Sell a One-Off Treatment

Quote a one-time cattail, lily pad, swimmer itch, or algae treatment so it becomes a job and an invoice — not a second seasonal Pond Contract.

Weed Treatment

Updated September 2, 2026

A one-time treatment — cattail control, lily pad control, swimmer itch, an algae treatment — is a job with an invoice, not an agreement. This article shows the two ways to sell one, and which to pick.

Why the work type matters

Aquatic work types are named for the water body, and each one already means something: Pond Maintenance is the recurring biweekly agreement, Lake Treatment is the seasonal round plan. Approving a quote under either of them creates a contract, whatever the line items say. A cattail treatment quoted under Pond Maintenance becomes a second seasonal Pond Contract on the site, billed and renewed separately from the one the customer already has.

Before you start

Specialty Service ships turned off. Under SettingsWork Types, scroll to Available work types and click Enable next to Specialty Service.

Then open the Specialty Service work type on that same page. Under What an approved quote creates, turn on Creates a Job on Approval if it is not already on, and save — without it an approved Specialty Service quote is recorded but no job is created. Leave Creates a Service Contract on Approval off: a Specialty Service quote is not meant to become an agreement.

Option 1 — Quote it as a Specialty Service (recommended)

This is the right choice for almost every one-time treatment, whether or not the customer has a contract.

Start the quote
Open Sales and BillingQuotes, click New Quote, and choose the work type Specialty Service. Pick the customer and the site. Any lake or pond is eligible; an equipment-only site is not.
Add one line
Add the treatment as a single line — for example Cattail Control — Main Pond, quantity 1, at your price. Leave the contract scope fields alone: a Specialty Service quote never becomes a contract, so Contract Setup (Internal) does not appear.
Send it
Send To Customer, or Record Acceptance if they said yes by phone. Same as any quote — see Send a Quote.
Re-slot the job
On approval a Specialty Service job lands on the board for the next business day. Open it under Jobs and move it to the treatment date. The applicator runs the normal treatment wizard with the chemical log, and the customer gets the treatment summary.

What you get

No new contract. The customer's existing Pond Contract, if they have one, is untouched.
One job, with the Treatment Type recorded on it.
An invoice for the quoted amount, drafted when the job is completed — from the approved quote, not from a contract.

Option 2 — Add it to the customer's existing contract

Use this only when you want the treatment charged on the customer's contract invoice rather than on its own. It only applies to customers who already have an active contract on that site.

Quote under the contract's work type
Open Sales and BillingQuotes, click New Quote, choose Pond Maintenance, then the customer and the site that holds the contract.
Choose Add these services to the existing contract
Because the site already has an active contract, the quote shows This customer already has an active contract on this site with three choices. Pick Add these services to the existing contract and select their contract. This one choice is the difference between adding a line and creating a second agreement.

Set up the line so it bills once

Add the treatment line and open its contract scope fields:

Field	Set it to	Why
Type	Add-on	It is not part of the base maintenance price.
Price is	Total for the term	The amount is the whole charge, not a per-visit rate.
Track visits	Yes	The applicator confirms it on the visit.
Own billing cycle	No	It should not create its own invoice milestone.
Max invoice lines	1	Makes the fee a planned line on the contract's invoice.
Invoice allocation	Assign to one billing cycle	Then pick the contract's billing cycle in Billing cycle.

Leave Contract Setup (Internal) alone
Adding to an existing contract never changes its dates or invoice schedule.

Why the cap and the cycle matter

A tracked Add-on with no cap and no billing cycle bills only when the crew marks it complete, and only on an invoice drafted after that. On a contract that bills once on a fixed date, a treatment done after that date has no invoice left to land on. Setting the cap to 1 and assigning the fee to the contract's billing cycle makes it a planned line on that invoice regardless of when the work happens.

Verify it worked

Option 1: the quote shows Approved, a Specialty Service job exists under Jobs, and Sales and BillingContracts shows no new contract for the customer.

Option 2: the customer's existing contract lists the new line under Service Scope as an Add-on, its Pricing total has grown by the line's amount, and the contract count is unchanged.

What to do next

After a Quote Is Approved explains the contract path in full. When the treatment is done, send the invoice.

Frequently asked questions

I quoted a cattail treatment under Pond Maintenance and now the customer has two contracts. Why?

Pond Maintenance is the recurring biweekly agreement, and approving any quote under it creates a seasonal Pond Contract — even a quote with a single one-time line. Quote one-time treatments as Specialty Service instead. If the second contract already exists, contact support before voiding anything on it.

Does a Specialty Service quote need the customer to have a contract?

No. It works for a brand-new customer and for one who already has a Pond Contract. Approval creates a job, not an agreement.

Can I put the treatment on the customer's existing contract invoice instead of a separate one?

Yes — quote it under Pond Maintenance, choose Add these services to the existing contract, and set a Billing cap of 1 with the fee assigned to the contract's billing cycle. See the second half of this article.