This guide covers contractual invoicing and its service baskets. You will learn how to add products and customers to a service basket and how to generate invoices. The guide includes step-by-step instructions for creating, managing, and invoicing 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

 

Contractual invoicing allows for comprehensive management of recurring billing. With contractual invoicing, 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 contractual invoicing. 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 contractual invoicing. If the service basket and its customers and products are set to start from the past and automatic material 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: In the view, service baskets are shown based on the selected status. Active service baskets are in the active status. If the billing for the service basket has already expired, the service basket is in the ended status. Service baskets in the waiting status have not yet started billing.

Contains product: The view shows those service baskets in which the selected product has been used.

Contains customer: The view shows those service baskets in which the selected customer has been used. 

Assigned to seller: The view shows those service baskets in which the selected seller has been used.

Invoice currency: The view shows invoices in the selected currency.

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

New service basket

You can open the view or perform the function by selecting Sales > Invoicing > Contractual invoicing and then selecting the contractual invoicing view.

Create a new service basket as follows:

1. Press the "Create new service basket" button.

Fill in the basic data of the service basket as follows:

1. Name: Enter a descriptive name for the service basket.
2. Billing periods starting: Select 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.
3. Billing periods until: Select the end date of the billing period or specify that the service basket is valid until further notice.
4. Billing period interval: Select the billing period interval as x days, weeks, months, or years.
5. Invoice currency: Select the invoice currency.

Invoice value date: The value date is the date from which the invoice payment term due date is calculated. If the invoice payment term is calculated from the invoice date, leave the field empty. 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. If a value date is given in the basket settings, the text on the generated invoice will read at the end of the invoice page: "The invoice due date is calculated according to the value date. The invoice value date is (calculated day according to settings)".
Invoice due date: A due date can be manually set for the desired day if you do not use an existing payment term. 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: The data date defines when the material is generated

Select the calculation method for the data date as follows:

• First day of the billing period: The data date is the day set as the Billing periods starting date. If billing takes place, for example, monthly, the data date is always the same day for the following months. 
• Last day of the billing period: If billing is, for example, monthly from the beginning of the month, the data date is always the last day of that 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, the data date is always the last day of the starting month. If billing is from the beginning to the end of the month, the selections Last day of the billing period and Last day of the first month of the billing period produce the same data date. 

Show billing period on the invoice: This setting defines whether the billing period is shown 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. If the contractual invoicing settings have selected "Use only customer's default text" in the Default text before lines section, only the text behind the customer is displayed, and the billing period is not shown. The billing period 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: This setting defines that the system creates invoices according to the data date setting defined above. Automatic creation is recommended for large invoice masses.

Data creation date: This setting is available only if automatic material generation is active. Here you define how many days before the data date the system generates invoices in the Accounts receivable.

Use creation date as invoice date: This setting is available only if materials are set to be generated automatically. If the data date is defined as the last day of the billing period and this is set, for example, 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: The type of material to be generated can be Offer, Order, or Invoice.

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

Payment term: The payment term for the generated materials, 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, the system uses it when this selection is active.
Month delivery day: The delivery date is the day on which the delivery takes place. 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 following month.

Seller: An existing active seller can be selected for the invoice.
Our reference: "Our reference" on the invoice.
Your reference: "Customer's reference" on the invoice. The service basket setting overrides any default your reference field value behind the customer.
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 be defined in the service basket settings (Use only service basket default text) or you can 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.

You can use both the service basket and customer default text by selecting "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, for example, %monthname, %date, %duedate, and %deliverydate. For example, if you are billing June and use the text "%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 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 data 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 data, you can see 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 has been saved, the system moves 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) 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 a bundle of parameters that guide billing. Products and customers are added to the basket as needed. The service basket has a certain validity period (billing periods), and products and customers can also be defined for the time they belong to 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 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. If the customer's service basket "membership" ends on 3.6.2023 and the billing period is 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

Add a product to the service basket as follows:

1. On the Product and customer billing tab in Service basket management, press the Add product button.

Fill in the product data as follows:

1. Product – Retrieve the product from the product register using the search function. Temporary product (TEMP) cannot be used in contractual invoicing.
2. Basket product starting – Select the date from which the product belongs to the service basket.
3. Basket product until – Select the date when the product is removed from the service basket.
4. Override product base price – Enter a price that differs from the product's sales price, if necessary. Tax-inclusive means gross price.
5. Quantity – Enter how many units of the selected product are added to the service basket.
6. Product line description – Enter the product-specific line description that will appear on the invoice.

Comment lines can also be added to product lines. Add a comment line as follows:

1. In the Service basket management view, press the Add comment line button.
2. Edit the text of the comment line.
3. Change the position of the product and comment line using the button in front of the line so that products and comments appear in the desired order on the generated invoice.

Product cost objects in the service basket: If the company uses cost objects and they are directed behind the product, the same cost objects can be used in contractual invoicing. By default, the cost object is retrieved from behind the product, but you can change the cost object here.

• Invoice line-specific cost object addition: Cost objects can be added in the service basket either when adding a new product or later to product lines.
  1. Add a new product and select cost objects in the Product cost objects in the service basket section, or
  2. Select the desired lines from the service basket product lines and select the Do for selected product lines menu function Edit selected lines cost objects.

  For invoice line-specific cost object addition to be possible, in the sales basic data (Sales > Basic data and settings > Sales basic data), the Sales invoice default cost objects section must be selected as "Invoice line-specific". In addition, in cost object management (Financial management > Cost object management), in the Edit view of the cost object header data, the Default object must be selected as "Product data", so that the cost object can be selected for the invoice line.

Adding a customer to the service basket

Add a customer to the service basket as follows:

1. On the Product and customer billing tab in Service basket management, press the Add customer button.
2. Retrieve the customer from the customer register using the search function in the Customer field.
3. Select the customer's contact person in the Contact person field from the customer's saved contact persons.
4. Select the customer's place of business in the Place of business field from the customer's saved places of business. The place of business can be used to separate multiple different products of the same customer on different invoices.
5. In the Basket customer starting field, select the date from which the customer belongs to the service basket.
6. In the Basket customer until field, select the date 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 operates according to the basket settings.
Product and customer data can be updated with basket mass actions, which are found in the Do for selected menu:

If you want to add multiple customers at once to the service basket, proceed as follows:

1. Open the service basket and select the "Customer search" link.
2. In the Customer listing view, search for the desired customers using the search function.
3. Select customers by checking the checkbox in front of the customer's name.
4. Go to the bottom of the page and open the "Customer listing actions" menu.
5. Select the action "Add selected to contractual invoicing service basket".
6. In the window that opens, select at least the mandatory fields: service basket and the date from which the customers are in the service basket.
7. If necessary, also select the date until which 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 is initiated from the "Add product" button on the Customer-specific product billing tab.

In the customer-specific product billing view, you select the customer, customer's contact person, and product, and define the other parameters in the same way as in Product and customer billing.

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 material generation is not defined in the service basket settings, you can start billing manually from the Generating invoices tab.

1. On the Generating invoices tab, select up to which period you want invoices to be generated.
2. If necessary, edit the fields Text before invoice lines, Text after invoice lines, Our reference, and Your reference.
3. Press the generate until selected period button.

If the invoice mass is large and does not fully generate immediately, the process is completed the next night. The material can, if necessary, also be billed manually later.

The Deleted data link shows if any invoices or 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 contractual invoicing. If the service basket and its customers and products are set to start from the past and automatic material 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 billing and Customer-specific product billing, only one invoice is generated for the customer, including all the customer's products. The place of business can be used to generate separate invoices for different products of the same customer. In this case, the customer card must have two different places of business, and these places of business are selected in the service basket when adding the product.

Can new contractual invoicing service baskets be created directly from the sales invoice?

Contractual invoicing service baskets are created in Sales > Invoicing > Contractual invoicing. 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 Product and customer billing tab and Customer-specific product billing?

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

When does the automatic background service of contractual invoicing 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 31.1.2022 at 5:00.

Do price groups work in contractual invoicing?

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 contractual invoicing customer, the invoice price is formed based on this. The price group overrides the price entered in contractual invoicing. 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 have contract invoices not been generated at the fiscal year change?

The automatic generation of contractual invoicing 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.

Place of business-specific billing, how would this be possible?

If the same customer has multiple places of business, place of business-specific billing can be done through customer-specific product billing. In this case, the customer can be given per place of business and the desired product linked to it. The product is then added to the same invoice per place of business. Each place of business generates its own invoice, and these invoices cannot be combined. Billing the same customer at different places of business cannot be done through the Product and customer billing section.

Keywords: service basket, contractual invoicing, service basket creation

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