Products and line items
A product is a reusable catalogue entry for something Lim & Co sells. A line item is the copy of those details used on one quotation or invoice.
Why it works this way
Section titled “Why it works this way”Selecting a product can prefill its name, code, unit, amount and tax treatment. This saves repeated entry while still letting the document describe the specific sale.
The line item is a snapshot. Changing or deactivating the product later does not rewrite quotations and invoices that already used it.
This separation protects history. Lim & Co can update what it offers today without changing what it offered or charged yesterday.
A product can be Goods or Service. The type describes what is sold, while the unit explains how its quantity is measured; the line’s tax treatment determines how it contributes to document tax.
How it relates
Section titled “How it relates”Products help Lim & Co prepare consistent quotation and invoice lines. Once copied, each line belongs to that document and contributes its quantity, unit amount and tax to the totals.
The same product may appear on several documents, but each document keeps its own snapshot. Issuing an invoice locks all of its line-item facts.
- Product: A reusable catalogue record for goods or a service.
- Goods: A product type for an item supplied.
- Service: A product type for work supplied.
- Unit: The measure applied to a quantity.
- Line item: A document-specific snapshot of what is supplied and charged.
- Tax treatment: The rate and tax setting applied to a line.
Common misunderstandings
Section titled “Common misunderstandings”- A product is not the historical invoice line itself.
- Updating a product does not update existing document lines.
- Deactivating a product does not remove it from documents that already contain its snapshot.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”Line items are among the details carried from a quotation to an invoice. Their financial facts are protected when the invoice is issued.