Quotes, Pro Formas and Invoices

Use a quotation or a pro forma invoice before the customer commits, then issue an invoice when the sale becomes real.

Create and send a quotation

Go to Sales > Quotations and select Create Quotation.
Select the customer, set the quotation date and Valid Until date, then add the goods or services.
Check quantity, unit price, discount and VAT treatment for every line. Add notes and terms if needed.
Save the draft. Use Preview PDF in the ▾ menu to check the customer-facing document, then Send quotation.
The customer can accept or decline online from the quote email. If they answer you some other way, use Mark accepted or Mark rejected in the ▾ menu. For an accepted quote, select Convert to invoice.

A quotation does not post to the ledger or change stock. Conversion links the new invoice to the original quotation so the history stays together.

Let the customer accept online

Every quote email has a View and accept quotation button. Your customer opens the quote in their browser, with no account or password, and either accepts it or declines it. To accept, they type their name, can add their own order number, and tick I accept this quotation and its terms.

When they answer, the quote changes to Accepted or Rejected and you get an email. The quote page shows who answered, when, their order number and the total they agreed to.
Accepting never creates an invoice. Accepted quotes not yet invoiced show under Needs attention on the dashboard until you convert them.
To send the link another way, choose Share on WhatsApp or Copy customer link from the ▾ menu on the quote. It is the same link as in the email. See Share on WhatsApp below.
Switch off customer link stops it working straight away. Sending the quote again makes a new one.
Once the Valid Until date has passed, the customer can still read the quote but cannot accept it. They are asked to contact you for an updated one.

You can send a quote, an invoice or a statement to a customer on WhatsApp. On a quote or an issued invoice, choose Share on WhatsApp from the ▾ menu next to the main button. For a statement, generate it in Reports > Customer Statements and choose Share on WhatsApp under the download and email buttons.

WhatsApp opens with a short message already written: who it is from, the amount, the due date and a link. Check it and press send. Nothing goes until you do.
If the customer has a Mobile number on their record, the chat opens on them. If not, WhatsApp asks who to send it to. A Phone number is only used when it is a cell number, because a landline cannot receive WhatsApp.
The link opens in the customer's browser with no account or password. A quote link lets them accept or decline. An invoice link shows the invoice, anything paid or credited since and the balance still due today, with your banking details (the invoice number is the reference) and a PDF download. A statement link shows the balance for the period, the unpaid invoices and a download of the full statement.
Copy customer link in the same menu gives you the link to paste anywhere else. Sharing or copying again reuses the link the customer already has.
The invoice page shows when the customer first opened the link.
Switch off customer link stops a quote or invoice link working straight away. On the statements page, Switch them off stops every statement link you have shared with that customer.
A draft cannot be shared, so send or issue it first. A cancelled invoice cannot be shared and its link stops working.
An invoice link lasts a year from the last time you shared it, and a statement link 60 days.

Send a pro forma invoice

A pro forma invoice is a priced commitment to supply, sent before you do the work. Customers usually ask for one so they can raise a purchase order against it or pay a deposit. Use a quotation when you are inviting the customer to accept an offer, and a pro forma when the terms are already agreed and they need a document to act on.

Go to Sales > Pro Forma Invoices and select New pro forma.
Select the customer, set the pro forma date and the Valid Until date, then add the goods or services.
Check quantity, unit price, discount and VAT treatment for every line, exactly as you would on an invoice.
Save the draft, use Preview PDF to check the customer-facing document, then Issue Pro Forma or Email Pro Forma.
When the customer confirms, use Mark Accepted. Once you have supplied, select Convert to Invoice.

You can also work the other way round: on Create Invoice, the Build from Pro Forma dropdown lists that customer's open pro formas and fills the invoice in from the one you choose. Saving it closes the pro forma, so neither route can invoice it twice.
Convert to Invoice creates a draft invoice, not an issued one. Nothing reaches your books until you issue that invoice yourself.
A pro forma can only be converted once. After that it is locked, because it is the record of what the invoice was raised from.
You can still convert an expired pro forma. You will be warned first, because the prices on it were only promised until that date.
The new invoice's due date comes from the customer's payment terms counted from today, not from the pro forma's Valid Until date.
If the customer pays before you invoice, record the money under Payments. It sits as a customer credit until you issue the real invoice, then allocate it. Nothing is owed on the pro forma itself.

Create an invoice directly

Go to Sales > Invoices and select Create Invoice.
Select the customer, invoice date and due date. Add a customer reference if they supplied one.
Add each line and confirm description, quantity, price, discount, VAT and any tracking category.
Save the invoice as a draft. Review its PDF and totals.
Select Issue Invoice to finalise without email, or email it from OxyAccounting. Emailing a draft also issues it.

See your profit before you send it

Under the totals on an invoice, quote, pro forma or recurring invoice, Estimated profit shows the price excluding VAT less each line's cost price, with the margin as a percentage. Only you see it: it is never on the document or the PDF. A line with no cost price is left out and counted, so the figure is never flattered by lines that look free. Give a product a cost price to include it.

Add lines with a barcode scanner

Once any of your products has a barcode, a Scan a barcode box appears above the lines on invoices, quotes, pro formas, purchase orders and supplier invoices. A USB or Bluetooth scanner works without any setup: scan and the product is added, scan it again and its quantity goes up by one. You can also type a barcode and press Enter.

What issuing does

The sale, output VAT and customer balance are posted to the ledger.
Tracked stock is reduced and cost of sales is posted.
The invoice becomes locked for editing and receives its final lifecycle status.
The customer can receive the branded PDF, and email delivery history stays on the document.

Invoices in a foreign currency

An invoice takes its currency from the customer, so there is nothing to choose on the form. While it is a draft it follows the customer; the moment you issue it the exchange rate is fixed to it and never moves again, however the rand moves afterwards. A credit note against it uses the invoice's own rate rather than today's, so crediting an invoice always clears exactly what it raised.

Where the invoice charges VAT, the PDF carries the rand amounts alongside the customer's own: the total excluding VAT, the VAT and the total including VAT, with the rate and the date it came from. SARS requires those on the face of a tax invoice, and without them your customer cannot claim the VAT back.

Follow up an overdue invoice

Open the invoice and select Send Reminder (the send button's name once the invoice has been emailed). The invoice becomes overdue from its due date while still showing its separate payment state. Record the receipt under Payments rather than changing the invoice status by hand.

To have reminders go out on their own, switch on Email customers a reminder when an invoice is overdue in Settings > Company > Overdue Reminders. Each morning at 08:00 a customer with an overdue invoice is sent an email with the invoice attached and the amount still to pay: the first 3 days after the due date, then every 14 days, at most 3 times. You can change all three. Reminders stop by themselves once the invoice is paid or credited, and drafts, cancelled and imported invoices are never chased. The invoice's page says how many have gone and when the next one is due.