Invoice+ is the invoicing module in Microbizz, where you create and send your invoices when work is finished. Five things need to be in place before you can send the first one.
What Invoice+ does
An invoice starts as a draft you can change freely. You add the customer, the lines and the terms. When you are satisfied you post it. Posting locks the invoice, gives it its number, sets the due date, and sends it to the customer as a PDF by mail or as an electronic invoice.
After that you follow the payment. An invoice can be unpaid, partly paid or paid, and the list shows which.
Nothing about an invoice is final until you post it. Up to that point you can edit it, add and remove lines, or delete it entirely.
Where to find it
Under Invoice in the menu. You get three things:
-
Search is the list of your invoices and where you create new ones.
-
Forecast shows what is due and what has been paid, month by month.
-
Configuration holds the lists the module draws on: payment terms, payment means, fees, cost groups, number series and custom fields.
What has to be in place first
|
What |
Why it matters |
|---|---|
|
Your own company details |
Your name, address and VAT number appear on every invoice and are required for electronic invoicing. Invoice+ checks this and shows a warning at the top of the list if anything is missing. |
|
A number series |
Invoice numbers are handed out from a number series when you post. Invoices and credit notes draw from separate series, so set up both. |
|
An invoice template |
The layout used to produce the PDF. Without one you cannot generate a PDF and you cannot send an invoice by mail. |
|
Payment terms |
A payment term is a number of days. The due date is the invoice date plus those days, so an invoice cannot be created without one. |
|
Payment means |
How the customer pays you, for example a bank account or a giro number. Needed for electronic invoicing. |
If your company details or VAT number are missing, a message appears at the top of the invoice list with a link to the right place. Fix it before you build your first invoice.
Where invoices come from
Two routes, and most companies use both.
From a task. When you invoice a task, its lines become invoice lines and a new invoice is created with the customer and reference already filled in. You can also add the task to an invoice that already exists, which is how you put a month of small jobs on one invoice.
From scratch. Press New on the invoice list and build it yourself. Use this for anything that does not come from work recorded in Microbizz.
Work can only be added to an invoice that has not been posted. If you invoice a task against a posted invoice, Invoice+ starts a new one rather than changing a document that has already gone out.
The order you work in
-
Create the invoice and pick the customer. Most of the fields fill themselves in.
-
Add lines, by hand or by invoicing a task.
-
Check the total and the terms.
-
Post it, and choose whether to send it by mail or electronically.
-
Mark it paid when the money arrives, in full or in part.
Next: 2. Finding your invoices