Private-pay invoices can include expenses, mileage, and travel time in addition to care hours. You can also use rate modifiers to adjust charges and caregiver pay.
These extras apply only to private-pay invoices. Insurance claims include care hours worked only. On insurance shifts, expenses, mileage, and travel time remain separate items. If the client has a private-pay invoice, you can bill those items there.
Client billing and caregiver pay are separate
Careswitch tracks two sides of each extra charge independently:
Billable: the amount charged to the client. It appears in the shift's billing details and on the invoice.
Payable: the amount paid or reimbursed to the caregiver. It appears on the shift's payroll card and is included in payroll.
Each side has its own rate. You can change one without changing the other.
For help with caregiver pay, see “Paying caregivers for mileage and travel time” and “Running Payroll in Careswitch.”
Expenses
Set up expense types
Go to Settings → Policies → Expenses to manage your workspace's expense types.
Each type includes these settings:
Setting | What it does |
Name | The name shown on the invoice line and to caregivers. |
Collection Method | Admin Entry means office staff add the expense. Caregiver Entry can be selected, but caregivers can't enter expenses at clock-out yet. For now, office staff add all expenses from the shift page, regardless of this setting. |
Amount | Choose Fixed Amount for a single dollar amount, such as a receipt total, or Quantity × Rate for a count billed and paid at set rates. |
Unit | For Quantity × Rate, choose items or miles. |
Pays and Bills | Set caregiver reimbursement and client charges separately. An expense type can pay the caregiver, bill the client, or both. |
Payroll Earnings Code | Determines how the caregiver's expense appears in the payroll export. Only users with payroll access see this setting. |
Require photos | Determines whether a receipt photo is required. |
Click Add Expense Type to create a type. You can archive types you no longer use and restore them later.
Errand Mileage is a built-in expense type for driving during a shift, such as running errands for a client. It is off until you turn it on, and its rates initially match your Travel Mileage rates. Office staff enter Errand Mileage on the shift; caregivers can't add it at clock-out yet.
Add an expense to a shift
On the shift page, click Add Expense in the billing details.
Choose:
An expense type that bills the client: the name and rate are filled in for you. Enter the amount or quantity and, if needed, a note.
Other Expense: add a one-time charge with its own description and rate.
For quantity-based types, use Edit Rate to change the rate for that shift. Use Reset Rate to return to the expense type's rate. A marker on the row shows when a custom rate is in use.
To reimburse the caregiver, use Add Expense on the shift's payroll card instead. Click the shift's line-item menu (⋯) and select Add Items and then choose the expense type.
Add an expense from an invoice
On the invoice, open a shift's line-item menu (⋯) and select Add Expense.
Enter a Description, Quantity, and Rate.
The expense appears as its own client charge on the invoice. It doesn't create a caregiver pay item.
You can add expenses only while the invoice is open and hasn't been sent. The payer must also accept expenses. See “Payer settings” below.
Travel mileage and travel time
Mileage and travel time appear as separate line items, each with its own rates. Set them under Settings → Policies:
Travel Mileage: miles driven between work locations, billed at the Bill Rate per mile. Driving during a shift is entered as an expense using Errand Mileage.
Travel Time: time spent traveling between shifts, billed at the travel time Bill Rate.
Each has separate Billing Collection and Payroll Collection settings to determine how mileage or time is recorded:
Collection method | How it works |
Admin Entry | Office staff add the mileage or time on the shift. |
Caregiver Entry | Caregivers enter mileage or time when they clock out. |
Automatic — between shifts | Careswitch estimates travel between back-to-back shifts on the same day. Travel to the first shift of the day isn't captured automatically. |
Automatic — including commute | Also estimates travel from the caregiver's home to the first shift and back home after the last shift. |
Caregiver entry + Automatic — between shifts (mileage only) | Caregivers enter mileage for the first shift of the day. Later shifts use the automatic estimate. |
Because billing and payroll use separate settings, you can pay for the caregiver's commute without charging the client for it.
To change mileage or travel time for one shift, edit its row in the shift's billing details. Changes to caregiver pay are made separately on the payroll card.
Payer settings
Each private-pay payer can exclude extra charges. In the payer's settings, the Mileage, Travel Time, and Expenses checkboxes under Add-on Reimbursements control which charges appear on their invoices.
If Expenses is unchecked, you also can't add expenses directly to that payer's invoices.
Rate modifiers
Rate modifiers let you increase or decrease a rate.
Go to Settings → Rate Modifiers to manage three categories:
Holidays: preloaded holidays apply automatically to shifts on those dates. Set a Pay Rate Multiplier and Bill Rate Multiplier for each holiday. Some holidays also have a start time setting.
Bill Modifiers: adjust client charges using Multiplier, such as 1.5×, or Added to Rate, such as +$5/hr. Each can include a Billing Code (HCPCS Modifier).
Pay Modifiers: adjust caregiver pay using Multiplier, Added to Rate, or Added to Total, which adds a flat amount to the shift's pay.
Click Add Bill Modifier or Add Pay Modifier to create a modifier.
Bill modifiers are available in the Bill Modifier field when creating or editing a shift. To apply a pay modifier, use Add Pay Modifier on the shift's payroll card.
Client billing and caregiver pay modifiers are set independently. For example, a holiday can pay the caregiver at 1.5× while billing the client at 2×.
To change a billing modifier on one shift, use Edit Bill Rate Modifier in the billing details. Update the pay modifier separately on the payroll card.
FAQ
Are expenses paid to the caregiver?
It depends on where you add them:
Expenses added in the shift's billing details or from the invoice charge the client only. They don't create payroll items.
Expenses added on the shift's payroll card reimburse the caregiver.
Expense types can be configured to bill the client, pay the caregiver, or both. Check Pays and Bills under Settings → Policies → Expenses.
Why is billable mileage different from payable mileage?
Client charges and caregiver reimbursement are managed independently. They have separate rates and can use different collection methods. For example, payroll may include the caregiver's commute while billing doesn't.
What's the difference between Travel Mileage and Errand Mileage?
Travel Mileage covers driving between work locations, such as between clients' homes. Errand Mileage covers driving during a shift on the client's behalf, such as a grocery run. Turn on the Errand Mileage expense type under Settings → Policies → Expenses.
Can caregivers add expenses at clock-out?
Not yet. The caregiver app doesn't offer expense entry at clock-out, even when an expense type uses Caregiver Entry.
Office staff add expenses from the shift page. Use Add Expense in the billing details to charge the client, or on the payroll card to reimburse the caregiver.
Travel mileage and travel time work differently: caregivers can enter them at clock-out when the workspace's collection setting is Caregiver Entry.
Why can't I add an expense to an invoice?
The invoice may already have been sent, or the payer may have Expenses turned off under Add-on Reimbursements.
Do holiday rates apply automatically?
Yes. Preloaded holidays automatically apply their multipliers to shifts on those dates. Change the holiday's multipliers under Settings → Rate Modifiers, or adjust one shift using Edit Bill Rate Modifier.
Why didn't mileage or travel time appear on the invoice?
Check:
The payer's Add-on Reimbursements settings.
Whether mileage or travel time was recorded on the shift. With Admin Entry, someone must add it.
Whether the shift is billed to insurance. These extras aren't included on claims.
For details on how items are added to invoices, see “Line item statuses: when a shift is ready to bill.”