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Operations Menu - Create Down Payment Invoice

Use this function to raise Down Payment Invoices. Down Payment Invoices can be used for two purposes: they can be raised if you have received a deposit against a Project or if you wish to ask for one; and they can be used in cases where a Project has been given an overall price which is to be invoiced in instalments.

Before you can use the function, you should define the down payment amount or instalment structure on the 'Down Payments' card of the Project screen. Please refer to the page describing this card for full details.

When you select the function, an unapproved Invoice is created containing a reference to the Project to which it belongs and the amount. You must save the Project using the [Save] button before you can use the function.

The text describing the down payment ("1st Down Payment" in the illustration) is taken from the Comment field on the 'Down Payments' card of the Project. It can be changed if necessary.

The Down Payment Invoice is treated just as any other Invoice: it has to be approved before it can be sent to the Customer and before any Nominal Ledger Transactions are created. Proceed as if it were a standard Invoice: please click for detailed information about approving and printing the Invoice and Nominal Ledger Transactions.

When you approve the Down Payment Invoice, if so defined in the Sub Systems setting in the Nominal Ledger, a Nominal Ledger Transaction is created, crediting the Account shown in the first row of the Invoice. The default for this Account is the Sales Account of the Down Payment Item (or of its Item Group) specified in the Project Settings setting. If this is blank, or if no Item has been specified, the appropriate Sales Account for the Zone of the Customer is used, as specified on the 'Sales' card of the Account Usage S/L setting in the Sales Ledger. If you wish to use a special Debt Account to hold the value of Down Payments until the final Invoice is issued, use the Sales Account of the Down Payment Item for this purpose. This has been done in the illustrations, using Account 770. When the next Invoice is issued, the resulting Nominal Ledger Transaction will in effect debit the same Account with the down payment amount (by crediting it with a negative amount). The VAT Code in the Down Payment Invoice is also taken from the Down Payment Item (or of its Item Group) specified in the Project Settings setting or from the 'Sales' card of the Account Usage S/L setting.

When you raise the first Invoice for the Project from Project Transactions (i.e. for work carried out, using the 'Create Project Invoices' Maintenance function), this will contain a reference to the Down Payment, which will be shown as a deduction from the total, as shown below. If the sum of the Project Transactions is less than the Down Payment, a zero Invoice will be created and the remainder of the Down Payment will be deducted from the next Invoice.

The reference to the Down Payment has the text "Downpay Invoiced": this will be included on the printed Invoice and can be changed if necessary.

If the function does not create a Down Payment Invoice when expected, the probable causes are:

  1. The grid on the 'Down Payments' card of the Project screen is empty, or all rows have dates that are later than the current date.

  2. There is no valid record in the Number Series - Invoices setting (in the Sales Ledger). This might be a fault in the setting itself, or it might be because the default Invoice Number on the 'Ser Nos' card of the current user's Person record or in the Number Series Defaults setting (in the System module) is not in a valid Number Series. This problem will usually occur at the beginning of a new year. If a change is made to the 'Ser Nos' card of the Person record, you will need to quit Hansa and restart for it to take effect.

  3. The Project has not been saved.
If you want to raise Down Payment Invoices for several Projects at once, use the 'Create Project Invoices' Maintenance function and choose the Create Down Payment Invoices option.

Please refer to the page describing the 'Down Payments' card of the Project screen for details about raising Credit Notes against Down Payment Invoices.