Introduction
Every booking has its own invoice screen, headed Invoice summary, with the booking's number, status and customer under the title. Then come To be invoiced overview, Issued invoices and the buttons Create and send invoice, Create invoice, Invoice period... and Override. Below sit the contract dates and a Key financials tab, with Key info on damages, fuel and kilometres on the right.
The app does not ask what goes on an invoice. Create invoice bills whatever on the booking is not yet billed: first the whole booking, later only what changed, such as extra kilometres, fuel, a damage charge, or a credit. Invoice period... bills one stretch of the rental, such as a month.
You will use this when:
- a customer has brought the vehicle back and the final bill has to go out
- a customer wants to pay the rental up front and needs an invoice for it
- a returned booking had fuel or extra kilometres added and you are billing the difference
- a booking was cancelled and the cancellation fee has to be invoiced
- a long rental is billed month by month
Words this screen uses
| The screen says | It means |
|---|---|
| Invoiced amount | Everything already invoiced on this booking, including VAT (value-added tax) |
| To be invoiced | The booking's total minus Invoiced amount: what the next invoice should come to |
| Contract from / Contract to | The rental period the customer is charged for |
| Actual from / Actual to | When the vehicle really went out and came back |
| Peppol | A European system for sending invoices electronically to businesses |
Every way to invoice a booking
The routes, and where each is covered:
| Route | What it does | Covered here |
|---|---|---|
| Create and send invoice on the Invoice summary | Makes the invoice and emails it to the customer | Yes |
| Create invoice on the Invoice summary | Makes the invoice without emailing it | Yes |
| Invoice period... on the Invoice summary | Invoices one period you choose, for example one month of a long rental | Yes |
| A booking a third party helps pay for | The funder or broker and the renter each get their own invoice | Only the basics; see Invoice and credit a funded booking |
| The nightly lease run, and Process selected on Pending invoice overview | Invoices a lease cycle by itself, sometimes several leases on one invoice | Only what the invoice covers; see Invoice and extend a running lease |
| Mark as invoiced | Records the booking as billed, without making an invoice | No; see Correct a booking's details and check its history |
| A manual invoice | An invoice you type in by hand, not built from a booking | No; see Raise an invoice by hand |
Use this page whenever the invoice should match what is on the booking.
How to use
Configuration
One company setting changes what Create and send invoice does. From the main menu open Admin, then Settings, click Operational, then the Email tab:
- Manual invoice email starts at No. With No, the invoice email goes to the customer straight away. Set it to Yes if staff should read and edit each invoice email before it is sent: the invoice is still made at once, and an email screen then opens for you to send.
- Click Save. It applies to the next invoice anyone makes.
Sending invoices to business customers through Peppol is set up once for your company by RentVisie support. Once it is, the customer's Peppol codes live on the customer's Peppol Settings tab.
Before you start: any staff account can open the Invoice summary and use Create and send invoice, Create invoice and Invoice period.... Mark as invoiced, Override and the Settings screen need a company administrator. The booking must have a customer and must not be a draft.
Using the Invoice summary
From the main menu open Bookings, click the booking's row, then click Invoice at the top of the booking (next to Payments and Overrides). The Invoice summary also opens from the Invoice link in the booking's To do’s panel, from the To be invoiced list on your daily overview, and by itself after you cancel a booking.
On the Booking details screen, click Invoice on the Financial tab, or Next step: Invoice at the top; see Find your way around the Booking details screen.
- Check the dates. If the vehicle came back more than three hours off the contract, a box headed Change price? appears; click Change if the customer should pay for the real period (see Change a booking's dates).
- On the Key financials tab, read the lines: they are what the next invoice will hold. If one is wrong, fix the booking first (see Adjust the price on a booking) and open the screen again.
- Check To be invoiced: the amount the invoice should come to.
- Click Create and send invoice to invoice and email, or Create invoice to invoice only.
- For a business customer, if your company uses Peppol, a popup headed Send Options opens first. Tick Send to Peppol, Send Email or both, then click Create and send invoice. Cancel makes nothing.
When it worked, the app says Invoice generated! (with Manual invoice email at Yes, the email screen opens). To be invoiced reads € 0.00, or a few cents (see below), and the invoice is listed under Issued invoices. It is issued at once: there is no draft and no undo; to take it back, see Credit an invoice. Whether it is paid shows in its Payment status; see See which invoices are paid and open.
Invoice one period, for example a long rental billed month by month:
- Click Invoice period.... The popup Invoice a period lists under Already invoiced the invoices so far, each marked Period invoice or Contract period.
- Check Invoice period from and Invoice period until. The app suggests the month after the last invoiced period (or the first month), never past the contract end.
- Untick Send the invoice by e-mail if it should not be emailed. For a business customer, when your company uses Peppol, Send to Peppol is shown, and ticked.
- Click Create period invoice.
The app says Invoice generated!, or There is nothing to invoice for this period.; for a warning, see Q&A.
Key details
Only the difference is billed
Each price line is compared with what was already invoiced for it. A new invoice gets a line for extra quantity, one for a changed price, and a minus line for anything removed. Unchanged lines are left out.
Take a van booked for five days at €85.00 a day, with insurance at €12.00 a day. The customer pays up front: the first invoice is €485.00 plus €101.85 VAT, €586.85. The van comes back with 120 extra kilometres at €0.25, which you add to the booking. To be invoiced now reads € 36.30. Create invoice makes a second invoice with a single kilometre line: €30.00 plus €6.30 VAT, €36.30. The days and insurance are not billed again. If the booking's total has gone down, the same buttons make a credit for the difference.
The ten-cent check
Each invoice line is rounded to the cent by itself, so the invoices can end up a few cents away from the booking's total. When you invoice, the app compares the total with everything invoiced, this invoice included. Up to ten cents apart counts as matching. More is noted in a technical log for RentVisie support, but the invoice is still made and sent, and nothing on screen tells you.
For a booking of €623.15 with €586.85 already invoiced: a new invoice of €36.40 makes the two ten cents apart, which still matches. An invoice of €36.41 is eleven cents out. It goes out just the same, and To be invoiced then shows € -0.11.
What a period invoice holds
The period is charged pro rata to the contract period; one-off items (fees, delivery, per-rental extras) go on the first period; VAT follows the contract. Create invoice later charges whatever is left. On a 90-day rental of €1,800.00 excluding VAT with a €75.00 delivery fee, a 30-day first period holds €600.00 rent plus the €75.00 fee; the next 30 days hold €600.00 rent only.
What to do next
If you did not email the invoice, send it now; see Send an invoice. Then take the payment; see Take a payment at the desk. The number and due date the invoice received are explained in Check and set invoice numbers and due dates.
Q&A
Why does the app say "Invoice empty or mismatch."? Every line on the booking is already invoiced, so no invoice was made and nothing was emailed. A second click, or a colleague invoicing the same booking again, does not bill the customer twice.
Why is To be invoiced still showing a few cents after I invoiced? The invoice lines were rounded one by one; see The ten-cent check above. Clicking Create invoice again usually says Invoice empty or mismatch., because every line is already billed. A company administrator can clear the leftover with Mark as invoiced; see Correct a booking's details and check its history. Until then, a returned booking more than one cent short can show on the To be invoiced tile of your daily overview.
Why did the customer receive a credit instead of an invoice? The booking's total was lower than what was already invoiced, for example after a cancellation or a shorter rental. The button billed the difference, which was negative, and Create and send invoice emailed that credit. If that was wrong, correct the booking's price and invoice again.
Why does the app say "Please update booking status (not draft)"? The booking is still a draft. Confirm it first; see Confirm a booking.
Why does the app say "Please assign a customer first"? The booking has no customer. Add one on the booking, then click Invoice again.
Why does the app say the Peppol codes for the customer are invalid? You ticked Send to Peppol and the customer's VAT number or Chamber of Commerce number is missing. Fill them in on the customer's record, or enter the code on its Peppol Settings tab, then invoice again. No invoice was made.
Why are Create and send invoice and Create invoice missing? The screen shows Invoicing locked with Invoicing is locked as it has been processed externally. The booking was brought over from your previous system, where it had already been invoiced. Invoice period... is hidden for the same reason. Invoice any remaining charges by hand; see Raise an invoice by hand.
Why is there no Invoice period... button, while Create invoice is there? The booking is paid partly by a funder or broker. Such a booking is always invoiced for the contract period with Create invoice, which splits it between the parties; see Invoice and credit a funded booking.
Why does Invoice period... refuse with a warning? Find the message below:
| The app says | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Please update the booking status first (not draft). | The booking is a draft | Confirm it; see Confirm a booking |
| Please assign a customer first. | No customer on the booking | Add the customer |
| This booking is locked for invoicing. | Invoicing is handled outside the app | Invoice by hand; see Raise an invoice by hand |
| A booking with a funding split cannot be invoiced per period. Use Create invoice for the contract period. | A third party helps pay for this booking | Use Create invoice |
| Booking qualifies for lease extension. Please process this first. | A lease has an invoice waiting | Process it; see Invoice and extend a running lease |
| The period does not fall within the contract period. | The dates lie outside Contract from to Contract to | Choose dates inside the contract |
| This period overlaps a period that has already been invoiced. Credit that invoice first, or choose another period. | Part of the period is on an invoice that is not credited | Choose later dates, or credit that invoice; see Take back an invoice with a credit note |
The overlap message also appears when the booking was already invoiced with Create invoice: such an invoice covers the whole contract period. In the popup it shows under Already invoiced as Contract period. Keep invoicing that booking with Create invoice, or credit that invoice and start invoicing by period.
I clicked Create invoice. Why did the customer get nothing? Create invoice never emails. Send the invoice from Send an invoice. If you used Create and send invoice and Manual invoice email is Yes, the email waits on the screen that opened for you to send it.
Why does the Invoice row of the To do’s panel show a tick and a warning sign together? The tick appears once the invoiced amount reaches the total in whole euros; the warning sign stays while any cents are still to invoice. Check To be invoiced on the Invoice summary.
Why does the Invoice summary show a section Invoice split and a tab Full booking split? A funder or broker pays part of this booking. The section shows how the next invoice run divides the booking between the funder or broker and the renter. See Let a third party pay part of a booking.
Can I put a customer's several ordinary bookings on one invoice? No. The Invoice summary buttons always invoice one booking. Only leases set to Combined share an invoice, one per customer, made by the nightly lease run or Process selected; see Set how a lease is billed. Such an invoice goes to the first booking's customer, takes that booking's due date, and skips the ten-cent check.
Which period and month does a lease invoice show?
| Invoice made by | Period on the invoice lines | Month on the invoice |
|---|---|---|
| The nightly run or Process selected | The lease's pending period, the dates in Invoice pending from and Invoice pending to | The lease's Active month |
| Create and send invoice or Create invoice | Contract from to Contract to | The lease's Active month |
On a lease, the two Invoice summary buttons also move Active cycle on by one, unless it already equals Total cycles; Create period invoice does not move it. While a lease has an invoice waiting to be issued, the buttons stop with Booking qualifies for lease extension. Please process this first. and open Pending invoice overview. Once the vehicle is back and the booking reads Dropped off, the buttons work again and bill everything still open, the waiting invoice included.
Related pages:
- Take a vehicle back at the end of a rental: do the return first, so kilometres, fuel and damage are on the booking before you invoice.
- Cancel a booking: the Invoice summary opens after a cancellation for billing the fee.
- Invoice a long rental or a group company without VAT: when an invoice should carry no VAT.
- Check your daily overview: the To be invoiced tile lists returned bookings with money left to bill.
- Invoice and credit a funded booking: when a funder or broker pays part of the booking.
- Charge a customer for electricity: the Charge electricity button on the Invoice summary adds the metered kWh before you invoice.
- Send invoices electronically over Peppol: for the Send to Peppol choice.