This guide covers contract billing and its service baskets, teaching you how to add products and customers to the service basket and how to generate invoices. The guide includes step-by-step instructions for creating, managing, and billing service baskets, as well as frequently asked questions related to this process.

CONTENTS

• New service basket
• Service basket management
  • Adding a product to the service basket
  • Adding a customer to the service basket
  • Customer-specific product billing 
  • Generating invoices
  • Service basket settings
  • Sales and cash flow forecast
• Frequently asked questions

Contract billing allows for comprehensive management of recurring billing. With contract billing, you can repeatedly bill desired customers and products in bulk. This section can be used for tasks such as rental billing and company service billing. 

The service basket is a central element of contract billing. During the billing period, products and customers can be added to and removed from the service basket. Invoices cannot be generated for past periods through the manual Invoice Generation view of contract billing. If the service basket and its customers and products are set to start from the past and automatic data generation is enabled without active VAT locking, invoices will be automatically generated for past periods as well. Invoices are generated during the next night's automatic run. 

Sales > Invoicing > Contractual Invoicing

Service basket status: You can search for desired baskets based on service basket statuses. Active service baskets are in the active status. If the billing for the service basket has already expired, it is in the ended status. Service baskets in the waiting status have not yet started billing.

Contains product: You can search for service baskets that have used the specified product.

Contains customer: You can search for service baskets that have used the specified customer. 

Assigned to seller: You can search for service baskets that have used the specified seller.

Invoice currency: You can search for invoices in the selected currency.

Save as Excel file: The Excel file contains a list of service basket customers and products. Note that empty service baskets are not exported to Excel.

New service basket

A new service basket is created by pressing the "Create new service basket" button.

Name: The name of the service basket, use a descriptive name.
Billing periods starting: The start date of the billing period. A single service basket can generate invoices for different customers and products for the same billing period. Separate service baskets are created for different billing periods.
Billing periods until: The end date of the billing period, or alternatively, it can be specified that the service basket is valid indefinitely.
Billing period interval: Options are x Days, Weeks, Months, or Years.
Invoice currency: Select the invoice currency.
Invoice value date: Do not use the value date if the invoice payment term is calculated from the invoice date, leave the field empty. The value date is the date from which the invoice payment term due date is calculated. For example, if the invoice date is 1.1.2019 and the payment term is 14 days net, setting the value date to 4 results in an invoice due date of 18.1.2019. If the value date is 15, the due date becomes 29.1.2019.
Invoice due date: A due date can be manually set for the desired day if an existing payment term is not used. If a due date is set here, the customer's default payment term is not retrieved, and this due date applies to all invoices.

Data date: When the data is generated

First day of the billing period: Refers to the day set as the starting day of the billing periods. If billing continues monthly, this will always be the same day for the next month. 

Last day of the billing period: If billing is monthly from the beginning of the month, this day is always the last day of the month. If the billing period is something other than a month, the data date becomes the last day of the billing period. 

Last day of the first month of the billing period: If the billing interval is other than from the beginning to the end of the month, this selection results in the data date always being the last day of the starting month. If billing is from the beginning to the end of the month, the selection for the last day of the billing period and the last day of the month of the billing period is the same. 

Show billing period on the invoice: Choose whether to display the billing period on the invoice. The billing period is brought to the sales invoice in the "Text before invoice lines" section and overrides the text in the "Default text before invoice lines" field behind the customer. However, if the contract billing settings have selected "Use only customer's default text" in the Default text before lines section, then only the text behind the customer is displayed, and the billing period is not shown. This can be made visible if the settings for default text before lines are selected as "Combine service basket default text and customer default text".

Automatically create data on the creation date: The system creates invoices according to the setting defined in the previous section. Automatic creation is recommended for large invoice masses.

Data creation date: Available only if the previous setting is active. Define here how many days before the data date you want the system to generate invoices in the Sales Ledger.

Use creation date as invoice date: Available only if data is set to be generated automatically. If you have set the data date as the last day of the billing period and set this to 5 days before the data date, the invoice date will be, depending on the month, the 23rd, 24th, 25th, or 26th day.

Type of data to be generated: Offer, Order, or Invoice.

Auxiliary business name: If the company has auxiliary business names in use, this can be defined here for which auxiliary business name the invoices are generated.

Payment term: The payment term for the generated data, used if no due date is defined for the service basket.

Customer's default payment term overrides basket payment term: If a customer-specific default payment term is defined on the customer card, it is used when this selection is active.
Month delivery day: The day the delivery takes place. Note that the delivery date is processed according to the selected billing period. If invoices are dated 1.5.2014, the delivery date also applies to May. The delivery day cannot be defined for the previous or future month.

Seller: An existing active seller can be selected for the invoice.
Our reference: Our reference.
Your reference: Customer's reference.
Default texts: Default texts before and after invoice lines. The maximum length of the fields is 500 characters. The description can use the commands below. The default text can also be defined in the service basket settings (Use only service basket default text) or use the default texts added behind the customer (Use only customer default text). If the customer card does not have a default text, the company's standard text is used.

It is also possible to use both the service basket and customer default text (Combine service basket default text and customer default text). With the "No default text" selection, no default text is generated for invoices, and the fields remain empty. 

%lastmonth and %nextmonth commands are used together with %monthname, %date, %duedate, and %deliverydate. For example, if billing June and using %monthname %lastmonth in the line description, the line description will print May written out.

External order number: The set order number appears on the generated invoice in the "External order number" field. The length can be 0-70 characters. The information is sent in the e-invoice message in the OrderIdentifier field. It appears on the PDF form under the delivery address in the Order number section. 

If this external order number is given in customer-specific product billing in the external order number field, then this information appears on the sales invoice line in the external order number section per the specific invoice line. In this case, it does not appear on the invoice PDF printout but is sent in the e-invoice message in the 

<RowIdentifier>Here is the number series</RowIdentifier>

Automatically record partial payments on the invoice: If selected, partial payments received on the invoice are automatically recorded on the invoice. This setting overrides the selection in the sales basic information and must be set separately for each service basket.

Note, delivery condition and delivery method come directly according to the settings defined behind the customer (Default delivery condition and default payment method).

On the right side of the basic information is the Billing period preview, where you can check the dates of the billing periods to be generated in the service basket. The arrow button shows the next billing period.

Service basket management

Once a new service basket is saved, you move to service basket management. At the top of the view are four tabs, each with its own functions.

Product and customer billing (see image above, section 1)
This is the service basket summary page. To bill with the service basket, both products and customers must be added ("Add product" and "Add customer"). The service basket is essentially a bundle of parameters that guide billing. Products and customers are added to the basket as needed. The basket itself has a certain validity period (billing periods), but products and customers can also be defined for the time they become part of the service basket and the time they are removed from the basket. In the view, selected products are billed to those customers whose service basket validity period is active.
Note! If the service basket billing period is, for example, a month, and the billing run is only at the end of the month, all products and customers that have been part of the service basket during the billing period are included in the billing. Even if the customer's service basket "membership" ends on 3.6.2023, with the billing period being 6/2023, the customer is included in the billing run on 30.6.2023. The same applies to products.

Note! If active customers are added to a previously billed period while the billing period is still open, invoices are automatically generated for these customers if automatic generation is enabled. Invoices are generated during the next night.

Adding a product to the service basket

This is done via the Add product button.
Product - Retrieved from the product register using the search function. Temporary product (TEMP) cannot be used in contract billing.
Basket product starting - When the product is included in the service basket
Basket product until - When the product is removed from the service basket
Override product base price - A price different from the product's sales price can be set here. Tax-inclusive = Gross price
Quantity - How many units of the selected product are added to the basket
Product line description - Product-specific line description on the invoice

Comment lines can also be added to product lines. This is done from the Service Basket Management view using the Add comment line button. The position of the product and comment line can be changed using the button in front of the line. This allows products and comments to be arranged in the desired order on the generated invoice. 

Product calculation targets in the service basket: If the company uses calculation targets and they are directed behind the product, they can also be used in contract billing. By default, the calculation target is retrieved from behind the product, but it can still be changed to something else here. 

• Invoice line-specific calculation target addition: Calculation targets can be added in the service basket either when adding a new product or later to product lines. When adding a new product, calculation targets can be selected in the Product calculation targets in the service basket section. Later, calculation targets can be added to service basket product lines as follows: select the desired product lines > From the Do for selected product lines menu, "Edit selected lines calculation targets". For invoice line-specific calculation target addition to be possible, in the sales basic information (Sales > Basic information and settings > Sales basic information), the Sales invoice default calculation targets section must be selected as "Invoice line-specific". Additionally, in the calculation target management (Financial management > Calculation target management), in the calculation target header information edit view, the Default target must be selected as "Product information", so that the calculation target can be selected for the invoice line.

Adding a customer to the service basket

Customer - Retrieved from the customer register using the search function
Contact person - Customer's contact person, retrieved from the saved contact persons of the selected customer
Location - Customer's location, retrieved from the saved locations of the selected customer. The location can also be used to separate multiple different products of the same customer on different invoices.
Basket customer starting - When the customer is included in the service basket
Basket customer until - When the customer is removed from the service basket

After additions, the service basket view looks like this:

Both the product and the customer are now added to the service basket, and billing starts to operate according to the basket settings.
Product and customer information can be updated with basket mass actions found in the Do for selected menu:

If you want to add multiple customers at once to the service basket, this can be done in the service basket via the "Customer search" link. In the customer listing view, search for the desired customers. Once the customers are retrieved, select them by checking the checkbox in front of the customer's name. At the bottom of the page, the "Customer listing actions" menu is activated, and from there, select "Add selected to contract billing service basket". In the window that opens, select at least the mandatory fields: service basket and from when the customers are in the service basket.
You can also choose until when the customers belong to the selected service basket.

Customer-specific product billing

Customer-specific product billing allows for billing a desired product only to a selected customer. The function can be initiated from the "Add product" button:

In this view, select the customer, customer's contact person, and product, and define other parameters as previously.

A use case for this function could be, for example, the following:

1. A football team is established as a customer
2. Each player is added to the customer card as a contact person
3. A service basket is established for billing jerseys
4. Each contact person is added to the service basket, and the service basket product is selected for them
5. In the billing run, one invoice is generated for the team, detailing each player and their purchased product
   

Generating invoices

If automatic data generation is not defined in the service basket settings, billing can be manually initiated from this view. If the invoice mass is large and does not fully generate immediately, the process is completed the next night. 

If necessary, the data can also be manually billed. In the view, you can still edit the text before and after invoice lines and our reference and your reference information. 

Select until when you want invoices to be generated and press the generate until selected period button. 

The Deleted data link shows if any invoices/orders have been deleted.

Invoice generation is successful for the current period or periods that are in the future. Invoices cannot be generated for past periods through the manual Invoice Generation view of contract billing. If the service basket and its customers and products are set to start from the past and automatic data generation is enabled without active VAT locking, invoices will be automatically generated for past periods as well. 

If the basket has multiple different products for the same customer or the same customer is in both product and customer-specific billing, only one invoice is generated for the customer, including all the customer's products. The location can be used to generate separate invoices for different products of the same customer if desired. In this case, the customer card must have two different locations, and these locations are selected in the service basket when adding the product.

Can new contract billing service baskets be created directly from the sales invoice?

Contract billing service baskets are created in Sales > Billing > Contract Billing. Service baskets cannot be created from the invoice, as recurring invoice templates could previously be created.

When multiple customers are on the same billing period but different products are billed: Does the customer need to be on the Customer and Product Billing tab and Customer-specific Product Billing?

When using customer-specific product billing, nothing needs to be on the Customer and Product Billing tab. It is sufficient that the information is on the Customer-specific Product Billing tab.

When does the automatic background service of contract billing generate invoices?

Generation occurs on the day it is scheduled between 22:00 - 5:00. For example, if the invoice generation date is 31.1.2022, invoices are generated between 30.1.2022 at 22:00 and 31.1.2020 at 5:00.

Do price groups work in contract billing?

Yes, they do. If a price group is given behind the product with a desired multiplier or specified final price, and the same price group is behind the contract billing customer, the invoice price is formed based on this. It overrides the price entered in contract billing. It works the same way regardless of whether product and customer billing or customer-specific product billing is used.

Can large invoice masses be generated at once through the service basket?

For generating larger invoice masses, it is advisable to enable automatic invoice generation (in the Service Basket settings, "Automatically create data on the creation date"). Manually generating larger invoice masses (200+) may cause a timeout, leaving some invoices ungenerated. If this happens, you can generate invoices by enabling automatic generation and waiting overnight; automatic generation will generate invoices the next night.

Why haven't contract invoices been generated at the fiscal year change?

The automatic generation of contract billing always checks whether the billing period exists on the current fiscal year. Therefore, check if the fiscal year has been created. After creating the fiscal year, invoices can be regenerated from the Deleted data section of the service basket.

Keywords: service basket, contract billing, service basket creation

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