Getting started with customer invoicing

This support article covers the key features of the invoicing module in ExpensePlus and the key things you will need to know to get started as you create your first invoice.

Invoicing features

The invoicing module within ExpensePlus allows you to:

• Customise invoice appearance and invoice details
• Create invoice templates
• Create and email invoices to customers
• Keep track of outstanding invoices and send invoice reminders
• Accept invoice payment via card, bank transfer, cash or cheque
• Create and apply credit notes
• Apply invoice discounts
• Write off the unpaid invoice as bad debt
• Create customer statements
• View reports by invoice item

Invoicing screen

Within the main invoicing screen, you can toggle between viewing outstanding invoices, invoices by customer, or by date (select 'All').

Simply select the tab you wish to view.

Getting setup

1. Creating an invoice profile

Before invoices can be created, you will need to create an invoice profile.

To do this, click on the 'settings' button within the invoicing screen.

An invoice profile can be customised with:

• Name and logo of your charity
• Brand colours (using a 6 character hex code, see Color Picker to identify your hex code if unknown)
• Invoice address
• Payment details (bank account number and sort code, or Stripe)
• Payment terms
• Contact details
• Footer text to communicate further details or instructions
• Income allocation defaults (this can be overwritten when creating an invoice)

To find out more about setting up and customising your invoice profile in invoice settings.

2. Adding invoice items

Invoice Items are used when creating customer invoices. Invoice Items are goods or services you provide to customers, which you invoice for.

This may include things such as:

Building Hire:

• Room 1 (£30 per hour)
• Room 2 (£25 per hour)
• Main Hall (£50 per hour)

Weddings:

• Church Service (£500)
• Flowers (£150)
• Verger (£50)

Other Items:

• Printing (2.5p per sheet)
• Bouncy Castle (£50 per event)

To find out more about creating invoice items, click here.

3. Adding Customers

Click the 'Manage Customers' button at the top of the invoicing screen to add customers.

You can either add individual customers or import multiple customers at the same time.

Creating an Invoice

To create your first invoice, from the Invoicing Module screen, select the 'create invoice' button at the top of the screen.

There are multiple options for creating invoices:

• Create new - when you wish to create an invoice from scratch
• Create from template - you can set up invoice templates to create invoices from
• Copy existing invoice - select any existing invoice, copy it, then edit any details you wish to update

To find out more about creating invoices, click here.

Sending an invoice

Once your invoice is complete, click 'Create' and then follow the instructions to either preview, download, or send it out by email.

If you choose to send it to the customer by email, ExpensePlus will send the email on your behalf. The itemised invoice table will appear in the cover email as well as the invoice being attached to the email as a PDF document.

Whilst you cannot customise the covering email, you can add a note to the email that is sent.

If you don't want to send the invoice immediately by email, select 'Not Now'. The invoice has still been created but hasn't been sent out. You can choose to send it at a later point, either through ExpensePlus or by downloading it to print or email separately.

When an invoice is created:

• If you create accounts on a receipts and payments basis, then the income relating to the invoice won't appear within your financial reports until the customer pays the invoice, and the bank transaction has been reconciled.
• If you create an account on an accruals basis and you have auto-accruals enabled, an 'accounts receivable' transaction will automatically be created for the money you are owed, and your balance sheet total for accounts receivable will also update to show an increased outstanding total.

Allocating income received to an invoice

Regardless of which accounting basis you use, when income relating to a customer invoice appears within your bank transactions (left-hand table of the bank matching screen), click the checkbox for that bank transaction, and ExpensePlus will automatically try to locate the corresponding invoice.

where this is successful, both the bank transaction (left-hand table) and the invoice (right-hand table) will go green, and you can simply click the 'tick' button to confirm.

Note: where this doesn't happen, a part payment is received, or the customer pays multiple invoices in one payment, you will still be able to reconcile the payment recieved by:

• clicking directly on the transaction in the left-hand table
• in the pop-up that appears, under 'Transaction Type', select 'Invoice Payment' from the drop-down.
• allow you to allocate the income as a full or part payment against one or more invoices.

When you have reconciled the transaction, the outstanding invoice balance displayed on the invoicing screen will automatically get updated.

To help you better understand the invoicing module as a whole, please visit the module overview page here.