Invoice On Demand

On the Invoice On Demand page, you can generate initial invoices (which include charges for the first billing period), out-of-turn invoices (which include manual credit / charge transactions) and midterm invoices, which cover a billing period’s shorter intervals.

The Invoice wizard is used to easily create, adjust and generate customer invoices. The wizard makes it possible to finalize the following actions:

1. Invoice type selection
2. Fee control
3. Summary review
4. Payment (optional)
5. Invoice generation.

Let’s consider these stages in more detail.

1. Three invoice types are available for selection:

   • Initial – This invoice is generated for the customer shortly after customer creation and includes charges for the first billing period.

   • Out-of-turn – This invoice is usually used to cover only a few specific items on demand.

   • Midterm – This invoice is generated in the middle of a billing period and includes all charges generated by the time of invoice generation.

   NOTE: The Initial invoice option is only available when you generate the first invoice during the first billing period. Otherwise, use the Midterm invoice.

    

   

    

2. At the second stage, an administrator can review the recurring and usage fees that are included in an out-of-turn invoice. To apply the usage fees for Initial and Midterm invoices, click the Assess the Fees Note that this click also activates the subscription charges for the Initial invoice.

   NOTE: A subscription can be included in the Initial invoice only if its Subscription Charges Applied option is set to In Advance.

   If necessary, more custom charges or credits may be added by applying them manually. To do this, click the Add Fee button.

    

   For customers whose taxes are calculated using the Avalara, EZTax, SureTax or GST taxation plug-ins, specify the tax transaction code when adding a charge or credit to an out-of-turn invoice. PortaBilling® uses this code to extract the plug-ins’ taxation codes for tax calculation.

    

   

    

3. Then do a final review of the total sum that includes fees, taxes and subscriptions.

    

   If the customer has unallocated payments – payments made in advance – they will be automatically applied to pay off the out-of-turn invoice. The amount of unallocated payments applied to the out-of-turn invoice is reflected in the Payments filed.

    

   To adjust the invoice due date, select one of the Payment Terms options:

   • As defined by the Customer Class – Select this option to leave the default value.
   • Due – Specify a certain number of days within which the invoice must be paid (e.g. NET 45 means that the customer has 45 days to pay). Alternatively, select Upon Receipt to receive the payment on the day the invoice is issued.
   • Custom – Select the desired due date by clicking on the Calendar icon.

   

    

4. On the next tab it is possible to assign payment for this sum. The payment can be made by cash, cheque or credit card. If a customer prefers to pay later, the None option is also available.

    

   

    

5. Click Next to generate the invoice. Once the invoice has been generated, it can be downloaded as a .pdf file.

    

   

Initial invoice

Sometimes you need to create a customer and immediately generate an invoice containing the activation fee, service charges for the current billing period, etc. Initial invoice makes it possible to apply and calculate these charges once the customer has been created. Initial invoice improves client service by saving customers’ time while providing you with a tool for generating early payments.

To apply the usage fees for initial invoice, click the Assess the Fees button on the Fees tab. Note that this click also activates the subscription charges.

NOTE: A subscription can be included in the Initial invoice only if its Subscription Charges Applied option is set to In Advance.

Out-of-turn invoice

Sometimes invoices for extra services such as a technician visit or an equipment purchase need to be provided at the time when such service is rendered so the customer can immediately proceed with payment. The administrator can generate an out-of-turn invoice (to cover only a few specific items) on demand.

All you need to generate an invoice is to apply one or more Manual Credit / Charge transactions that contain a description(s) that will be visible for a customer and then mark it / them as Include in Out-of-Turn Invoice.

To generate an out-of-turn invoice, select the Out-of-Turn Invoice option on the Invoice On Demand page. Once selected, the charges available for out-of-turn invoices will be displayed. Select the charges you want to include in your invoice. If necessary, more custom charges or credits may be added by applying them manually. To do this, click the Add Fee button. Then complete the other steps of invoice generation.

Transactions included in a generated out-of-turn invoice won’t be reflected in the regular invoice issued at the end of the customer’s billing period. Thereafter, if one or more transactions aren’t included in a generated out-of-turn invoice during the corresponding billing period, they will be reflected in the regular invoice issued at the end of the customer’s billing period.

NOTE: To generate an Out-of-turn invoice define the invoice template for the customer beforehand. If the customer has Customer Class Default selected in the Invoice Template field then the customer class should have a defined invoice template.

Midterm Invoice

If during the middle of a billing period, a customer wants to pay for services consumed and does not want to wait until the end for their invoice, an administrator may generate a midterm invoice.

Let’s assume that a customer with a monthly billing period wishes to pay for services consumed up to the 13^th of May and informs the administrator about this. On the 14^th of May the administrator generates a midterm invoice for this customer, which covers the period from the 1^st of May until the 13^th of May. The invoice is then immediately sent to the customer. The regular invoice that’s generated at the end of the billing period will cover the rest of the period – from the 14^th of May until the 31^st of May.

To generate a midterm invoice, select the Midterm Invoice option on the Invoice on Demand page. To apply the usage fees for midterm invoice, click the Assess the Fees button. If necessary, more custom charges or credits may be added by applying them manually. To do this, click the Add Fee button. Then complete the other steps of invoice generation.