Home > Creating Estimates and Invoices > Creating Invoices

Creating Invoices

To keep track of what each customer owes you for your goods or services, you create an invoice for each transaction.

When you create an invoice for a customer, in the Invoices dialog box, you can open the Customer Detail dialog box to edit the customer’s information by clicking the Customer link in the Bill To area and choosing Edit selected customer from the menu. From this shortcut menu, you can also choose to Add a new customer or View the customer list. For more information, see Managing Customer Information.

You can create invoices without requiring a customer name by specifying that in the Company Information dialog box. (See Selecting Customer and Vendor Entry Options.)

To create an invoice:
  1. Click the Estimates & Invoices icon in the Sales section of the workspace, or choose Sales> Create Invoices & Estimates.
  2. In the Invoices dialog box, select a customer’s name from the Customer list.
    If the customer isn’t in the list, click the Customer link in the Bill To area and choose Add new customer to open the Customer Detail dialog box where you can enter the customer’s information. (For details, see Managing Customer Information.)
  3. If the correct shipping address for this invoice doesn't appear automatically, click the Ship To link to adjust the information or to specify the Bill To address.
  4. To include other shipping information, such as the shipping methods, click the Click here to add/change shipping information link. Enter the other shipping information in the Invoice Details dialog box, such as the method of shipping, the shipment date, a tracking number, and the freight charges. Click OK. (For more information, see Viewing Invoice Details.)
  5. To view a map of the Ship To location in Google Maps™, click the Map it! icon.
  6. To specify a default invoice layout, select the Type of invoice: Product, Professional, or Service.
    To specify a customized invoice template, indicate printing options, or add notes, click the More Details button. Enter the information in the Invoice Details dialog box on the appropriate tab, and click OK. (For more information, see Viewing Invoice Details.) If you select a type and a custom invoice template, the type only affects what you see in Brass Jacks Bookkeeper.
  7. If necessary, edit the invoice number, date and due date in the Invoice Detail area.
  8. If you’re creating an estimate that isn’t ready to be invoiced, select the This Is An Estimate check box.
  9. To specify payment terms, select a term from the Payment list: Receive payment later, Receive payment now, or Installment billing.
    If you select Receive payment now, the Receive Payment dialog box opens after you save the invoice or after you click Payment. See Entering Payments for Invoices.
    (For details on deferred payments, see Setting Up an Installment Plan.
  10. To replace the General box in the Invoice Detail area with a custom field,.click the General link. In the Company Information dialog box, specify the custom field to use, and click OK. (See Defining Custom Fields.)
  11. To keep track of the progress of a project or job that you’re billing for, select the name of the job from the Job list.
  12. To bill for time and expenses incurred by employees or contractors (or vendors) related to the specified Job, click the Import Expenses button. In the Import Job Related Expenses dialog box, select the expenses to import, and click Import. (See Invoicing for Employee or Vendor Time or Invoicing for Employee or Vendor Expenses.)
  13. To add an item to the invoice or estimate, click the Add Item or Service button above the Invoice Line Items area of the dialog box. In the Invoice Item Selection dialog box, select an item or service, and click OK. (See Adding Items to an Invoice.)
  14. To apply existing customer credits, click the Apply Credits button in the lower-right area of the dialog box. See Applying a Credit to an Invoice.
  15. To apply a discount to the entire invoice or to a single line item, click the Apply Discounts button in the lower-right area of the dialog box. (See Applying Discounts to an Invoice.)
  16. To edit the sales tax rate for the customer, click the Customer link in the Bill To area and choose Edit selected customer from the menu. (See Creating a Sales Tax Definition.)
  17. If the freight for this invoice should be taxed, select the Shipping is taxable check box.
  18. To print this invoice, click Print.
    You can print your invoices one at a time or select several to print at once.
  19. When finished creating the invoice, click Save.
    To apply the payment immediately, click the Payment button to save the invoice or click Save after selecting Receive payment now. In the Receive Payment dialog box, if necessary, select each invoice for this payment, and click Save.