Create an invoice (end to end)

This guide walks through billing a customer in SolaCount from start to finish: add the customer, optionally quote, create and post the invoice, send it, and record the payment. It uses a UAE example in AED with 5% VAT. For every field and rule, see the full Invoices page.

Example: you sell 10 hours of consulting at AED 500 and 4 office chairs at AED 750 to Al Noor Trading LLC, payable in 30 days.

Before you start

• You need a role with invoice permissions (Owner, Manager or Accountant by default).
• Your organization's VAT setup should have a 5% standard-rated tax code with an Output VAT account (see Taxes and VAT).
• Your account defaults should include a receivable (AR) account and a default sales account. New organizations get these from setup.

Step 1 — Add the customer (if new)

1. Go to Sales → Customers → Add Customer (the customers section at the top of the Sales menu).
2. Enter the name (Al Noor Trading LLC), the email (needed to send the invoice and for Customer Portal access), and their tax registration number (TRN) if they are VAT-registered.
3. Save.

You can also add a customer without leaving the invoice: in the Customer picker, choose Add New Customer. See Customers.

Step 2 — Quote first (optional)

If the customer must agree the price first:

1. Sales → Quotes → New Quote, add the lines, set an Expiry date, Save.
2. Click Send so the customer can accept online, or record their answer with Mark as Accepted.
3. Click Approve Quote, then Convert to Invoice (or Convert to Sales Order if your organization requires sales orders).

You get a draft invoice with the quote's lines and prices. Skip to Step 4. See Quotes.

Step 3 — Create the invoice

1. Go to Sales → Invoices and click New Invoice (top-right). Or use the + menu → New Invoice.

2. Header:

   • Issue date: today (the posting date).
   • Due Date: 30 days later.
   • Customer: Al Noor Trading LLC.
   • Currency: AED (only shown when multi-currency is on).

3. Lines (click Add line for the second):

   Item / Description	Qty	Price	Tax	Revenue Account
   Consulting services	10	500.00	VAT 5%	Service Revenue
   Office chair	4	750.00	VAT 5%	Sales Revenue

4. Leave the price mode on Excl. tax (prices before VAT).

5. Check the totals: Subtotal AED 8,000.00, Tax AED 400.00, Grand Total AED 8,400.00.

6. Optional: add Notes for the customer (bank details, PO number) and attach the customer's PO under Supporting Documents.

Step 4 — Save and post

• Click Save & Post in the footer to save and post at once, or
• click Save Draft, review it, then click Post to GL on the invoice page and confirm "Post this invoice? A journal entry will be created and the customer balance will be updated."

The invoice becomes Unpaid and SolaCount posts:

If the chairs are stocked items tracked in SolaCount, it also posts their cost (Dr Cost of Goods Sold / Cr Inventory). You can see the entry under Journal entries on the invoice.

If posting fails — for example the date is in a closed period, or approvals are required — the invoice stays a draft and a notice tells you why.

Step 5 — Send it to the customer

1. On the invoice page, click Send Email (right sidebar).
2. To is filled from the customer record; adjust Subject, add CC/BCC and a Message if you like.
3. Tick Attach PDF (if available).
4. Click Queue Email. You see "Invoice email queued."

The customer gets the email with the PDF and a secure button into the Customer Portal. The send appears in Email History. See Send a document to a customer.

To download or print instead, click PDF.

Step 6 — Record the payment

When Al Noor pays:

1. Open the invoice and click Record a payment (top-right).
2. The payment form opens with the customer and invoice selected and the balance filled in. Choose the bank account and date, adjust the amount for a partial payment, and save/post.

The invoice becomes Partially Paid or Paid. A part payment of AED 5,000 leaves Balance Due AED 3,400 and posts Dr Bank 5,000 / Cr Accounts Receivable 5,000. See Record a payment.

If the customer paid a deposit earlier, apply it from Payments → Customer Advances instead (see Customer advance payments). If you owe them a credit, apply a credit note (see Credit notes).

Step 7 — Follow up

• Sales → Invoices shows a red counter when invoices are overdue; click it to see them.
• Reports → A/R Aging Summary groups open balances by how overdue they are (Current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 91+ days past the due date).

Fixing a posted invoice

Related

• Invoices · Quotes · Sales receipts
• Payments · Record a payment
• Send a document to a customer