Sales Invoice

Go to: Financials → Sales Invoice

The sales invoice is where the sale becomes money owed. Approving it books the receivable, posts the tax, and starts the clock on payment. It is the last document in the order-to-cash chain before the payment entry.

Sales invoices live in the Financials module because they post to the ledger, but they belong to the sales cycle and are usually raised from a delivery note. See Financials → Invoices for the accounting view.

Where the items come from

Source	Use it when
Delivery Note	The normal route for stock items — you bill what was actually delivered
Sales Order	Only for service-only orders, which never produce a delivery note

You cannot bill more than was delivered. “Cannot bill 50, only 30 available” — and if part of the delivery has already been returned, the available quantity drops accordingly: “Cannot bill 50, only 20 available (10 already returned against the delivery note)”.

Header fields

Field	What it means
Number	Auto-generated document number
Customer	Who is being billed
Posting Date	Accounting date of the invoice
Due Date	When payment is expected
Currency / Exchange Rate	Currency of the invoice
Priority	Low / Medium / High
Payment Term / Price Term	Commercial terms
Customer Purchase Order / PO Date	The customer’s own reference
Ship To / Bill To / Contact Person	Addresses printed on the invoice
Terms and Conditions	Free text or a saved template
Bank Details	The bank account printed for payment
Transporter, Vehicle Number, LR Number, Driver	Carried from the delivery
Status	See Statuses

Amounts

Field	What it means
Total Amount	Sum of item lines before tax
Discount Type / Percentage / Amount	Invoice-level discount
Taxes Total / Total Charges / Total Taxes and Charges	Tax and charge lines
Grand Total	The invoiced value
Total Advance	Advance payments allocated to this invoice
Outstanding Amount	What the customer still owes on this invoice

Accounts

Field	Posting
Receivable Account	Debited with the amount owed
Sales Account	Credited with the goods revenue
Service Account	Credited with service revenue
Tax Account	Credited with the tax collected

The invoice currency must match the receivable account currency — “Invoice currency must match receivable account currency”.

Creating a sales invoice

Start from the delivery note, or a service order

On a delivery note at To Bill, use Create → Sales Invoice. On a service-only sales order, use Create → Sales Invoice. From Financials you can also open a new sales invoice and use Get Items → Delivery Notes or Get Items → Sales Orders.

Check the quantities and rates

Quantities default to what is left to bill on the source rows. Rates come from the source document.

Set the posting and due dates

The due date drives receivables ageing.

Check taxes, charges, and the grand total

Verify the invoice value against the delivery it is billing.

Save, then approve

Save leaves the invoice in Draft — nothing has posted. Approve books the receivable and moves the invoice to Unpaid.

Statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being prepared. Nothing posted
Unpaid	Approved and owed in full
Partially Paid	Some payment received
Paid	Settled in full
Overdue	Past its due date and still outstanding
Credit Note Issued	A credit note has fully offset this invoice
Return	This document is itself a credit note
Cancelled	Reversed; kept for audit

Payment status is driven by payment entries and credit-note allocations, not set by hand: as the outstanding amount falls, the invoice moves Unpaid → Partially Paid → Paid on its own.

Actions

Action	Available when	What it does
Edit	Draft	Full edit of the invoice
Edit / Update (partial)	Approved, not Cancelled or Return	Edits a limited set of details on a live invoice
Approve	Draft	Posts the financial entries and moves the invoice to Unpaid
Unapprove	Not Draft, Cancelled, or Paid	Returns the invoice to Draft and cancels its financial entries
Cancel	Not Draft, Cancelled, or Paid	Reverses the invoice, keeping it for audit
Delete	Draft, and you are an administrator	Permanently removes the invoice
Create → Payment Entry	Unpaid, Partially Paid, Overdue, or Return, with an outstanding balance	Records a customer payment
Create → Credit Note	Unpaid, Partially Paid, or Paid	Raises a return against this invoice
Assign	Not Cancelled or Paid	Assigns to a colleague and notifies them
View → Accounting Ledger	Approved	Shows the general ledger entries
Save PDF	Saved invoice	The invoice document, or the credit note document for a return

Only administrators can delete a sales invoice, and only while it is Draft — “Cannot delete sales invoice. Only admin can delete sales invoices.”

What blocks Unapprove and Cancel

Blocker	Message
The invoice is a credit note	“Cannot unapprove a return invoice (credit note)”
The invoice is already cancelled	“Cannot cancel a cancelled sales invoice”
Payments are recorded against it	“Cannot unapprove sales invoice that has payments.”
Advance payments are allocated to it	“Cannot cancel sales invoice that has advance payments allocated.”

Remove the payment or the advance allocation first, then retry.

Advance payments

The Advance Payment tab appears once the invoice is out of Draft and not cancelled. Use it to allocate customer advances against this invoice, review what is already allocated, and remove an allocation you no longer want.

Advances taken against the sales order are picked up automatically when the invoice status changes, so an order paid up front does not need manual allocation.

An invoice with advances allocated cannot be unapproved, cancelled, or credited. Remove the allocations first.

Credit notes and returns

Create → Credit Note raises a return against the invoice. It is available on Unpaid, Partially Paid, and Paid invoices.

Rule	Detail
Draft and Cancelled invoices	Cannot be credited — “Cannot create return for draft or cancelled invoices”
Return invoices	Cannot be credited again — “Cannot create return for a return invoice”
Invoices with advances allocated	Cannot be credited — remove the allocation first
Quantities	Only lines from the original invoice, and never more than was invoiced
Price, tax, charges, discount	Locked to the original — only quantity can be changed
Currency and exchange rate	Must match the original
Allocation	The credit is applied against the invoice’s remaining outstanding; any excess is held as reusable customer credit
Original invoice	Moves to Credit Note Issued once fully offset

A credit note can also reverse the underlying delivery, which reopens the sales order for billing.

Collecting payment

Use Create → Payment Entry on an invoice with an outstanding balance, or go to Financials → Payment → Payment Entry and allocate against the invoice there. As payments land, the invoice moves through Partially Paid to Paid.

Tabs

Tab	What it holds
Details	Customer, dates, items, taxes, discounts, totals
Addresses	Ship To and Bill To
Other Details	Transport, bank details, accounts, terms
Advance Payment	Advance allocations — hidden on Draft and Cancelled invoices
Associations	Source documents, credit notes, payment entries, and journal entries

Importing invoices

Sales invoices can be bulk-created from a CSV file. Large files are processed in the background, so the import does not block your session.

Common validations and troubleshooting

Message / behaviour	Why	Fix
“Cannot bill 50, only 30 available”	You are billing more than was delivered	Reduce the quantity
”…(10 already returned against the delivery note)”	Part of the delivery has been returned	Bill only the net quantity
“Invoice currency must match receivable account currency”	Currency mismatch	Change the currency or the receivable account
“Failed to find receivable account”	No receivable account resolved for the customer	Set the customer’s account in Financials
“Cannot unapprove sales invoice that has payments.”	A payment entry references the invoice	Cancel or unallocate the payment first
“Cannot cancel sales invoice that has advance payments allocated.”	Advances are allocated	Remove the allocations
“Credit note price, tax, charges, and discount must match the original invoice; only quantity can be changed”	A credit note line was edited beyond quantity	Reset the line to the original values
“Item is not part of the original invoice”	A credit note line references an item that was never invoiced	Remove the line
“Cannot delete sales invoice. Only Draft invoices can be deleted.”	The invoice is approved	Cancel it instead
“Each tax or charge must have either a rate or an amount greater than zero”	An empty tax or charge line	Fill it in or remove it
The invoice is not in your list	It is assigned to someone else and you lack `CAN_VIEW_ALL_SALES_INVOICE`	Ask for the capability

Delivery Note — what you bill against
Sales Order — the source for service-only invoices
Financials → Invoices — the accounting view
Financials → Payment — recording collections
Sales Reports — invoice and tax reporting