Creating invoices for your customers (Pro and Plus only)

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. These functionalities are separated into two tabs, the 'Overview' tab and the 'Invoices' tab.

This article covers:

• Accessing the Invoicing page
• Reviewing your Invoicing Overview
• Reviewing existing Invoices
• Creating and editing Invoices
• Deleting Invoices
• Exporting invoices

Accessing the Invoicing page

The invoicing page may only be accessed by team members with the appropriate permission. Specifically, it is accessible by admins, controllers, and managers by default. 

To access the invoicing page

1. Click on the company portfolio tab (company name tab) in Forecast.
2. From there click on Invoicing.

This will land you on the 'Overview' tab of invoices.

Reviewing your Invoicing Overview

The overview gives a detailed breakdown of the invoiced and un-invoiced total amount grouped by project and budget type. The invoicing overview will only show projects that still have invoiceable amounts. The invoicing data is shown per project. Projects are grouped by their budget type, Time & Material, Fixed Price, and Retainer Projects.

Groups by budget type:

Reviewing existing Invoices

The 'Invoices' tab 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.

Creating and editing Invoices

Create invoices by a 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:

1. Click on the company portfolio tab (company name tab).
2. Click on Invoicing.
3. From any of the two tabs, click on New Invoice.
4. Select which project to invoice from the list of projects provided.
5. Filter by client Client to find the desired client's projects.
6. Set the date range that you are looking into.
7. Select the Project.
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.

To create an invoice with Manual/Deposit:

1. Click on the company portfolio tab (company name tab).
2. Click on Invoicing.
3. From any of the two tabs, click on New Invoice.
4. Under the invoice type click on 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.

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:

1. Click on the company portfolio tab (company name tab).
2. Click on Invoicing.
3. Click on the Invoices tab.
4. 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.
5. Once located, make sure that the invoice is not exported and that its status is set to draft.
6. Click on the hamburger menu (three stacked dots) at the end of the invoice line.
7. Click on Edit.

The invoice modal will then open up and you will be able to edit any of the information already in it.

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:

1. Click on the company portfolio tab (company name tab).
2. Click on Invoicing.
3. Click on the Invoices tab.
4. 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.
5. Once located, make sure that the invoice is not exported and that its status is set to draft.
6. Click on the hamburger menu (three stacked dots) at the end of the invoice line.
7. Click Delete.

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