SaabiManual

Chapter 12 · Sales · 7 min read

Sales Invoices

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A sales invoice is the bill you send a customer when you have made a sale. It is the entry that books your income, adds the tax you have charged, and creates the amount the customer owes you. Every invoice moves through the same short life: you fill it in and save it as a draft, you submit it to post it to your accounts, and you record a payment against it to settle it. This chapter follows one invoice through that whole life, from the list view to the printed PDF.

The Sales Invoice list

Open Sales > Sales Invoices. The list shows every invoice on the company file, newest first.

The Sales Invoice list for Saabi Demo Trading LLC — status, customer, grand total and the amount still outstanding on every invoice, with paid rows showing $ 0.00 outstanding
Figure 12.1The Sales Invoice list for Saabi Demo Trading LLC — status, customer, grand total and the amount still outstanding on every invoice, with paid rows showing $ 0.00 outstanding

Each row carries the invoice number, a status badge, the customer, the date, the Base Grand Total and the Outstanding Amount. The footer shows the range of rows on screen, the page control, and a page-size control if the list runs past one page.

The toolbar holds everything you can do to the list as a whole.

The list toolbar — Export, Filter and the + button that starts a new invoice, above the column headers
Figure 12.2The list toolbar — Export, Filter and the + button that starts a new invoice, above the column headers
  • Export writes the rows you can see to a file.
  • Filter narrows the list, for example to one customer or to unpaid invoices only.
  • + opens a blank invoice form.

Starting a new invoice

Click +. SAABI opens a blank entry titled New Entry with a Draft badge in the corner. Nothing has been written to your books yet.

A blank sales invoice — the number series, customer, account and date at the top, an empty Items grid, and totals sitting at $ 0.00 until rows are added
Figure 12.3A blank sales invoice — the number series, customer, account and date at the top, an empty Items grid, and totals sitting at $ 0.00 until rows are added

The header fields are:

  • Number Series — the prefix the invoice number comes from, SINV- by default.
  • Customer — who you are billing.
  • Account — the receivable account the invoice is booked against. SAABI fills this in from the customer record once you pick a customer.
  • Date — the invoice date, set to now and editable.
  • Price List — an optional price list to take rates from instead of each item's own rate.

Below them sit the Items grid, Net Total, the Tax and Totals section, an Outstanding section, and a References section for notes and attachments. At the foot of the card are two tabs, Main and Settings.

Choosing the customer

Click the Customer field and start typing. Link fields in SAABI complete as you type and show matching records underneath.

Typing into the Customer field on a new invoice — the matching customer appears in a list under the field
Figure 12.4Typing into the Customer field on a new invoice — the matching customer appears in a list under the field

If the customer is not on your books yet, you do not have to break off and create them first. The same list offers Create followed by the text you typed.

The Customer field with "Oasis" typed — the matching customer above, and the inline Create option that adds a new customer under that name without leaving the invoice
Figure 12.5The Customer field with "Oasis" typed — the matching customer above, and the inline Create option that adds a new customer under that name without leaving the invoice

Choose Create and SAABI opens a short form for the new customer; save it and you are returned to the invoice with the field filled in. Every link field on the form behaves this way, including Item and Tax on the item rows.

Adding the items

  1. In the Items section, click Add Row. An empty row appears in the grid.
  2. Click the Item cell and pick what you are selling. The item's Rate and its default Tax are fetched from the item record.
  3. Set Qty. The Amount column recalculates as you type.
  4. Change the Rate or the Tax on the row if this sale differs from the item's defaults.
  5. Repeat for each item on the bill.

As soon as a taxed row exists, the Tax and Totals section grows a Taxes grid showing each tax account, its rate and the tax amount, and the Grand Total below it.

A draft with one row — two units of Consulting Services at $ 1,500.00 give a net total of $ 3,000.00, and sales tax at 8.5% brings the grand total to $ 3,255.00
Figure 12.6A draft with one row — two units of Consulting Services at $ 1,500.00 give a net total of $ 3,000.00, and sales tax at 8.5% brings the grand total to $ 3,255.00

Saving the invoice

Click Save. SAABI asks you to confirm before it creates the entry.

The save confirmation over the filled draft — the invoice is not written to the file until you answer Yes
Figure 12.7The save confirmation over the filled draft — the invoice is not written to the file until you answer Yes
The confirmation dialog — "Save New Sales Invoice 01?" with the question "Create new Sales Invoice entry?" and Yes / No
Figure 12.8The confirmation dialog — "Save New Sales Invoice 01?" with the question "Create new Sales Invoice entry?" and Yes / No

Click Yes. The entry is written, the title changes from New Entry to the invoice number, and the badge changes to Not Submitted.

The saved invoice SINV-1070 in its Not Submitted state — the number is assigned, the Submit button has appeared in the toolbar, and each item row now carries a delete control
Figure 12.9The saved invoice SINV-1070 in its Not Submitted state — the number is assigned, the Submit button has appeared in the toolbar, and each item row now carries a delete control

A saved but not submitted invoice is a real record you can come back to, but it has not been posted. Nothing has moved in your accounts, the customer owes nothing yet, and you can still change any field, add rows, or remove rows using the delete control that has appeared at the left of each line.

Submitting the invoice

Submitting is what posts the invoice. Click Submit and confirm.

The submit confirmation — "Submit SINV-1070?" and "Mark Sales Invoice as submitted?", the last point at which the invoice can still be changed
Figure 12.10The submit confirmation — "Submit SINV-1070?" and "Mark Sales Invoice as submitted?", the last point at which the invoice can still be changed

Click Yes. SAABI makes the ledger entries against the accounts on the invoice: the income is booked, the tax is recorded, and the grand total is added to what the customer owes you. The badge changes to Unpaid and shows the amount outstanding.

The submitted invoice — an Unpaid $ 3,255.00 badge in the header, the same figure repeated in Outstanding Amount, and View and … added to the toolbar
Figure 12.11The submitted invoice — an Unpaid $ 3,255.00 badge in the header, the same figure repeated in Outstanding Amount, and View and … added to the toolbar

Important

A submitted invoice cannot be edited. If you have submitted an invoice with the wrong figures on it, cancel it and raise a corrected one, or record a return against it. Both are covered later in this chapter.

Recording a payment

An invoice stays Unpaid until you record the money you have received. Open the submitted invoice and click Create in the toolbar.

The Create menu open on a submitted invoice, listing the documents that can be raised from it
Figure 12.12The Create menu open on a submitted invoice, listing the documents that can be raised from it
The Create menu in close-up — Payment, Shipment, Return, Duplicate and New Entry
Figure 12.13The Create menu in close-up — Payment, Shipment, Return, Duplicate and New Entry

Choose Payment. A quick-edit panel opens down the right-hand side of the screen with the outstanding amount already filled in.

The payment panel open beside the invoice — the amount is pre-filled from the outstanding balance, so a payment in full needs no typing at all
Figure 12.14The payment panel open beside the invoice — the amount is pre-filled from the outstanding balance, so a payment in full needs no typing at all
The payment panel's fields — payment method, type, receiving account, reference and clearance dates, amount and write off
Figure 12.15The payment panel's fields — payment method, type, receiving account, reference and clearance dates, amount and write off

Check Payment Method, To Account — the bank or cash account the money went into — and Posting Date, and add a reference if you have one. Leave Amount as it is for payment in full, or reduce it for a part payment. Every field on the panel is described in Chapter 13.

Click Save. SAABI saves and submits the payment together, reduces the receivable, increases the balance on your bank or cash account, and updates the invoice.

The same invoice after the payment — the badge reads Paid and Outstanding Amount has fallen to $ 0.00
Figure 12.16The same invoice after the payment — the badge reads Paid and Outstanding Amount has fallen to $ 0.00

Note

A part payment leaves the invoice Partly Paid with the remainder still in Outstanding Amount. Record further payments the same way until the outstanding amount reaches zero, at which point the status becomes Paid.

Editing an invoice item

Each item row has an edit button at its right-hand end. Click it to open the row in a panel where every field on the line is available, not only the five columns the grid has space for.

An item row opened for editing — the grid stays on the left while the row's full set of fields opens on the right
Figure 12.17An item row opened for editing — the grid stays on the left while the row's full set of fields opens on the right
The row panel — item, account, description, HSN/SAC, tax, rate, transfer and stock quantities, amount, discount fields and taxed amount
Figure 12.18The row panel — item, account, description, HSN/SAC, tax, rate, transfer and stock quantities, amount, discount fields and taxed amount

The panel contains Item, Account, Description, HSN/SAC, Tax, Rate, Qty. in Transfer Unit, Transfer Unit, Quantity, Stock Unit, Conversion Factor, Amount, Set Discount Amount, Discount Percent and Taxed Amount. Use it to give a line its own description on the printed invoice, to record the HSN or SAC code, to apply a discount to one line, or to check what the line comes to after tax.

Tip

You can type into Taxed Amount directly. SAABI works the rate back from the figure you enter, which is quicker than calculating a rate that lands on a round total.

The Settings tab

The tabs at the foot of the form card switch between Main, which is everything above, and Settings.

The Settings tab of an invoice, holding the Apply Discount After Tax option
Figure 12.19The Settings tab of an invoice, holding the Apply Discount After Tax option

Apply Discount After Tax decides the order the two calculations run in. Leave it clear to take the discount off the item amounts and then charge tax on what is left. Tick it to charge tax first and take the discount off the taxed total. Discounts are covered in Chapter 30.

The Create menu

Create on a submitted invoice raises a related document with the invoice's details already filled in:

  • Payment — records money received, as described above.
  • Shipment — records the goods leaving your inventory against this invoice.
  • Return — raises a credit against this invoice when the customer sends goods back. Quantities on a return are entered as negative figures, so the return reverses the original entry.
  • Duplicate — copies this invoice into a new draft, useful for a customer you bill for the same thing every month.
  • New Entry — starts a blank invoice.

Cancelling an invoice

The … menu next to Create holds Cancel.

The … menu on a submitted invoice, offering Cancel
Figure 12.20The … menu on a submitted invoice, offering Cancel

Cancelling reverses the ledger entries the invoice made and leaves the invoice on file, marked as cancelled, so the number is never reused and the history stays intact. Use it when an invoice should not have been raised at all. When goods have genuinely been sold and then returned, use Create > Return instead, so both the sale and the return appear in your records.

Printing and sending the invoice

Click the print icon in the toolbar to open the print view.

The print view toolbar — the template selector, the … menu, and the Save as PDF and Print buttons
Figure 12.21The print view toolbar — the template selector, the … menu, and the Save as PDF and Print buttons

Pick a template from the selector on the left, then use Save as PDF to write a file you can email, or Print to send it to a printer.

The printed invoice — the forest-green header band carries the Saabi mark, the company name and the invoice number, with BILLED TO and FROM blocks above the item table and the grand total picked out in green
Figure 12.22The printed invoice — the forest-green header band carries the Saabi mark, the company name and the invoice number, with BILLED TO and FROM blocks above the item table and the grand total picked out in green

What appears on the printed invoice — your logo, the brand colour, the font, and whether terms, descriptions and amounts in words are shown — is set once at Setup > Settings > Print (Chapter 52) and applies to every invoice you print. Templates are covered in Chapter 54.

Invoice statuses

The badge in the invoice header and the Status column in the list use the same set of labels. Appendix B lists every status in SAABI.

Status badges in the list — Unpaid in orange and Paid in green, read at a glance down the Status column
Figure 12.23Status badges in the list — Unpaid in orange and Paid in green, read at a glance down the Status column
  • Draft — a new entry that has not been saved.
  • Not Submitted — saved, fully editable, not yet posted.
  • Unpaid — submitted and posted, nothing received yet.
  • Partly Paid — some of the balance has been received.
  • Paid — the outstanding amount has reached zero.
  • Return — a credit raised against an earlier invoice.
  • Not Transferred — submitted, with stock on the invoice not yet shipped.

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