23 Generate Invoices Automatically
This chapter contains the topic:
23.1 Generating Invoices Automatically
From Contract Billing Processing (G52), choose Invoice Generation
From Invoice Generation (G5221), choose Invoice Generation (P52800)
When you accumulate costs, the system creates the workfile transactions for T&M billing lines and components. The transactions are the basis for the invoices that you send to your customers. The next step in the billing process is to generate invoices. If your contracts do not include T&M billing lines, then the billing process begins with generating invoices.
The term invoice has two meanings in the Contract Billing system:
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Invoice information that the system generates from the workfile transactions in the Billing Workfile (F4812). The system stores the summarized invoice information in the Invoice Summary Workfile (F4822).
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A copy of the invoice that you print for your customer. The system prints invoices based on the invoice layouts that you define using Invoice Formatting (P4850).
When you run Invoice Generation (P52800), the system automatically summarizes the selected workfile transactions and stores the summarized records in the Invoice Summary Workfile (F4822). Depending on the subledger values in the Contract Billing Line Detail table (F5202) and the Cross-Reference Accounts table (F5212) for unit price and lump sum billing lines, the system creates either multiple workfile records (a single record for every unique value of subledger) or a single workfile record in the F4812 workfile for each lump sum or unit price billing line on a contract. The system creates one summarized workfile record in the F4822 workfile for the last period.
The system uses the contract billing lines you have defined to control the invoice and pay item summarization logic. The system uses the Invoice Summary entries to create A/R Ledger (F0311) transactions when Create A/R and G/L Entries are run.
Note:
Workfile transactions supporting T&M billing lines are created during workfile generation. Workfile transactions supporting the invoicing of non-T&M billing lines (Lump Sum, Unit Price, Milestone, Progress Billing, Fees, Draws) are calculated during invoice generation.You can define recurring billing invoices for lump sum billing lines. When you generate invoices, the recurring amounts are calculated if you have specified the recurring code in the Invoice Generation processing options.
Pay items represent the individual billing lines that you set up for a contract. Pay items contain either a summary of one or more workfile transactions related to time and materials, or the amount of a billing for costs related to non-T&M billing lines. The pay items for a specific invoice make up the total amount of the invoice for a contract.
You can run the Invoice Generation program (P52800) to generate invoices automatically, or you can create invoices manually. During invoice generation, the system:
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Creates a billing batch header record (F48011). The current activity field is set to 1, indicating that invoice generation is in progress
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Uses processing options and data selection criteria to summarize workfile transactions associated with T&M billing lines and stores the summarized records in the Invoice Summary Work File (F4822). The workfile transactions are updated with the invoice information (batch number, invoice number, pay item, document type, and invoice date) to indicate that these transactions are included in an invoice
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Creates workfile transactions to support non-T&M billing lines with cross-reference information and updates the Invoice Summary Work File
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Retrieves the customer number from the contract and the G/L offset from the billing line to assign to the invoice
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Updates the contract master with the invoice batch number. Because of the cumulative nature of contract billing, a contract cannot participate in more than one invoice batch at a time
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Calculates applicable fees and retainage amounts
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Prints the Invoice Generation Exception Report (R52800) if there are messages or errors associated with the creation of the invoices
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Updates the billing batch header (F48011) with the amount and the number of documents in the batch when Invoice Generation completes. The current activity field in the batch header is reset to 0 to allow additional processes to be performed against the batch
23.1.1 Contract Billing Invoice Generation
The Contract Billing Invoice Generation report (R52800) is generated if there are errors or warnings associated with the batch.
Figure 23-1 Contract Billing Invoice Generation Report
Description of ''Figure 23-1 Contract Billing Invoice Generation Report''
23.1.2 What You Should Know About
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Creating draft and final invoices | If you set the system constants to generate draft and final invoices, the system assigns draft numbers to the invoices during invoice generation. When you create the G/L and A/R entries for the final invoices, the system reassigns the numbers and document type. |
| Calculating invoice amounts for lump sum, unit price, fee, or components | When you create invoices automatically, the system processes workfile transactions that are related to time and materials, including components. At this time, the system can also calculate the invoice, fee, and retainage amounts for non-T&M billing lines, such as lump sum or unit price, if you have defined cross-references for the respective billing lines.
See Section 12.3, "Defining Billing Lines for Lump Sum" and Section 12.4, "Setting Up Lump Sum Billing Lines for Manual Calculation." |
| Calculating invoice amounts for milestone and progress billing | When you complete an event for a contract, you must enter the date in the Actual Complete field for the billing event. At this time, the system updates the Complete Yes field to Y. You can then bill for the event at the percentage you have specified.
When you generate invoices, the system compares the cutoff date for the generation with the actual completion date. If the generation date is the same or later, the system processes the billing event. At this point in the billing process, you cannot change the billing amount. After the system bills for an event, it updates the Billed Yes field to Y. At this point, the billing event is protected and you can no longer change the information for the event. |
| Retainage on fee lines | The system automatically calculates the retainage on invoice amounts for all applicable billing lines.
In some cases, the invoice amount for a fee billing line might not exist or might be incomplete. This occurs for fee billing lines that have cross-references to lump sum or unit price billing lines. The system does not automatically calculate fee billing lines for lump sum and unit price billing lines if you enter the billing amounts manually. You must manually revise the billing line amount for fees and retainage. See Section 24.5, "Calculating Fee Lines Manually" and Section 24.4, "Calculating Retainage Manually for Billing." |
| Recurring invoices | You can define recurring invoices for lump sum billing lines. When you generate invoice amounts, the system calculates the recurring amount if:
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| Limits on invoice amounts | As limits to invoice amounts, you can define the following amounts:
If the current invoice amount for a contract is less than the minimum amount, the system does not create an invoice for the contract. If the invoice amount for a contract, change order, or contract billing line exceeds the respective maximum amount, the system warns you by:
The system does not prevent you from creating the invoices and billing transactions. See Section 11.2, "Creating the Master Record for a Contract" for more information about guaranteed amounts. |
| Bill when Paid | Any T&M transactions attached to a contract or T&M billing line that has a value of Y (only paid A/P invoices can be billed) in the Bill when Paid field are included in the invoice only if the voucher associated with the workfile record has been paid. Any T&M transactions for which associated vouchers have not been paid are listed on the error report.
Note: The T&M workfile transaction might override the Bill when Paid rule defined on the contract or billing line. |
See Also:
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Section 24.4, "Calculating Retainage Manually for Billing" for information about calculating fee amounts for lump sum and unit price,
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JD Edwards World Technical Foundation Guide for information about running, copying, and changing a DREAM Writer version.