Processing Batch Invoices

You can process draft and final invoices in Batch Billing.

Processing a Batch of Invoices Immediately or Scheduling the Processing Run for Later

You can process a batch of invoices immediately or schedule the batch to process automatically at a future time, through a process server. Scheduling a batch of invoices to process later, such as after business hours, may be helpful if you have a large number of invoices and data to process.

Selecting Options for Processing a Batch of Invoices

You enter information on the Invoice Creation tab in Batch Billing to determine the invoices to generate for a Batch Billing run. Then you click Create Invoices on the Actions bar of the Batch Billing form to start processing the invoices or to schedule the run to occur at a future time.

Processing Draft Invoices

When you process draft invoices, the following occur:

• An invoice is created for every project that you select.
• While invoices are being created, a "Processing Invoices..." message displays at the top of the Batch Billing form and in the status area in the lower left of the browser window.
• When processing is complete, each invoice is sent by email, printed, or generated without printing, depending on the settings that you selected on the Invoice Creation tab in Batch Billing. A dialog box then displays to indicate the number of invoices that were successfully created.

Invoice numbers are not assigned to the invoices at this time. <Draft> appears in the Invoice No: column (if shown) on the invoice to indicate that the invoice was generated during a draft billing run.

Emailing draft invoices in Microsoft Excel format to project managers is an easy way to get their feedback on the draft invoices. They can enter corrections or comments directly in the Excel spreadsheet, highlight comments in a different color to make changes or additions easy for the billing administrator to find, and then send the spreadsheet back to the administrator.

Processing Invoices without Printing

You must process invoices without printing them if your firm uses Vantagepoint on servers hosted by a third-party Application Service Provider (ASP).

You also do this if you want to:

• Improve efficiency: You can send invoices to the printer as you review them. You may also choose to send one group of invoices to one printer and another group to another printer, to speed the printing process.
• Preview invoices before they are printed.
• Review the Batch Invoice List report to avoid printing errors: You can generate draft invoices and then review the Batch Invoice List report to view the invoices included in this month's billing. You can review the report for missing invoices or missing amounts, without having to first print the entire batch billing run. You can then make any necessary corrections, re-generate your invoices, and print them when you are ready.

Processing Final Invoices

When you process final invoices, the following occur:

• An invoice is created for every project that you select.
• While invoices are being created, a "Processing Invoices..." message displays at the top of the Batch Billing form and in the status area in the lower left of the browser window.
• Invoice numbers are assigned to the invoices.
• If Release Holds Automatically is selected in Settings > Billing > Options, all held transactions are reset to be billable again.
• The Invoice Transaction Entry file is updated.
• When processing is complete, each invoice is sent by email, printed, or generated without printing, depending on the settings that you selected on the Invoice Creation tab in Batch Billing. A dialog box then displays to indicate the number of invoices that were successfully created.

Failed Projects

If there are failed projects in a batch of draft or final invoices (invoices were not created for the a project), a Batch Processed with <X> Errors hyperlink displays in the Batch Results field in the grid on the Invoice Archive tab in Batch Billing for the batch. Click the hyperlink to open the Failed Projects dialog box and view a list of failed projects and the reason for the failures. After you fix the problems, return to the Failed Projects dialog box and rerun the failed projects to create the invoices. For more information, see Rerunning Failed Projects in Batch Billing.