Deliveries and invoices

A delivery order is the paper that travels with the goods: what you handed over, how many and when. It carries quantities only — no prices, no tax and no total — and it is optional. Use one when a customer’s goods go out in more than one trip, when the customer signs for what they receive, or when you deliver first and invoice afterwards. To make one, see Create a delivery order.

How it fits together

A delivery order has one of three sources, and the source decides what it can deliver:

• An invoice. You invoiced first and now deliver. Each line delivers part or all of an invoice line, and the invoice already bills the goods.
• A quotation. You deliver first and invoice later. Each line delivers part or all of a quotation line; later you turn one or more of these delivery orders into an invoice.
• Standalone. No document behind it: a customer, a contact and the lines you type or pick from your products.

For a line with a source, easySales keeps three figures: what the source line holds (Invoiced or Quoted), what every delivery order has already taken (Delivered), and what is left (Remaining). A new delivery order can take at most what remains. A draft counts as soon as it is saved: two people cannot both deliver the last ten units.

How it works

Status	What it means	What you can change
Draft	Being prepared; no number yet	Everything; it can be deleted
Issued	Has its number; the paper goes out with the goods	The lines (within what remains), the deliver-to address, driver, vehicle and dates
Delivered	The customer has the goods	Only the driver, vehicle, remark and who received it
Cancelled	Withdrawn; kept with its history	Nothing

Issuing gives the order its number and today’s date, and fixes the customer’s details as they are then. Cancelling an issued or delivered order, or deleting a draft, gives its quantities back to its source, so they can be delivered again.

Invoicing goes the other way for quotation and standalone delivery orders: Create invoice turns one or several of them into one draft invoice, priced from the quotation or from your product list. A delivery order shows how much of it is invoiced: Not invoiced, Partly invoiced or Invoiced.

Good to know

• An invoice-based delivery order is already billed by its invoice, so it is never invoiced again.
• A delivery order raised from a quotation that has a billing plan is Delivery only: the plan’s invoices bill the work, and the delivery order only records the handover.
• A credit note does not change what is left to deliver on an invoice. When an invoice has credit notes, easySales warns you as you create the delivery order, so you can check the quantities.
• Voiding an invoice that was raised from delivery orders makes their lines uninvoiced again, ready to be invoiced afresh.
• The Delivery orders list opens on the last 90 days and every draft; clear the Period to see older ones.
• Creating a delivery order needs invoicing to be part of your company’s plan.

Terms

• Delivery order — the record of goods handed over, with quantities and no prices.
• Remaining — what a source line still has to deliver.
• Delivery only — a delivery order whose invoicing follows the quotation’s billing plan.
• Signed copy — the customer’s signed delivery order, attached once it is delivered.

Common misunderstandings

• “Every invoice needs a delivery order.” No. Delivery orders are optional; use them where they help.
• “A draft delivery order does not count yet.” It does. A draft reserves its quantities until it is issued or deleted.
• “Cancelling a delivery order cancels its invoice.” No. A delivery order turned into an invoice with Create invoice cannot be cancelled until that invoice is voided or the line is removed from it.

Where to find it

Select Delivery orders in the sidebar. An issued invoice and an Open or Accepted quotation show a Delivery card below the document, with what is delivered and what remains. An account’s page has a Delivery orders tab with that customer’s delivery orders.

Why it works this way

The paper that travels with the goods carries no prices. Whoever signs for a delivery — a site supervisor, a storekeeper — is often not the person who agreed the price. Keeping prices off the delivery order means you can hand it to anyone, and the invoice stays the one document that charges.

Quantities are reserved the moment you save. When two colleagues prepare deliveries for the same order, the second sees only what the first has not taken. Remaining is always what is really left, so you never deliver more than was invoiced or quoted.

Goods are billed once, whichever comes first. Goods invoiced before delivery are never invoiced again from their delivery order; goods delivered first are invoiced from what was delivered; goods under a billing plan are billed by the plan. Your customer is not charged twice for the same items.

An issued order is cancelled, not deleted. Once it has a number, the paper may already be with your driver or the customer. Cancelling keeps its number and history, so your numbering has no gaps and you can show what happened, while the quantities return to the source.

Work faster

• Start from the invoice or quotation. Create delivery order in its Delivery card ticks every line with something left at what remains; untick what is not going out. See Create a delivery order.
• Invoice a week of deliveries at once. Tick the delivery orders in the list and select Create invoice: one draft invoice bills them all. See Invoice delivered goods.
• Mark a day’s deliveries together. Tick the issued delivery orders in the list and select Mark delivered; this needs Delivery Edit set to All records. See Delivery orders.
• File the signature with the order. Once it is delivered, Upload signed copy attaches the signed paper or a photo of it, so it is there when the customer asks. See Issue and deliver.
• Check progress without opening each order. The source’s Delivery card lists its delivery orders and shows each line’s Delivered and Remaining. See Delivery orders.

Examples

Delivering an invoice in two trips. Lim & Co invoices Harbour Café for 10 bar stools and the installation. The first van takes 6 stools. Mei Tan opens the invoice, selects Create delivery order in the Delivery card, enters 6 in This delivery for the stools, unticks the installation and creates the order. The card now shows the stools as Delivered 6, Remaining 4 (10 − 6). Next week the second delivery order offers the remaining 4 stools and the installation.

Delivering before invoicing. Lim & Co’s quotation for Orchard Dental lists 4 cabinets. Two go out on Monday and two on Thursday, on two delivery orders from the quotation. On Friday Daniel Lim selects both orders in the Delivery orders list and chooses Create invoice: one draft invoice bills the 4 cabinets at the quotation’s price.

A project under a billing plan. Lim & Co’s quotation for Kai Wei Engineering has a billing plan of a deposit and two progress claims. The delivery orders raised from it show Delivery only: the plan’s invoices bill the project, and the delivery orders record what arrived on site.

Invoicing only what the customer kept. Mei sends Harbour Café 20 sample tiles on standalone delivery order DO-10000031. The café keeps 16 and returns 4. Mei selects Create invoice on the order and lowers Invoice qty to 16. At the product’s list price of SGD 12.50, the draft bills SGD 200.00 (16 × 12.50); with GST at 9% (SGD 18.00) it comes to SGD 218.00. DO-10000031 now reads Partly invoiced, and the other 4 tiles stay ready for a later invoice.

A delivery cancelled at the door. Daniel issues DO-10000034 for 3 lamps from an invoice, but the customer’s site is closed when the van arrives. He cancels DO-10000034 with the reason “Site closed”. The order keeps its number, and the invoice’s Delivery card shows the 3 lamps as Remaining again, ready for a new delivery order.

Common questions

• Do I need a delivery order for every invoice? No. Delivery orders are optional. Use one when goods go out in several trips, the customer signs for them, or you deliver before you invoice.
• Can I deliver an order in several trips? Yes. Each delivery order takes part of each line, and the Delivery card shows what is Delivered and what is Remaining. See Create a delivery order.
• Why does a delivery order have no prices? It records what was handed over, not what is charged. Prices, tax and totals belong on the invoice.
• Can I invoice several delivery orders at once? Yes, when they are for one customer and either all come from one quotation or all stand alone. Tick them and select Create invoice. See Invoice delivered goods.
• How do I undo a delivery order? Delete it while it is a draft, or cancel it once issued or delivered. Either way its quantities go back to the source. See Issue and deliver.
• Does a credit note reduce what is left to deliver? No. easySales warns you when the invoice has credit notes, so you can lower the quantities yourself.
• Why can’t I find an older delivery order? The list opens on the last 90 days. Clear the Period to see every date. See Delivery orders.

Related

• Delivery orders
• Create a delivery order
• Invoice delivered goods
• Billing plan