4.0 Invoicing

4.1 Making a New Invoice

Click on the invoices button from the main screen to show the lookup invoices screen. Incomplete invoices are displayed by default. Click on the new button to create a new invoice.

An invoice can be created in one of two ways. The first is by importing information from either an existing quote or existing expenses booked to a contact (entered through employee timesheets or employee expenses). The second way is by creating an invoice from scratch.

To import a quote, click on the Invoicing menu and select Create Invoice from Quote. From the list of quotes, select the quote to import the information from. Use the search facility if the quote is hard to find. Click on the quote to import then click on OK. To import the quote, answer yes when asked "Are you sure?". If all the details are complete from the quote you can skip onto printing the invoice.

To import project data from time sheets and project expenses, click on the Invoicing menu and select Create Invoice from Timesheets. You will be given a choice of projects whose time and expenses have not been completely invoiced (the computer will search through all time sheets and expenses looking for "Yes - to be invoiced" see Employee Time Sheets and Expenses). The description for each item will show which project, project item, and work done, it is for. All the invoiced items will be cleared as "Done" in the time sheets and expenses. This is a useful feature for making sure work and expenses are not left out.

	To alter the terms of the invoice, click on the terms button (top of the screen). Type in the new terms of the invoice. The terms typed in here will only affect this current invoice, all the other invoices will remain as they were. To change the terms for all new invoices use setup (see the Setup Wizard).

	Every company has different needs in terms of the invoice layout and options. Click on this button to change the options for this invoice. There are a lot of options and the best way to see what they do is simply to click on an option and see what happens to the invoice. To save a particular configuration for future invoices, click on "Save as Default". Click on the help button for more information.

Client

Click on the to drop down box and select the company name. The postal address for the company will be copied from the contact database into the screen. If the postal address is correct, tab to the next field. To change the postal address click inside the address box and type the correction. When the address has been changed, a dialogue box will ask whether to change the address in the master contact database. Click on no if the address of the company has not changed (if the address the quote is going to is different from the standard company address), or yes if the company address has changed (the contact database will be updated). This may be useful if sending invoices to different divisions of the same company (alternatively each division could be listed as a separate company in the contacts database).

Note: You can go directly to the contact screen and access all the client details by clicking on the magnifying glass. Alternatively you can double click on the to drop down box that contains the company name.

Status

The incomplete, outstanding and paid indicators (like rubber stamps) appear in the middle of the invoice screen, automatically showing the state of the invoice. When the invoice is printed (discussed later) the incomplete indicator will change to outstanding. The outstanding indicator will change to paid when payment is finally received and entered (bottom left).

Invoice Date

The invoice date is by default set to today’s date. The date can be changed if you wish.

Order Number

The order number is the client’s reference number for the project.

Invoice Number

The invoice number automatically increments for each new invoice and can be changed. To change the invoice counter for the next invoice go to the Setup Wizard.

Work Done For

The work done for box is either for:

The person the work was done for,
The project the work was done for,
The Delivery Address
The client the work was done for (if different to the client invoiced),
The address the work was done at.

Click on the magnifying glass or double click the work done for box to zoom into the field.

You can change the "Work Done For" caption to anything else (eg. "Project Address", or "Serial Number") by clicking on the caption and changing it. You can change the default caption in the Invoicing / Statement page of the Setup Wizard.

Line Items

Product/service items are entered in the middle section which contains the financial details and calculations. Click on the small binoculars to the left of the description field to select a standard product or service. All the details will be copied from the product/services database. Change the quantity box or any other details as required. If the product or service is not in the database, then you can either add new ones by clicking the edit button, or enter the details manually. Double click on large descriptions to view all the contents.

Line Notes

You can add notes or blank items between line items by simply making the quantity and unit price blank.

Invoice Notes

The notes box on the bottom center of the invoice form is for any notes you would like to appear on the invoice. Click inside the notes box and type any notes required (double click to zoom).

VAT/GST/TAX

The default VAT/GST/TAX rate which is set in the setup wizard can be changed if necessary. If for some reason some items incur VAT/GST/TAX and some don't, then please make two separate invoices.

4.2 Printing and Emailing

Once you have finished entering information you can print (only if all information is added, see below) or close the screen (you can close the screen even if you haven’t entered all the information. The invoice can always be found and completed later).

Invoices and Statements are designed to work with window envelopes to save you time. You may need to adjust your letterhead setup to position the address correctly in the window.

If you need to email a customer an invoice, then you can do so by clicking on the email button. Before emailing invoices or statements, you need to make sure that you have setup a SMTP server (your ISP is able to provide you this) in Email Setup under the Invoicing menu. You also need to ensure that you've entered a correct email address for the customer in the contacts screen. If you'd like to receive a confirmation email to ensure that the customer has read your invoice you can set the Enable Read Receipt option to yes. If you enable this feature, please be aware that the customer can choose whether they would like to send a receipt or not.

If there was an error whilst sending the email, then the email will be sent the next time you send any emails.

4.3 Correcting Invoices

Once an invoice has been printed, you can only change it by clicking on the pencil eraser button (top left). You should not modify an invoice once it has been posted to the client. If you have over invoiced the client you can send a credit note (see below). If you have under invoiced the client, you can send an additional invoice.

4.4 Payment of Invoices

Invoice payments are linked to the cashbook, and there are three ways of paying an invoice off :-

In the Payments Received screen This screen lets you enter payments for many invoices in one data entry screen, and is the recommended way of entering payments you have received.
In the Cashbook Make a new transaction (or a Split if you want several deposits to appear in one transaction) and enter the Invoice Number in the Line Details at the bottom of the screen.
In the Invoice Simply enter the date and amount of each payment a client makes against an Invoice in the Payments section of the invoice. If you do not enter a date then today’s date will automatically be entered by default. If you double-click in the amount column of a new payment record then the software will automatically insert the outstanding amount and today`s date. You will be prompted to post the corresponding entry in the cashbook.

4.5 Finding, Viewing and Changing Invoices

From the main menu, click on the invoices button to go to the Lookup Invoices screen. Invoices are ordered by date, showing the most recent invoices first.

Select the status of the invoice being searched for by clicking on incomplete, outstanding, paid or all (select all if unknown). Selecting incomplete will list all the invoices which have not been printed yet.

Click on the search box and type any information from the fields shown such as the client’s name, the month, or any fragment of information you can remember, then press the enter key.

Use the scroll bars on the right hand side if needed to find the particular invoice. Click on the invoice to select it and then click on OK (or double click on the invoice) to view or update the invoice details.

If the invoice is incomplete, any details can be changed. If the invoice is outstanding, only the payment details can be changed. If the invoice is paid nothing can be altered, you will only be able to view the invoice.

4.6 Credit Notes

Credit notes are used for when you have either over invoiced a client, or the client requires a refund. You can make a credit note by simply making the quantity or unit prices negative. The invoice will print out as a credit note.

4.7 Outstanding Invoices

To print out a report of outstanding invoices, go to the main screen, and click on the invoices outstanding button. All outstanding invoices with the invoice date, days overdue and company details together with the amounts are tabulated. The grand total outstanding appears at the bottom.

4.8 Sales Graph

Click on the sales graph button to get an instant graph of sales on a month by month basis. The time span of the graph can be changed by typing a date into the from box. Only monthly total sales will be graphed. The graph can be printed by clicking on the print button.

4.9 Statements

Clicking on the Statements button (from the main screen) will present you with a screen that shows all companies with outstanding invoices. To print out a statement for a company, simply highlight the company and select print or preview. To alter the page setup of the statements, click on the File menu, and select Print Setup.

Batch Statements

If you would like to print out more than one statement at a time, then click on the Print Batch button (on the Statements screen). This will display the Batch Print Statements dialog. Enter the number of days old, and this will print out statements for all companies who have invoices older than the days specifiyed. Click preview to view the statements on screen, and print when you want to print the final copies. To alter the page setup of the statements, click on the File menu, and select Print Setup.

Print Payments Made

Enabling this will print any payments made on the statement.

Print Payment Slip

This option will will print a payment slip at the end of each statement which can be teared off and sent back with a payment.

Statement Date

This is the date that will appear on the statements. You can change this date if you wish.