Cash Customer Invoice Batches 

Overview

Normally, each cash hire contract results in a single invoice that is raised at the end of the hire.  This approach is straightforward and reduces paperwork and administration, but does not handle the occasion where there is a long running cash hire, and an interim VAT invoice is required to request part payment before the hire is completed.  With Syrinx, you can create batches of invoices specifically for cash customers, according to configurable rules that dictate which contracts are to be invoiced and the frequency of the invoices.  Once the batch has been confirmed, the invoices are placed automatically in the unpaid cash invoices list, and statements can be produced for sending to the customer along with the invoices.

Configuration – Menu Option.

The menu option used to create a batch of cash invoices is, by default, available to users that have access to the ‘Create New Invoice Batch’ screen.  This may be changed if required, using user defined Roles.

Configuration – Invoicing Rules.

The rules that govern which contracts are to be invoiced in each batch are defined using the ‘Fixed Period Invoicing’ feature, and is explained in detail in a separate fact sheet.  The definition that is used for cash customer continuation invoicing is set up (by default) as follows:

This set-up means that:

1. A contract is only included in a batch once it has been on hire for 3 weeks.
2. The first invoice raised will invoice up to the batch’s ‘invoice to’ date, and may therefore invoice for more than 3 weeks if more than 3 weeks have elapsed since the start of hire and the batch’s ‘invoice to’ date.
3. After the first invoice, each subsequent invoice will charge for an exact further 3 weeks

This setup assumes that you are planning to create a new batch of cash invoices once or twice a week (on any particular day); the system will automatically create invoices for new contracts that have gone on or over the 3 week limit, plus older contracts that are due another 3-week’s worth of invoicing.

This default set-up can be amended by changing the above definition.  For example, if the first invoice is always to be invoiced for exactly 3 weeks, then change the ‘For the First Invoice’ option to ‘Invoice up to an *exact* number of units…’.

Including/Excluding certain cash customers.

If only certain cash customers are to be issued with interim cash invoices, then the default definition (shown above) can be made inactive, and a new definition added and then assigned to the customers required.  Unlike account customers, if there is no active definition for a specific cash customer, then that customer will not be invoiced in any batch.

If all customers bar a few are to be invoiced, then you can leave the default definition, and add a new definition and flag it as inactive, and then assign the inactive definition to the cash customers that are not to be issued with interim invoices. A definition allocated to a customer overrides the default definition, even if it is marked as inactive.  Therefore for cash customers, allocating a non-active invoicing definition will exclude the customer from every batch.

Finally, if only 1 or 2 cash customers are to be issued with interim invoices, then there is the option to create a cash invoice batch for one particular customer.

Creating a new invoice batch.

To create a new batch of interim invoices for cash customers, use the ‘Cash’ option on the ‘New Batch’ section of the Invoicing tab:

The ‘Invoice To’ date defaults automatically to yesterday’s date and can be further back-dated if required.  Cash batches can only be invoiced into the future if the ‘Allow Batch Invoicing in Advance up to Next’ n days setting has been enabled on the ‘Cash Customers’ tab of Syrinx Configuration\System Options\Invoicing.

The Invoice date defaults to the current date, and can be amended if required.  The Customer button allows you to pick a cash customer that the batch is to be created for.  The Notes, Bottom Title and Depot fields have the same meaning as for account customer batches. 

You may create a new invoice batch for cash customers even if there is an invoice batch for account customers currently under review (and vice versa).  If you have both a cash and account batch under review at the same time, then you will be prompted to pick the batch each time you review, confirm or cancel a batch:

Hire Contract Exclusions.

By default, a hire contract is excluded automatically if there is an unconfirmed off hire note for the contract, on the assumption that are is an intention to off hire the contract, so there is no need to generate an interim invoice.  

A hire contract is also excluded (for the same reason) if it has a planned off hire date within the next 7 days.  Before the batch is created, if there are any such contracts that started 2 or more weeks before the ‘invoice to’ date, then a warning is issued, and these contracts may be viewed or amended if required:

This 7 day limit can be amended if required via the ‘Exclude from Cash Invoice Batch if planned offhire in next’ n days setting  on the ‘Cash Customers’ tab of Syrinx Configuration\System Options\Invoicing., or the option can be cleared if the checking against planned end dates proves problematic.

Back-dated exchanges on cash contracts are treated the same as back-dated off hires – if there are any unconfirmed exchange notes that are dated on or before the ‘invoice to’ date, then a warning is issued, and again these need to be updated (confirmed, re-dated or cancelled) before the contract will be included in a cash batch.

As with account customers, a cash contract can be excluded from invoicing, and a warning is issued if there are any excluded contracts at the time the batch is created.

Finally, a warning is issued if there are any weekend / set charge contracts that started 2 or more weeks before the ‘invoice to’ date, as these will not be invoiced, and it is likely that they should have been off hired, or changed to a different hire rate.

Reviewing the invoice batch.

Once the batch has been created, it may be reviewed using the standard ‘Review/Print Invoice Batch’ screen.  Note that the batch is flagged automatically as a Cash customers batch, and that the Terms Text on each invoice is set automatically to the ‘Cash Continuations’ footer:

As with regular invoice batches, invoices can be changed if required, and the batch can be cancelled if necessary.

After printing the invoices, when you close the ‘review’ screen the system will ask if the batch is to be confirmed now, and then take you directly to the Confirm Batch screen where the batch may be confirmed.  After confirming the invoice batch, the statements (see below) are automatically produced for those customers invoiced in the batch that have more than one unpaid invoice.

Unpaid Cash Invoices.

Once a batch of cash invoices has been confirmed, the invoices are placed in the unpaid cash invoices list.  From here, a new ‘Print List’ button can be used to a print either a report of all unpaid cash invoices, or a statement for either the selected customer, or all customers (s).

A payment may be entered against the invoice via the ‘Mark Paid’ button:

Please note that any deposit payments held against the hire contracts will not be allocated to any interim invoices produced via a cash batch.  If you wish to use a deposit payment as payment towards an interim cash invoice, you must refund the payment from the hire contract and then apply the payment to the invoice via the unpaid cash invoices screen.

Daily Cash Report.

Payments entered against interim invoices appear on the daily cash report with a document reference number of “I:<InvoiceNumber>”:

Posting Invoices / Payments to Accounts

Any batches of Cash Hire Invoices will be posted to the accounts as part of the next transfer, the same as for normal invoice batches.  Payments are posted alongside other payments entered against hire contracts and other cash customer invoices.

Checking for Unpaid Cash Invoices.

When entering a new hire/sales for a cash customer, or when pressing the Cost button from the Off Hire screen, as before the system will warn if there are any unpaid cash invoices outstanding for the customer:

If you answer Yes, the system now shows the unpaid cash invoices screen for that particular customer: