Invoice Generation and Customization

#Creating an Invoice

Invoices can be created from contracts or manually:

From a Contract:

1. Navigate to Revenue & Invoicing → Contracts
2. Select the contract
3. Click Generate Invoice
4. Review line items and amounts
5. Click Create

Manual Invoice Creation:

1. Navigate to Revenue & Invoicing → Sales invoices
2. Click Create Invoice
3. Select the Customer
4. Choose the Company Entity
5. Set the Posting Date and Document Date

#Invoice Components

Each invoice contains:

• Header Information: Invoice number, dates, customer details
• Line Items: Products/services with quantities, unit prices, discounts, and taxes
• Totals: Subtotal, tax, discounts, and total amount
• Payment Terms: When payment is due
• Payment Instructions: Bank account or payment portal details
• Additional Notes: Custom text or terms

#Configuring Line Items

When adding line items to an invoice:

1. Click Add Line Item
2. Select a Product (or leave blank for non-catalog items)
3. Enter Description (auto-populated from product if selected)
4. Set Quantity and Unit Price
5. Choose the Line Discount (optional):
   • Amount: Fixed discount
   • Percentage: Percentage reduction
6. Select Tax Category
7. Light automatically calculates Tax Amount and Line Total

Tip: You can override product defaults on each line item without affecting the product master data.

#Applying Discounts

Light supports multiple discount methods:

Line-Level Discounts:

• Apply to individual line items
• Can be fixed amount or percentage
• Reduce the taxable amount (tax applied to discounted price)

Invoice-Level Discounts:

• Applied after summing all line items
• Useful for bulk purchase discounts
• Optional tax treatment configuration

Volume Discounts:

• Can be set up in contracts for automatic application
• Applied at invoice generation time

#Invoice Customization

#Custom Fields

Add internal notes or custom information to invoices:

1. Open the invoice in edit mode
2. Navigate to Custom Fields
3. Click Add Field
4. Enter the field value
5. Click Save

Custom fields appear on invoice reports and can be used for filtering.

#Payment Instructions

Configure how customers should pay:

1. Open the invoice
2. Navigate to Payment Instructions
3. Select payment method (Bank Transfer, Credit Card, ACH, etc.)
4. Enter method-specific details
5. Click Save

These instructions appear on the invoice PDF sent to the customer.

#Invoice States and Workflow

Invoices progress through these states:

• DRAFT: Created but not yet finalized
• POSTED: Confirmed and sent (creates GL entries)
• OPEN: Posted and awaiting payment
• PARTIALLY_CLEARED: Partial payment received
• CLEARED: Fully paid
• ARCHIVED: No longer needed

To change states:

1. Open the invoice
2. Click the current state
3. Select the new state
4. Provide a reason (optional)
5. Click Confirm

#Applying Payments to Invoices

When payments are received:

1. Navigate to the invoice
2. Click Add Payment
3. Enter the Payment Amount
4. Select the Payment Date
5. Enter the Payment Reference (check number, bank transfer ID)
6. Click Save

Light automatically updates the invoice state to PARTIALLY_CLEARED or CLEARED based on the total received.

#Managing Invoice History

Invoices maintain full audit trails:

1. Open an invoice
2. Click History
3. View all changes including:
   • Who created/modified the invoice
   • When changes were made
   • What was changed
   • Reason for changes

#Related Articles

• Invoice templates
• Sending invoices and payment reminders
• Creating and managing contracts
• Tracking payments and outstanding balances