Invoices
Invoices are created after performing a billing run.
In this article, we'll go over some things you can do before the invoice is generated, to adjust the look of the invoice, as well as the information that appears on it.
Then we'll go over options available to you after the invoice has been generated.
Adjusting the look and general information on an invoice
To learn about how to customise the look and feel of your invoices, please see our invoice customisation article.
Customer-specific invoice settings
You can specify a few customer-specific invoice-related options by heading to the Customers list, and then clicking Edit in the Actions column of the applicable customer. From there, select the Invoicing tab at the top-right of the screen.
From this screen, you're able to add Custom Payment Terms and Custom Payment Instructions, which will override the global Payment Terms and global Payment Instructions for this customer's assigned organisation.
From here you can also specify a PO Number if required, as well as toggling options to generate one invoice per cost centre the customer may have, to summarise charges by category, to issue a service file alongside the invoice, as well as surpressing the customer's assigned organisation's overdue reminders (if set).
In addition, this is also where the Delivery Method, Delivery Email and Delivery Password (if Delivery Method is set to Email) can be set, as well as which Organisation this customer is linked to for invoice branding and settings purposes.
Viewing an invoice
Once an invoice has been generated, you can view it by either navigating to the global invoices screen by clicking Invoices in the side-navigation, and then Invoices in the sub-menu, or you can navigate to a specific customer's overview screen (Customers > Customers > Click the applicable customer's name) and then click Invoices in the top-navigation, followed by Invoices from the sub-menu.
When viewing the invoice listings, clicking an invoice number or the magnifying glass icon in the Actions column of a listing will take you to the invoice details screen for that particular invoice.
This screen gives you a breakdown of the line items that featured on the invoice, as well as a listing of any associated payments relating to that invoice.
In addition, there are also several options in the top-right, which allow you to settle an invoice, download a copy of the invoice, sending and invoice either to the customer's delivery email address or an email address you specify, and lastly to view the billing run this invoice was generated from.
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If you wished to see a copy of the invoice as your customers would see it, either use the Download button, or alternatively use the Send button to send yourself a copy alongside any additional files (such as usage statements/service files etc.). This can also be done through the invoice listings screens via the Actions column.
Invoice Payments
For times where payments aren't taken through Direct Debit automatically (usually if payments have been surpressed during the run), Billingbooth lets you utilise your configured payment integrations, such as GoCardless or Stripe, to take Direct Debit payments manually, manually take an instant payment, or set up payment installments.
To take a single payment, head to an invoice listing screen and then, in the Actions column of the applicable invoice you'd like to take a payment for, click the ellipsis icon followed by Payments from the drop-down menu.
This will bring up a small modal window, whereby Single payment is selected by default. Using the How should the payment be taken drop-down menu, you can choose between taking a Direct Debit payment using an existing payment method, even being able to specify a date when to take the payment (please take into consideration weekends and bank holidays), or letting the customer settle with a one-off payment through one of your configured payment providers, which can either be sent to the customer's delivery email address or an email address you specify. Alternatively, instead of sending the instant pay link, you can click the Get Link button which will allow you to copy the instant pay URL directly.
Switching from Single to Installments will give you options allowing you to designate which payment method for this customer to use, the number of payment installments, the frequency of the payment installments, the first collection date, as well as an optional first installment amount. After filling in the fields you'll be able to see a preview of the installment plan, which if it's to your liking you can then click Schedule Payments to finalise the installment plan.
Settling an invoice
An invoice will be automatically settled if payments in flight within Billingbooth reach a certain status threshhold (with Stripe this is Paid out, whereas with GoCardless you're able to specify the settlement mode).
If there are no payments in flight, you have a few options when it comes to manually settling an invoice.
Batch settling invoices
Batch settling invoices, much like bulk settling invoices below, allows you batch settle invoices with the key difference being that you're able to specify the amount that was settled alongside each invoice.
To batch settle invoices, head to the main Invoices listing screen, and in the top-right corner click the Batch settle button to take you to the Batch Settle Invoices screen.
From here click the Download Batch Settle Template button and fill in the corresponding fields (red columns are required information, everything else is optional).
Once you've filled the template in as needed, either drag the file over the dotted area or click the dotted area and navigate to the file to upload it.
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Any Amount totals that go over the corresponding invoice total will be added as available credit against the applicable customer.
Bulk settling invoices
To bulk settle invoices, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to settle.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Change Status button and select Settled from the drop-down menu. A modal window will appear, allowing you to select how the invoices were settled (defined by your entry types), on which date they were settled and if there's any additional information to add about the settling.
Settling a single invoice
Settling one invoice can be done either by heading to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by Settle from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can click on the invoice number or the magnifying glass icon in the Actions column to go to the invoice details screen and click the Settle button at the top-right of the screen.
As with settling in bulk, a modal window will appear, allowing you to select how the invoices were settled (defined by your entry types), on which date they were settled and if there's any additional information to add about the settling.
With settling a singular invoice, you also get the ability to assign available credits to the invoice in order to settle it or partially settle it, as well as see any past transactions relating to the invoice.
Changing the status of invoices
In addition to setting invoices as settled, you're also able to set invoices to Outstanding or Void statuses.
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Please note, for the purposes of customer balances, if an invoice was settled or partially settled utilising assigned credit, setting the invoice to either Outstanding or Void will free up that credit as available credit.
Bulk changing the status of invoices
To bulk change the status of invoices, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to change the status of.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Change Status button and select the applicable status from the drop-down menu.
Changing the status of a single invoice
Changing the status of a single invoice can be done by heading to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by either Outstanding or Void from the drop-down menu.
Deleting an invoice
Deleting invoices can either be done in bulk or singularly.
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Please note, for the purposes of customer balances, if an invoice was settled or partially settled utilising assigned credit, deleting the invoice will free up that credit as available credit.
Bulk deleting invoices
To bulk delete invoices, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to delete.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Delete all button to delete the selected invoices.
Deleting a single invoice
Deleting a single invoice can be done by heading to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by Delete from the drop-down menu.
Reports
There are two types of reports you can generate that cover your invoices, a simple report and a detailed report.
To generate either of them, simply head to an Invoice listing screen, use the filters at the top of the screen to specify which invoices should be included in the report, and at the top-right, click the Report button followed by either Simple or Detailed from the drop-down menu.
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Doing this from the customer-specific Invoice listings screen will only feature that customer's invoices.
The simple report gives you an overview where each line item is itself an invoice listing with select information about it. Whereas the detailed report is broken down into the line items across all the invoices included in the report, along with more granular information about each line item.
Exporting invoices
You may wish to manually export your invoices in Billingbooth to a third-party application.
There are two methods to do this, beforehand you'll want to ensure you have the app integration set up that you'd like to export to.
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Please note, this section relates to the Exporter type of app integrations. For the Connector type, please see the app integration section of the documentation.
Bulk exporting invoices - By date range
To export invoices by date range, head to the main Invoices listing screen and click the Export button at the top-right of the screen.
This will bring up a modal window where you'll be able to specify a date range of what invoices to include based on issue date, as well as if you wish to export invoices from across all customer groups or a specific group, and lastly which app integration you wish to format the export for.
Once you've got everything set, click the Export button and Billingbooth will generate the export file for you.
Bulk exporting invoices - By selection
To export invoices by selection, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to export.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Export button and a modal window will appear. Select the app integration you wish to format the export file for, and once you've made your selection, click the Export button to create the export file for the selected invoices.
Downloading invoices
You may wish to download the invoices on your account, often for archiving purposes. You can either download individual invoices or download them in bulk.
Downloading a single invoice
Downloading a single invoice can be done by heading to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by Download from the drop-down menu.
This will download the invoice file in its specified format.
Downloading a service file
If you've set a customer to receiving service files in addition to their invoice, you can download the corresponding service file (if applicable to the invoice) by heading to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by Service File from the drop-down menu.
Downloading a usage statement
By default, customer's with a Voice, Data & SMS line item on their invoice will also receive a usage statement in addition to the invoice, detailing how the amount for the Voice, Data & SMS line item was reached.
To download an invoice's associated usage statement, head to an invoice listings screen and then clicking the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable invoice, followed by Attachments from the drop-down menu.
Downloading invoices in bulk
To download invoices in bulk, head to the main Invoices listing screen and click the Download button at the top-right of the screen.
This will bring up a modal window where you'll be able to specify a date range of what invoices to include based on issue date, as well as if you wish to group the invoices into folders for each customer, and if you'd also like to include any applicable attachments with the invoices (as separate files).
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If you're looking to download all your invoices, depending on how many invoices you're downloading at once, we'd often recommend downloading invoices in 3 to 6 month chunks if are having problems.
Sending invoices via email
Unless you've suppressed sending out emails during the billing run, either by setting the option before starting the billing run itself or via Settings > General (under the General sub-heading), then invoices will automatically be sent out to the customers with their delivery method set to Email, via their Delivery Email Address.
There is also the means of sending out single or bulk invoices manually.
Sending invoices in bulk
To bulk send invoices, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to send.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Resend button.
A modal window will appear where you can specify if you wish to send the invoices to each customer's designated delivery email address, or if you wish to send them to an alternate singular email address. If you pick the single email address option, a field will appear allowing you to enter the email address you wish to send the invoices to.
Once you've made your selection, click the Send button to send the invoice emails.
Send a single invoice
When viewing the invoice listings, clicking an invoice number or the magnifying glass icon in the Actions column of a listing will take you to the invoice details screen for that particular invoice.
Click the Send button at the top-right of the screen.
A modal window will appear where you can specify if you wish to send the invoice to the customer's designated delivery email address, or if you wish to send it to an alternate singular email address. If you pick the single email address option, a field will appear allowing you to enter the email address you wish to send the invoice to.
Once you've made your selection, click the Send button to send the invoice email.
Sending invoice reminders
Invoice reminders can be sent either manually, or configured to be sent out automatically at specified intervals.
Send automated overdue reminders
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To see/edit the associated email templates for overdue reminders, head to Settings > Email Templates. Where Invoice Overdue Reminder #1, Invoice Overdue Reminder #2, and Invoice Overdue Reminder #3 are the templates used here.
To start, head to Settings > Organisations and Edit the applicable organisation. Once you're on the edit screen, click the Invoicing tab in the top-right.
From this screen, you can enable the three Send Overdue Reminder fields. Enabling any of them allows you to also specify how many days after becoming overdue the reminder should be sent.
If ever needed, you can suppress sending out overdue reminders to specific customers by editing the customer directly, and on the edit customer screen, clicking the Invoicing tab at the top-right. From here toggle the Suppress overdue reminders field.
Send a single direct overdue invoice reminder
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To see/edit the associated email templates for overdue reminders, head to Settings > Email Templates. Where Invoice Reminder is the templates used here.
To send a direct overdue invoice reminder to a customer, when viewing the invoice listings, clicking an invoice number or the magnifying glass icon in the Actions column of a listing will take you to the invoice details screen for that particular invoice.
Click the Send button at the top-right of the screen.
A modal window will appear where you can specify if you wish to send the overdue invoice reminder to the customer's designated delivery email address, or if you wish to send it to an alternate singular email address. If you pick the single email address option, a field will appear allowing you to enter the email address you wish to send the invoice reminder to.
Once you've made your selection, click the Send Reminders button to send the overdue invoice reminder email.
Sending direct overdue invoice reminders in bulk
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To see/edit the associated email templates for overdue reminders, head to Settings > Email Templates. Where Invoice Reminder is the templates used here.
To bulk send overdue invoice reminders, first head to an invoice listing screen. Once there, use the checkboxes on the left-hand side of each listing to select the invoices you wish to send an overdue reminder for.
Once selected, you'll notice a few buttons appear at the top of the list, click the Resend button.
A modal window will appear where you can specify if you wish to send the overdue invoice reminders to each customer's designated delivery email address, or if you wish to send them to an alternate singular email address. If you pick the single email address option, a field will appear allowing you to enter the email address you wish to send the overdue invoice reminders to.
Once you've made your selection, click the Send button to send the overdue invoice reminder emails.