diems, accommodation, fuel and site access costs are recorded in the standard Expenses app and can be re-billed to the job. Whether you charge them at cost, with a handling margin or as a fixed per diem depends on your contracts, and that rule is set up during implementation.

The result is an invoice where labour, equipment and consumables each stand on their own records. You get paid for what you actually supplied, and your client gets an invoice that is easier to approve.

Cost centres and the financial dashboard

Invoicing is not only about getting paid. It is also the best source of truth about which parts of your business make money. Cost centres on invoice lines let you split revenue the way you manage the company — by branch, by service line (conventional NDT, advanced UT, training, consulting), by division or by major client account. The structure is defined with you during setup.

The Invoicing app includes a financial dashboard that shows:

• Revenue and cost of sales
• Gross margin
• Operating expenses
• EBITDA
• Outstanding invoices, vendor bills and expenses
• A 12-month view, so trends are visible and not just this month's figure

For an owner or general manager, this replaces the monthly wait for a margin figure that arrives weeks after the month closed. For an operations manager, the outstanding invoices view shows which clients are sitting on payments while you keep sending crews to their sites.

Because every invoice carries the industry sector, you can also see where revenue is concentrated. If most of your margin comes from one refinery client's shutdown season, that is a business risk worth knowing, and it shapes where your sales effort should go next year.

The dashboard reads from the same records as the invoices. There is no separate reporting export to maintain and no spreadsheet to reconcile at month end.

Who uses the Invoicing app

Different people touch an NDT invoice at different points, and the app is set up so each one sees what they need.

• Accounts and billing staff build draft invoices from approved time, equipment and consumables, check PO numbers and post invoices. They also record payments and send reminders.
• Operations managers and supervisors approve timesheets and confirm equipment and consumable usage before it is billed. They are the people who know the crew waited two days for a permit.
• Project or contract managers check that invoices match the scope and rates agreed with the client, especially on long jobs with several interim invoices.
• Owners and general managers use the financial dashboard to watch margin, receivables and the split of revenue by sector and cost centre.
• Technicians do not invoice anything, but their timesheet entries are the raw material. Clear work types and a simple entry screen make their records usable by the office.

Access rights follow the standard Atlantis ERP permission model and are set during implementation, so, for example, technicians see their own timesheets while only finance staff can post invoices.

In smaller companies one person often covers billing, accounts and half of operations. The workflow still helps, because it removes the step of rebuilding data from paper. In larger multi-branch companies, cost centres and approval steps give each branch its own view while the owner sees the whole picture.

How Invoicing connects to the rest of the NDT ERP

The Invoicing app is most useful at the end of a chain that starts with the enquiry. Here is how the pieces fit together:

• CRM and Quotations. A lead becomes a quotation built with NDT service products flagged by method and category, the job type, the site and the applicable codes. The client can accept the quote online, and it converts to a sales order. The Quotations app page explains how that works.
• Project. The job is set up with the client PO, contract, methods, codes, scope, site, assigned technicians and equipment. The PO recorded here is the same reference the invoice needs.
• Team Assignments. Crews and equipment are dispatched, with double-booking of technicians and equipment serials blocked.
• Timesheets. Hours are logged by work type and approved, with billable flags and rate multipliers.
• Asset Management and Inventory. Equipment issued to the job and consumables drawn are recorded.
• Certificates. Timesheets warn when a technician's cert is not valid.
• NDT Reports. Inspection reports are reviewed, approved and sent. Many clients will not approve an invoice until they have the report, so having both in one system shortens the gap between finishing the work and getting paid.

If your clients want to see results on a 3D model of their asset, our companion product, Digital Twin Reporting Software, works alongside the ERP's NDT Reports app. It is a separate product, and some inspection companies use it to stand out when bidding for asset-owner contracts: the invoice goes out with the report and a visual record of where each finding sits on the equipment.

Taxes, payments and payment reminders

The Atlantis ERP uses standard Atlantis ERP accounting for payments, reminders and taxes. You get a mature, widely used accounting engine rather than a home-grown billing tool.

Taxes and invoice formats are configured for your country during implementation. NDT companies work under very different regimes — state sales tax in the USA, GST and HST in Canada, VAT across Europe and parts of the Gulf, GST in India — and each has its own rules on what an invoice must show. We set up the tax rates, fiscal positions and invoice layout your accountant or tax adviser requires. We do not claim certification against any government e-invoicing scheme; where one applies to you, we discuss the requirement with you and your adviser during scoping.

Payments are recorded against invoices, so outstanding balances stay current. Standard payment reminders help you chase overdue invoices consistently rather than relying on someone remembering to call. The follow-up steps, wording and timing match how you want to treat your clients — a gentle nudge for a long-standing refinery client reads differently from a firm reminder to a new fabricator.

Payment terms vary widely in this industry. Asset owners often pay on long terms and sometimes only after the report is accepted, while fabrication shops may pay faster. Payment terms are set per client so the due dates on invoices reflect what you actually agreed. Retention, progress billing and client-specific invoice rules are handled as part of the customization scope agreed with you.

What implementation looks like

We deploy and set up the ERP for you. You do not buy a login and work it out alone. For the Invoicing app, implementation usually covers:

1. Rate structure. Your price lists and contract rates mapped to work types, technician levels, methods and rate multipliers.
2. Chart of accounts and taxes. Taxes and fiscal settings configured for your country, with your accountant's input.
3. Cost centres. Branches, service lines or divisions set up the way you want to report.
4. Invoice layout. Your logo, header and footer, bank details and the fields your clients expect, such as PO, site and job number.
5. Equipment and consumables. Instruments loaded by serial number and consumables set up, with rental rates where you bill them.
6. Payment terms and reminders. Standard terms and follow-up steps agreed.
7. Open invoices and balances. Migrated so receivables are correct from day one.
8. Training. Short sessions for billing staff, supervisors and technicians on their part of the flow.

The ERP is fully customizable. If a major client needs invoices split by work order, a specific cost code on every line or a particular attachment, that goes into the scope we agree. Pricing is quote on request; the ERP is designed to be affordable and accessible for NDT companies of different sizes. You can browse the other ERP apps to see what else can be switched on.

Frequently asked questions

Can the Atlantis ERP create invoices from technician timesheets?

Yes. Timesheet hours marked billable feed billing, with the rate multiplier applied. Supervisors approve the hours first, and non-billable time stays off the invoice. How your rates map to work types and technician levels is set up during implementation.

Can I bill equipment by serial number?

Yes. Invoice lines can carry the equipment serial, and instruments are tracked by serial in Asset Management with issue and return records. Rental rates can be recorded against equipment, so the equipment subtotal reflects the units actually used on the job.

Does the invoice show the client's PO number and site?

Yes. The invoice header holds the NDT project, job or PO number, site, invoice type and industry sector — the references client accounts payable teams check before approving payment.

Is the software certified for government e-invoicing?

No certification is claimed. Taxes and invoice formats are configured for your country during implementation using standard Atlantis ERP accounting. If an e-invoicing requirement applies to your business, we review it with you and your tax adviser during scoping.

Can it handle retention and interim invoices on long jobs?

Interim and final invoices can be told apart with the invoice type field, and cost centres let you follow a long project separately. Retention and progress billing rules depend on your contracts and are configured as part of the customization scope agreed with you.

Do I need every ERP app to use Invoicing?

No, but it works best with Timesheets, Project and Asset Management feeding it. Many companies start with Quotations, Timesheets and Invoicing, then add Certificates, Team Assignments and NDT Reports.

How much does it cost?

Pricing is quote on request, based on the apps you need, the number of users and the customization involved. The ERP is designed to be affordable and accessible for NDT companies.

See your own jobs invoiced in a demo

The quickest way to judge the Invoicing app is to watch one of your typical jobs go through it: a crew, a few days of inspection and standby, a phased array unit, some consumables and a client PO. We will set up the demo around the way you bill today and show you where the re-keying disappears.

Book an Invoicing demo or request a quote for the NDT ERP. Tell us how you bill now — day rates, hourly, by method, with or without equipment charges — and we will show you the configuration that fits.

Invoicing by region

• Invoicing in United States
• Invoicing in Canada
• Invoicing in UK & Europe
• Invoicing in Middle East
• Invoicing in India

Works with

• Purchase: Purchase orders for consumables, film, couplant and equipment.
• Inventory: Stock of consumables, sources and equipment across sites.
• Expenses: Field expenses and per diems, approved and rebilled to jobs.

Send an enquiry about Invoicing · All ERP apps · Atlantis NDT ERP