Posting is when an invoice stops being a draft. It gets its number, its dates are set, and it can no longer be changed.
What posting does
In one step, Invoice+:
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Gives the invoice its number from the number series. Credit notes draw from their own series.
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Sets the posted date to today.
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Sets the invoice date to today, if you left it empty.
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Calculates the due date as the invoice date plus the days on the payment term.
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Locks the invoice.
A posted invoice cannot be edited, cannot be deleted and cannot be posted again. The lines go read only at the same moment. Check the invoice before you post, because the only way back is a credit note.
The three ways to post
Press Post and choose one:
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Choice |
When to use it |
|---|---|
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Post |
Settles the invoice in Microbizz and sends nothing. Use it when the invoice reaches the customer some other way, for example through an accounting integration, or when you print it yourself. |
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Post and send mail |
Generates the PDF and emails it to the addresses on the invoice. |
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Post and upload EDI |
Sends the invoice electronically rather than as an email attachment. Required by most public sector customers and by larger companies that receive invoices straight into their own system. |
Sending by mail
Choosing to send a mail opens a subject and a message. The recipients are shown so you can see where it is going.
You can write the message each time, or pick one of your mail templates. If you send a lot of invoices, set a default template so the text is already there and you only adjust the exceptions.
Two things are required, and the invoice tells you if either is missing:
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An invoice template, because without one there is no PDF to attach.
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At least one email address.
Sending electronically
Before anything is sent, Invoice+ checks that the invoice satisfies what an electronic invoice needs. If something is missing you get the list and nothing is posted, so you can fix it and try again.
These are the checks:
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About you |
About the invoice |
|---|---|
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Your company details are set up |
The invoice has a company on it |
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Your company has a VAT or EAN number |
The customer has a VAT or EAN number |
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Your invoice address has street, postcode, town and country |
The recipient address has street, postcode, town and country |
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The invoice has a payment means |
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The invoice has a requisition |
The requisition catches people out, because an invoice sent by mail does not need it and an electronic one does. If a customer wants electronic invoices, make sure whoever takes the order records their reference number.
Attaching your own documents
You can send more than the invoice itself. Add files to the invoice, then right click a file, choose Markers and tick Include in PDF. Marked files are appended to the invoice PDF when it is generated, in one document.
Use it for timesheets, photographs of completed work, delivery notes, or the signed order.
Only PDF files can be appended. Other file types can still be attached to the invoice in Microbizz, they just cannot be merged into the document.
Sending it again
A posted invoice gets a Resend button. It sends the invoice again without posting it a second time, so the number and the dates stay as they were.
You can send it by mail or electronically, and when you send by mail you can change the recipients for this one send. Use it when the invoice went to the wrong person, or when a second copy is needed for somebody in accounts.
When something goes wrong
If the mail or the electronic transfer fails, the invoice is marked with an error and the reason is stored on it. The invoice still counts as posted, so the job is to fix the cause and use Resend.
Add the error field to your invoice list and you get a working list of everything that did not go out.
Checking that it is working
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Post an invoice with the date left empty. It comes back dated today, with a due date matching the payment term.
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Look at the invoice afterwards. Edit and Delete are gone and the lines cannot be changed.
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Post two invoices. The numbers follow your series in order.
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Post a credit note. It draws from the credit note series, not the invoice series.
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Mark a PDF file Include in PDF and send by mail. The attachment contains both the invoice and that file.
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Try to send electronically with the requisition left empty. You are told, and nothing is posted.