Invoices can be created on the basis of sales orders and/or shipping documents. This linkage allows for the automatic retrieval of data, such as prices and discounts, payment terms, order balances, and shipped quantities. In the case of an invoice that doubles as a shipping document (i.e., sales invoice), shipped quantities are compared to the order’s balance to ship, taking into account the defined order tolerance. These features provide important controls for preventing errors (in terms of quantities, prices and discounts), while eliminating the need to retype existing data. The price source of each item is displayed in the invoice, as is an electronic signature.

Invoices (and receipts) can include prices in currencies other than the customer’s billing currency, even when the latter is a foreign currency (all sums are converted automatically to the customer’s billing currency when entered in the journal).

Until an invoice has been approved, it is considered pending. At this stage, it may be revised or deleted and it may only be printed as a draft. Any invoice can be flagged as “being checked,” which prevents it from accidentally being finalized before the check has been completed. Once authorized and finalized, a journal entry will be recorded, with sums distributed among accounts in keeping with the designated entry code.

If errors are discovered after the invoice has been finalized, a cancellation invoice can be created, which both cancels out the original document and creates a reversing journal entry. (If the invoice doubles as a shipping document, a reversing inventory transaction is created as well.) All this is achieved by a simple mouse click from the invoice form. You have the choice of canceling on today’s date (i.e., the cancellation invoice and its accompanying reversing entry will be dated on the current date) or on the original transaction date.

If a particular customer has been assigned a billing customer, the journal entry for the invoice is recorded against the billing customer’s account in the ledger. For each customer, you can determine whether invoices are sent to the actual recipient of the goods or to the billing customer.

The system also supports the recording of invoices for a general walk-in customer (per company or per branch). All walk-ins are assigned a general account (shared by all customers who do not have their own A/R account), eliminating the need to open a new account every time a sale is made to such a customer. The actual customer’s name and other identifying information are recorded directly in the invoice in question, while the journal entry associated with the transaction is recorded against the general walk-in account in the accounts receivable sub-ledger. A separate form enables you to retrieve existing invoices and/or receipts for a given walk-in customer by customer name. Aging for walk-in customers may be viewed per order.

A number of types of customer invoice are available in Priority:

• Sales invoices
• Over-the-counter invoices
• Multi-shipment invoices

• Advance payment invoices
• Pro forma invoices
• Export invoices (dual-currency package only).

Each type of invoice is explained in detail below.

Sales Invoice 

Sales invoices combine two functions: invoicing and shipping. They are used to debit sales and to record the supply of goods to the customer. As such, they also reduce inventory levels of the sold part in the warehouse.

Sales invoices may be itemized automatically on the basis of one or more sales orders, or they may be prepared manually. If based on a sales order, the invoice is filled in with ordered parts, their balance to ship, prices, discounts and payment terms — all taken from the designated order. If order prices are linked to a price index or foreign currency, prices in the invoice are adjusted accordingly. All of these details may be manually revised as long as the invoice is still pending (i.e., has not been finalized).

The quantities of items in the invoice are based on the order item’s balance to ship, and that balance is updated accordingly. If goods have already been packed for the customer, these packed goods are sent to the customer. If not, goods are taken from available warehouse stock (from any status which is considered saleable, i.e., “Goods”). If the quantity of packed goods is insufficient to fill the order balance, additional goods are taken from general stock. In all cases, warehouse balances are updated accordingly. As with a regular shipping document, the system allows items stored in different bins to be recorded in the same document.

If the invoice is not based on an order (and has therefore been itemized manually), prices and discounts are filled in automatically with those ordinarily assigned to this customer.

A sales invoice can also be used to record the return of goods from a customer and to credit the account for the return, by designating negative quantities in the invoice.

Over-the-Counter Invoice 

Over-the-counter invoices are used when a customer pays for goods immediately upon their receipt during an over-the-counter sale.

Such invoices are considered both an inventory transaction and a financial transaction: they reduce inventory of the sold part and record the sale in the general ledger. In addition, they record the receipt of payment from the customer.

An over-the-counter invoice can be itemized automatically (parts, prices, discounts, quantities) on the basis of a specific sales order or selected order items, or prepared manually, just like a sales invoice. Itemization of payments (cash, checks, credit card payments, etc.) is carried out in a similar manner to that of a regular receipt.

An over-the-counter invoice cannot be finalized unless the sum of the payments equals the amount owing in the invoice. Once the invoice is final, a journal entry is recorded (similar to a sales invoice). In addition, the balance of the cashier at which the money is deposited is updated.

Multi-shipment Invoice 

Multi-shipment invoices are used to debit sales to customers when you want to create an invoice independently of a shipping document (e.g., when the invoice is not mailed together with the shipment, or when you want to bill several shipments in the same invoice). In addition, they may include credits to the customer for goods that were returned or overcharged. These credits are deducted from the total amount owing in the invoice. Note that the creation of a multi-shipment invoice has no effect on warehouse balances, in contrast to sales invoices and over-the-counter invoices.

A multi-shipment invoice can be recorded on the basis of a single customer shipment, all shipments made over the course of a specified period, or a number of shipping documents.

Multi-shipment invoices can be prepared automatically, by linking them to one or more documents (customer shipments, projects, service calls, service contracts), or they can be itemized manually. When linked to a customer shipment, parts, prices, discounts, payment terms and quantities are taken from the inventory transaction.

You can use the Prepare Multi-Shipment Invoices program to create a batch of invoices for multiple documents and customers. If a customer is set up to be billed at regular intervals, a single invoice is prepared for all documents of the same type (e.g., customer shipments) that were recorded within the designated period (negative quantities are used to credit returned goods). Otherwise, a separate invoice is prepared for each document.

Invoices may be prepared for the date recorded in the document, today’s date or any other specified date. If an invoice has already been opened for the customer on the date in question, the new charges are added to the existing invoice. Should any of the customers in question have a billing customer, the invoice is prepared for the latter. Furthermore, all documents of the same type that were recorded for different customers but specify the same billing customer are combined in the same invoice.

Advance Payment Invoices 

Priority allows you to record advance payments against a given sales order without the need to designate specific parts. When the invoice in question is finalized, the advance payment balance of the order is updated. Each subsequent invoice recorded for this order is then reduced by a certain percentage (designated in the order) against the advance payment, until the advance payment balance on account reaches zero.

The advance payment facility is useful for large orders where several deliveries and invoices are sent to customers. It enables you to keep track of advance payments and/or installments. By recording advance payment invoices and receiving advance payments from the customer, you create an advance payment balance. Consequently, subsequent invoices sent to the customer for these same shipments will be smaller than usual. That is, they will be reduced by a percentage of the invoice’s total value, according to the advance payment percentage specified in the order. This deduction from the invoice will appear on a separate line, for the “Prepayment” item and will have a negative value. The amount deducted in the invoice will also be deducted from the advance payment balance until it reaches zero.

Pro Forma Invoices 

Priority offers a comprehensive utility for managing business transactions on a cash basis, including pro forma invoices and journal entries, which do not affect the ledger balance or appear in financial statements. You can perform separate reconciliations for pro forma entries and for regular entries, and you can run customer credit reports and aging reports that take pro forma transactions into account.

When working on a cash basis, you do not debit the customer’s account in the ledger until after receiving payment for services rendered. Consequently, you cannot use regular invoices to bill the customer for these services. Instead, you record a pro forma invoice after performing the service and prior to receipt of payment.

Pro forma invoices can be prepared in batch, on the basis of sales orders, customer shipments, service calls, service contracts and warehouse transfers.

When payment is received, you can open receipts on the basis of the pro forma invoice, then record a multi-shipment invoice on the basis of the receipt(s). Once this invoice is finalized, a regular journal entry is opened automatically for the invoice and reconciled with the entry for the receipt(s). You can also open and reconcile pro forma entries manually.

Export Invoices (dual-currency package only) 

The system enables you to record invoices and credit memos to customers in English, when working in a foreign language. These documents are created in a similar manner and have the same attributes as multi-shipment invoices.