Invoices

The extensive invoicing options of Severa 3 allow you to create custom invoices for all billable cases and track the status of invoices. All invoices automatically inherit account information, company-wide organization and invoice settings (see figure below). See Settings for more information on the settings. If necessary, some of these settings can be customized for each invoice.

Figure: Example Invoice

Invoices can be sent to customers in digital or paper format, as the system allows you to print out both PDF and paper invoices (see Printing invoices). You can also integrate invoicing with your accounting software¹⁾.

You can invoice customers case by case, or you can combine several cases into one invoice. You can create more than one invoice per case. An example of this scenario would be if you have a long case which needs to be invoiced monthly.

You can also create an invoice for an account and/or case that does not yet exist in the system. In this scenario, you need to provide the initial data for the new account and/or case when you create the invoice. You can complete the information for the new account and/or case once the invoice has been created.

The process of creating a new invoice differs according to whether you create an invoice without existing expenses (fixed fees, mileage, work and travel hours), or create the invoice from scratch. The New invoice page lists all cases which have billable items by the current date (see figure below).

Figure: New invoice page

When making the very first invoice the New invoice dialog is different from the regular New invoice dialog. In the dialog there are fields for your details (bank name, account number, BIC code, VAT number and the number of the first invoice) and for the customer’s details.

Bank name, Bank account number, BIC code and First invoice number are always mandatory. The VAT number is usually mandatory but might be replaced with business id in some cases, for example if the organization is from the USA. The first invoice number is the number of the first invoice and the following invoice numbers are the number of the previous invoice plus one. Under customer details the first thing that needs to be filled out is the customer name. After filling it in, the dropdowns below become active and values can be chosen. If any of the values are missing there is a possibility of adding new by choosing “Add new” as below. All the fields are mandatory.

When choosing “Add new”,new fields appear which need to be filled out. A new invoice is created by clicking Create invoice button. After this the following create invoice dialogs look different since the startup information of invoicing has been already gathered.

1. Point to the New icon and click Invoice.
2. If necessary, change the value of the Invoice date by selecting the desired date from the calendar. The invoice date is the current date by default.
3. Click Create new or None above, create new.
4. Enter the name of the account you want to invoice.
   • To select an existing account, enter the first character of the account name in the Customer field and select the correct account from the autocomplete list that appears.
     1. Select the billing contact from the Contact drop-down menu.
     2. Select the case you want to invoice.
        • To select an existing case, check the box next to the case name under Existing cases. Note that you can select more than one case.
        • To create a new case, enter the name of the case in the Case field.
     3. Click Create invoice.
   • To create a new account, click New customer
     1. Enter the initial details of the new customer.
     2. Enter a name for the case.
     3. Click Create invoice.

The invoice is now created, but requires further editing since you need to enter the items to be invoiced. For information on the different options, see Managing invoices below.

1. Point to the New icon and click Invoice.
2. If necessary, change the value of the Invoice date by selecting the desired date from the calendar. The invoice date is the current date by default.
3. Check the box next to the name of the case for which you want to create the invoice. Note that you can select more than one case.
4. If you selected more than one case and want to create separate invoices for the cases, select Create only one invoice per customer.
5. Click Create invoices.

The invoice is now created, but may require further editing. For information on the different options, see Managing invoices below. The status of the newly created invoices is the Default status defined in the Invoice status section on the Settings page. This status is Draft by default.

You can only edit open invoices. The status of an open invoice is Draft by default. Invoice status behavior can be changed in the Invoice settings menu. You can modify invoices in various ways. All rows of the invoice are editable and can be accessed by clicking the icon.

Note that you cannot modify the invoice number manually. The number is generated automatically when you change the status of the invoice to Sent. The invoice is given the next available number once the status has been changed to Sent. The invoice numbering format is specified in your company settings. For more information, see Invoice settings.

All billable fixed fees and work and travel hours can be invoiced as follows:

• Fixed fees: on or after the date specified in the fixed fee's Date field (on the Fixed fees & purchases section of a case)
• Work and travel hours: as soon as employees have entered and saved their hours in the system

If you have created invoices with existing expenses, the expenses are already itemized on the invoice (see figure below). You can modify the items if necessary.

Figure: Itemizing invoices

You can group the different items of an invoice, for example, by cases and work types. You can choose to display the grouped items either on the invoice itself or in an attachment.

To itemize the invoice:

1. Search for the invoice you want to edit by using the search engine or the saved searches under your Invoices icon.
2. Open the invoice. Depending on your search method, you can open the invoice by clicking the date of the invoice or the icon.
3. Click the icon next to the Description field.
4. Check the boxes next to the items you want to invoice in the Add more items section.
5. Select Bill now from the second Action drop-down menu.
6. Select the display and attachment options for fixed fees from the Bill expenses drop-down menu.
   • To list all items on the first page of the invoice, select On first page.
   • To list all items on a single line, select On single line.
   • To list all items on a single line and include them in an automatically generated attachment, select On single line with attachment.
7. Select the grouping and attachment options for billable hours from the first Bill hours drop-down menu.
   • To ignore grouping and list all items on the first page of the invoice, select On first page. If you select this option, the item description is inherited from the settings on the Config tab, Invoice item descriptions section. (For information on how to change these settings, see Changing the item description.)
   • To group items without an attachment, select Group on first page and then select the desired grouping from the second and third drop-down menus under Bill hours.
   • To group items and include them in an automatically generated attachment, select Group with attachment and then select the desired grouping from the second and third drop-down menus under Bill hours.
8. Click Save. The selected items are moved under Existing items.
9. Click Close.

Invoices contain three kinds of inherited options: company-wide, account-specific and case-specific. All of these options can be changed per invoice.

The item description specifies the type of information that is displayed in connection to the items on the invoice. You can specify a different item description for travel hours and expenses, as well as work hours. The item description contains different tags which you can combine to suit your preferences.

The item description settings are account-specific; that is, if you change the settings of one invoice, the new settings are applied to all subsequent invoices for that account.

To change the invoice item descriptions:

1. On an open invoice, click the Config tab.
2. Select the desired tags.
   • For travel hours and expenses, select the applicable tags from the Automated tags field next to the Travel & expenses field.
   • For work hours, select the applicable tags from the Automated tags field next to the Work hours field.
3. Click Save.

The language and formatting settings for the invoice are inherited from the company and case settings. Any changes you make are only applied to the current invoice and are not applied to any subsequent invoices. Note that you can also change the currency if you have the Multicurrency upgrade.

To change the language and formatting:

1. On an open invoice, click the Config tab.
2. To change the language of the invoice, select the applicable language from the Language drop-down menu.
3. To change how dates, figures, and similar items are displayed, select the language of the formatting rules that you want to use from the Formatting drop-down menu.
4. Click Save.

By default, an invoice has the following three rows that you can modify freely: two above the Description field and one below. The topmost of these is invoice-specific, meaning that any input in this field is not applied to any subsequent invoices. Any additional changes you make are also applied to all subsequent invoices.

You can use these fields for any additional information. You may, for example, want to include a reminder on all invoices that states, “Please quote your reference number when paying the invoice.”

To specify additional information:

1. On an open invoice, click the icon on the applicable clear invoice row.
2. Enter the text you want to include in the invoice.
3. Click Save.

The last row on the invoice is the footer. The contents of the footer are specified at registration. If necessary, you can edit the information in the footer.

To change the footer details:

1. On an open invoice, click the icon on the section located at the bottom of the invoice.
2. Make the necessary changes.
3. Click Save.

The default due date of an invoice is 14 days from the invoice date, or the number of days you have specified in the account details. If necessary, you can change the invoice date and/or the due date. You can also change the payment term of the invoice and add references.

To change the payment details:

1. On an open invoice, click the icon next to the Invoice number field.
   • To change the invoice date, click the calendar and select a new date.
   • To add references, enter your company's reference in the Our reference field and the customer's reference in the Your reference field. You can also add one reference.
   • To change the invoice period, enter the desired number of days in the Payment term field.
   • To change the penalty interest percentage, enter the new percentage in the Overdue interest field.
2. Click Save.

Figure: Changing payment details

If necessary, you can also add new cases to the invoice or remove existing cases. Additionally, you can customize the invoices in a number of ways. Before making any changes, you need to open the applicable invoice as described in Itemizing invoices.

You can add any number of cases with billable hours or fees to an invoice, as well as remove cases from an invoice which contains more than one case. Note that if the invoice contains items from the case you want to remove, these are not automatically deleted when you remove the case.

To add another case to an invoice:

1. On an open invoice, click the Config tab.
2. From the drop-down menu under Cases, select the case you want to add to the invoice and click Add.
3. Click the Invoice tab.
4. Click the icon next to Description.
5. From Add more items, check the boxes next to the hours/fixed fees you want to add to the invoice. The list contains all billable hours and fixed fees linked to the new case.
6. From the second Action drop-down menu, select Bill now.
7. Select the grouping options from the drop-down menus under Bill expenses and Bill hours.
8. Click Save and Close.

To remove a case from an invoice:

1. On an open invoice, click the Config tab.
2. Click Remove next to the case you want to remove.
3. Click OK on the confirmation dialog window that opens.
4. To remove items related to the removed case from the invoice:
   1. Click the Invoice tab.
   2. Click the icon next to Description.
   3. Check the boxes next to the hours/fixed fees you want to remove.
   4. From the first Action drop-down menu, select Bill later.

You can exclude taxes from an invoice by creating a tax-free invoice. No taxes are included in a tax-free invoice even if tax is included in the used rates. That is, all items in a tax-free invoice are treated as if their tax percentage was 0, regardless of the true tax percentage of the item.

To create an invoice without any tax:

1. Create the invoice as usual.
2. On an open invoice, click the Config tab.
3. Check the Tax free invoice box.
4. Click Save.

If your company settings do not define that a logo be included in all invoices, or you need to change the logo for some reason, you can upload a logo for your invoice manually. If you want to use the same logo for all invoices, you should automate the process by adding it to your company settings. For more information, see Managing organizational information and visual settings.

To add/change your company logo:

1. On an open invoice, click the icon on the first invoice row.
2. Click Browse to locate and select the applicable image file.
3. Click Save.

The customer's name and address is derived from the account settings. The address is only added automatically to the invoice if it is marked as the billing address. You can add/edit the address per invoice if necessary.

To change the customer name or address:

1. On an open invoice, click the icon on the second invoice row.
2. Change the customer details as necessary.
3. Click Save.

An invoice can have three statuses by default: Draft, Sent and Paid. Depending on your company settings, your invoice may also have other statuses.

• The status of a Draft invoice can be changed to either Sent or Paid.
• The status of a Sent invoice can be changed to Paid.
• The status of a Paid invoice cannot be changed.

The default status of the new invoice is Draft. Before changing the status of a Draft invoice and sending it to the customer, you should check carefully that all data is correct. You cannot modify or delete sent or paid invoices. If there is a compelling need to edit an invoice after it has been set to sent status, you should create a temporary status where the invoice is editable (e.g. between Sent and Paid). This is not a recommended practice, as you should never edit an invoice that has been delivered to customer.

To change the status of an invoice:

1. Open the applicable invoice as described in Itemizing invoices.
2. Select the desired status from the Status drop-down list.
3. Click the icon.

All created invoices are displayed in the Invoices section on each account's main page. Fees that have not been invoiced, as well as hours of all cases, are listed on the New invoice page. You can open this page by pointing to the New icon and selecting Invoice.

You can create and save a customized search to monitor your invoicing status in more detail. For more information, see Creating advanced searches.

You can print invoices regardless of their status. The available printing options are paper and PDF.

To print an invoice to paper:

1. Open the applicable invoice as described in Itemizing invoices.
2. Click the icon.
3. Select the printer and click OK.

To print an invoice as a PDF file:

1. Open the applicable invoice as described in Itemizing invoices.
2. Click the icon. The PDF file is created automatically and displayed on a new browser tab/window.
   • To save the file, select the on the invoice tab/window. Now select the location where you want to store the file and click Save.
   • To print the file on paper, select the on the invoice tab/window, select the printer and click OK.

You can export invoices from Severa 3 into Excel (XLS) format. This allows you to use your invoicing data for various purposes outside the system.

To export invoices:

1. Search for the data you want to export by using the search engine or the saved searches under your Invoices icon.
2. Click the icon.
3. Select to save the file in the dialog window that opens.
4. Enter a name for the file and save it to a desired location.