Creating and sending invoices

This guide walks you through creating sales invoices in EQUOS9, from standalone invoice creation to generating invoices from sales orders.

Before you start

Ensure you have:

• At least one customer contact set up
• A sell price list with products and pricing
• Tax rates configured (typically 10% GST for Australian businesses)
• Your business profile completed with company details and bank information

Invoice creation methods

EQUOS9 supports two ways to create sales invoices:

Creating an invoice from a sales order

The most common workflow is to create an invoice from an approved sales order.

Step 1: Approve the sales order

1. Navigate to Accounts → Sales tab → Orders sub-tab
2. Find the sales order you want to invoice
3. Ensure the order is in Approved status:
   • If Draft, click Confirm then Approve
   • If Confirmed, click Approve

Step 2: Create the invoice

1. Click the sales order to open the detail view
2. Click the menu button (⋮) in the app bar
3. Select Create Invoice
4. The invoice form opens with pre-populated data:
   • Customer details from the order
   • Bill To and Ship To addresses
   • All line items with quantities and pricing
   • Credit terms and due date
   • Notes and terms

Step 3: Review and adjust

Review the pre-populated invoice:

• Invoice date — Defaults to today, adjust if needed
• Due date — Calculated from credit terms, can be changed
• Line items — Edit quantities or pricing if needed
• Tax rate — Verify GST is applied correctly
• Discount — Add discount amount if applicable
• Notes — Add customer-facing notes
• Terms — Include payment terms and conditions

Step 4: Save the invoice

1. Review the totals:
   • Subtotal — Sum of line items
   • Discount — Any discount applied
   • Tax — GST or other applicable tax
   • Total — Final amount due
2. Click Save to create the invoice
3. Invoice status is set to Draft

Step 5: Mark the order as invoiced

Once the invoice is saved:

1. Return to the sales order view
2. The order status automatically updates to Invoiced
3. A link to the invoice appears in the Linked Documents section

Workflow completion:

Sales Order (Approved) → Create Invoice → Sales Invoice (Draft)
                      ↓
        Sales Order (Invoiced)

Creating a standalone invoice

For one-off sales or when you don’t need a sales order workflow.

Step 1: Open the invoice form

1. Navigate to Accounts → Sales tab → Invoices sub-tab
2. Click New Invoice in the header
3. The invoice creation form opens with a two-panel layout:
   • Left panel — Price list browser
   • Right panel — Invoice details and line items

Step 2: Select the customer

1. In the Customer section, click Select Customer
2. Choose from your customer contacts list
3. Customer name and email auto-populate
4. If the customer has a default price list, it activates

Step 3: Set billing and shipping addresses

Bill To address:

1. Click Select Bill To
2. Choose a contact with an address
3. The billing name and address populate
4. Edit if needed

Ship To address:

• By default, “Same as Bill To” is enabled
• To use a different shipping address:
  1. Toggle off “Same as Bill To”
  2. Click Select Ship To
  3. Choose a delivery contact/location

Step 4: Set invoice dates

Invoice date:

• Defaults to today
• Can be backdated for historical invoices

Due date:

• Calculated from customer’s credit terms (Net 30, Net 60, etc.)
• Can be manually adjusted
• Required field for saving

Step 5: Add line items

Using the price list browser:

1. Select a price list from the dropdown (if multiple exist)
2. Browse Products or Services tabs
3. Click an item to add it to the invoice
4. The item appears with:
   • SKU
   • Description
   • Quantity (defaults to 1)
   • Unit price from price list
   • Unit of measure

Editing line items:

• Quantity — Click to adjust
• Unit price — Can override price list value
• Remove — Click the delete icon (🗑)

Adding duplicate items:

• Clicking an existing item increments its quantity
• Or manually add and edit quantities

Step 6: Configure tax and discounts

Tax rate:

1. Select tax rate from dropdown (e.g., “GST 10%”)
2. Tax automatically calculated on subtotal minus discount
3. Tax amount shown in totals section

Discount:

1. Enter discount amount (not percentage)
2. Discount applied before tax calculation
3. Totals update automatically

Step 7: Add notes and terms

Notes field:

• Customer-facing comments
• Delivery instructions
• Special arrangements
• Shows on printed invoice

Terms and Conditions:

• Payment terms
• Return policy
• Warranty information
• Standard legal text

Step 8: Save the invoice

1. Review the Invoice Summary card:
   • Total items
   • Subtotal
   • Discount
   • Tax
   • Total amount
2. Click Save to create the invoice
3. Invoice saved with status Draft

Invoice validation

The system validates invoices before allowing save:

Validation errors:

• Highlighted fields with error message
• Save button disabled until resolved
• Warning banner at top of form

Invoice statuses

Invoices move through several statuses:

Sending invoices

Once an invoice is saved as Draft, you can send it to the customer.

Step 1: Export the invoice PDF

1. Open the invoice detail view
2. Click the menu button (⋮)
3. Select Export PDF
4. PDF generates with:
   • Your company logo and details
   • Customer billing and shipping addresses
   • Line items table with SKU, description, quantity, price
   • Subtotal, tax, and total
   • Payment terms
   • Bank account details for payment

Step 2: Send to customer

Manual sending:

1. Download the generated PDF
2. Compose an email to the customer
3. Attach the PDF
4. Send the email
5. Return to EQUOS9

Mark as sent:

1. Open the invoice detail view
2. Click the menu button (⋮)
3. Select Mark Sent
4. Invoice status updates to Sent
5. Sent timestamp recorded

Future enhancement:

• Direct email sending from EQUOS9
• Email templates
• Automatic send on status change
• Customer portal link in email

Recording payments

Track payments as they’re received from customers.

Partial payment

1. Open the invoice detail view
2. Click Record Payment in the actions menu
3. Enter payment details:
   • Amount — Portion paid
   • Date — When payment received
   • Method — Bank transfer, card, cash
   • Reference — Transaction or receipt number
4. Click Save
5. Invoice status updates to Partially Paid
6. Payment progress bar shows amount paid vs balance due

Full payment

Option 1: Record final payment

1. Follow partial payment process above
2. Enter remaining balance amount
3. Status automatically updates to Paid

Option 2: Mark Paid

1. Open the invoice detail view
2. Click Mark Paid in the actions menu
3. Confirm the action
4. Status updates to Paid
5. Paid timestamp recorded
6. paidAmount set to total

Handling overdue invoices

Invoices automatically become overdue when the due date passes and payment is outstanding.

Identifying overdue invoices

In the invoice list:

• Red Overdue badge
• Highlighted in overdue colour
• Sort by due date to see oldest first

In invoice details:

• Red due date with “X days overdue”
• Overdue indicator in status section
• Payment urgency highlighted

Actions for overdue invoices

1. Send reminder:

   • Export PDF again
   • Send follow-up email with payment request
   • Include original invoice number and due date

2. Contact customer:

   • Phone call to accounts payable
   • Verify invoice received
   • Confirm payment date

3. Apply late fees (optional):

   • Create separate fee invoice
   • Link to original invoice in notes
   • Apply per your terms and conditions

4. Record payment when received:

   • Status updates from Overdue to Paid
   • Days overdue recorded in history

Invoice editing

Draft invoices:

• Can be freely edited
• Click Edit in invoice detail view
• Modify any field or line item
• Save changes

Sent invoices:

• Limited editing (depends on business rules)
• Cannot change amounts or line items
• Can add notes or update payment details

Best practice:

• Void incorrect invoices
• Create new corrected invoice
• Note the correction in invoice notes
• Maintains proper audit trail

Voiding invoices

Cancel an invoice that was created in error.

Void process

1. Open the invoice detail view
2. Click the menu button (⋮)
3. Select Void Invoice
4. Confirm the action with reason (optional)
5. Invoice status updates to Cancelled
6. Invoice remains in system for audit purposes
7. Amount no longer counts toward customer balance

When to void:

• Invoice created for wrong customer
• Duplicate invoice
• Incorrect amounts that cannot be edited
• Order was cancelled after invoicing

Alternative to voiding:

• Create a credit note (future feature)
• Maintains full transaction history

Invoice numbering

EQUOS9 automatically generates invoice numbers with the format:

INV-YYYY-NNNN

• INV — Invoice prefix
• YYYY — Year (4 digits)
• NNNN — Sequential number (zero-padded)

Examples:

• INV-2024-0001
• INV-2024-0234
• INV-2025-0001

Number assignment:

• Generated on invoice creation (Draft status)
• Sequential within each year
• Gaps may occur if invoices are deleted
• Cannot be manually changed

Best practices

1. Use the sales order workflow — Better audit trail and approval process
2. Set up price lists first — Faster invoice creation with consistent pricing
3. Configure credit terms — Due dates auto-calculate correctly
4. Add customer notes — Include delivery details and special instructions
5. Export PDF immediately — Ensures customer receives professional document
6. Mark sent promptly — Keeps status tracking accurate
7. Record payments when received — Maintain accurate accounts receivable
8. Follow up on overdue — Don’t let invoices age unnecessarily
9. Void instead of delete — Preserves audit trail
10. Use linked documents — Connect invoices to source orders

Common workflows

Quick one-off sale

1. New Invoice
2. Select customer
3. Add items from price list
4. Save → Export PDF → Send → Mark Sent

Standard sales process

1. Create Sales Order
2. Confirm Order
3. Approve Order
4. Create Invoice from Order
5. Export PDF
6. Send to Customer
7. Mark Sent
8. Record Payment when received

Split invoicing

1. Create Sales Order with multiple items
2. Create partial invoice with some items
3. Create second invoice with remaining items
4. Both invoices link to source order

Troubleshooting

Invoice save button disabled

Check:

• Customer selected?
• Bill To address selected?
• Invoice date set?
• Due date set?
• At least one line item added?
• All quantities greater than zero?

PDF export not generating

Check:

• Business profile completed?
• Company logo uploaded?
• Bank details configured?
• Invoice fully saved (not Draft with unsaved changes)?

Price list items not showing

Check:

• Sell price list created?
• Price list has items added?
• Price list marked as “Sell” type (not “Cost”)?
• Default price list selected?

Tax not calculating

Check:

• Tax rate selected from dropdown?
• Items marked as taxable in price list?
• Tax rate active and configured?

Related guides

• Managing sales orders — Full sales order workflow
• Setting up price lists — Configure pricing before invoicing
• Configuring tax rates — Set up GST and other taxes
• Generating reports — Invoice aging and AR reports