Overview
A custom process allows you to adjust the price of a service within a proposal. This is commonly used to increase the price, but it can also be used to apply a reduction if needed.
It's how you set a one-off or fixed price for a single client, without changing your pricing menu or affecting anyone else.
Custom processes add either a flat fee or an hourly rate on top of the existing service fee, with a mandatory note that can be set as internal or shared with the client.
There are two ways a custom process can come into play on a proposal:
Adding one manually to any service while building a proposal. This is always available, and is covered step by step below.
The "Allow Custom Process" setting on a service in your pricing menu, which gives you the choice on each proposal to bypass the service's drivers and price it with a custom process instead. This is covered next.
⚠️ The amount you enter is an adjustment, not the final price. It's added to or taken off the price the service has already calculated.
If a service is pricing at £175 and you want the client to pay £60, enter -115, not 60.
The "Allow Custom Process" setting
When you edit a service in your pricing menu, you'll see an Allow Custom Process setting. This lets the service's standard drivers be bypassed in favour of a custom process. When you turn it on, you can also choose a Default Hourly Rate for the custom process to use.
Turned on: when the service is added to a proposal, it shows a Standard Process / Custom Process choice. Standard Process prices the service through its drivers as usual. Choosing Custom Process bypasses the drivers completely, and you price the service directly instead, as a flat fee or an hourly rate, with an explanation that can be internal or shared with the client. This is useful when a particular client falls outside your usual way of delivering the service.
Turned off: the service is priced by its drivers as normal, with no Standard/Custom choice shown.
Turning this setting off does not remove custom processes from the service. You can always add a custom process manually on top of the driver pricing using the steps below, whatever this setting is set to. The setting only controls whether you can bypass the drivers entirely.
How to Add a Custom Process Manually
These steps work on any service in a proposal, whether or not "Allow Custom Process" is turned on for it.
1. Open the Services Screen
Open the proposal you want to update and navigate to the 'Services' tab.
2. Select the Service
Find the service you want to use.
Select any drivers on this service to get the initial price.
3. Add a Custom Process
Open 'More Actions' for the selected service.
Choose 'Add Custom Process'.
4. Choose How the Price Is Adjusted
Select whether the adjustment is a flat fee or an hourly rate.
Enter the value to be added or subtracted to the initial service price. Inputting a positive figure will add this amount to the initial price, and a negative figure will subtract this amount from the initial price.
Working out the figure to enter
The box takes the difference, not the price you want to end up with. Take the price you want and subtract the price the service is currently showing.
Service currently shows | You want the client to pay | Enter |
£175 | £60 | -115 |
£175 | £250 | 75 |
Entering 60 when the service shows £175 gives you £235.
5. Add a Note
Choose if the note is internal only or external facing and enter a note explaining the custom process.
If you choose 'Internal' this wont be shared with the customer and will only be visible to your team members in Socket.
If you choose 'External' this will be displayed under the driver information on the customer proposal, visible to both the client and your team.
This field is mandatory and must be completed.
6. Review the Updated Pricing
Check the updated service price.
The custom process price changes will be included in the proposal total.
When applying a custom process the original price will not be shown to the customer on the proposal, it will only display the price with the custom process.
Things to Note
Custom processes adjust pricing on a per-service basis only.
They can be used to increase or decrease the service price.
Notes are required, and can be internal or client-facing.
Custom processes only apply to the proposal being edited, not your pricing menu.
Adding a custom process manually is always available on any service, regardless of the "Allow Custom Process" setting. That setting only controls whether the service offers the choice to bypass its drivers entirely.
Common questions
How do I charge one client a fixed price for a service?
Add a custom process to that service on their proposal, and enter the difference between the calculated price and the price you want. Your pricing menu and every other client are unaffected.
I entered the price I wanted and it went up instead.
The box takes an adjustment rather than a final price. Subtract the current price from the price you want, and enter that figure, with a minus in front if it's a reduction.
Do I need to change my pricing menu to price one client differently?
No. Changing the pricing menu affects every future proposal. Use a custom process for a one-off.
How do I add a discount to a proposal instead?
To clearly add a discounted price to a proposal service line, you should use the discount feature instead. Discounts can be applied as either a fixed amount or a percentage, with an required explanation to provide clarity for your client. The discounted amount is clearly labeled for transparency, making this suitable when you've already discussed the reduced fee with the client.