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  2. Folio and Invoicing

Steps of creating a new invoice

Creating an invoice for your guests can be done from the detailed reservation page, Finances - Folio section.

Steps of the process:

1. With the help of the checkboxes visible in the Folio table, select the Folio items that you would like to issue the invoice for. In case the invoice is prepared for the total outstanding balance, it is advised to use the " Select all " checkbox, thus all the Folio items availble in the Folio table will be placed on the invoice:

The selected items will be highlighted with pink background and as soon as at least one item is selected the " Create new invoice " button becomes active, meaning the invoicing procedure can begin.

Pro tip: 

There are 2 filters placed in the Folio table, in order to help you sorting the Folio items. You can use the Category and Status filter when selecting the Folio items, that can speed up and simplify the selection. You will also see a filtered item summary in the top right corner of the table that sums up the amount only of the selected items.

2. Once choosing the " Create new invoice " option, a popup will appear that provides a quick summary once again of the selected items:

No modification can be applied here, it is solely for controlling purpose before proceeding to the next steps.

3. Proceeding with "OK" button from the previous step, a new popup window appears that is called " Set invoice data " popup, where the system asks you to define the invoice parameters such as : 

- Date of fulfillment

Any date can be selected, past and future as well, depending on your preference.

- Currency

This dropdown field will always contain the default currency of your SabeeApp account and all the additional currencies created in Settings / Invoice / Custom currencies menu.

- Currency rate 

This field is locked and displays " 1 " if the invoice currency matches the defualt currency of your SabeeApp account, but the field becomes editable in case a different currency is selected in the dropdown then the system's default currency. 

+ 1 : and you also have a possibility here to decide if you would like to combine / group the Folio items on the invoice ( most importantly in case of a long item list it can be very useful ). You can learn more about the grouping options in this help guide.

This popup can be closed with the upper " X " button, in which case the invoice creating flow is completely disrupted. Proceeding with the " OK " button, the invocing procedure continues with the next step.

4. After the Set invoice data popup, the " Invoice editor " page appears. This platform provides a preview of the invoice, with multiple setting possibilities. The invoice editor platform can de divided into 4 sections. Please follow through the sections on the below attached screenshots:

Guest and billing information:


Invoice ID / status will always remain " Draft " up until the invoice is not locked. After locking the invoice, the assigned invoice ID / number appears instead of the " Draft " label.

Invoice parameters:

1. Invoice type: the following options can be selected: Cash, Credit / debit card, Transfer, Mixed - other. The invoice type defines the invoice itself, not the transactions that are associated with the invoice. Mandatory parameter of the invoice

2. Invoice account: not mandatory to set it up on the invoice. In case you created different invoice accounts in Settings / Invoice / Accounts menu in order to distinguish easily between the invoices, you have the possibility to distribute each invoice into the preferred account.

3. Date of issue: generated by the system automatically, always indicates the date of creating the invoice and can not be modified

4. Due date: relevant in case of Transfer type of invoices only, in all other cases it can not be edited and automatically equals the date of issue parameter

5. Date of fulfilment: can be defined in the Set invoice data popup, indicates the date when the actual transaction was fulfilled

6. Currency / Currency rate: also can be set in the Set invoice data popup, indicates the currency of the invoice and the exchange rate in case of different currency compared to the account's default currency

Invoice items & financial details:

Amount due of the invoice always calculates the following way: Total - Payment note section summary. Since the payments can be attached to the invoice only after locking it, the Amount due before locking always equals the Total amount. 

The only editable section here is the invoice item description. Based on the applied settings in Settings / Invoice / Default settings menu, the invoice item description field will contain certain information. This can be edited, completely deleted or additional information can also be added. 

Action buttons, invoice note , locking:

1. Show guest names: with the help of this button you can place the additional guest names to the invoice note section. In case there are multiple guests belonging to the reservation and it is important to display all the guest's names on the invoice, make sure to click on this button before locking the invoice.

2. Show included extra: in case there are " included " types of services belonging to the reservation, that are not listed in the Folio table as Folio items, but you would still like to display these on the invoice, you should click this button before locking the invoice, so the names of these included types of services would be listed in the invoice note section

3. Show cancellation policy: by clicking this button, the cancellation policy can be displayed in the invoice note section

4. Show additional text: in case you defined any important, general invoice information in Settings / Invoice / Default settings menu that you would like to make visible on the printed version ( PDF ) of the invoice, click this button before locking the invoice and the text defined in the settings will be displayed in the invoice note section

5. Invoice note: it is a free text field, any preferred comment can be added here that might be relevant to display on the invoice PDF. Please note that this section can be edited only before locking the invoice. After locking the invoice this section will be locked and the system automatically generates the invoice ID to this section.

6. - 7. Lock & Lock and mark as paid: both button's purpose is to close the invoice, meaning if all the data and parameters of the invoice seem to be correct and finalised, the invoice should be marked as a valid invoice with the help of any of the Lock buttons.

The difference between the two buttons is that the Lock button is active in case of each and every invoice type, but the Lock & mark as paid button is active only in case of a " Cash or Transfer " type of invoice. In these two cases, the Lock & mark as paid button saves the manual payment creation steps, as the payments ( in form of a payment note ) are created automatically, simultaneously with locking the invoice. 

After locking the invoice with any of the options, the invoice status changes from draft to unpaid and the next step is to associate payments with the invoice, in order to be able to mark the invoice as paid.

 

5. Final step of the invoicing process is to attach payments to the invoice. Once the payments are attached and the payment amount equals the invoice amount, the invoice can be marked as paid. Other than this step, after locking, several other options are available, such as printing the invoice and sending it to the guest.

Attaching payments to the invoice can be either by adding new payments on the invoice itself, or in case you already have saved payments, you can also use them by clicking on the " Select from existing paymnets " button. This button is active only, if there are payments already created for the reservation.

As visible on the screenshot, the Mark as paid button is inactive, since the Amount due of the invoice is not 0 yet. Once the required payment is attached to the invoice the Mark as paid button becomes active, and the invoice can be marked as paid. Also, the payment attached to the invoice will appear in the Payment note section:

Once the invoice is marked as paid, the status from unpaid changes to paid. 

The invoice is listed in the Invoices section of the reservation page: