General Tab of the Interactive Billing Form

Use this tab to confirm key billing information for an invoice for a project, such as a summary of a project's billing terms, draft invoice information, and the billing address.

Contents

Billing Group Section

This section displays if a project, phase, or task belongs to a billing group (set up in Billing > Billing Groups).

Field	Description
Main Project	If the project, phase, or task that you have open on the Interactive Billing form belongs to a billing group, the name and number of the main project for the group displays in this field. If you have multiple companies, the company that "owns" the main project in the billing group is the company that generates the invoice for the entire billing group.

Draft Invoice Information Section

Field	Description
Invoice Status	This field displays if a project uses an approval process for invoices. This field shows you the approval status for the invoice. Statuses are: New: The invoice has not been submitted for approval. (If an invoice is submitted and then at some point is unsubmitted, it is assigned the New status.) Submitted by <submitter name> on <submission date and time>: The invoice is submitted for approval. Approved by <approver name> on <approval date and time>: The invoice is approved for billing. Rejected by <rejecter name> on <rejection date and time>: The invoice has been rejected for billing.
Draft Invoice Comments	This field displays if a project uses an approval process for invoices. If the Invoice Status field shows that the invoice is new: This field displays None. If the Invoice Status field shows that the invoice has been submitted, approved, or rejected: This field displays the first line of the last comment that was entered for the invoice and a More link. Click the More link in this field to open the Draft Invoice Comments dialog box. On this dialog box, you can view the list of approval actions that have been carried out to date for the invoice (submitted, approved, and rejected actions) and any comments that were entered on the Draft Invoice Comments dialog box when someone performed any of those approval actions. You can also enter new comments for the invoice on the dialog box. If you have Use Markup on Draft Invoices set to Yes in Settings > Billing > Options, you review any annotations and comments made directly in a PDF of the draft invoice on the Draft Preview tab of the Interactive Billing form.
Billing Currency	If you have multiple companies, this field displays the billing currency for the project that is specified on the Overview tab in Hubs > Projects > Project.
Notes	Notes that you enter at the project level of a project's billing terms, in the Notes field on the Summary pane in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms, prefill in this field. If this project belongs to a billing group, the notes in Billing Terms for the main project for the billing group prefill in this field. Hover over this field and click to change the prefilled notes or to enter notes for this invoice. The notes do not appear on the invoice; they are for internal reference only. For example, you might note the frequency with which invoices are sent out (for example, bi-monthly or monthly) for this project. To enter notes in this field, your role security must provide you with access rights. The Allow Final Processing check box must be selected for your role in the Billing Security Section of the Accounting tab on the Roles form, in Settings > Security > Roles.
Invoice Number	This field displays the next invoice number to use for this project when the next invoice is generated, if an invoice number has been assigned using the Other Actions > Assign Invoice Number on the Actions bar of the Interactive Billing form. You cannot edit this field.
Edited Invoice on File	This link displays if a copy of an invoice for the project has been edited in a third-party software program, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. Click the link to open the edited invoice for viewing or further editing. If you make additional changes, be sure to save the document and to use the upload feature to replace the document with the most current version on the Vantagepoint application server. After the invoice is accepted, the link is removed from this section of the General tab. You can see accepted invoices on the Invoice History tab in Interactive Billing. On this tab, invoices that were edited in third-party software applications have an asterisk (*) beside them.

Billing Terms Summary Section

If a project has no billing terms entered for it in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms, the only thing that displays in this section is Missing Terms text.

If a project has billing terms, the billing terms information in this section reflects the billing terms that are entered for the work breakdown structure level (the project, phase, or task) that you have selected on the Interactive Billing form (via beside the project name at the top of the form).

Field	Description
Terms on File	This check box is selected if the project, phase, or task has billing terms established in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms.
Project	If billing terms exist for the project, phase, or task, the name and number of the project displays in this field. If the project is a sub-project in a billing group and Consolidate Printing is selected for the billing group's main project in Billing > Billing Groups, the name and number of the billing group's main display in this field. If you have a phase or task displayed on the Interactive Billing form, and phase or task billing terms are established, the name and number of the project displays in this field, but the terms used may be phase or task terms. For projects that have a defined multi-level WBS, an icon similar to the following displays next to the project name. Click the icon to view the WBS tree structure. The project name and number is a hyperlink. Click it to open an information box with summary information for the project. From there, you can click an Open in Projects link to open the project record in Hubs > Projects > Project.
Phase	If phase billing terms exist for the phase or task, and the main project terms are not being used, the phase name and number display in this field. If the project is a sub-project in a billing group and Consolidate Printing is selected for the billing group's main project in Billing > Billing Groups, phase billing terms are not used, and this field is blank. The billing terms established at the project-level for the main project are used for all sub-projects. If you have a task displayed on the Interactive Billing form and task terms are established, the phase number displays in this field, but the terms used will be task terms.
Task	If task billing terms exist for the task, the task name and number display in this field. If the project is a sub-project in a billing group and Consolidate Printing is selected for the billing group's main project in Billing > Billing Groups, task billing terms are not used, and this field is blank. The billing terms established at the project-level for the main project are used for all sub-projects.
Fee Method	This field displays the method for billing fees for the next invoice. This method is specified in billing terms for the project, phase, or task in the Method field of the Fees tab in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms.
Labor Method	This field displays the method for billing labor for the next invoice. This method is specified in billing terms for the project, phase, or task in the Method field in the Labor section of the Rates tab in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms.
Consultant Method	This field displays the method for billing consultant expenses for the next invoice. This method is specified in the billing terms for the project, phase, or task in the Method field in the Consultants section of the Rates tab in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms.
Expense Method	This field displays the method for billing reimbursable expenses for the next invoice. This method is specified in the billing terms for the project, phase, or task in the Method field in the Expense section of the Rates tab in Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms.
Invoice Description	This field prefills with the text from the Description field in the Text on Invoice section on the Format tab in billing terms for the project (Hubs > Projects > Billing Terms). This description will display in the header section of the invoice, below the project number and project name. Hover over this field and click to change the prefilled description or enter a description. You can edit this field only if your security role provides your with role level access to edit billing terms.

Billing Address Section

Field

Description

Address

This field displays the address where the invoice will be sent. This is the billing address that is entered in the Firms hub for the firm that is specified as the billing client for a project (or the main project, if the project is part of billing group) specified on the Accounting tab in Hubs > Projects > Project. The addressee lines (first and or first and second) are determined by your selection from the Invoice Addressee field of the Billing Session Options dialog box in Interactive Billing.