HaloPSA for Beginners
A Deep-Dive Getting-Started Series (5 Parts)

Written for first-time users of HaloPSA, including those migrating from ConnectWise PSA.

This article is part of a structured educational series designed to explain how HaloPSA is structured, how its core components relate to one another, and how work flows through the system at a foundational level.

No setup steps are assumed.
No best practices are presented as facts.
No prior Halo experience is required.

Contracts: what they represent

Contracts define how work is treated once it exists. Contracts can define coverage and how time and charges are handled for a customer.

Contracts do not create tickets. They influence how work is treated for billing and service measurement after work is recorded against a ticket.

For beginners, it is useful to think of contracts as the policy layer that influences what happens to recorded work.

Contracts can determine:

• Whether work is covered
• How time is billed
• Which SLAs apply
• Whether recurring charges exist

Contracts are evaluated when work occurs.

SLAs: how measurement works at a basic level

SLAs measure time between defined events such as response and resolution. SLAs use ticket timestamps and ticket state changes to calculate elapsed time.

Because SLAs calculate from recorded data, the accuracy of SLA reporting depends on the accuracy and consistency of ticket statuses and timestamps.

If an SLA result looks surprising, the first place to look is usually the ticket timeline (status changes and timestamps) rather than the SLA report itself.

SLAs measure:

• Response time
• Resolution time

SLAs rely on:

• Ticket timestamps
• Status changes
• Priority definitions

If SLAs do not behave as expected, the issue is usually upstream data, not the SLA itself.

Billing: a result of recorded activity

Billing is generated from recorded activity such as time entries and charges, combined with contract rules and billing configuration.

Billing is an output of what was recorded. If billing results appear incorrect, the cause is typically upstream data (time entry, ticket classification, contract rules, or billing configuration).

Billing is generated from:

• Time entries
• Contract rules
• Billing configuration

Billing is an output, not an action.

ConnectWise PSA vocabulary alignment (orientation only)

If you are coming from ConnectWise PSA, Contract (Halo) aligns to Agreement (CW). SLA and Time Entry are concepts present in both systems.

This mapping is vocabulary alignment, not a guarantee of identical behavior.