How Do I Record an Invoice?

How Do I Record an Invoice?

Sales Invoices are the bread and butter of your business, so to speak. For goods that you sell, or services you provide, a tax invoice is issued, and payment is expected from the customer. Invoice Manager helps you keep track of outstanding invoices and which customers owe you money.

The Invoices page allows you to see what invoices you have for the selected customer and when they were created. It also shows the total of the invoice and the current amount owing. 

You can create new sales invoices and view/edit existing invoices from the buttons on the right. At the top are four options to filter the viewable list: This Month’s Customer Invoices, Outstanding Customer Invoices, All Customer Invoices and Show Quotations. Select the required function.
 

Add a New Sales Invoice

Select the customer from the Customer List. Click on the [Add Invoice] button.
The top left corner displays the Customer Code and Company Name. Underneath this is the Invoice Number. The next numerical sequenced invoice number is generated but can be changed e.g. to set a manual invoice number by typing the new number in the box.

The Invoice Date displayed at the top of the next column defaults to today’s date per the computer, but you can change this as necessary.

The Invoice Status or Invoice Options are then displayed and the choices are:

  1. Order/Invoice: A standard tax invoice or agreement for provision of goods & services
  2. Quotation: Quote a customer for goods or services, expecting an order. When the quote is successful, the status can be changed to Invoice
  3. Hold Open: Create an invoice but do not allow finalising just yet
  4. Finalised: A tax invoice issued to a customer ready for payment (also referred to as ‘posted’ or ‘closed’, but does not necessarily mean ‘paid off’)

The P.O. Number field can be used to reference a Purchase Order that may have been placed in relation to this invoice.

If payment has been received at the same time the invoice is created, click in the Cash Invoice checkbox. When the invoice is finalised, a receipt will be applied automatically for the amount owing and for the same date as the invoice. 

Note: If using a Cash Invoice, you can set up automatic transfer to Cashflow Manager of the receipt. See ‘Cash Invoice Settings ’in ‘Options –Invoice Manager’. Alternatively, if you have a lot of Cash Invoices, you can select not to transfer each individual invoice to Cashflow Manager and just record the total at the end of the day or use ‘Transfers’ to batch receipts and transfer them as one entry. 

The Credit Limit and Current Balance are references to the credit limit you have established for the customer together with the current balance of their account, for ease of use. If there is a credit on the customer’s account this will be displayed. Click on the
 
[Credit Amounts] button to apply the credit amount to the current invoice.

If Use Customer Types has been selected in Options, a Customer Type field and the Customer Type allocated to this customer in Add Customer/Modify Customer will display under the Current Balance. You can click on the down arrow and select a different Customer Type if required. To change the Customer Type permanently, click on
 
[Modify Customer]
 
next to the Customer List. The prices for items chosen from inventory will default to that mapped price list for that Customer Type. 

If Use Jobs Number has been selected in Options, a Job Number field will display under the Current Balance and Customer Type. The invoice can be assigned to a Job from the drop-down arrow so you can allocate invoices to track specific jobs.
 

Add Items to Your Sales Invoice:

Adding items to an invoice can be done in two ways. You can simply type in the details of the item to be included on the invoice, or you can choose from the Item Code or Description drop downs that list items recorded as Sell or Buy/Sell in Inventory. 

Note: Management Sales Reports designed to give you information to analyse your sales and purchases only include items that are listed in Inventory and require selection from the Inventory List to be included in these reports. 

Cashflow Manager GOLD can also track inventory on items that are purchased and sold. To use this feature, you must add inventory items to invoices through the Item Code or Description selections.
On a Sales Invoice, only inventory items marked as Sell or Buy/Sell will appear in the list to choose from. If Inventory Tracking is enabled, these items will then be deducted from your item count.

If you know the Item Code, start typing this into the Item Code field, and as the right code appears, press [Enter]. Alternatively, click on the drop-down arrow and choose the item from the inventory list. 

The item’s stored details will be pre-filled into the Description, VAT Type and Unit Price fields, which can be edited if required. Enter the quantity of items supplied, and press
 
[Enter]. The next line will become available for more items. Continue filling in item details for your Sales Invoice, and press [Enter] at the end of each line.

If you simply type in a description, the tracked inventory will not automatically adjust the item count or be included in the Sales Reports.

Note: The Description can be a maximum of 250 characters. If you wish to type more, go to the next line, and type the rest in the next description field.

Each of the column widths can be resized. For example, if you wish the Description column to be wider, position your mouse cursor over the right side of the Description Column Header.
Hold down your left mouse button and drag the column to the width you require, and then let go.
The grey box at the left side of the invoice work area indicates the line you are working on as well as offering a number of other functions for editing the lines in the invoice.
To access these functions, left-click on the grey box on the left side of the line. An arrow will appear to indicate the row is selected. Right-click to list the functions and then left-click on the function you require. The functions are:
  1. Insert Blank Line –Insert a blank line above the currently selected line
  2. Remove Line –Remove a line permanently (you will be prompted)
  3. Move Line Up –Move the currently selected line above the preceding line
  4. Move Line Down –Move the currently selected line below the following line

You can delete multiple lines at a time by holding down the ‘CTRL’ key and selecting each row for deletion. Then press the [Delete] key. You will be prompted if you wish to remove the selected lines permanently.

There is also an option to add an additional column to your invoice. For example, some businesses create one invoice for transactions that span more than one day so the extra column can be used for the transaction date. To enable this extra column, click on the Options icon and select Advanced Preferences.
 

Adding a Message to Your Sales Invoice:

The Message field is used for a short note, usually such as “Thank you for your business” or “Terms 30 days”. It normally shows near the bottom of the invoice printout. To add a message, click in the box below the invoice items work area, and type your message.

You can save this message in a list to add to other invoices by clicking on the green tick button. To use a previously saved message, click on the drop-down arrow and select the saved message from the list. The message can be up to 150 characters long.

To delete an existing message, select the message and then click on the red ‘cross’ button.
 

Extra Details:

In the bottom left corner of the Invoice page are some Extra Fields for information you may require to include on the invoice. For example: a construction job’s building address, or more details for the job. The Extra Field titles can be changed by double-clicking on the title. A text box will appear to change the name. Press ‘Enter’ when done. The title of the Extra Field is global; therefore all customers’ invoices will show the same Extra Fields titles. If using Extra Fields, you will need to add these fields to a Customised Layout, as they are not shown by default. See the section ‘Invoice Setup Wizard’ on how to add text boxes and turn them into data fields.
 

Apply Discount:

Click on the Discount tab in the bottom left corner and type in the amount or rate of discount in the box.
Choose either Percent or Pound sign and click on the [Apply Discount] button below. A line will be added to the invoice items showing the discount in the Line Total column as a negative as well as calculate the adjustment to the VAT for the items discounted. 

Note: The discount you add will be calculated from the invoice balance at the time the discount is added, so if you add more lines to the invoice and then another discount the original items will be discounted further. You can remove a discount line like any other invoice item line (i.e. select the row, click on the Delete key on your keyboard).

 

View or Edit an Invoice:

Select the customer from the Customer List and click the [Invoice List] button.

The Invoices page will list any created invoices for the selected customer. Options above filter the list, by this month’s, Outstanding, or All Invoices. Normally it is set to show Outstanding Customer Invoices and will show all Open (unfinalised) invoices and, when ticked, Quotations. Select an invoice from the list and click the [View/Edit] button or double-click on the invoice.

Any invoice / quote can be viewed to reprint or print a picking slip, but only open invoices can be edited. If an invoice is finalised, it will need to be unfinalised. See the section ‘Unfinalise an Invoice’ below.
 

Finalise an Invoice:

‘Finalising an Invoice’ signifies it is ready to issue to the customer, no changes will be made, and to expect payment. In accountant terminology, it is often referred to as ‘Posting’ because it is when the invoice is finalised that it is ‘posted’ into the Debtors Ledger. In other words, it is at this point that the sale is made and the customer becomes liable to pay.

Similarly, in Invoice Manager an invoice is not treated as a sale and therefore not included in statements, sales reports, Aged Debtors or the Customer Inquiry until it is finalised.

When preparing an invoice, you are given the option to Hold Open the invoice if you do not wish to finalise it, for example, if delivery has not been made prior to statement date.

The invoice is treated as a draft (or ‘open’) until it is finalised. To finalise the invoice currently displayed, click on the [Finalise] button.

Invoices can also be finalised all at once by clicking on the Finalise Invoices icon on the toolbar. This will open a window displaying all Sales Invoices whose status is Order/Invoice, but not any with status of Hold Open. Tick the checkboxes for the invoices to be finalised, and click the [Finalise] button. Or if you want to finalise all invoices, click the [Select All] button.
 

Unfinalise an Invoice:

An invoice can be ‘unfinalised’ only if it has not had a Receipt, Credit Amount or Adjustment Note applied to it.
There are two options. One is to select the [View/Edit] the invoice and click on the [Unfinalise] button.
You can also unfinalise an invoice from the Tools menu. This may be the better option of you need to remove a receipt first as this can also be done from the Tools menu.

1. Click on the Tools menu, select Remove Receipt, and then unfinalise Invoice. If an Adjustment Note needs to be removed, you will need to unassign and then click the [Delete] button.
2. Select the Invoice Number from the drop-down arrow, and click the [Unfinalise] button.
3. The invoice’s status will now be marked as open, and changes can be made.


Note: Please make a backup of your file before making changes. Extreme care should be used in fixing mistakes, as you do not want to compound the problem. We recommend that these options should only be used by, or under supervision of, business management.


The most common mistakes are forgetting an item, putting the wrong price on an invoice, or creating an invoice under the wrong customer. These can be corrected, if the problem isn’t made worse by not understanding what is happening. The process of invoicing is sequential, and must be reversed if changes need to be made.
  1. Sequential: An invoice is created then saved, finalised, then a receipt is added.
  2. Reversal: To edit the invoice directly, remove the receipt, then unfinalise the invoice, make the changes, finalise, and then reapply the receipt if necessary.

If changes need to be made to the invoice and it is not fully paid off, an Adjustment Note can be used to remove items or reduce the price. See the section 'Adjustment (Credit) Notes’.
 

Recurring Invoices:

If you have invoices that are repeated, or have similar item details, you can save them as a Recurring Invoice to save time preparing your Sales Invoices.

1. First, create or open an invoice that has the relevant item details filled in. Save the invoice by clicking on the [Save] button.
2. Click on the [Recurring] button (You cannot make a finalised invoice recurring).
3. A window will appear prompting you to type in a description for the new Recurring Invoice. Click the [Add] button when done.
4. To use a Recurring Invoice for a new invoice, add a new invoice, then click the [Recurring] button at the bottom of the New Invoice page, and click the Use Recurring Invoice tab.
5. Select the description of the saved Recurring Invoice from the list, and click the [Use]
6. Button. The item details will be loaded into the current invoice. Then close this window, and save the new invoice.
7. To delete a Recurring Invoice, click on the [Recurring] button at the bottom of an invoice, and click the [Use Recurring Invoice] tab. Highlight the recurring invoice by clicking the grey box at the start of the description line. Press the [Delete] key on your keyboard.
 

Print an Invoice:

If the invoice is displayed, click the [Print] button. If not, open the invoice for viewing/editing as per section above. When the Print Preview appears, there are options to [Email], [Save As] a file, or [Print] it to the printer. Click the required button at the bottom.

Other features when printing include:

  1. Choosing a different customised layout (assuming you have more than one layout)
  2. Picking Slips (which does not show prices)

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