Introduction
Every booking has its own invoice screen, headed Invoice summary. Along the top sit Mark as invoiced, To be invoiced overview and Issued invoices, then the buttons Create and send invoice, Create invoice and Override. Below, on the left, are the contract dates and a Key financials tab; on the right, Key info on damages, fuel and kilometres.
The app does not ask what to put on an invoice. It bills whatever on the booking has not been billed yet. The first invoice carries the whole booking; a later one carries only what changed since, such as extra kilometres, fuel, a damage charge, or a credit.
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
- you are working through the returned bookings that still have money to bill
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
| 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 |
| 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 and Create invoice. 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
Open the booking: from the main menu open Bookings and click the booking's row. Then click Invoice in the row of buttons at the top of the booking (next to Payments and Overrides). The Invoice summary opens. The same screen also opens from the Invoice link in the booking's To do’s panel, from a row on the To be invoiced list on your daily overview, and by itself after you cancel a booking.
- 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 exactly what the next invoice will hold. If a line is wrong, fix the booking first (see Adjust the price on a booking) and open the screen again.
- Check To be invoiced. This is the amount the invoice should come to.
- Click Create and send invoice to invoice and email the customer, or Create invoice to invoice without emailing.
- 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 next for you to send. To be invoiced now reads € 0.00, or a few cents (see below), and the invoice is listed under Issued invoices, on a list headed Factuur overzicht. It is issued the moment you click: there is no draft and no undo. To take it back, see Credit an invoice.
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 invoice for the difference, and Create and send invoice emails the credit to the customer.
Nothing to invoice
If every line on the booking is already invoiced, clicking either button makes no invoice. The app says Invoice empty or mismatch. and nothing is emailed. So a second click, or a colleague invoicing the same booking again, does not bill the customer twice.
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.
Invoices that cover several bookings
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. It goes to the first booking's customer, takes that booking's due date, and skips the ten-cent check. The Invoice summary buttons always invoice one booking.
Which lease cycle an invoice covers
| 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. 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.
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 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. 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 any remaining charges by hand; see Raise an invoice by hand.
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.
Can I put a customer's several ordinary bookings on one invoice? No. Each booking is invoiced on its own. Only leases set to Combined share an invoice; see Set how a lease is billed.
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.