Generate suggested bills

If you have set up billing schedules for your projects, you can use the system to check if any projects are ready to be billed, and then display a list of suggested bills. You can then select which of these bills you want to produce, and the system will automatically generate the bills for your project customers, using the billing templates you have set up.

To check if your projects have outstanding revenue which can be billed for, you can use the Billing Analysis enquiry.

If you are going to use a billing schedule for your project customers, you will also need to:

  1. Set up templates for your suggested bills.

    If you want to automatically generate suggested bills, you must first set up billing templates. You can create billing templates for the types of bill that you use regularly, or design a bill layout for a specific customer. A billing template is a standard bill layout, containing a list of predefined billing lines.

  2. Set up the project customer's billing schedule.

    The billing schedule allows you to specify the bills that need to be produced for a project customer, and when they need to be produced. For example, you could bill a customer when a project is complete, when particular stages in the project are reached, or on a particular date.

The Confirmed Price Adjustment transaction type is created automatically within Project Accounting, when there is a price discrepancy between the stock issued to the project at unconfirmed cost and the confirmed cost of the stock entered once that is known. You will see the Confirmed Price Adjustment transaction type in project enquiries within Project Accounting if such discrepancies exist.

If stock has been issued to the project directly, any Confirmed Price Adjustment transactions will be selected automatically when you use the Suggested Bills option. If you do not want to bill these, you must remove these costs from the draft bill.

Note: Stock issued to a sales order is not billable.

To display a list of suggested bills

Open: Project Accounting > Billing > Suggested Bills.

  1. Choose whether you want to recalculate the outstanding values to bill for each project.

    The Suggested Bills window appears.

    The list displays all bills that are ready to be produced for your project customers.

    Note: You can update the list by clicking Refresh.

  2. Choose the projects that you want to create bills for by selecting the box in the Select column.
    • To check a project's record, select it and click View Project Record.
  3. To create draft bills for the selected projects, click Create Draft Bill(s). Bills will be generated according to the customer's billing schedule and template.

  4. The Suggested Draft Bills window appears, displaying the generated draft bills. You can amend, print or delete the bills.

    When you generate suggested bills, the draft bills will be generated according to the customer's billing schedule and template. The Suggested Draft Bills window displays the bills that have been generated. You can:

    • Amend Draft Bill

      You can add or edit bill lines. You can enter the bill line totals on the Details tab or select the costs to bill on the Costs to Bill tab or, if Use WIP is set to Yes in Project Accounting Settings, on the Costs to Finalise tab.

      Note:

      The bill may include Confirmed Price Adjustment transactions that compensate for price discrepancies, caused by a difference between the unconfirmed price of stock when it was entered (based on the average selling price) and the confirmed price of the stock once this is known.

      The Value to Bill for Confirmed Price Adjustment transactions is calculated with reference to the Time & Materials Pricing rules on the project item to which the adjustment is posted.

      • Standard Price. The Value to bill is 0 (zero).
      • Cost. The Value to bill is the same as the adjustment cost value.
      • Non Chargeable. The Value to bill is 0 (zero).
      • Cost + n%. The Value to bill is the adjustment cost value + n%.
      • Cost + Value. The Value to bill is the same as the adjustment cost value.
      • Set Value. The Value to bill is 0 (zero).

      If you don't want to bill for these discrepancy costs, you must set the Value to Bill for these transactions to 0 (zero).

      Quantity

      Unit Price

      Unit of Measure

      Enter the required values.

      Note: If the selected items on the bill line have the same price and unit of measure, the quantity displayed will be the total of all the items. If the items in the line have different prices and/or units of measure, the quantity will be set to 1 and the unit of measure will be set to not applicable.

      Unit Discount %.

      Unit Discount.

      Enter the required discount as a value of a percentage.

      VAT Rate.

      Choose the required VAT rate

      1. Click Add Costs.

        The Select Costs To Bill window displays the list of outstanding costs that can be billed, for the selected project and customer.

        Note: The outstanding costs that can be billed include transactions that existed before or since WIP was enabled in the project.

        For some projects, a large number of costs may be displayed in the list.

        • To show costs relating to items or levels in the project structure, click Show Project Structure.

          Select the level or item in the structure to display only the costs relating to that area.

        • Use the Costs Criteria to filter the list.

          • To display only those items relating to a specific project item type (such as labour items), select it from the Project Item type list.
          • To display only particular transaction types (such as purchase invoice), select it from the Transaction type list.
          • To limit the date range of the items displayed in the list, use the Transaction date filter.
          • Refunds only: To limit the number of items displayed, select a range or specific invoice or credit number from the Invoice/Credit No list.
          • To display the items, click Display.
        • To sort the list by a particular column (such as Project Item), click on the column heading.
        • To view all selected transactions, click Show.

        • COB: Opening balance transaction.

          EXP: Expense claim.

          NLP: Nominal payment.

          NLR: Nominal receipt.

          PAC: Cost accrual.

          PCA: Cost adjustment.

          PLC: Purchase credit.

          PLI: Purchase invoice.

          STI: Stock issue.

          STR: Stock return.

          TSE: Timesheet entry.

        • The Acc/Emp/Item column displays the reference for the supplier, stock item or employee.
      2. To select a cost to add to the billing line, click on the box in the Inc column.
        • You can amend the quantity, rate or value to bill for the cost; e.g. to part bill for the cost.

        • To select or deselect all the costs displayed in the list, click Select All or Clear All.

          Note:

          You cannot select the following items:

          • Items that have been queried, indicated in the Qry column.
          • Cost transactions linked to a sales order or return. These are not displayed in the list and will be billed when the SOP invoice is posted.

      3. To view information about a cost, select it and click View Details.

        The Transaction Details window appears.

      4. When you have finished selecting the costs to add to the billing line, click OK.

        The costs will be displayed on the Costs to Bill tab of the billing line.

        The bill line is marked as having been used with the Costs to Bill tab and cannot be used with the Costs to Finalise tab.

      1. Click Add Refunds.

        The Select Costs To Refund window displays a list of billed costs that can be refunded, for the selected project and customer.

        For some projects, a large number of costs may be displayed in the list.

        • To show costs relating to items or levels in the project structure, click Show Project Structure.

          Select the level or item in the structure to display only the costs relating to that area.

        • Use the Costs Criteria to filter the list.

          • To display only those items relating to a specific project item type (such as labour items), select it from the Project Item type list.
          • To display only particular transaction types (such as purchase invoice), select it from the Transaction type list.
          • To limit the date range of the items displayed in the list, use the Transaction date filter.
          • Refunds only: To limit the number of items displayed, select a range or specific invoice or credit number from the Invoice/Credit No list.
          • To display the items, click Display.
        • To sort the list by a particular column (such as Project Item), click on the column heading.
        • To view all selected transactions, click Show.

        • COB: Opening balance transaction.

          EXP: Expense claim.

          NLP: Nominal payment.

          NLR: Nominal receipt.

          PAC: Cost accrual.

          PCA: Cost adjustment.

          PLC: Purchase credit.

          PLI: Purchase invoice.

          STI: Stock issue.

          STR: Stock return.

          TSE: Timesheet entry.

        • The Acc/Emp/Item column displays the reference for the supplier, stock item or employee.

      2. To select a billed cost to refund, click on the box in the Inc column.

        To select or deselect all the costs displayed in the list, click Select All or Clear All.

      3. To view information about a cost, select it and click View Details.

        4. The Transaction Details window appears.

      4. When you have finished selecting the costs to add to the billing line, click OK.

        The cost of the refunds will be displayed on the Costs to Bill tab of the billing line.

      1. Click Add Costs.

        The Select Costs To Finalise window displays the list of outstanding costs that can be finalised, for the selected project and customer.

        Note: The outstanding costs that can be finalised include transactions that have occurred since WIP was enabled in the project and which do not already have a finalised date or bill number against them. Transactions may have a Value to Bill that is 0 (zero) but are included because of their WIP value.

        For some projects, a large number of costs may be displayed in the list.

        • To show costs relating to items or levels in the project structure, click Show Project Structure.

          Select the level or item in the structure to display only the costs relating to that area.

        • Use the Costs Criteria to filter the list.

          • To display only those items relating to a specific project item type (such as labour items), select it from the Project Item type list.
          • To display only particular transaction types (such as purchase invoice), select it from the Transaction type list.
          • To limit the date range of the items displayed in the list, use the Transaction date filter.
          • Refunds only: To limit the number of items displayed, select a range or specific invoice or credit number from the Invoice/Credit No list.
          • To display the items, click Display.
        • To sort the list by a particular column (such as Project Item), click on the column heading.
        • To view all selected transactions, click Show.

        • COB: Opening balance transaction.

          EXP: Expense claim.

          NLP: Nominal payment.

          NLR: Nominal receipt.

          PAC: Cost accrual.

          PCA: Cost adjustment.

          PLC: Purchase credit.

          PLI: Purchase invoice.

          STI: Stock issue.

          STR: Stock return.

          TSE: Timesheet entry.

        • The Acc/Emp/Item column displays the reference for the supplier, stock item or employee.
      2. Select the costs that you want to finalise.

        3. If you don't want to select costs, clear the check boxes.

        • You can select or clear all costs displayed by clicking Select All or Clear All.
          • Note:

          You cannot select:

          • Cost transactions linked to a sales order or return. These are not displayed on the list and will be finalised when the SOP invoice is posted.
      3. To select a cost to finalise for the billing line, click on the box in the Inc column.

        • To select or deselect all the costs displayed in the list, click Select All or Clear All.

      4. To view information about a cost, select it and click View Details.

        The Transaction Details window appears.

      5. When you have finished selecting the costs to finalise for the billing line, click OK.

        The costs will be displayed on the Costs to Finalise tab of the billing line and cannot be used on the Costs to Bill tab.

      1. Click Add Refunds.

        The Billed Costs To Refund window displays a list of billed costs that can be refunded, for the selected project and customer.

        For some projects, a large number of costs may be displayed in the list.

        • To show costs relating to items or levels in the project structure, click Show Project Structure.

          Select the level or item in the structure to display only the costs relating to that area.

        • Use the Costs Criteria to filter the list.

          • To display only those items relating to a specific project item type (such as labour items), select it from the Project Item type list.
          • To display only particular transaction types (such as purchase invoice), select it from the Transaction type list.
          • To limit the date range of the items displayed in the list, use the Transaction date filter.
          • Refunds only: To limit the number of items displayed, select a range or specific invoice or credit number from the Invoice/Credit No list.
          • To display the items, click Display.
        • To sort the list by a particular column (such as Project Item), click on the column heading.
        • To view all selected transactions, click Show.

        • COB: Opening balance transaction.

          EXP: Expense claim.

          NLP: Nominal payment.

          NLR: Nominal receipt.

          PAC: Cost accrual.

          PCA: Cost adjustment.

          PLC: Purchase credit.

          PLI: Purchase invoice.

          STI: Stock issue.

          STR: Stock return.

          TSE: Timesheet entry.

        • The Acc/Emp/Item column displays the reference for the supplier, stock item or employee.

      2. To select a billed cost to refund, click on the box in the Inc column.

        To select or deselect all the costs displayed in the list, click Select All or Clear All.

        Note: You cannot select items that have been queried, indicated in the Qry column.

    • Print Draft Bills

      • You can display draft bills for a project, customer or bill reference.
        • To show all draft bills, select All bills.
        • To show all draft bills for a project, choose Single project and select the Project code.
        • To show all draft bills for a customer, choose Single customer and select the customer.
        • To show a particular draft bill, choose Single bill and select the Bill no.

      • To display the draft bills, click Display.

        Note: You can sort the list by clicking on the column headings, e.g. clicking on Customer name will sort the list in ascending or descending alphabetical order.

      • You can print a selection of draft bills or all the bills in the list.

        Tip: To select multiple items, use the Ctrl key to pick individual items, or hold down the Shift key to select a block of items.

        • To print a selection of bills, highlight the bills and click Print.
        • To print all the bills in the list, click Print All.

      Note: Printing a draft bill will not change the bill's status from Draft to Finalised.

      If you do not want to print the bill now, you can print it later.

    • Delete Draft Bill.
  5. When you have finished creating your draft bills, click Close.
See also

Other tasks

Set up billing templates

Set up a customer billing schedule

Reference

Billing analysis enquiry