Creating invoices for your customers

Forecast provides users with the ability to generate invoices for projects and track payments on invoices. Additionally, an overview of what has been invoiced to clients, what has been paid, and what is still outstanding is provided. 

This article covers:

• Accessing your Invoices
• Creating and editing Invoices
• Deleting Invoices
• Exporting invoices

Accessing your Invoices

Invoices may only be accessed by team members with the appropriate permission. Specifically, invoices are accessible by admins, controllers, and managers by default. Invoicing is accessible through the Finance pages, Invoice Creation and All Invoices, or at the project level from the Invoicing page under Financials.

Accessing your invoices from Finance

Users can access or create invoices from the Finance menu. 

1. Click Finance in the top bar. 
2. Select Invoice Creation or All Invoices. 

• Invoice Creation provides a list of all projects grouped by budget type for a time period.  Here, data is displayed as projects grouped by budget types and includes the project's client, the amount of un-invoiced time registrations in both time and monetary values, any un-invoiced expenses as well as the total invoiced and un-invoiced amounts for the project and the time period selected. 
  
• All Invoices provides a detailed list of all the invoices that have been created so far together with a summary of the invoiced, paid, and unpaid amounts. From here you are able not only to review existing invoices but also edit them, delete them and export them to one of the three accounting platforms Forecast integrates with, Xero, QuickBooks, e-conomic.
  

Accessing your invoices from Projects

Users with applicable permission profiles can also access or create invoices from within a specific project. 

1. Select Projects from the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
3. Click on the project you wish to view invoices or create a new invoice for. 
4. From within the project, click Financials in the left side panel. 
5. Select Invoicing. 

• Invoicing provides a detail list of all the invoices created for the project.  The top section of summary cards display the project's financial information and invoice details. From here you can see the Confirmed or Total Revenue for the project, any invoices that have been created, sent or exported, as well as payments received or overdue invoices. 

• • For Time and Material project budget types, un-invoiced Time Registrations and Expenses will be displayed with a date picker that allows you to select the time period you wish to review time registrations that have not yet been invoiced. 
    
  • For Retainer project budget types, Locked Periods and and Expenses will display below the summary cards and display any uninvoiced locked periods in both time and money, any uninvoiced expenses and the entire uninvoiced total.
    
  • For Fixed Price budget projects, Invoices will display below the summary cards.
    

Creating and editing Invoices

Create invoices by client for Time & Material, Fixed Price, or Retainer projects. Only team members with a permission level of a Manager, Controller, and Admin are able to create and manage invoices. 

Creating invoices

There are two types of invoices that can be created, Billable hours/fixed price or Manual/Deposit. The difference between the two methods has to do with whether the project that you wish to invoice for has any billable hours, which would fall under the first type of invoice, or if it doesn't, and you still wish to invoice a certain amount you will need to use the Manual/Deposit option.

To create an invoice for existing billable hours/fixed price from Finance

1. Click Finance in the top bar.
2. Select Invoice Creation or All Invoices from the dropdown.  
3. From either page, click New Invoice.
4. In the Create invoice window, select Billable hours/fixed price.
5. Select which project to invoice from the list of projects provided.
6. Filter by client Client to find the desired client's projects.
7. Set the date range that you are looking into.
8. Select the Project.
9. Add the Invoice Name.
10. Pick the Invoice Date and the Due Date.
11. Add a Reference, Discount, Tax, and Currency.
12. Choose whether or not to Include expenses.
13. Leave any Notes if needed.
14. Click Next. 
15. Review the project, description (optional), quantity, unit price, discount, tax and total price values. 
16. Use the green plus button to add an invoice line. 
    1. If adding a line, select the project the invoice is for, only projects that fall under the selected customer will appear. 
    2. Add a description (optional), the quantity, a unit price, a discount, and a tax rate.
    3. Repeat to add additional lines as needed.
17. Click on Save and Continue to complete the process.

To create an invoice with Manual/Deposit from Finance

1. Click Finance in the top bar. 
2. Select Invoice Creation or All Invoices from the dropdown.  
3. From either page, click New Invoice.
4. In the Create invoice window, select Manual/Deposit.
5. Set the date range.
6. Select the client (necessary to proceed).
7. Name the invoice.
8. Pick the Invoice Date and the Due Date.
9. Add a Reference, Discount, Tax, and Currency.
10. Leave any Notes if needed.
11. Click on Create invoice.
12. Click on the green plus button to add an invoice line.
13. Select the project the invoice is for, only projects that fall under the selected customer will appear.
14. Add a description (optional), the quantity, a unit price, a discount, and a tax rate.
15. Click on Save and Continue to complete the process.

To create an invoice for existing billable hours/fixed price from within a project

1. Click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown.
3. Click on the project you wish to invoice for. 
4. In the left side panel, click Financials, then Invoicing. 
5. Click + Create Invoice.
6. Select Billable hours/fixed price. 
7. Click Create Invoice.
8. Add the Invoice Name.
9. Pick the Invoice Date and the Due Date.
10. Add a Reference, Discount, Tax, and Currency.
11. Choose whether or not to Include expenses.
12. Leave any Notes if needed.
13. Click Next. 
14. On the following screen, review the project and invoice details. Make any adjustments, add a discount or apply tax, if applicable. 
15. Click on the green plus button to add an invoice line, if needed. 
16. Click Save and Continue to complete the process. 

To create an invoice with Manual/Deposit from within a project

1. Click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown.
3. Click on the project you wish to invoice for. 
4. In the left side panel, click Financials, then Invoicing. 
5. Click + Create Invoice.
6. Select Manual/Deposit. 
7. Add the Invoice Name.
8. Pick the Invoice Date and the Due Date.
9. Add a Reference, Discount, Tax, and Currency.
10. Choose whether or not to Include expenses.
11. Leave any Notes if needed.
12. Click Create Invoice. 
13. Click on the green plus button to add an invoice line.
14. Add a description (optional), the quantity, a unit price, a discount, and a tax rate.
15. Click Save and Continue to complete the process. 

Editing invoices

Once an invoice is created, it is possible to make changes to it by editing it. However, it will not be possible to edit an invoice if its status is set to approved or sent and if they have been exported. Before making any changes to the invoice make sure that these conditions are not met and that the status of the invoice is set to draft.

To edit an invoice from Finance

1. Click Finance in the top bar. 
2. Select All Invoices from the dropdown.  
3. Find the invoice by searching for it through the search bar, by setting the date range to when it was created, and filtering by the project.
4. Once located, make sure that the invoice is not exported and that its status is set to draft.
5. Click on the three dot menu at the end of the invoice line.
6. Select Edit.
7. Make the necessary changes, then click Save.

To edit an invoice from within a project

1. Click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
3. Click on the project you wish to edit an invoice for. 
4. In the left side panel, click Financials. 
5. Select Invoicing. 
6. Under Invoices, locate the invoice you wish to edit. 
7. Once located, make sure that the invoice is not exported and that its status is set to draft.
8. Click on the three dot menu at the end of the invoice line. 
9. Select Edit. 
10. Make the necessary changes, then click Save. 

Deleting Invoices

When attempting to delete an invoice the same prerequisites as with editing it apply. To delete an invoice it is necessary that the invoice in question has its status set to draft and it is not exported.

To delete an invoice from Finance

1. Click Finance in the top bar. 
2. Select All Invoices from the dropdown.  
3. Find the invoice by searching for it by name through the search bar, by setting the date range to when it was created, and by filtering by the project.
4. Once located, make sure that the invoice is not exported and that its status is set to draft.
5. Click on the three dot menu at the end of the invoice line.
6. Click Delete.
7. This will delete the invoice from your Forecast account.

To delete an invoice from within a project

1. Click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
3. Click on the project you wish to delete an invoice for. 
4. In the left side panel, click Financials. 
5. Select Invoicing. 
6. Under Invoices, locate the invoice you wish to edit. 
7. Click on the three dot menu at the end of the invoice line. 
8. Click Delete. 
9. This will delete the invoice from your Forecast account. 

Exporting invoices to third-party platforms

As mentioned earlier, Forecast integrates with three different accounting platforms, Xero, QuickBooks, and e-conomic. Depending on which integration your account is using the process of exporting could be different, therefore the details on how to export invoices can be found in the below listed dedicated articles about each of these integrations.

• Invoicing with Xero for Forecast integration
• Using QuickBooks integration for invoicing
• Using the e-conomic integration for invoicing