Issue invoices, create and send PDFs

After creating the invoice, Axel wants to know the next steps in the invoicing process. Linda shows him the different ways of issuing an invoice:

Using the Status picklist.
After creating the PDF, by clicking on the Issue and save as a PDF button.
After creating the PDF, by clicking on the Issue and send button.

She also explains the consequences of each method.

Issuing the invoice

Note: Once the invoice has been issued, some fields can no longer be modified. It is a legal requirement to lock the mandatory fields for invoicing. If you try to modify one of these fields, error messages are displayed.
Here is the article that explains how to deal with these messages:Invoices - Explanation of Error messages.

Here are the steps for issuing an invoice via the Status picklist.

Steps

1. Go to the Invoices tab and open the invoice to be issued.
2. Change the Status field from Draft to Issued.

Consequences:

The invoice Status field changes from Draft to Issued,
The invoice reference is filled in according to the prefix defined in the Corporate Name.
Beware: No PDF is generated by proceeding in this way.

To automate this step, you can follow this article: Automation: invoices issuance.

Issuing the invoice and creating the PDF

You can do both steps at the same time.

Steps

1. From the invoice record, click on the Create PDF button.

2. On the PDF preview page, click the Issue and save as a PDF button.

Consequences :

The invoice Status field changes from Draft to Issued,
The invoice reference is filled in according to the prefix defined in the Corporate Name tab.
The PDF is generated and appears in the Invoice PDF related list.

To automate this step, you can follow this article: Automation: invoices issuance.

Issuing the invoice, creating the PDF and sending it

These steps allow all three actions to be done at the same time.

Steps

1. Click on the Create PDF button.
2. On the PDF preview page, click the Issue and send button.

Consequences :

The invoice Status field changes from Draft to Issued,
The invoice reference is filled in according to the prefix defined in the Corporate Name tab.
Le PDF et l'e-mail apparaissent dans les listes associées correspondantes.

Note: Instead of issuing the PDF immediately, you can save a draft version of this PDF by clicking on the Save Draft button in order to have the invoice validated internally before sending, for example.

To automate this step, you can follow this article: Automation: invoices issuance.

Automatic locking of invoices

When an invoice is created, it is in draft status (Status field = Draft). It then behaves like any other record: you can modify or delete it.
Once the invoice has been issued (Draft Status > Issued Status), Frisbii automatically locks the record, in accordance with French regulations. It can no longer be modified.

If you need to modify an authorized field (e.g. an invoice line item designation, or a footnote comment), you can unlock the record of an issued invoice, only if you are an Administrator and have the Administrator license.
The article Invoices - Mandatory information for invoicing from a french corporate name shows you which data cannot be changed after issue.

To do this, first deactivate the automatic locking by unchecking the Lock issued invoices/credits box in the Frisbii Administration tab.

Beware: all users can then modify invoices, which are potentially already sent to customers. Use this option with caution, and make sure to recheck the box afterwards so as to prevent any more modifications to issued invoices.

Then, click on the Unlock button on the invoice record, to allow the modification of certain fields on the invoice, in accordance with the legislation.

Note: You will not be able to delete an issued invoice, even if it is unlocked.
Indeed, the French Commercial Code specifies that "An invoice cannot be purely deleted: the chronological numbering makes it possible to check that there is no "gap" in the numerical sequences".

For more information:

Sending invoices from a list view

José, the Cloud Kicks sales manager, thinks that sending invoices "one by one" is not efficient enough. He asks Linda if there is a way to manually send multiple invoices by e-mail. Linda explains that this is possible from a list view in the Invoices tab.

Steps

1. Go to the Invoices tab

2. Select a list view other than Recently Viewed, which contains issued invoices.

3. Check the box in front of the issued invoices you wish to send by e-mail.

4. Click on the Send Invoices button.

5. Then fill in the missing contacts and make sure that the contacts have an e-mail address.

6. Choose a folder (folder in the Billing package).

7. Select an e-mail template.

Beware:
(1) Without a chosen e-mail template, the invoices won't be sent.
(2) If you do not wish to use the e-mail templates available in the Frisbii package, you can create your own templates (see below).

The chosen model is displayed:

8. Validate.

Then you can find the sent e-mail in the invoice activities:

The administrator receives a notification when the e-mail is successfully sent:

Otherwise, the administrator will receive a failed submission email, when:

There is no PDF linked to the invoice,
No template is selected.

Note: We are currently reviewing the notifications and error messages available for this feature.

This is what the e-mail sent with a message template from our package looks like:

For José, the sales manager of Cloud Kicks, the company's visual identity is important. He prefers the sales team to review the e-mail template.

To do this, he can follow the procedure explained below, but he can also use another detailed article from the Frisbii knowledge base: E-mail templates management.

Creating an e-mail template for sending invoices

Once the template is validated, Linda starts to implement it.
Here are the steps to create your own email template. You can consult the Saleforce's article: Create Custom HTML Email Templates in Salesforce Classic

Steps

1. Go to Setup, type template and click on Classic e-mail templates.

2. Click on Create new folder and give a name.

3. Set up the folder and save.

4. Clicking on the New template button.

5. Follow the wizard according to your wishes/needs (for the example we choose a text template).

6. Check the Available for use box.

7. Give a meaningful Email Template Name.

8. Write a Subject and add fields using the wizard.

7. Compose the Email body and also add fields using the wizard.

8. Save.