How to make an invoice. Back to ezInvoice.com
Quick Start Guide
Contents:
Adding a customer to your "Existing Customers".
Creating Invoices for a customer listed in your "Existing Customers".
Tracking Payments made on Invoices.
Creating a Monthly Billing Statement for a customer listed in your "Existing Customers".
ezInvoice.com is easy enough to start using without having to learn anything special. Still, in order to take advantage of all ezInvoice.com's features, there are a few things that you should be familiar with.
If you create invoices for different customers everyday and have no need to create Monthly Billing Statements or generate income reports for your customers, then you may not need to learn anything special at all to get started using ezInvoice.com. After you logon look under "New Customer" and click the "Invoice" link to make invoices as needed and you'll be fine.
If, on the other hand, you bill the same group of customers most every month, or several times a month, then you should create an "Existing Customer "record for each of your new and existing customers and start all of their invoices from the link in their Existing Customer record. This insures that invoices you create for this customer will be included in Monthly Billing Statements and Reports that you'll want to create for this customer.
In this "Quick Start Guide" we'll begin by creating a standard invoice for a new customer. Then we'll quickly move on to a how you can track invoice payments and make Monthly Billing Statements for selected customers.
You can use the ezInvoice.com "Demo" account to practice the exercises described in this Quick Start Guide and after you're finished you can get right to work with your own user account.
You'll be amazed at how simple it all is, so let's get started!
Creating invoices with ezInvoice.com takes only a few minutes. Here are the basic steps:
1. Logon to ezInvoice.com
While on your "Home Screen" find the and click the "Invoice" link under "New Customer".
This brings you to the "Client Screen" where you'll begin entering information for your invoice. You only need to fill in the info you want to. ezInvoice.com doesn't "Require" you to enter any information to create an invoice. You can make a blank one if you want to.
2. The "Client Screen" is where you begin creating Invoices and other documents with ezInvoice.com.
(Note: the Demo account starts on the "From Screen". Enter your business name and address first, then click the next button to advance to the "Client Screen").
Fill in your client or customer's information on the "Client Screen". If you're going to use the postal service to send your invoice to your customer then be sure to fill in their name and complete address.
If you'll be emailing your invoice then be sure to enter their correct email address.
When you're finished click the "Next" button. This brings you to the "Terms Screen".
3. The "Terms Screen" is where you select options and make adjustments you want for this invoice.
For example you can adjust the tax rate, enter a shipping method and cost, and type in a message for your client that will appear near the bottom of your invoice.
You can also adjust the Invoice Number and Date and select your "Document Style" on the "Terms Screen".
When you're finished click the "Next" button. This brings you to the "Item List Screen".
4. The "Item List Screen" is where you enter what you'll be billing for.
Enter the quantity, select the tax option for each item, enter a description of the item, and finally, enter the unit cost for each item you want included in your invoice.
For example, if you're billing for labor hours, enter the number of hours in the "Quantity" box, select the appropriate "Tax Type", enter a description of what the charges are for in the "Description" box, and the charge per hour in the "Unit Cost" box. (Note: The "Tax Type" selections for "VAT" and "No-VAT" are for European users.)
(Note: You can enter as many items as needed by clicking the "Add Items" button below the Item List.)
When you're finished filling in all the info you want on on your invoice click the "Next" button. This brings you to the "Saved Invoice Screen".
(Note: You can switch between any of the Screens mentioned above in an instant using the "Next" and "Previous" buttons or the Tabs on the Menu Bar.)
5. You've now saved your invoice and your ready to deliver it.
On the "Saved Invoice Screen" you have options to deliver your invoice by email, or you can print it so you can mail or deliver it yourself.
If you email your invoice you can select to email yourself a copy and to add a "PayPal" button so your clients can send a payment to your PayPal account.
If you fold your printed invoice in three and place it in a Standard #9 Double Window Envelope it will display the "To" and "From" addresses perfectly.
Select your preferred method of delivering your invoice and your all done!
Now that was easy!
Adding Customers to your "Existing Customers" List.
There are two ways to add customers to your "Existing Customers" list. You may have noticed the "Add to Customers List" checkbox on the "Clients Screen" when you made your first invoice. If you left that box checked then you've already added that customer to your "Existing Customers" list when you saved your invoice.
The other way is to click the "Add New Customer" link on your "Home Screen". This brings you to the "Add Customer Screen". Just fill in the "Add New Customer" form and click the "Save Customer Info" button.
Creating Invoices for a customer listed in your "Existing Customers".
Once you've added a customer to your "Existing Customers" list you should always start a new invoice for that customer by opening their "Customer" record" from your "Existing Customers". Here's how you do that:
1. While on your "Home Screen", under "Existing Customers" either click the "List All Customers." link and select a customer from the list that appears, or to find a selected customer, enter a few letters in their name, wait a few seconds, then select from the list that appears by clicking on it, then click the "Go" button .
2. This brings you to your "Customer Details Screen". You have access to several features on this screen, but for now, just click the "Invoice" link and start creating a new invoice for your existing customer. You'll notice that all their address info has been pre-filled in for you.
Tracking Payments Made on Invoices.
Now that you've delivered the goods or services and sent your invoice, you'll want to make sure you've been paid in full. It's not uncommon for clients and customers to make partial payments on what they owe and keeping track of those payments is very important. It's also very easy with ezInvoice.com. Here's how you do it.
First you need to find the invoice that you'll be applying the payment to. To find an invoice click the "Search For Invoices" link on the "Home Screen". The easiest way to find an invoice is to "Search by Date Range". Just select the date range when you created the invoice you want to find and click the "Start Search" button.
This will bring up a list of invoices. Each row in the list shows the document type and number, the customer's name, the date the invoice was created,payment info and email status. On the left side of the row, in the "Edit Document" column, click the link for the invoice you want to apply the payment to. This brings you to the "Invoice Details Screen" where you can apply a payment.
To apply a payment you enter the date the payment was made in the "Date" text box, the amount of the payment in the "Amount" text box, and you can enter a note, such as the check number or any other comments about the payment in the "Note" text field.
When you're finished, click the "Save Payment Info" button. The screen will refresh and you'll notice that the "Balance Due" has been adjusted to reflect the payment. You can do this for as many payments as you need to. If you need to make changes to your payment just adjust it and click the "Save Payment Info" button again.
Deleting a Payment:
You can delete a payment by deleting all the info in the Date, Amount, and Note, for the payment and then clicking the "Save Payment Info" button.
Now that you're using your "Contacts" to start invoices for your customers and tracking payments on those invoices you can easily create a "Billing Statement" that you can send to your customers each month. Billing statements list all the invoices and payments for a given date range. You can select any date range you want for your billing statement.
Generally, billing statements are sent at the beginning of each month and reflect all invoices and payments for the previous month. Here's how to create a billing statement for a customer in your "Existing Customers" list.
1. Select a customer from your "Home Screen" the same way we did above when making them an invoice. While on your selected "Customer Record" click the "Statement" link. This brings you to the "Statement Date Range Screen".
2. Set the beginning and end dates for the invoices and payments you'd like to include on your statement and click the "Next" button. This brings you to the "Statement Terms Screen",
3. Adjust the options and if you want, type in a message that will appear near the bottom of your Statement, then click the "Next" button. This saves your Statement and provides options to edit, print, or email your Statement.
Now that was easy!
©2006 Ameri-Guide, Inc. All Rights Reserved.