Process Step Details - Create Invoice

This article gives details and examples of the functions that are available in steps used to create invoices.

Invoices can be created automatically using a step in an Automation Process. An example is using a Job view, and once a job reaches a certain job state an invoice is automatically created, providing efficiencies for your practice.

When combined with other automation steps, such as creating an Invoice and notifying a user there's a draft invoice that requires their review or approval.

Notes:

• A Job is required to create an Invoice.
• If your Job view is filtered to a billing job, the invoice will be created against all workflow jobs. Any write on/offs that result will be applied to all active workflow jobs.
• If your Job view is filtered to a workflow job, the invoice will be created against that workflow job only. Any write on/offs that result will be applied to that workflow job.

Create Invoice

The following is an example of a Create Invoice step.

Adding Details to the Steps

Details are added to the steps in the same way as when creating invoices, using the sections in the drawer.

Action in Steps

This section is used to control the invoice details when created. 

Date - the date the invoice was generated and is the invoice date. This can be set to Current Date, Month End, or select a date from the calendar. Invoices cannot be backdated. Merge Fields can also be used. For example, selecting End of Month from the General Merge Field section will populate a Date merge field. The invoice date will be the last date of the current month. For example if your process runs on the 1st September, the invoice date will be 30th September.

Due Date - by default the automation process is set to Use Rule, where the due date is calculated based on your invoicing rules in Practice Settings. Refer to Managing Practice Settings.
Alternatively you can select a date from dropdown including Current Date, Month End or select a date from the calendar. Note this will apply to all invoices created as part of this process.

Type - select from either Progress, Interim, Final, or Disbursement Invoice Type. The Invoice Type you select will determine whether WIP is applied and should be invoiced, or if only the Disbursements will be invoiced. Refer to Invoicing Overview.

Layout - determines the appearance of the invoice, and whether charged jobs should be displayed on their own separate line, or combined in one summary line. Currently, you can only invoice one job at a time with FYI, the Job Description is displayed regardless of the Invoice Layout selected.

Disbursements - controls whether Disbursements are either itemised or included in the WIP. can be set to either Summary or Detailed. By default, the Summary option will be selected where Disbursements will be included in the WIP for each job. To itemise the disbursements, select Detailed. 

Invoice Amount - the total amount of the invoice. This defaults with the merge field {{ TotalWIP }} which is used to calculate all current WIP associated with the job. This would be applicable for Progress and Final Invoices. Merge Fields can also be used to select relevant Job values. For example, selecting "Budget Amount" from the Trigger Job Merge Field Section, will populate the associated merge field. When the automation runs, the Invoice Amount will be the value of the Budget Amount from the relative Job.

If creating a Disbursement Type invoice, this defaults with the Merge Field {{ TotalDisbursement }} which is used to invoice the sum of disbursements for the Job. Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations.

Description rule - sets the Invoice Description based on the option selected in the dropdown. This can be set to either the Job Description or Job Template description. If the option "Job or Job Template" is selected the process will use the Job Description first, or if not set, then use the Job Template description. Using the option "Use Description Below" will display another field, "Invoice Description", where you can add the description manually.

Set Custom Field - to display a Custom Field on the invoice, select the Custom Field from the drop-down. The field will be added to the drawer where you can select the corresponding value.

Filing in Steps

The Filing section defines how the Invoice is named and filed in FYI.

Name - enter the name of the Invoice. By default, the Name will be set to the format of “Invoice on [Invoice Date] - [Currency Symbol] [Invoice Amount]” e.g. Invoice on 22/03/2024 - $1100.00.

Use Merge Fields in the Filing Name field to customise the Name when the Invoice is created. For example, selecting "Name" from the Trigger Client Section of the Merge Fields and "Year" from the Trigger Client Tax Merge Field section would create an Invoice with the name "Frank Marshall 2023 Invoice". Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations. 

AutoFile - can be "Disabled" or "Enabled".

• When AutoFile is Disabled, the invoice will be filed using the settings for Cabinet and Category in the process step.
• When AutoFile is Enabled, the Filing Defaults for the client are used, if available.
  These settings are taken from the specific client the step is processed for. Where the client is part of a Client Group, the process ignores whether there is a client for the group set with the Include in Autofile setting. Refer to Setting Filing Defaults for a Client

Cabinet and Categories in the process step are only available if Autofile is "Disabled" and can be set as relevant for the type of document being created by the step.

Filing defaults to "Filed".
If this is set as "Unfiled" it will appear in the "Owner's" In Tray ready for filing.
If the Owner is set in the Workflow section, this is used (refer below to Workflow in Steps).
If the Owner is not set in the Workflow section, it is set as the Owner of the Process.

Workflow in Steps

You can use the Workflow section in the step for information purposes, to set the approval of an Invoice. This is the same as the Workflow section when creating emails and documents. Refer to the section Workflows.

Owner can be used to select the owner of the invoice. This can be set to a specific person in your user list. Using Merge Fields a User Role relative to the Client or Job, such as Manager, Partner or a Custom User Role such as "Accountant", can be selected. Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations. Only Custom Fields that have the Type set as "User" are included in the list of what can be selected for the Owner (refer to Custom User Roles).

When using the drop-down option to select the Owner:

• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Manager or Partner is taken from the Job Details.
• If there is no Partner/Manager assigned to the job and the process is creating an invoice, it will add the Process Owner as the Owner of the Invoice created in the step. 

Approver can be used to set the Approver of the invoice. This can be set to a specific person in your user list. Using Merge Fields a User Role relative to the Client or Job, such as Manager, Partner or a Custom User Role such as "Accountant", can be selected. Refer to Including Merge Fields in Automations. Only Custom Fields that have the Type set as "User" are included in the list of what can be selected for the Owner (refer to Custom User Roles).

When using the drop-down option to select the Approver:

• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Manager or Partner User Role is taken from the Job Details.

Workflow Status - Setting to “Pending Approval” will add the Invoice to the My Approvals tab in the Home workspace for the relevant approver.

Tasks in Steps

Task is used to create a task for the invoice when the process runs. In the following example, the task is created for an invoice using a Task Template.

When a Task is created by an automation, the Start Date will be set to the current date.

Create a Task - click to set this as "Yes" to create a task.

Task Template - select a Template if required. The example above shows a task being created with a task template. After selecting a Template, the key task details are prepopulated with Default from template. Alternatively, the fields can be manually updated.

Subject - enter a brief subject for the task. This is displayed in the lists in FYI. Merge Fields can be selected to add relevant Client or Job information to the Subject.

Assignee - can be set as a specific person in your user list. Using Merge Fields, this can be set as "Manager" to assign the task to the relative job's manager, or as "Partner" to assign it to the relative job's partner.

When using the drop-down option to select the Assignee:

• For a process that is run in the context of a Job, the Manager or Partner is taken from the Job Details.
• If there is no Partner/Manager assigned to the job, the Assignee is set as "Unassigned".

If a user has been selected incorrectly, and the task needs to be set back to unassigned, select "Unassigned" from the dropdown menu.

Delegator - can be set as a specific person, or using Merge Fields, or depending on the Filter selected, can be set to various roles, for example, the Client Manager. When unassigned, the Delegator will be set to "System". The Delegator receives a notification when the task is completed.

Due Date - select when the task needs to be completed as the number of days. You can also set this as 0 (zero) days to make the task due immediately.

Status - this defaults to "Not started". The Status can be changed to "In Progress", so when the task is created, nothing needs to be actioned on it.

Cabinet - if Task Security is set in your Practice Settings, a Cabinet can be selected to add Cabinet Security to the task. This ensures that only users with access to that Cabinet can see the task, for example, for sensitive areas such as HR or performance management. When creating a task, you can select the cabinet. Where a task is automatically created as linked to a document, the task cabinet is inherited from the document created and displayed in the task details. Refer to Managing Practice Settings.

Blocking - when creating a task, you can set Blocking as "On" so that the process stops until a Task created in the automation process is set as "Completed". This could be used, for example, for a Task created in the process to ensure that an invoice created in the previous step(s) has been approved before any other actions in the process are done. When the Task is set as "Completed", the next step in the process commences.

Note: If the process only holds one step, ensure you do not set a task that is created with Blocking as "On" as the process will show as outstanding until the status of the task is set as "Complete".

AutoComplete - This function allows Tasks that have been created by an Automation Process to be automatically set as "Complete" when the selected condition is met. Invoice workflow statuses of "Pending Approval", "Awaiting Payment" and "Paid" can be used in this step. Refer to AutoComplete Tasks.

Details - type the brief details of the task. The assignee can easily display the email to see what the task relates to. Merge Fields can be selected to add relevant Client or Job information to the details of a task.

Comments in Steps

Automatic notifications can be defined and triggered as part of process automations using Comments. This ensures that you can create comments to track when invoices are created or any changes to the workflow. Refer to Automation Notifications.

Alter Document

Once the invoice has been created, you can use the Alter Document step to make future updates. For example, once a task has been completed you can update the Workflow associated with the invoice.

Refer to Process Step Details - Alter Document.