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Invoices and Credit Notes

Shinjinee Sarkar
  • Updated
The Invoices and Credit Notes feature allows you to set up purchase invoices and credit notes and perform different actions. This topic gives the procedure to set up the purchase invoices and credit notes and perform various actions. Click the links below, as required.

Browsing Invoices and Credit Notes

To browse the existing invoices and credit notes, complete the following steps.

1. Log in and click the required business.

2. The Customers page appears. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

3. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Browse the invoices and credit notes. The table below describes the various columns.

FIELD STEP
Date The invoice or credit note set up date.
Doc. No. Unique invoice or credit note number.
Supplier Supplier for whom the invoice or credit note is set up.
Net Net value.
VAT VAT amount.
Gross Gross value.
Code Nominal codes of the products selected on that transaction. The default product nominal code displayed is set up during the product set-up. However, you may update it when setting up the invoice or transaction. If the invoice or credit note comprises multiple products with different or the same nominal codes, the value displayed is Split.
Due Date Due date. You can set the invoice date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
Paid Payment status.

Setting up a Purchase Invoice Record

You can set up two types of invoices differently — services and products or one single invoice comprising both services and products. This section gives the steps to set up all three types of invoices.

Product Invoice

ClosedTo set up a product invoice, complete the following steps.

Step 1: Settings

1. On the left panel, click Settings.

2. The Settings page appears. Under the ACCOUNTS heading, click Setup.

3. The Accounts Setup page appears. The PURCHASE INVOICE METHOD list, select Products Only and click Save to save the settings.

Step 2: Setting up Product Invoice

1. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

2. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click Add Invoice.

3. The Purchase Invoice page appears. Enter the following details for the product invoice.

FIELD STEP
INVOICE DETAILS heading  
SUPPLIER*

Select the required customer or click on the 'New' button to set up a customer record on the go.

Note:

  • If the supplier is based out of an EU member state, the invoice is VAT zero-rated and that rate is linked to a notional rate.
  • If the supplier is based out of a non-EU member state, the invoice is VAT zero-rated and that rate is linked to a notional rate. In that case, you do not need to pay the VAT but record the input and output VAT and the total purchase invoice value under the Postponed Accounting system.
INVOICE NO. Depending on the settings, the invoice number can be auto-generated or custom.
REF. NO. Enter a unique reference number.
QUOTE/P.O. NO. If you have a quote or order the invoice will inherit, select the same.
INVOICE DATE

Invoice setup date. It depends on how you set up the date. You have three choices: Last Transaction Date, Today and None. To set up the date, on the left panel, click Settings and on the Settings page, select the required option from the DEFAULT TRANSACTION DATE list.

You can set the invoice date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
DUE DATE* The due date depends on the credit terms you have set in the settings.
ADDRESSES & ATTACHMENTS heading Provide the invoice and delivery address and attach supporting documents, if any.
Product* Select the required product or, from the Product Search window, click New to set up a new product on the go.
Description* The product description is auto-filled by default. You may update it.
Quantity* Enter the product quantity in units.
Price* The pre-configured price is auto-filled. You may update the price per unit.
Discount %* Enter a discount per cent on the net amount, if applicable.
VAT %* This is not available for update. To update, use the Advanced option.
Nominal* This is not available for update. To update, use the Advanced option.
Net Amount* The net amount is auto-calculated.

4. To save the invoice, click Save.

 

Service Invoice

ClosedYour supplier may provide or purchase services, for example, house renovation. Now set up invoices for services.
 

Step 1: Settings

1. On the left panel, click Settings.

2. The Settings page appears. Under the ACCOUNTS heading, click Setup.

3. The Accounts Setup page appears. Under the PURCHASE INVOICE METHOD list, select Service Only and click Save to save the settings.

4. To save the settings, click Save.

 

Step 2: Setting up the Service Invoice

1. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

2. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click Add Invoice.

3. The Purchase Invoice page appears. Enter the following details for the service invoice.

FIELD STEP
INVOICE DETAILS heading  
SUPPLIER* Select the required customer or click on the 'New' button to set up a customer record on the go.
ACCOUNT MANAGER Select a user.
INVOICE NO. Depending on the settings, the invoice number can be auto-generated or custom.
REF. NO. Enter a unique reference number.
QUOTE/S.O. NO. If you have a quote or order the invoice will inherit, select the same.
INVOICE DATE

Invoice setup date. It depends on how you set up the date. You have three choices: Last Transaction Date, Today and None. To set up the date, on the left panel, click Settings and on the Settings page, select the required option from the DEFAULT TRANSACTION DATE list.

You can set the invoice date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
DUE DATE* The due date depends on the credit terms you have set in the settings. You can set the date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
ADDRESSES & ATTACHMENTS heading Provide the invoice and delivery address and attach supporting documents, if any.
Description* Enter the service description. For example, hardware repair.
Hrs / Qty* Enter the hours spent in services.
Value* Enter the charges per hour.
Discount %* Enter a discount per cent on the net amount, if applicable.
VAT %* Enter the applicable VAT percentage.
Nominal* Enter the applicable nominal code.
Net Amount* The net amount is auto-calculated.
4. To save the invoice, click Save.
Service and Product Invoice
ClosedYou can set up a single invoice comprising services and products. Enter the service and product details in different rows.

 

Step 1: Settings

1. On the left panel, click Settings.

2. The Settings page appears. Under the ACCOUNTS heading, click Setup.

3. The Accounts Setup page appears. The PURCHASE INVOICE METHOD list, select Products & Services and click Save to save the settings.

4. To save the settings, click Save.

 

Step 2: Setting up Product and Service Invoice

1. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

2. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click Add Invoice.

3. The Purchase Invoice page appears. Enter the following details for the products and invoices in different rows.

4. To save the invoice, click Save.

 
Indicates mandatory fields.

Related Features

BrightBooks provides the following invoice-related features.

Advanced

This allows you to update invoice data that cannot be updated on the invoice grid. To access the feature, click on the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding invoice record and click Advanced.

Update the details in the Transactions Details window.

History

This feature provides the product purchase history of different customers and related details. To access, click on the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding invoice record and click History

  • The product history window appears. Click All Suppliers.
  • The product history shows the purchase history of all customers.

Quick Invoice

To set up a quick invoice, complete the following steps.

1. Log in and click the required business.

2. The Customers page appears. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

3. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click Quick > Quick Invoice.

4. The Quick Purchase Invoice page appears. To set up the quick invoice, enter the following details.

FIELD STEP
Date The invoice set up a date. You can set the date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
Ref.No. Unique invoice reference number.
Inv. No. Unique invoice number. This is a mandatory input.
Supplier To select the required supplier, click the 'search' icon then select the supplier name. To set up a new supplier on the go, click New. This is a mandatory input.
Supplier Name Auto-filled based on supplier selection.
Net Net invoice value.
VAT Code Applicable VAT.
VAT VAT value.
Gross Gross invoice value.
Code To select the required nominal code, click the 'search' icon then select the nominal code. This is a mandatory input.
Notes The Standard Narratives declared in the Settings > Standard Notes section will reflect here once you create a new Quick Invoice.

You can select single/multiple Standard Notes, add, edit or delete Standard Notes.

You can also search for a standard note using the search bar that pops up once you click Notes on the Quick Invoice page. 

You can thus replace the Note Description with the Narrative attached to it as per the new update.

5. To save the quick invoice, click Save. All quick invoices are indicated by a * on the Purchase Invoices page.

Splitting a Quick Invoice

You can split a quick invoice amount into as many parts as required while ensuring that the total of the split parts is equal to the invoice amount. The split amounts are also reflected in the invoice. To split a quick invoice, complete the following steps.

1. On the Quick Purchase Invoice page, click the required invoice and then click Split.

2. The Split window appears. Click the rows below and split the amount under the Net column into multiple parts.

 
The total of the split parts must be equal to the gross invoice amount.

3. To ensure the total of the split parts is equal to the gross invoice amount, click Adjust Total.

4. To save the split invoice, click Save.

5. The Code heading shows that the quick invoice is split.

6. To view the split parts in the invoice print preview, on the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the split invoice and then click Print.

7. The Purchase Invoice Preview page shows the split invoice amounts.

 
Use the following hotkeys to perform your operations:
  • To edit: ctrl+alt+e
  • To split: ctrl+alt+s
  • To make a rule: ctrl+alt+m
  • To allocate: ctrl+alt+a

Viewing Invoice and Credit Note Details

To view the details of an invoice or credit note, on the Purchase Invoices page, click anywhere on the row.

 
If you sort any column other than Date, then the Date column is also sorted accordingly.

Deleting or Emailing in Batch

You can remove multiple records in one or more batches.

Removing Batch

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, tick the box under the Email button.

2. All records are selected. You may also customise your batch by manually selecting the records.

3. Click the Delete button. The selected records are removed.

4. In case one or more records cannot be removed, a message appears. You can deselect such records and remove the rest.

 

Email Batch

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, tick the box under the Email button.

2. All records are selected. You may also customise your batch by manually selecting the records.

3. Click the Email button. Selected records are emailed to the respective customers.

  
If one or more records do not have email IDs already set up, you will need to enter the email ID in the window that appears. 
You may set the email temporarily or in the records by ticking the  Save email address to contact box. 
If you do not tick the box, the message will appear every time you email the invoice to the particular customer.

4. Optional. To view the status of the email delivery, on the left panel, click Purchases > Suppliers. On the Suppliers page, click the 'drop-down' icon and then click View. The Activities tab shows the status.

Emailing Purchase Invoice Copy

You can email the purchase invoice copy to the supplier email ID or another email ID. The email template is driven by the template settings. To send an email, complete the following steps.

1. Log in and click the required business.

2. The Customers page appears. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

3. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click the 'drop-down' icon for the required invoice record and then click Email.

4. The Send Email window appears. Enter the required details and click Send.

  • If you are using a trial business, you cannot use more than one email ID per field and you cannot send more than ten emails.
  • To have the invoice attached to the email by default, on the left panel, Click Settings. On the Settings page, under the E-MAIL heading, click Email Templates. In the Email Templates page, under the Invoice tab, tick Attach Invoice.

Copying a Purchase Invoice

Quickly set up a new invoice by copying an existing detailed or quick invoice. While you may retain or update source invoice details in the new invoice for a detailed invoice, you are not allowed to update the invoice values if the source is a quick invoice. To copy, complete the following steps.

Detailed Invoice

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding record and in the inline menu, click Copy.

2. The Purchase Invoice page appears. In the INVOICE NO. box, enter a unique invoice number and retain or update the source invoice details.

3. To save the new invoice, click Save.

Quick Invoice

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding record and in the inline menu, click Copy.

2. The Quick Purchase Invoice page appears. Update the invoice number and other allowed details, if applicable.

3. To save the new invoice, click Save.

Setting up a Payment Receipt

You can set up receipts for one or more supplier invoices. To set up invoice receipts, complete the following steps.

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding record and in the inline menu, click Pay.

2. The Supplier Payment page appears. It shows the following information:

      • The AMOUNT field by default shows a matching allocation amount with the selected invoice.
      • All invoices in the account of the selected supplier.

3. To set up a payment receipt, enter the following details.

FIELD STEP
SUPPLIER Auto-filled based on the supplier selection. Move the cursor over the 'i' button to view the summary of all invoices on the supplier account.
PAYEE Payee name.
DATE

Receipt setup date. It depends on how you set up the date. You have three choices: Last Transaction Date, Today and None. To set up the date, on the left panel, click Settings and on the Settings page, select the required option from the DEFAULT TRANSACTION DATE list.

You can set the receipt date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
AMOUNT By default, the allocation amount matches that of the selected invoice. To partially pay the receipt or allocate more amount to other invoices, enter the amount.
PAYMENT TYPE Payment type.
REF. NUMBER Unique reference number for the receipt.
BANK ACCOUNT Bank account to which the allocation amount will be credited.
Add Attachment Attach supporting documents, if any.
Discount Discount, if any.
Paid To set up receipts for more invoices, enter the allocation amount. Note that the amount will depend on the value in the AMOUNT field. By default, the selected invoice is allocated.

4. To save the payment receipt, click Save.

5. Optional To allow BrightBooks to auto-allocate the amount, click Auto.

6. To locate the receipt, on the left panel, click Banking > Receipts.

Removing a Purchase Invoice Record

You can permanently remove an invoice. To remove, complete the following steps.

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding record and in the inline menu, click Remove.

2. The Confirmation Message window appears. Click [Delete]. The invoice is removed.

 
You are not allowed to remove an invoice for which a receipt is already set up.

Setting up a Credit Note

BrightBooks allows you to set up invoice-specific or non-specific credit notes and also use them for returned goods. You can set up two credit note types: detailed and quick. The detailed credit note accommodates more details than a quick credit note. The quick credit note is suitable when you want to quickly set up multiple credit notes. To configure a credit note, complete the following steps.

Detailed Credit Note

1. Log in and click the required business.

2. The Customers page appears. On the left panel, click Purchases > Invoices & Credit Notes.

3. The Purchase Invoices page appears. Click Add Credit Note.

4. The Purchase Credit Note page appears. To set up a detailed credit note, enter the following details.

FIELD STEP
SUPPLIER To select the required supplier, click on the field and then select the supplier name. To set up a new supplier on the go, click the ' New' button. This is a mandatory input. To view the summary of selected supplier credit notes, move the cursor over the 'i' button.
CRN. NUMBER Unique credit note number. This is a mandatory input.
REF. NO. Unique credit note reference number.
INVOICE To set up the credit note on the account of a specific invoice, click the 'search' icon and from the Invoice window, select the required invoice. The invoice details are auto-filled in the product table. When you save the credit note, it is auto-allocated to the invoice.
CRN. DATE Credit note set up date.

It depends on how you set up the date. You have three choices: Last Transaction Date, Today and None. To set up the date, on the left panel, click Settings and on the Settings page, select the required option from the DEFAULT TRANSACTION DATE list.

You can set the credit note date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
Goods being returned To set up the credit note against returned products, tick.
Product Auto-filled if an invoice is selected, else, click the 'search' icon to select a product. This is a mandatory input.
Description Auto-filled if an invoice is selected, otherwise, auto-filled based on product selection. This is a mandatory input.
Quantity Auto-filled if an invoice is selected, else, enter the quantity. This is a mandatory input.
Price Auto-filled if an invoice is selected, else, the price is auto-filled based on product selection. This is a mandatory input.
Discount % The product discount, if any. This is a mandatory input.
VAT % VAT percentage. This is a mandatory input.
Nominal Nominal code. This is a mandatory input.
Net Amount Product of price and quantity. This is a mandatory input.
ADDRESSES & ATTACHMENTS Enter the invoice address and attach documents, if needed. 

To add a row in the table, click [Add a Line].

5. To save the credit note, click [Save].

 
A credit note is indicated by the code CRN. You can locate a credit note on the PURCHASE INVOICE page.

Quick Credit Note

1. On the Purchase Invoices page, click Quick > Quick Credit Note.

2. The Quick Purchase Credit Note page appears. Enter the following details.

FIELD STEP
Date Enter the date for the quick credit note creation. You can set the date up to 5 years beyond the current set accounting period.
Ref.No. Enter a unique reference number of the credit note.
Crn. No. Enter a unique number on the credit note.
Supplier To select the required supplier code, click the 'search' icon and in the Supplier Search window, select the supplier. To create a new supplier, on the Supplier Search window, click [New].
Supplier Name The supplier name is auto-populated based on the entry in the Supplier field.
Net Enter the net value of the credit note. This amount will be used to pay invoices.
VAT Code Select the applicable VAT rate on the value entered in the Net field.
VAT The VAT is populated depending on the total percentage of the value entered in the Netfield.
Gross The gross value is populated depending on the total of the values entered in the Net and VAT Code fields.
Code Select the nominal code.
Notes The Standard Narratives declared in the Settings > Standard Notes section will reflect here once you create a new Quick Credit Note.

You can select single/multiple Standard Notes, add, edit or delete Standard Notes.

You can also search for a standard note using the search bar that pops up once you click Notes on the Quick Credit Note page. 

You can thus replace the Note Description with the Narrative attached to it as per the new update.

Splitting Quick Credit Note

To split a quick credit note, complete the following steps.

1. On the Quick Purchase Credit Note page, click to select the credit note you want to split and click Split.

2. The Split window appears.

You can perform certain optional actions on a quick credit note. The procedure to perform the actions is given below

Splitting Credit Note

You can split a credit note amount into two or more parts. The total of the values of each part must be equal to the credit note value. When you split, you can modify the VAT rates of each part. To split, complete the following steps.

3. Configure a quick credit note.

4. On the Quick Purchase Credit Note page, select the credit note you want to split. The Split window appears.

5. The Split window appears. Click the rows below and split the amount under the Net column into multiple parts.

 
The total of the split parts must be equal to the gross invoice amount.

6. To ensure the total of the split parts is equal to the gross invoice amount, click Adjust Total.

7. To save the split invoice, click Save.

8. The Code heading shows that the quick invoice is split.

9. To view the split parts in the invoice print preview, on the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the split invoice and then click Print.

10. The Purchase Invoice Preview page shows the split invoice amounts.

11. On the Split window, click below the row containing credit note details and enter the following details.

      • Net: Enter the first split value.
      • VAT Code: Enter the VAT code.
      • VAT: Enter the VAT amount, if applicable.
      • Gross: The value is auto-populated.
      • Code: Select the required nominal code.
      • Notes: Enter additional details, if required.
      • Repeat the above steps to create as many split values, as required.
      • To confirm that the total of the split values is equal to the original credit note amount, on the Split window, click [Adjust Total].
      • To save the split credit note, click [Save]. The split credit note is indicated by the word Split in the Code field on the Quick Purchase Credit Note page.

Other Actions

Gross to Net

For Quick Invoices and Credit Notes, we have introduced the facility to enter gross values, so Net and VAT are calculated from that (like in the quick payments). This functionality is optional and is turned off by default.

Setting up Gross to Net Calculation for Quick Invoices and Credit Notes

To set up Gross to the Net calculation for Quick Invoices, and Credit Notes, go to Settings Tab. Select Accounts» Setup option. A setup popup appears. There are two sets of settings required, one each for Sales and Purchases. Each setting applies to invoices and credit notes on their respective sides. Select the respective settings below and save the changes.

To set up the default quantity for detailed product invoices; go to the Settings link. Select Accounts» Setup option. A setup popup appears.

After setting gross to net calculation in Quick Invoices and Credit notes, when a new record is added in Quick Invoices, the gross cell, and VAT cell will be editable and the net cell will be a calculated field as below:

Allocating Credit Note

You can associate a credit note with an invoice so that you can pay the invoice fully or partially. You can also not associate a credit note to any invoice and allocate the credit note amount to pay one or more invoices of the same supplier. A credit note associated with an invoice can have an excess credit amount or be unassociated in which case the credit can be used for any invoice. To allocate credit notes, complete the following steps.

1. Complete steps 1 to 4 as given in Invoices and Credit Notes.

2. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding credit note record and from the inline menu, click Allocation. The Allocate Credit Note page appears.

3. On the Allocate Credit Note page, select one or more invoices to which the credit note needs to be allocated.

 
While allocating, you need to be careful so that the credit note amount is not exceeded.

4. Under the Pay column, enter the amount you want to allocate. You may enter the full or partial invoice amount.

5. To complete the allocation, click [Save].

Emailing Credit Note

You can email the credit note to the supplier in the email ID configured at the time of configuring the supplier or in a different email ID. The email functionality offers many standard features of an email system. To send an email, complete the following steps.

1. Complete steps 1 to 4 as given in Invoices and Credit Notes.

2. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding credit note record and from the inline menu, click Email. The Email window appears.

3. On the Email window, enter the required details and click [Send]. The email is sent.

  
If you are using a trial business, you cannot use more than one email ID per field and you cannot send more than ten emails.

Removing Credit Note

You can remove a credit note if it is not allocated to any invoice. To remove a credit note, complete the following steps.

1. Complete steps 1 to 4 as given in Invoices and Credit Notes.

2. On the Purchase Invoices page, click the 'drop-down' icon for the corresponding credit note record and from the inline menu, click Remove. The Confirmation Message window appears.

3. On the Confirmation Message window, click [Remove].

4. In the Information Message window, click [Close]. The credit note is removed.