Global Invoicing Preferences

Use the Invoicing Preferences page to determine the way billable lines appear on invoices. To set invoicing preferences, go to Setup > Accounting > Preferences > Invoicing Preferences.

As you select options in various combinations, a preview at the bottom of the page reflects how invoices appear using the settings. You can select and clear options until the Preview section reflects they way you prefer for invoices to show.

When the Preview section accurately reflects your preference for the appearance of invoices, click Save.

The subtabs that appear on the Invoicing Preference page are determined by the settings that you have enabled. If you have charge-based billing enabled, the Charge subtab appears on the page.

The following options are available from the Invoicing subtab.

• Combine Time Items on Invoices

  Check this box to group time items into one total on invoices.

  For example, if one employee reports 8 hours of data entry for 20 days to the same customer, the customer will see 160 hours of time at the billable rate on the invoice.

  Note:

  You must enable this preference to also enable the Group Time by Employees preference.

• Group Time by Employee

  Check this box to group billable time by employees when you combine time items on invoices.

  When you enable this preference, you can select Employee as a grouping criteria on invoices when billable time exists with the same employee, service item, and rate. Then, when you print the invoice, the time for each employee is combined in one line.

  Note:

  You must enable Combine Time Items on Invoices to use this preference.

• Combine Expense Items on Invoices

  When you enable this preference, expense items are combined into one total on invoices.

  If billable expenses have the same expense category, they are grouped on the printed invoice. Also, the memo field can be edited for only the first entry listed in each category.

  • You can enter a different rate for each line.

  • If a billable expense line does not identify a category, it is not grouped.

  When you clear this box, each billable expense is separate on the invoice and they are not grouped on the printed invoice. You can enter different rates and memos for each expense.

• Group Expenses by Employee

  This preference groups billable expenses by employees when you combine expense items on invoices.

  When you enable this preference, you can select Employee as a grouping criteria on invoices when billable expenses exist with the same employee, service item and rate. Then, when you print the invoice, the expenses for each employee are combined in one line.

• Combine Billable Items on Invoices

  Check this box to combine expense items into one total on invoices.

  For example, if one employee enters a $50 expense for 5 days that is billable to the same customer, the customer will see $250 in expenses on the invoice

• Group Billable Types on Invoices

  When you check this box, similar billable charges are grouped together with their subtotals on your customers' invoices. All billable items, time, and expenses are grouped together by type.

  For example, an invoice will show Billable Group as a heading with line items for billable time and a billable time total.

  A Billable Group heading and total will also show for billable expenses and for billable items.

• Show Billable Subtotals on Invoices

  Check this box to show subtotals for grouped billable lines on invoices. Billable time, expenses or items are grouped together by item or category name. Then, these items are grouped with subtotals when you print, e-mail or fax the invoice.

  For example, if you enter two expense reports for air travel to bill back to a customer, they are grouped as one total. If you enter another expense report for meals, the expense is still listed separately from the air travel charges.

  Billable lines are grouped and subtotaled regardless of whether a markup or discount is applied.

  Note:

  When you choose to add billable subtotals, the subtotal is calculated for the column used to sort the billable list. The secondary sort is by the previously sorted column. For example, to sort and subtotal by project then by category, click on the category header then the project header.

  You can change the order of billable items, expenses, and time by customizing the invoice form to reorder the lists under the lists tab. To customize invoices, open the invoice and click the Customize button.

The following options are available on the Subscription Management subtab:

• When Sales Order Gets Approved, Auto-Change Subscription Status to "Pending Activation"

  Check this box to automatically change the subscription lines in the subscription from Draft to Pending Activation when the associated sales order is approved.

• First Activation Change Order Creation Sets the Subscription Start Date

  Check this box to set the subscription start date to the effective date of the first Activation change order. Note: When you change the effective date of the first Activation change order, this preference no longer applies to that change order.

• Request Credit Memo for Off-Cycle Change Orders

  Check this box to automatically generate credit memos for negative charges that occur when using the billing operations off-cycle functionality.

• Align Charge Amounts with Subscription

  Check this box to align subscription charges with the subscription start date. When you check the Align Charge Amounts with Subscription preference, all lines within an activated subscription align charges with the subscription header start date instead of its bill dates. Multiple-year subscriptions with multiple charge frequencies, such as monthly, quarterly, and annually, recur based on the subscription start date for better alignment of charge periods. Existing subscriptions activated before setting this preference may display the original recurrence pattern. When you activate a subscription, the current preference setting dictates the subscription charge pattern.

• Months To Extend Estimated Revenue Recognition End Date

  For recurring subscriptions with an evergreen term, enter an integer from 1 to 120. Suggested values are:

  • If you bill subscriptions monthly, set this preference to 1 or greater.

  • If you bill subscriptions quarterly, set this preference to 3 or greater.

  • If you bill subscriptions annually, set this preference to 12 or greater.

  • If you enter a value for this preference, you also must enter a value between 1 and 120 for the following preference:

• Months Prior To Estimated Revenue Recognition End Date To Initiate Auto-Extend

  For recurring subscriptions with an evergreen term, enter an integer from 1 to 120. This value pushes the estimated revenue recognition end date by this many months each time a subscription matches the auto extend.

• Create Delta Charges for Changes to Invoiced Service Periods

  If changes to invoiced service periods result in a change to what the customer owes while this preference is enabled, the system generates a Delta charge. The amount on a Delta charge is the difference (+or -) between the invoiced amount and the new amount for the service period.

  To see how to set this preference, view the video:

  For example, you create an invoice of $1000 on January 1 for an annual recurring service with monthly proration. On July 1, a Modify Pricing change order increases the quantity from 1 to 2. The following chart shows you how enabling the Create Delta Charges for Changes to Invoiced Service Periods preference simplifies the billing for this change:

  Charge Period	Preference Off	Preference On
  1/1-12/31	$1000.00 -$1000.00	$1000.00
  1/1-6/30	$500.00
  6/30-12/31	$1000.00	$500.00

The following options are available on the Charge subtab.

• Group Charges By

  Use the drop down list to chose the field you want to use to group charges on invoices. When you generate a customer invoice, all charges with the same information in the selected field are combined on a single line on the invoice.

  Note:

  When you bill charges on the Invoice Billable Customers page, a separate invoice is created for each grouping. The invoices created include line items for each grouped charge.

• Map To

  If you are grouping charges based on a custom field, use the drop down list to select the invoice field to which you want to map that custom field. When an invoice is created, the information in that custom field populates the field you select.

• Automatically Add Charges to As-Of Date to Invoices, Cash Sales, Credit Memos, and Cash Refunds

  Check this box to provide a distinction between to transaction date (Date field) and the as-of date. Selecting this box may have an impact on system performance.

  Use the As-of Date field when you need to separate the date when charges are added to an invoice from the transaction date. The transaction date impacts the general ledger. The as-of date does not impact the general ledger.

  Note:

  If you do not check this box, you have the option to add charges on these transaction types by clicking the Add Charges button on the transaction form.

  If you create a sales order after you run charges, charges created by that run are not linked to the sales order, and therefore are not transferred from the sales order to the invoice. To view the charges that were created by the sales order, delete the charges already created, and rerun the charge.

Invoicing Preferences for Individual Forms

In addition to the company-level settings for invoicing preferences, you can set preferences for invoicing options on customized forms.

For example, you can customize a service invoice form that uses invoicing preferences that are different than the company-level preferences set for other invoice forms. The customized service invoice can group time items even if all other invoices do not.

To set invoicing preferences for individual forms, go to Setup > Customization > Forms > Transaction Forms (Administrator), and click Customize next to the form. On the Preferences subtab, invoicing preferences for this form can be chosen based on the setting for the Use Defaults box.

• Clear the Use Defaults box to allow invoice presentation settings that are individual to this form. The company settings are selected by default, but you can change the settings by checking boxes on this tab.

• If you check the Use Defaults box, the invoice presentation determined by company-level settings are also used on this custom form. Then, the settings cannot be changed on this subtab, they must be set at the company level only.

  Note:

  Company level settings are set at Setup > Accounting > Preferences > Invoicing Preferences.

If the Use Defaults box is clear, you can choose invoice settings for the form.

Classes and Preferences

The billable lines on an invoice get assigned the class from the corresponding to the purchase transaction if you do not enable these preferences:

• Combine Time Items on Invoices

• Combine Expense Items on Invoices

• Combine Billable Items on Invoices

When these are disabled, each billable line gets its own general ledger line. You can see these billable lines in the GL Impact page. To view this, click the GL Impact link at the top of the form.

However, if you do enable these preferences, no class is populated on billable lines unless you assign a class to the entire invoice at the transaction body level.

General Notices