You may schedule the hours e.g. labour, consulting, etc. 

Should you need to invoice a debtor (customer / client) for services rendered on an hourly basis (e.g. consulting, etc.), you may use the "Hours" category to schedule and process quotes (invoices) with a few mouse-clicks. The Calendar (Planner) is the electronic diary, time sheet, which integrates the billing of your debtors (customers / clients). 

This option generates Quotes and not Invoices. The reason for this, is: 

  • Quotes are used to schedule the hourly services in the future. 
  • Once the service is rendered, the Quotes are edited and confirmed (converted to invoices). 
  • You may also view and print the Invoice on the Documents tab of the Debtor account (Default ribbon). Once the Invoice is posted (updated to the ledger), it will be listed as a debit transaction on the Transactions tab of the Debtor account. 
  • You may also select a specific person (salesperson) which will render these services. 

To create Invoices for Hours: 

  1. On the Default ribbon, select Calendar. 
  2. Select the day and a time slot to schedule the hours.
  3. Select a date and right-click on a time slot. On the context menu, select the Add event... option. The "Untitled – Event" screen will be displayed.

  1. On the Untitled Event screen, enter and / or select the following:
    1. Subject - Leave blank. This will automatically be filled in with the debtor (customer / client) account code, description and Salesperson when selecting it.
    2. Category - Select Hours (Magenta colour).
    3. Hours - Click on the Hours field. Select a debtor customer account. 
    4. Projects - Empty is the default project. Select a Project from the list.
    5. Salesperson - Select a salesperson. If the consultant or the salesperson is not added you need to exit this screen and first add a salesperson in Setup → Salesperson or in Setup → Groups (Salesperson).
    6. Quote - Leave blank.
    7. All day event - Leave blank.
    8. Start time - Select 2020/05/07. This is the date and time as selected on the Calendar from where the Untitled - Event screen was launched. If this date is not correct, you may select the correct date. Enter or select the time slot, if not correct.
    9. End time - Enter the time expected to finish the project.
    10. Appointment recurrence - The default is "None".
    11. Repeat until - Field disabled. 
    12. Reminder - Leave blank. You may activate it and set the Minutes, Hours or Days to remind you in advance to process invoices for hours.
  1. After scheduling the invoices for hours, the screen should display as follows: 

The Subject and the Titlebar will display the Debtor (customer / client) account code and name as well as the name of the salesperson (consultant). If Projects are activated, you may select the project. The selected Project code and description will be displayed. 
  1. Click on the OK button.
  2. On the Agenda (top of the screen), click on the Create invoices for hours button. The following options screen is displayed: 

  1. Select the date from and date to in which the hourly fee is to be charged (e.g. 2022/05/07). 
  2. Click on the Lookup icon and select the stock item for services (or the correct Stock item if you have created one).
  3. Click on the OK button to create the quote. An information message "Quote(s) generated!" will be displayed.
  4. Click on the OK button. 

This Quote may be viewed on the following options: 

  • Document entry screen as Unposted (i.e. Not converted to an Invoice). 
  • Projects on the list of a selected Project. 
  • Documents tab of the Debtor (customer / client) account. Once the Quote is confirmed (converted to an invoice and the Invoice is posted (updated to the ledger), it will be listed as a debit transaction on the Transactions tab of the Debtor account. 

You may need to edit the quote, e.g. add comments, change the hours, etc. change the Project code (if projects are activated), before converting it to an Invoice. 

The Hours – Event will be displayed in Purple (Magenta) colour on the time slot of the scheduled day. The Day in the calendar will also be underlined and displayed in a Purple (Magenta) font.