What the invoice does
Saving an invoice records the sale: the customer owes the total, sales income and VAT are booked, and the goods leave the warehouse. The full list of effects is in What a sale changes in the books. When your company has IRD on, the invoice is also queued to be sent to the IRD (How bills reach the IRD, and what to check when one does not).
Open Sales Invoice (menu Sales Entries › Invoice). The list shows the invoice number, the customer's own reference number, date, customer, amount, the amount still due and a Status.
Raise an invoice
- Choose Add
- Choose the customer
- Set the date and the terms
- Bring in an order or delivery notes, if any
- Add the product lines
- Check the adjustments
- Take a payment, if the customer pays now
- Add notes and an attachment if you need them
- Save
What saving changes
| Area | Change |
|---|---|
| Customer's account | The customer owes the invoice total, from the invoice date; the due date is the date plus the Due day |
| Sales income and VAT | Booked in the sales ledgers of the products and in the VAT and discount ledgers (What a sale changes in the books) |
| Stock | The goods leave the warehouse of each line, unless the invoice was made from delivery notes |
| Order or delivery note | The quantity billed is taken off what is left on them |
| Payment | A cash sale, or Pay bill, saves a receipt with the invoice, against it |
| Number | The next number of the series you chose; it is never reused |
| IRD | When your company has IRD on, the invoice is queued to be sent (How bills reach the IRD, and what to check when one does not) |
What the screen checks before saving
Nothing is saved when a check fails; the message names the problem.
| Check | Message |
|---|---|
| The date is before the fiscal year starts | The financial year for this transaction date has already been closed, so you are not allowed to make a transaction on this date. |
| No product lines | Please provide data details to save the transaction. |
| A line's amount does not match quantity times rate | Amount based on quantity and rate is wrong. (Row: n) |
| Stock is short and the company blocks negative stock | Negative stock not allowed. |
| A foreign currency has no rate for the day | Please set the rate for the currency selected. |
| The customer's credit rule blocks the sale | A Warning box: see Credit limit and credit days on sales screens |
| A cash sale has no receipt series or no cash ledger | Please set document number format for receipt / Cash ledger has not been defined for cash sales. Please set from configuration page. |
| The payment on the invoice is more than the total | Received amount cannot be more than the total amount on the bill. |
The full list, with causes and fixes, is in Messages you may see.
After saving
Open an invoice from the list to see everything about it. Depending on your permissions and on the invoice, the buttons offer:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Receipt | Receive a payment against this invoice (Receive money from a customer) |
| Return | Return goods from it (Take goods back with a sales return). Switched off once a return exists |
| Goods delivery | Record the delivery trip (Record the delivery trip) |
| Sales add-on voucher | Add a charge or cost tied to this invoice (Add a charge or cost to an invoice (sales add-on voucher)) |
| Copy to new | Start a new invoice with the same customer and lines |
| Cheque, Provisional cash | Record a post-dated cheque or provisional cash from the customer |
| Approve | Approve it, where your company uses approval |
| Edit, Delete | Not offered when your company has IRD on: see Editing a saved invoice: what can and cannot change |
| Print or reprint (Print and reprint invoices) |
The list's Status is Unpaid, Partial, Paid, Paid With Return, Partial Return, Returned or Reversed: see What clears what in the customer's account. The list can be filtered by product, customer, customer group, agent, user, order number, date, amount and more, and it links to the sales register, the day book and the related reports (The sales register and sales reports).
Common questions
There is no Add button.
No numbering series covers your branch in the active fiscal year, or your role cannot create invoices. See Document numbering for sales.
Add is greyed out and a message asks to set ledgers.
The administrator has not finished Configuration: see Company settings that change selling.
I chose another customer and my lines disappeared.
Changing the customer clears the lines and the receipt details on purpose, so nothing is billed to the wrong customer. Choose the customer first.
The customer pays part now and the rest later.
Keep the sale on Credit, and record the part paid with Receipt details (Pay bill). The rest is collected later with a receipt against the invoice (Receive money from a customer).
How do I bill an order or a delivery note?
Choose it in Order no or GDN no on a new invoice: see From quotation to order, delivery note and invoice.
The invoice needs a correction after saving.
See Editing a saved invoice: what can and cannot change: edit (IRD off), cancel the same day, or make a return.
Can I save an invoice dated tomorrow?
No. Future dates are not offered, and with IRD on the date is always today.