Invoicing

Proforma and regular invoices belong to the sales section of the system and they are mainly for the sales people, project managers and anyone who deals with sales.

To create a proforma or regular invoice, go to the sales section and select the client list on the menu. Select a client from the list arranged alphabetically or use the search option to search for a client.

Once the client appears click on the eye icon to view the client. Add new invoice lines that you need to be invoiced to this particular client. An invoice line will include, selecting the date when the invoice is created, selecting a work type from the drop down list, adding a brief description of the work type, indicate the amount charged and when done, click on the tick to indicate that the details of the invoice line are complete. After indicating several invoice lines, select the ones that you intend to be on that particular proforma of regular invoice, by marking them in the select column. Then choose whether you want to create a proforma or regular invoice.

For the proforma invoice, click in the 'create proforma' button. An invoice pop-up then appears and at this point, it is important to go through all the details of the invoice carefully to ensure there are no errors as once confirmed the invoice cannot be edited. Select the send invoice to client option if you want the invoice to be directly emailed to your client then click in the 'confirm invoice' button where you can either email your client the invoice or print it to send it via post. The same process is applicable when creating a regular invoice. A proforma invoice can however be converted to a regular invoice when the need arises.

To convert a proforma invoice to a regular invoice go to the sales page where you will see a list of pending work and open proforma invoices. The pending work column lists those companies where ongoing work has been entered and are awaiting invoices while the proforma invoices column lists those companies that have been issued a proforma invoice and are awaiting to make them to regular invoices. Under proforma invoices click on the eye icon to view the client. On your right hand side corner, you have 3 options where you can view the proforma invoice, delete it or convert it to a regular invoice. Click on the convert proforma invoice to regular invoice icon then verify all the details of the invoice. After verifying, click on the 'confirm and create invoice' button.

Please check out the help video below for a demonstration of how to create proforma and regular invoices.
 

A credit note is used to cancel from the book of accounts an invoice that was wrongly sent to a client or an invoice that the client has forfeited to pay.

To create one, go to the sales option and select the client list on the menu. You can use the search field to search for a particular debtor or you can use the alphabetic search to locate those debtors that start with that specific character.

Once the client appears click on the action button to view the client. Then advance to the client’s invoicing history by clicking on 'invoicing history' button where you will see list of all the invoices sent to that client. Then click on the action button to view the specific invoice that you want to cancel.

Once the pop up appears, click on the 'create credit note' button. Then go through all the details on the credit note to confirm they are correct. Select the send invoice to client if you want the credit note to be emailed directly to your client. After confirming everything, click on the 'confirm and create credit note' button. You can either email the credit note to your client or print it to send it via post.

Note that when an invoice is cancelled by a credit note it is clearly marked cancelled and the credit note is shown immediately below the invoice it cancels.

Please check out the help video below for a demonstration of how to create a credit note.
 

Handling collections involves a collection procedure which is defined as a series of steps that an invoice follows until it is finally paid in full. It is however important to note that the explanation below is an example and that every company has its own collection procedure and thus the system should be configured to suit your own collection procedure.

On sales option, click on outstanding invoices where you will see a default list of steps for handling collections.The first step is to register a payment. To do so, click on the blue process bar and below it you will see a list of outstanding invoices that you have already sent to your various clients.

To register a payment on a specific invoice, go to the green dollar sign icon and click on it. A pop-up then appears where you will be required to confirm the payment date, the amount received, whether that client has withheld VAT and if the payment made had cleared the balance. After doing so, click on 'accept payment' button to clear that payment. The invoice line then no longer appears on the list of outstanding invoices. However, in case a client sends payment but it does not foot the full invoice amount, go on and register the payment but the invoice line will still appear in the list of outstanding invoices with only with the balance showing.

A payment made can also be deleted from the system. To do this, click on the register payment icon where you will see that invoice’s invoicing history. On the payments made entry there will be a red cross icon indicating delete payment. The provision of this action is so that a wrong or faulty payment can be deleted and then corrected. However, this only happens when the system has been configured to NOT automatically book incoming payments leaving room for payment verifications.

For the collection procedure, the system comes with default steps that an invoice can undergo. The first step could be 'just invoiced' which means that the invoice has just been sent to the client. When the client exceeds the time limit allocated for the invoice to be cleared, the system raises attention to that invoice entry. The administrator first notifies the client about the overdue payment via email or phone call and then moves the invoice entry line to the next state in the process. To do so, click on the Move to drop down list and select the next state in the process.

The collection procedure continues with the system always bringing to attention an invoice entry that has exceeded its time limit in its state process, the administrator notifying the client about their invoice status and then moving the invoice entry to the next state in the process. In the last state in your collection procedure, if the client still has not cleared the invoice, the administrator can create a credit note to cancel the invoice. To do so, click on the eye icon under action to view the invoice. When the pop-up appears, click on the 'create credit note' button to cancel that invoice.

Please check out the help video below for a demonstration of how to register payments and handle collections.

Before the sales section can be fully operational, you need to configure it first. Under the settings option, go to the sales menu and select settings. This is the main configuration for the sales and invoice area as before you can start creating invoices you need to configure this section.

On the text field under first invoice ID, indicate the ID number of the first invoice you are going to create using the system. Start the number from the last invoice number you had from your previous invoicing pattern and add one. If the last invoice was 120, then under first invoice ID, indicate 121.

Then check or uncheck the option to indicate proforma invoices in outstanding invoice list. The importance of including them is so that you can easily trace all invoices that have sent out to your various clients. Then select the account where money will be deposited when payments are received. In most cases, the account should be the bank account as this is the usual storage for money collected.

After selecting the account, check or uncheck the option to automatically book incoming payments. Checking the option means that once a payment is accepted, it is directly recorded in the book of accounts, while unchecking the option means that you have left an allowance to delete and correct payments made before booking them thus ensuring that all payments booked are correct.

Then indicate the signatory of the invoice. You can either select the option to use the signature of the person creating the invoice, that is, the person logged on to the system or you can uncheck it leaving the system to pick the fixed signature which is usually the name of the organization.

Under payment details for invoices, write the headline and the main notice. These two will appear at the bottom of the invoice right before the signature. The headline is a summary of the main notice and the main notice could be the details required to make the payments. Finally save the changes on the invoice settings.

Next, configure the invoice payment terms. You need to create at least one payment term for you to be able to generate invoices. To do so, go to the sales menu and select payment terms. Payment terms define how many days a client has to pay a given invoice. Different clients can have different payment terms depending on individual agreements with your organization. To create a payment term, click on new payment term button then give the payment term a name and indicate the number of days for the invoice to be paid. Save the changes and proceed to create other payment terms.

Please check out the help video below for a part one demonstration of how to configure the invoices.

Under the settings option, go to the sales menu and select work types. Work types can be thought of as high level products your company sells but the main idea is that they are links between a given invoice line and the specific account. That is, the type of work you are sending an invoice for, and the account it is associated with.

To create a work type, click on new work type button then give the work type a name. Under account, browse to select the account associated with the work type. Note that it is possible to have several work types that all end up in the same account but statistics can still be broken down on a per work type basis. Afterwards, select the VAT code that is applicable to the work type. Finally save the changes and proceed to create more work types although it is advisable to avoid creating too many different work types.

After configuring the work type, configure the processes. A collection process is a series of steps that an invoice undergoes once it has been sent to the client until a payment is received for it whether its received on time or not. On sales menu click on process. To add a collection process, click on the new process step button and allocate the process a name. Then indicate the number of days that should pass after an invoice has just been sent before attention is again raised. Save the changes and proceed to indicate all the process steps that an invoice undergoes in your organization in your collection procedure.

Note that you must define at least on process step, before you can create an invoice for any work done.

Please check out the help video below for a part two demonstration of how to configure the invoices.