Creating Pre-Invoices

You create pre-invoices in Interactive Billing or Batch Billing.

Processing Pre-Invoices in Interactive Billing or Batch Billing

You must select the Process Pre-Invoice check box on the Pre-Invoice tab in Billing Terms for a project before you can create pre-invoices in Interactive Billing or Batch Billing. This check box is a toggle to turn on and off pre-invoice processing in Interactive Billing and Batch Billing for a project. When the check box is selected, Interactive Billing and Batch Billing produce pre-invoices instead of regular invoices for a project. When the check box is cleared, Interactive Billing and Batch Billing produce regular invoices. Be sure this check box is appropriately selected or not selected before you produce invoices in Interactive Billing and Batch Billing.

You can create a pre-invoice only if:

• A fee-based billing method of Current unit or fee is entered in the Fee Method field on the Fees tab in Billing Terms.
• Regular invoices for a project are not currently going through the approval process (if you use the Invoice Approvals feature). These invoices must be approved and finalized before you can turn on pre-invoice processing for a project.

Invoice Template for a Pre-Invoice

You create an invoice template to use for pre-invoices that is different from invoice templates for regular invoices. You use Invoice Template Editor in Billing to enter settings and content for the template. You specify the pre-invoice template to use for a project on the Pre-Invoice tab in Billing Terms.

Pre-Invoice Amounts

Enter the fee amount for a pre-invoice in the Fee field on the Fees tab in Billing Terms for a project. Billing limits and retainage (entered on the Misc tab in Billing Terms) do not apply, nor do any of the billing terms on the Labor, Exp/Con/Unit, Add-Ons, Sub-Level Terms, AR & BTD, and Billing Backup tabs in Billing Terms.

Pre-Invoice Dates

The date for a pre-invoice is the invoice date that you enter on the Billing Session Options dialog box in Interactive Billing and Batch Billing.

Due dates do not apply for pre-invoices.

Numbering for Pre-Invoices

The invoice numbering system for pre-invoices is separate from the numbering system for regular invoices. Invoice numbers for pre-invoices are sequentially numbered by project, starting with the number 1. They are assigned when you accept an invoice in Interactive Billing or when you process a final run type in Batch Billing.

Pre-Invoice Approval Process

If you use the invoice approval feature in Vision (turned on in Configuration > Billing > General > Miscellaneous tab), the approval process applies to both pre-invoices and regular invoices.

Posting and Pre-Invoices

The last step to create a pre-invoice is to accept the pre-invoice in Interactive Billing or process a final run type for a pre-invoice in Batch Billing. Posting is not required for pre-invoices. No transaction file, posting log, or general ledger entry is created.

In Batch Billing, you can process both pre-invoices and regular invoices together in one batch. When you post the batch, the posting log for the batch shows only the regular invoices.