Client Invoices
What is a Client Invoice?
Once you've completed the Audit of your Vendor Invoices and identified any savings for your Clients, you can then convert approved Vendor Invoices into Client Invoices. Discovery's revenue tier offers the ability to auto-generate Client Invoices and Client Line Items (in bulk) using the very same Vendor Invoice Line Items that were created during the Gather, Extract, and Audit workflows. You also have the option to invoice any relevant fees as needed at the Service, Location, and Client Account levels.
Much like Vendor Invoices, Client Invoices follow along a predesignated and sequential path:
Generate → Approve → Send
For more information on each step of this progression, see the How To section at the bottom of this page.
Features and Usage
- A Client Invoice is always associated with a Client Account. This is important as this account will contain many of the default billing settings for the Client Invoice (e.g recipients, template view, payment terms, etc.).
- A Client Invoice will have multiple Client Line Items automatically generated for it.
- Based on Client Account settings, a Client Invoice will aggregate multiple Locations onto a consolidated Client Invoice, even if those Locations are billed/invoiced across multiple Vendor Invoices.
- Sending Client Invoices by email is a simple and straightforward process, whether done individually or in bulk. This ensures bills are sent to your customers as early as possible.
- Client Invoice email messages can be customized to better match your company's guidelines. A single Client Invoice Email Message Template will be used for all Client Invoices that are sent from Discovery.
- Filter options enable quick access to various Client Invoice statuses (Not Approved, Approved, Sent, Delinquent, etc.). Filtered results can be exported to CSV for offline review.
- Each Client Invoice retains a chronological revision history.
- Should a Client Invoice become delinquent, multiple Payment Reminders can be generated for it.
- A Client Invoice can receive Applied Payments.
- A Client Invoice can receive Applied Credit Memos.
Properties
- Invoice Number: The invoice number. This is an automatically generated field that's unique for each invoice generated.
- Invoice Date: The date the invoice was created.
- Due At: The date the invoice is due. This is an automatically calculated field that uses the Invoice Date + the Payment Terms. Discovery will automatically change your invoice status to Delinquent if the invoice is not paid before or on this date.
- Client Name: The client name.
- Total Amount Billed: The total amount billed on the invoice.
- Total Amount Paid: The total amount paid on the invoice.
- Total Amount Credit Memo: The total amount credited on the invoice.
- Total Amount Due: The total amount due on the invoice.
- Line Items: The Client Line Items on the invoice.
- Status: The status of the invoice.
- Notes: Any notes about the invoice.
- Current PDF Document: The current PDF document for the invoice. This is automatically generated using the PDF Template settings from the corresponding Client Account.
- History: The history of the invoice. Every change made to the invoice from the point it's generated to when it's completely paid will be logged here.
- Latest Approval Attempt: The latest approval attempt for the invoice.
- Latest Approval Attempt At: The date and time of the latest approval attempt for the invoice.
- Last Emailed At: The date and time the invoice was last emailed.
- Approved At: The date and time the invoice was approved.
- Paid At: The date and time the invoice was paid.
Settings
These settings are used to control how your invoices will look when rendered, who receives them, and when they're due. These can all be pre-filled (inherited) using defaults from the Client Account that's associated with your invoices.
- Show Account Name in Invoice - Determines whether the account name is displayed on the invoice.
- Show Service Location Names in Invoice - Determines whether the service location names are displayed on the invoice.
- Purchase Order - Often a client will need there to be a PO number on the invoices they receive from you. When they submit the invoice for payment to their A/P department the PO number often required.
- Invoice Remittance Text - This is the text that appears on the remittance advice section of the invoice.
- Billing Address - Specifies the billing address to be used on the invoice.
- Primary Contact Name - Specifies the primary contact name to be used on the invoice.
- Primary Telephone Number - Specifies the primary telephone number to be used on the invoice.
- Primary Email Address - Specifies the primary email address to be used on the invoice.
- Invoice Template View - Specifies the invoice template to be used when rendering the invoice as a PDF.
- Single Invoice per Period - Determines whether a single invoice is generated for all charges in a period, or if separate (multiple) invoices can be generated for each charge.
- Payment Terms - Specifies the payment terms for the invoice. Remember: default values are pre-filled from the Client Account.
- Other Invoice Recipients - Specifies other people or entities that should receive a copy of the invoice. For example, your clients may ask that someone from their Billing/AP department is included on their invoices.
Status Flow
As you generate, approve, and send out your Client Invoices the statuses on them will transition as follows:
- Not Approved - The client invoice is not approved, typically because it fails an auto-approval rule. It will remain in this status until approved. All Client Invoices will start with this status after they're generated.
- On Hold - An invoice that has been removed from the normal process for manual interaction. Typically used to hold a bill so that Employees can take various actions regarding the invoice prior to sending the invoice to the customer.
- Approved - The Invoice has passed automatic validation rules or has been manually approved by an Employee underneath your Tenant. The invoice is ready to go out via the Sub Account’s delivery method (print, email, or both).
- Sent - An invoice that was sent to the customer (email or print), has an open balance greater than zero, and is not yet Delinquent.
- Delinquent - An invoice that has an open balance greater than 0 after the stated Due Date of the invoice. Delinquent Client Invoices qualify for Payment Reminders, sent via email to request payment for the outstanding invoice balance.
- Paid - An Invoice that has reached a $0 balance after being Sent, through a combination of at least $0.01 being paid by the customer, and optionally a credit applied to the invoice.
Bulk Revenue Actions
Please refer to the following video for details about Bulk Revenue Actions and how they can streamline client invoicing.
How To?
- How Do I Generate a Client Invoice?
- How Do I Approve a Client Invoice?
- How Do I Send a Client Invoice?
- How Do I Process a Client Payment?
- Revenue Tutorial
- How Do I Send Client Invoice Reminders?
If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.