Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used across Tillage, from variance and gross-up to billing profiles and MRR.
The terms you’ll meet in Tillage and these docs, in alphabetical order. Status names are listed in the tables at the end.
Terms
ACH: US bank debit through Stripe. Cheaper than cards (0.8%, capped at $5) and settles in 1–3 business days. Other countries have their own bank debit, such as SEPA or Bacs. See Bank transfers.
API key: A secret token, starting with tk_live_, that lets your own software or an AI assistant work with one team’s data. Created in Team Settings → Developers with chosen scopes. See API and webhooks.
ARR (annual recurring revenue): Every active billing schedule converted to a yearly amount and added up.
Auto-pay: Tillage charging a client’s saved payment method when an invoice is due, without the client paying by hand.
Auto-Payment Consent: A client setting that controls auto-pay: Never, Recurring Only or All Invoices. See Auto-pay and saved cards.
Auto-send: Sending an invoice automatically on its issue date. A one-off invoice with auto-send on is Scheduled until then.
Base cost: Quantity × unit price for a line item, before variance and margin.
Base Subtotal: The total of every line’s base cost.
Billing Dashboard: Your client’s portal, listing all their invoices and payments from one link. See Client portal.
Billing profile: A Stripe customer linked to a client. Saved payment methods belong to a billing profile. Most clients have one.
Billing schedule: Anything that creates invoices on a schedule: a recurring invoice or a payment plan. Listed under Invoices → Billing Schedules.
Business absorbs: A fee setting where your business pays the fee out of the payout, and the client pays only the invoice amount.
Client pays: A fee setting where the fee is added to the client’s total at checkout.
Connect Existing: Linking a Stripe account you already have to Tillage, through Stripe’s sign-in. Your data stays in your own account.
Express account: A Stripe account Tillage creates for you during setup, with a simplified Stripe dashboard.
Gross-up: Adding the processing fee to a charge so that, after Stripe takes its fee from the total, you still receive the full amount. See Formulas.
IIF: The file format QuickBooks Desktop uses for exports. Tillage imports invoices from it.
Issue date: The date on an invoice. Auto-send and recurring invoices use it to decide when to go out.
Line total: A line item’s final price: base cost with variance and profit margin applied.
MCP (Model Context Protocol): An open standard for connecting AI assistants to apps. Tillage’s MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants work in your account. See Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants.
MRR (monthly recurring revenue): The total of your active monthly billing schedules.
Pass-through: A fee passed to your client at cost. Tillage never adds a markup.
Payment link: The secure link to an invoice, where your client views it and pays. No account needed.
Payment method link: A secure link that lets a client add or update a saved card or bank account without paying. Expires in 30 days.
Payment plan: A billing schedule that splits a project into set installments, such as a deposit and milestones. Created from a contract or quote payment schedule.
Payment schedule: The plan for when a contract or quote is paid: deposit, milestones, installments or recurring payments. See Payment schedules.
Platform fee: Tillage’s fee on online payments: 1% of the invoice, capped at $50.
Process Payment: Charging a client’s saved payment method yourself, from an invoice.
Processing fee: Stripe’s fee for handling a card or bank payment.
Profit margin: A percentage added to every line of a quote, on top of variance. It works as a markup: 20% multiplies the price by 1.20.
Receivable aging: Unpaid invoices grouped by how far past due they are: 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 91+ days.
Recurring invoice: A billing schedule that creates the same invoice on a set frequency, for retainers, care plans and subscriptions.
Scope: A permission on an API key or AI connection, such as invoices:read.
Smart variable: A placeholder like {clientName} that Tillage fills in automatically. See Smart variables.
Surcharge: An extra charge for paying by card. Passing the processing fee to clients counts as one, and it’s prohibited in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico.
Variance: A per-line buffer for estimate risk, such as unclear scope or revision rounds. Added before profit margin.
Webhook: A message Tillage sends to your server when something changes, such as invoice.paid.
Invoice statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not Sent | Draft, visible only to your team |
| Scheduled | Will be sent automatically on its issue date |
| Issued | Sent or marked issued, awaiting payment |
| Late | Past due and unpaid |
| Processing | Payment in progress, usually a bank transfer |
| Verifying | Client’s bank account needs verifying before payment |
| Paid | Paid in full |
| Partial Refund | Part of a payment was refunded |
| Refunded | Fully refunded |
| Cancelled | No longer collectible |
An invoice’s payment can also show Unpaid or Failed, for example after an auto-charge is declined.
Billing schedule statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Saved but not creating invoices |
| Active | Creating invoices on schedule |
| Paused | Temporarily stopped |
| Completed | Finished its set number of invoices |
| Cancelled | Stopped for good |
Quote statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not Sent | A draft, not yet sent |
| Sent | Sent to the client |
| Viewed | The client has opened it |
| Approved | The client accepted it |
| Rejected | The client declined it |
| Contracted | A contract has been created from it |
| Invoiced | An invoice has been created from it |
| Expired | Past its expiry date without a response |