Copy an invoice

When you bill a customer for the same work again, or bill another customer for similar work, copy an invoice instead of typing it again. The copy is a new invoice of its own; the original does not change.

Before you start

• You need to be able to open the invoice — Invoice View; with Own records only, one of your own — and Invoice Add and Edit.
• The invoice can be in any status, a cancelled one included.

Steps

1. Open the invoice you want to copy.
2. Select Copy in the ··· menu, in its Document group.
3. Read the Copy invoice box and select Copy. The message Invoice copied appears, and the new invoice opens.
4. Check the customer, the lines, the prices, the Payment term and the Due date, and change what differs.
5. When it is ready, issue it.

What happens next

• The copy is a Draft, like any new invoice, and you are its salesperson.
• It carries the customer, contact, currency, heading, terms, remark, custom fields and lines.
• Its invoice date is today. It keeps the original’s Payment term when that term is still in your company’s list; otherwise it takes the customer’s term, then the company default. Its due date is today plus the term’s days (NET 30 is 30 days, COD is today). If the term has no day count, the due date is today plus the original’s own credit period (its due date less its invoice date); with neither, it is today.
• Today’s tax rates and exchange rates apply, so its total is worked out again and may differ from the original’s.
• It does not carry the original’s number, the customer’s PO number, the quotation link or billing plan, deliveries, payments, credits, write-offs, approval, sent marks, attachments or history.
• If something could not be copied as it was, a message names it: a line whose product no longer exists, or a line that deducted a deposit, is left out; a tax no longer in force moves to today’s rate or is removed; a changed total is pointed out. Check the new invoice before you issue it.

Rules to know

• Copying never changes the original, and the two are not linked afterwards.
• A deposit deduction belongs to the original invoice, so it is never copied. Deduct the deposit on the new invoice yourself if it still applies.
• Changing the Contact on the copy does not change its Currency, Payment term or Due date; set them for the new customer yourself.

Why it works this way

A copy is a new sale, not a reprint. It takes its own number when you issue it and collects its own payments. The original stays exactly as it was, so the first customer’s balance and statement are not disturbed.

Dates, taxes and rates are today’s. You are charging the customer now. A copy dated last month, at a tax rate or exchange rate no longer in force, would put the sale in the wrong tax period at the wrong amount.

Some things belong only to the original. A PO number names the order the original was for, a deposit deduction has already recovered that deposit, and payments settled the original’s balance. Carrying them over would match the new invoice to the wrong order or deduct the same deposit twice.

The payment term comes with it. A customer who had NET 30 keeps NET 30, counted from today, so you do not have to work out the new due date.

Work faster

• Copy, then change only what differs. When a repeat job has the same lines with new quantities, edit the quantities and issue. See Issue an invoice.
• Let a regular charge draft itself. For the same charge every month or year, a recurring invoice creates the draft on schedule instead.
• Reissue a cancelled invoice. Copy the cancelled invoice and correct the copy: the lines are already there. See Cancel an invoice.
• Bill new work from its quotation. When the job was quoted, Raise invoice on the quotation copies its lines and keeps the link. See Raise an invoice.

Examples

A monthly styling refresh. Lim & Co restyles Harbour Café every month. On 1 October Mei Tan copies September’s INV-10000310, which was dated 1 September on NET 30 and due 1 October. The copy keeps NET 30, is dated 1 October and is due 31 October. It carries the same lines:

Item	Qty	Unit price	Total
Seasonal styling refresh	1	600.00	600.00
Fresh flower arrangement	4	45.00	180.00

That is SGD 780.00 plus GST 9% of SGD 70.20, SGD 850.20 in all. October had five weekly deliveries, so Mei changes the flowers to 5 (SGD 225.00). The invoice becomes SGD 825.00 plus GST of SGD 74.25, SGD 899.25 in all, and she issues it.

The same package for another client. Seaview Dental Clinic wants the consultation and mood board Lim & Co did for Harbour Café on INV-10000318 (SGD 2,398.00 with GST). On 12 October Mei copies that invoice and changes the Contact to the clinic’s. The copy kept NET 30, so the due date came across as 11 November. The clinic’s payment term is NET 14, so she picks NET 14 in Payment term and the Due date moves to 26 October before issuing.

Common questions

• How do I duplicate an invoice? Open it and select Copy in the ··· menu, then Copy again to confirm. The new draft opens at once.
• Does copying an invoice change the original? No. The original keeps its number, lines, payments and status, and the two are not linked.
• Why is the copy’s total different from the original’s? The copy uses today’s tax rates and exchange rates, and a line that could not be copied is left out. The message after copying says what changed.
• Can I copy a cancelled invoice? Yes. An invoice in any status can be copied, which is a quick way to reissue one that had the wrong customer or date.
• Is the customer’s PO number copied? No. It names the order the original was for; type the new one in Customer PO number.
• Can I copy an invoice for a different customer? Yes. Change the Contact on the copy, then check its Currency, Payment term and Due date, which stay as copied.
• How is the copy’s due date worked out? From today, using the copy’s Payment term: NET 14 is 14 days. If the term has no day count, the original’s credit period is used instead.

Related

• Create an invoice
• Issue an invoice
• Recurring invoices
• Copy a quotation