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3.8 Invoicing & Receipting |
  
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3.8 Invoicing & Receipting |
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3.8.1 Invoicing and Receipts
Invoices in Latitude serve two purposes. The first is the traditional one of billing a client, the second is to finalize timesheets so that they are no longer included in Work-In-Progress (WIP) and can not be changed. An Invoice can be created as a general item for a Client or more commonly for a particular Job. The Main contact of the client is automatically assigned as the billing contact for the invoice. The invoice will use the contacts office address if they have one or default to the Clients postal address if none is available. You can change the address to a different billing contact if necessary.
Using the Invoice Status, Latitude Business Edition / Corporate Edition provides the ability to create Draft Invoices. The difference between Draft and Submitted invoices are that in Draft Invoices any allocated timesheets are still included in the WIP and the invoice can not be receipted against. Progress reports including or excluding Draft invoices are available. In submitted invoices the invoice is fixed and can no longer have timesheets attached.
An invoice within Latitude is comprised of one or more line items. The Invoice ex-tax amount, tax, and invoice amounts are calculated as the sum of the line values. Each invoice line can consist of the following;
1) a descriptive text
2) a quantity, units, and rate
3) the ex-tax amount, tax type, tax amount, and line amount
4) the Income GL account
5) a Group number and sort number
Latitude provides the functionality to set up standard invoice descriptions, these can be used to help bring uniformity to your invoices. Another use may be to insert standard clauses or statements onto an invoice. The standard descriptions are simply a starting point, the text for any line can be modified as needed. Latitude will attempt to calculate amounts based upon what you entered.
The benefits of the invoice lines include being able to include taxed and untaxed items on the same invoice, and to split Income into different cost centers or GL accounts. By using the Group and Sort numbers it is possible to move the invoice lines into the order you want. You can also create special invoice lines that will act as Group sub-total lines on the printed invoice. Subtotal lines will not affect the total invoice values.
Latitude can automatically generate lines for the allocated timesheets, the items of an active job quote, or flagged job tasks. If using timesheets, an invoice line will be generated for each unique CB Code. If using a job quote, a line per quote item. If flagged tasks then a line per task.
The allocation of timesheets to an invoice does not directly affect the invoice, you have complete control over whether individual timesheets will be displayed on the invoice or included in the invoice details and amounts. You select which timesheets you wish to allocate, Latitude provides search functionality to allow you to limit the timesheets to be considered. It also provides the ability to select all unallocated timesheets.
Latitude provides a number of standard invoice templates that you can choose from. These have the ability to include your company details and logo. Different style sheets allow you to enter other data on the invoice. This can include information such as a Salutation, a Gratuity, a Signatory, a Message, or a Remittance message. Flags exist on the style sheet to exclude or include pieces of data from an invoice. The Invoice can be reprinted as often as required.
If a standard invoice does not exist, that matches your requirements, you may request to have a new custom invoice template created at an additional cost.
When a client makes a payment, it is possible to record the payment as a receipt in Latitude. You can specify the date of receipt, receipt amount, method of payment, and the bank account it is going into. The receipt can be allocated to one or more invoices, in part or in full. If the invoice has a tax component the system will automatically calculate the tax amount to be split out from the amount allocated.
The data for both Invoices and Receipts can be exported to a number of external Accounting packages.