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 to check the customer-facing document, then Email Quotation.
When the customer replies, use Mark Accepted or Mark Rejected. 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.

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.

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 use the reminder email action. 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.