Sales Invoice #
Sales invoices let you bill customers for services, track payments, and generate professional PDFs — all in one place. Navigate to AR → Sales Invoice to create or open an invoice.
Before you begin #
To create a sales invoice you need:
- At least one customer set up in the system (AR → Customers)
- At least one AR record account configured in your chart of accounts (an account with the AR link — see Record account below)
- At least one payment account configured (an account with the AR_paid link — see Payment account below)
- At least one service in the catalogue, or you can enter descriptions manually
Header section #
Customer #
Select the customer from the dropdown. Type to search by name or number. When a customer is selected, their address, credit limit, and remaining credit are shown below the field.
- Click the pencil icon next to the customer to edit their record without leaving the invoice.
- Click the + icon to create a new customer on the spot. The invoice reopens with the new customer pre-selected.
Invoice Number #
Auto-generated from the sequence configured in System → Defaults → Number Sequences. If the sequence is not locked, you can type your own number. If it is locked, the field is read-only and the number is assigned automatically on save.
Click New Number to request the next available number without saving the full invoice (useful if you want to reserve a number early).
Order Number #
An optional reference to a customer’s purchase order or internal order reference. Printed on the invoice if filled in.
Invoice Date #
The date the invoice is issued. Defaults to today. Changing the invoice date also recalculates the due date based on the customer’s payment terms.
Due Date #
The date payment is expected. Calculated automatically from the invoice date plus the customer’s payment terms (set on the customer record). Can be overridden manually.
Currency #
Defaults to your base currency. If foreign currencies are configured (System → Currencies), you can select a different currency here. The exchange rate field appears when a non-base currency is selected.
Exchange Rate #
Visible only when a foreign currency is selected. Shows the rate used to convert the invoice amount to your base currency. You can override it manually.
If your base currency is CHF, click the arrow icon inside the exchange rate field to auto-fetch the rate. Rates are sourced from the Swiss Federal Customs Administration (BAZG) at backend-rates.bazg.admin.ch and represent the official monthly average for the invoice’s month.
Record In #
The AR control (record) account this invoice is posted to. This determines which receivable account is debited when the invoice is posted.
Which accounts appear here? Only accounts with the AR link set in the Chart of Accounts appear in this list. To add an account to this dropdown, go to System → Chart of Accounts, open the account, and assign the AR link under Chart Type / Link.
The default record account is set on the customer record. If a specific AR account is assigned to the customer, it pre-selects automatically when you choose the customer.
Description #
A brief description of the invoice. This appears on the invoice document.
Reference Documents #
Attach supporting files (contracts, delivery notes, etc.) by clicking Add Reference Documents. Files are stored and can be downloaded from the invoice at any time. Existing attached files are listed below the upload button and can be removed individually.
Department #
Visible only if departments are configured. Allocates the invoice to a specific department for reporting purposes.
Project #
Visible only if projects/jobs exist and the invoice date falls within a project’s active period. Selecting a project here applies it to all current line items and any new lines added. Note: only the per-line project assignment is saved — the header project field is a convenience shortcut.
Shipping & Controlling (expandable section) #
Click Shipping & Controlling to expand this section.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Shipping Point | Where the services are dispatched from. |
| Ship Via | Carrier or shipping method. |
| Way Bill | Waybill or tracking reference. |
| Ship To | A different delivery address for this invoice. Expand to enter a name and full address. |
Line items #
Each line represents one product or service being sold.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Number | Select a service from the catalogue by number. Typing searches both number and description. |
| Description | The item description printed on the invoice. Pre-filled from the catalogue; can be overridden. |
| Qty | Quantity. |
| Unit | Unit of measure (e.g. pcs, hrs). Pre-filled from the catalogue. |
| Price | Unit selling price. Pre-filled from the catalogue list price. |
| % | Discount percentage for this line (0 = no discount). |
| Total | Calculated: Qty × Price × (1 − Discount%). Read-only. |
Adding and removing lines #
- Click Add Line (the + icon at the top right of the line items section) to add a new blank line.
- Press Enter on any field within a line to jump to a new line automatically.
- Click the delete icon (bin) at the right of a line to remove it.
- Lines can be reordered by dragging the drag handle on the left side of each line.
Saving a service from within the invoice #
Click Add Service (below the lines) to open the Services form without leaving the invoice. After saving, the new service is immediately available in the line item dropdown.
The edit (pencil) icon on a line with a selected service opens the service record for editing.
Expanded line detail #
Click the chevron (▾) icon on any line to reveal additional detail fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Project | Assign this line to a specific project. |
| Delivery Date | Expected delivery date for this line item. |
| Item Notes | Notes specific to this line item (internal use). |
| Serial No. | Serial number of the item being sold. |
| Vendor | Vendor cost reference. |
| Cost | Cost of this item (for margin tracking). |
| Order Number | Order number linked to this line. |
| PO Number | Customer’s purchase order number for this line. |
| Packaging | Packaging description. |
| N.W. | Net weight. |
| G.W. | Gross weight. |
| Volume | Volume of the item. |
Notes and totals #
Below the line items:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Notes | Text visible on the invoice to the customer. |
| Internal Notes | Notes only visible to your team; not printed on the invoice. |
| Tax Included | When checked, prices are treated as tax-inclusive (tax is extracted from the line totals rather than added on top). |
| Subtotal | Sum of all line totals (before tax, if tax-exclusive). |
| Tax lines | One row per applicable tax rate, calculated automatically based on the items and the customer’s tax settings. |
| Rounding | Click the rounding row to open a popup and enter a manual rounding adjustment. The value (positive or negative) is added to the invoice total. |
| Total | Final invoice total including tax and rounding. |
How taxes are calculated: Only taxes that are selected on both the service and the customer are applied to the invoice. If a tax is on the service but not the customer, or vice versa, it is not charged.
VAT on the PDF: For VAT to appear on the printed invoice, your company’s Business Number (UID/VAT number) must be filled in under System → Defaults → Company.
How rounding is accounted for: When a rounding amount is saved on a base-currency invoice, the system posts the rounding difference as an additional accounting entry against the Foreign Exchange Gain/Loss account (configured in System → Defaults → Accounting). This keeps the AR control account balanced against the invoice total. Rounding is not applied to foreign-currency invoices.
Payments section #
The payments section records money received against this invoice. You can record a payment at the same time as the invoice, or leave payments empty and record them later through AR → Payments.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Date | Date the payment was received. |
| Source | Reference number (e.g. bank transfer reference, cheque number). |
| Memo | Optional note about this payment. |
| Amount | Amount received. Click the ↓ arrow icon on the last payment line to copy the outstanding balance automatically. |
| Exchange Rate | Visible when a foreign currency invoice. The rate at which this payment was received. If your base currency is CHF, click the arrow icon to auto-fetch the monthly average rate from the Swiss Federal Customs Administration (BAZG). |
| Account | The bank or cash account the payment was deposited into. |
Outstanding is shown below the payments and equals the invoice total minus all payment amounts. An invoice is considered fully paid when Outstanding reaches zero.
Payment account #
Which accounts appear in the Account dropdown? Only accounts with the AR_paid link set in the Chart of Accounts appear here. To add an account, go to System → Chart of Accounts, open the account, and assign the AR_paid link under the account’s link settings.
The default payment account for new payment lines is taken from the customer record (AR → Customers → edit customer → Payment Account field). If no default is set on the customer, the first account in the AR_paid list is used.
QR invoice note: For Swiss QR invoices, the payment account on the invoice determines which bank account is encoded in the QR code. The first payment line’s account is used as the payment account for QR generation — even if no actual payment has been entered yet. Make sure the correct bank account is in the first payment line before generating a QR invoice.
Actions #
Save #
Saves the invoice and keeps it open for review. The PDF is generated and stored when an invoice is saved or posted. Saving is only allowed if the invoice date is outside the closed period (set in System → Defaults → Settings → Closed To).
Post #
Posts the invoice to the ledger and redirects away from the invoice. Use this when the invoice is final and you do not need to review it immediately after posting. Posting is only allowed if the invoice date is outside the closed period.
Post as New #
Posts the current invoice as a new invoice (ignoring any existing invoice ID). Useful for duplicating an existing invoice. Before posting, either use the New Number button to assign the next available invoice number, or clear the invoice number field manually — otherwise the duplicate will carry the original invoice number.
New Number #
Fetches the next available invoice number from the sequence without saving. Useful to pre-reserve a number.
Delete #
Deletes the invoice. Deletion is only allowed if the invoice date is outside the closed period.
Reversal #
Creates a credit invoice that mirrors the current invoice (reversing all postings). The reversed invoice must be reviewed and posted to take effect.
Print & email (after saving) #
After saving, you can print, download, or email the invoice directly from the bottom of the page.
Template selector #
Choose which document template to use for PDF generation:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Invoice | Standard sales invoice layout |
| Packing List | Packing/shipment list format |
Print / Download #
Click Print to generate and download the PDF using the selected template.
Email #
Click the Email button to open the email dialog. Before sending, select the email type:
| Email type | Description |
|---|---|
| Invoice / credit email | The standard invoice or credit note email |
| Reminder 1 | First payment reminder |
| Reminder 2 | Second payment reminder |
| Reminder 3 | Third payment reminder |
The email dialog pre-fills the following from the customer record and your defaults:
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
| To | Customer’s email address |
| Subject | From the default message template for the selected email type |
| CC / BCC | From the default message template |
| Message | From the customer’s individual email message (if set), otherwise from the system default message template |
All fields can be edited before sending. For reminder emails, leaving the message blank will use the customer or system template automatically.
Setting up default email messages: Go to System → Messages. Here you can configure default message templates for:
- Invoice send
- Reminder 1, Reminder 2, Reminder 3
These templates support message variables (e.g. inserting the customer name or invoice number automatically).
Setting a customer-specific email message: Open the customer record (AR → Customers) and fill in the Email Message field and/or the reminder message fields. These override the system default for that customer.
PDF generation and templates #
The PDF for a sales invoice is generated and stored each time the invoice is saved or posted. If you change a template or bank account details after posting, open and re-save the invoice to regenerate its PDF with the updated details.
Updating the invoice template #
Invoice templates are managed in System → Templates. The main invoice template is invoice.tex.
Adding a logo to invoices #
To add a company logo to your invoices, replace the file background_with_footer.pdf in System → Templates with your own PDF file of the same name. Position your logo and any other static background elements (footer, letterhead) in this PDF exactly as you want them to appear on the invoice.
Enabling QR invoices (Swiss QR-bill) #
QR bills only generate when the invoice currency is CHF, the total is greater than zero, and the bank account has a QR-IBAN filled in.
Step 1 — Configure your bank account
Go to System → Bank Accounts and open the bank account you use for customer payments. Fill in the fields that drive the QR bill:
| Field | Required | What it does on the QR bill |
|---|---|---|
| QR-IBAN | Yes | Printed as the account number and encoded in the QR code. Must be a Swiss QR-IBAN (the IID in positions 5–9 falls in the range 30000–31999). |
| Invoice Description QR | Optional | Text that appears in the Additional information section of the QR bill. Supports variables — recommended value: <%invdescription%>. Maximum 55 characters. |
| Structured Bank Info | Optional | Structured reference data embedded in the QR code and shown in the Further information field. Supports variables. Recommended value: //S1/10/<%invnumber%>/11/<%invdateqr%>/20/<%ponumber%>/30/<%businessnumberqr%>/32/<%swicotaxbaseqr%>/40/0:<%terms%>. Maximum 85 characters. |
The creditor address on the QR bill (your company name, street, postcode, city) is taken from System → Defaults, not from the bank account. Make sure your company address is complete there.
The debtor address (your customer’s name and address) is taken from the customer record on the invoice.
Step 2 — Set the payment account on the invoice
On the sales invoice, make sure the first payment line’s account is set to the bank account you want the QR code to reference. The QR bill always uses the first payment line’s account — even if no payment has been entered yet. Add a payment line with the correct account and leave the amount blank if no payment has been received.
Step 3 — Enable QR in the invoice template
Open the invoice template (invoice.tex) in System → Templates, switch to Edit Mode, and find the following line:
%include content_qrinvoice.tex%>Change it to:
<%include content_qrinvoice.tex%>(Remove the leading % so the include is no longer commented out.)
Click Save. After this change, re-save any existing invoices to regenerate their PDFs with the QR code.
Recent transactions #
At the bottom of the invoice (and in the sidebar of the print view), the Last 5 Transactions panel shows the five most recent AR invoices. Click any transaction to open it.
Print view #
After saving, existing invoices open in print view by default, showing the generated PDF alongside your recent transactions. Use the toolbar in the sidebar to:
- Email the invoice
- Download the PDF
- Reverse the transaction
- Edit (return to the edit form)
Recurring invoices #
Invoices can be set to generate automatically on a recurring schedule. See Recurring Invoices for details.
Credit invoices #
A credit invoice (credit note) works the same way as a sales invoice but reverses the postings. Navigate to AR → Credit Invoice to create one, or use the Reversal button on an existing invoice to generate a pre-filled credit invoice automatically.