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Invoices
Invoices record amounts owed to the organisation. Use them when a party must be billed for goods, services, fees, penalties, subscriptions, rent, recoveries, or other charges.
Open Billing -> Operations -> Invoices.
Workspace Reference
| Area | What The User Does |
|---|---|
| Main table | Reviews invoice number, party, invoice date, due date, total, balance, approval status, issue status, payment status, and posting status where available. |
| New Invoice | Opens the invoice form for a new receivable. |
| View Detail | Reviews header, lines, balances, allocations, credit notes, write-offs, posting status, activity history, and print/PDF output. |
| Edit | Updates an invoice before policy or status locks it. |
| Submit or Approve | Moves the invoice through the configured approval workflow. |
| Issue | Marks the invoice as formally issued to the party where the workflow uses issue status. |
| Apply Payment | Allocates confirmed received money to the invoice balance. |
| Credit Note | Reduces the invoice because of a return, adjustment, discount, dispute, or price correction. |
| Write-Off | Clears a valid debt that the organisation has decided not to collect. |
Some service areas, such as Production, Agriculture, Events, POS, or Resource Capacity, may send users to Billing after operational work is approved or delivered. Billing remains the receivable workspace; service screens should not create separate receivable ledgers.
For agriculture stories, this usually means one of two things:
- a buyer, processor, customer, tenant, or partner now owes the organisation money, so an invoice belongs in Billing
- a producer, worker, or supplier is being paid by the organisation, so that belongs in Payments, not Billing
When To Create An Invoice
Create an invoice when:
- a party owes the organisation for goods or services
- a recurring schedule generated a charge that needs review
- a fee, penalty, rent, subscription, or membership charge must be collected
- a manual receivable needs approval and issue
- the organisation needs a formal billing document for statement and aging review
Do not create a new invoice just to record a receipt. Use Apply Payment for receipts against existing invoices.
Do not use Billing for producer settlement payout execution. Agriculture settlement statements may explain the commercial basis, but the actual outbound payment belongs in the shared payment-batch workflow.
Creating An Invoice
- Click New Invoice.
- Select the party being billed.
- Enter invoice date, due date, currency, description, and business context required by the form.
- Add invoice lines.
- Review tax, discount, and total amounts.
- Save or submit the invoice.
- Complete approval where required.
- Issue the invoice when it is ready for the party.
- Review posting status and balance movement.
Invoice Header Fields
Common header fields include:
| Field | Required | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Party | Yes | Customer, member, tenant, supplier, school, buyer, or other party being billed. |
| Invoice date | Yes | Date the invoice is raised. |
| Due date | Recommended | Date payment is expected. |
| Currency | Recommended where multi-currency is enabled | Currency of the invoice and receivable. |
| Description | Recommended | Main explanation shown in invoice detail and statements. |
| Business unit or service context | Recommended | Operating area responsible for the invoice. |
| Reference | Recommended for operational traceability | Supporting order, dispatch, event, contract, delivery, settlement, or document reference. |
Use descriptions that will still make sense when the invoice appears in statements or aging reports later.
If the invoice came from agriculture context, include the meaningful shared reference: buyer sale, dispatch, contract, project, produce-delivery, service order, or settlement-supporting document reference.
Invoice Lines
Each invoice line should explain what is being charged.
Common line details include:
| Field | Required | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Item or charge | Yes for structured billing | Product, service, fee, penalty, rent, subscription, or other billed item. |
| Description | Recommended | Clear line-level explanation. |
| Quantity | Yes for quantity-based billing | Number of units charged. |
| Unit price | Yes for priced billing | Price per unit. |
| Tax treatment | Required where tax applies | Tax rule, tax group, inclusive/exclusive handling, or exemption where applicable. |
| Discount or adjustment | No | Any line-level reduction. |
| Classification | Required where setup needs it | Charge or accounting classification required for posting and reporting. |
Avoid vague descriptions such as “charges” or “balance”. Good descriptions reduce disputes.
For agriculture and field-service billing, line descriptions should help finance and operations understand what was sold or charged: produce type, grade, quantity, service period, field activity recovery, transport recharge, processing fee, or other clear business basis.
Invoice Statuses
An invoice can have several statuses at the same time.
| Status Area | What It Tells You |
|---|---|
| Approval status | Whether the invoice is draft, submitted, approved, returned, rejected, or cancelled. |
| Issue status | Whether the invoice has been formally issued. |
| Payment status | Whether it is unpaid, partially paid, paid, overpaid, written off, or otherwise resolved. |
| Posting status | Whether the accounting impact has posted, failed, or is pending follow-up. |
Always check the correct status. An invoice can be approved but still unpaid, or paid but not fully reconciled.
Invoice Detail View
Use invoice detail to answer why the balance changed.
The detail view should help users review:
- header information
- invoice lines
- approval history
- issue status
- payment allocations
- credit notes
- write-offs
- current balance
- aging impact
- posting status
- notes and activity history
This is the safest place to investigate disputes, corrections, and collection follow-up.
The detail dialog now also supports:
- Print for a standard invoice print layout
- Download PDF for circulation or filing
The printable invoice uses the tenant-wide document identity maintained in Administration -> General Setup -> Organisation Details. That keeps legal name, contact details, registration data, and footer disclaimers consistent across formal invoice output.
Applying Payments
Use Apply Payment after money has been received or confirmed. The payment reduces the invoice balance and appears in invoice history and statements.
If the receipt still needs bank, wallet, provider, till, or card settlement review, use Payments & Settlement after the billing allocation is recorded.
If the invoice came from a produce buyer sale or another agriculture commercial flow, the billing receipt still follows the same shared pattern: Billing reduces the receivable; Payments confirms whether the collection actually settled.
Credit Notes And Write-Offs
Use a credit note when the original invoice amount should be reduced because of an adjustment, return, price correction, discount, or dispute resolution.
Use a write-off when the debt is valid but the organisation has decided it will not be collected.
Do not use payment allocation, credit notes, and write-offs interchangeably. Each action tells a different financial story.
Accounting Impact
Invoices normally create or update receivable accounting according to billing setup.
Before issuing or posting, confirm:
- the party is correct
- the currency is correct
- line classifications are correct
- tax treatment is correct
- approval requirements are complete
- posting status is successful or ready for follow-up
If posting fails, review charge classification, tax setup, receivable account setup, business unit context, and required detailed tracking.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Better Practice |
|---|---|
| Creating a duplicate invoice to fix a wrong amount. | Use credit note, cancellation, or correction workflow. |
| Treating invoice total as outstanding balance. | Use current balance or aging. |
| Issuing before reviewing lines and due date. | Review party, dates, currency, tax, totals, and descriptions. |
| Applying payment to the wrong invoice. | Search by party and invoice reference before submitting. |
| Using write-off for a price correction. | Use a credit note when the invoice itself was too high. |
| Using Billing to execute farmer or worker payout. | Use Agriculture source records plus shared Payments batches. |
