Tip of the Month #2 - Understanding Invoices & Accounts

Each month we will be sharing some of our most useful tips with you. This month's tip is focusing on some of the features of invoicing in Abacus.

Different Invoice Colours                                                                                                                                                  

Did you know that the invoices in a child’s Account History section are colour coded? 

Invoices will be highlighted in one of the following colours: green, yellow, red or burgundy. 

1. Green -  Indicates that the invoice has been fully paid
   
2. Yellow - Indicates that the invoice has been partly paid; a payment has been added to this invoice but does not equal the invoice total
   
3. Red - Indicates that the invoice is unpaid; no payments have been allocated to this invoice
   
4. Burgundy - Indicates that the invoice has been credit noted. This invoice is no longer live and will have to be run again at the correct amount. Credit noted invoices don’t contribute to the account balance.
   

Reordering the Account History                                                                                                                                       

Did you know that you are able to change the order of the History tab in a child's account ?

By default the most recent invoice will be at the top of the History section but you are able to click on any of the column headings (Date / Type / Trns No. / Description / Invoice Total / Payment Amount) to order by that instead. 

For example, if you click on the 'Date' column heading, the child's account history will be ordered oldest to newest, which can make it easier to understand as you'll be reading forwards in time instead of backwards.

Viewing & Resending Invoices                                                                                                                                         

Did you know that you can view or resend invoices?

In the History section, just click on the blue invoice number in the “Trns No.” column. This will show you a breakdown of the invoice, for example:

Wherever you see a grey plus button, you can click on it to view details of the invoice.

You can also resend the invoice via email from this page. Click the “Email” button to send a copy of the invoice via email. If you want to preview the copy that the parent receives, just click “Print” to have a look!

Making Invoice Changes                                                                                                                                                      

Did you know that you can edit an invoice before sending?

Before you click the “Process” button when running your invoices, click on the grey plus (+) button on the left-hand side of the child’s name:

Then click on the magnifying glass button:

This will give you a breakdown of the invoice so you can check that everything is in order:

If you want to make any changes before processing the invoice, just click on the yellow edit pencil and it will take you to the section that you want to edit! Once you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, click on “Save” and you will be able to view the amended invoice.

Top Tip!                                                                                                                                                                                   

A great way to check that your invoices are up-to-date is to calculate them up to the end of the previous month.

This way any un-invoiced previous sessions will come up on your list. If you have any credit-noted invoices that you have forgotten to re-run, you can sort them before invoicing for this month!

Just be aware that extra sessions will appear on this list too so if you’re happy for them to appear the current months' invoices, you can leave them!

Happy Invoicing! 

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