Handling Pro Forma Invoicing within Acctivate.

A company may need to invoice a customer prior to shipping goods. This is commonly referred to as "Pro forma" invoicing. Although Acctivate has no Pro forma invoicing function built in, Acctivate does offer an alternative method of handling this.

Every so often, a company may want to charge for goods or services prior to shipping or providing said goods or services. In accounting, this is referred to as a "Pro forma" invoice. Common uses of these invoices are for manufacturing companies who may want to collect before beginning the assembly or delivery of goods. Although there is no Pro Forma system built into Acctivate, Acctivate does offer some methods of achieving this. 

We can make this process as simple or robust as desired. Acctivate supports custom workflow statuses to indicate production, paid, ready to ship, etc. Acctivate also allows the use of custom fields if needed. You can also ask to have the invoice forms for Pro forma Invoices.

Using Pro Formas in Acctivate

To handle a Pro Forma Invoice, follow the steps below.

1. Configure Acctivate to use the Sales Order Number as the Invoice Number. This insures that the Pro Forma number matches the finalized Invoice Number. 
2. Create a sales order like normal, adding and scheduling products like normal. If this is an order in which Products are not available yet due to Backorder or manufacturing, leave the quantity on Backorder.
   1. (Optional) If this is a sales order that requires assembly products, we can generate a work order directly for this order with the required quantity pre-filled by clicking Create > Assembly Session
3. Print or email the "Order" form to the customer by clicking the Print icon and selecting either "Print Order" or "Email Order." This can be used as a Pro forma Invoice.
   1. If you want the title of the form changed to reflect "Pro Forma Invoice" download this attachment. For directions on adding .acctrpt files, read this. To have other minor changes made, reach out to the support team to help make that change for you. The header changes can replace the sales order form or be an additional form.
      
   2. If you're wanting a fully custom Pro forma Invoice form, we encourage you to reach out to one of our partners to have a form created for you.
4. Create a Payment for this order, by selecting Create > Payment. You can also hit CTRL + Shift + Y to create a payment. 
   
5. The "Enter Payment" window will open, pre-filling the Order number in the memo field as well as the Customer. We can then enter the payment amount for the order in the "Payment Amount Field." For our order, the total is $475, so we'll enter $475 as the "Payment Amount."
   
   1. Important: If the customer is paying by Credit Card or eCheck, be sure to charge the payment here as Acctivate will be unable to charge this later.
6. Click "Save." We'll receive a prompt stating that the overpayment is being left as a credit. Click "OK" to confirm.
7. We can then perform any of the following Optional Order Steps:
   
   1. (Optional) Mark the Order as paid either with the use of a Custom Field, Workflow Status, reference, etc. It's recommended to use a custom workflow over a custom field or reference field. For example, create workflows called "Pmt Pending" as a Not Ready to Pick workflow and "Paid" as a Ready to Pick workflow to determine if an order is paid. Optionally use the standard workflows of Not Ready to Pick and Ready to Pick. 
   2. (Optional) Once Production is completed, the scheduled quantity will update on the order automatically. If this was a normal back ordered order, you can also use Action > Reset Scheduled Quantities to reset the scheduled quantities. 
   3. (Optional) Use mobile to pick the product if needed.
   4. (Optional) Use Packaging Manager to ship products or use a shipping workstation integration to fulfill the shipment of goods.
8. Once our goods are shipped select "Create Invoice" to complete the transaction and reduce inventory. To apply the previous payment to this invoice, click the "Available Credits" button within the Invoice window and check off the credit to apply it.
   
   
9. Verify everything on the Invoice looks good (ensuring to verify our credit was applied.) Once ready, click "Invoice" to complete the order.
   
   
   

Who uses Pro Forma Invoicing?

Pro Formas are business-specific and not all business need or want Pro Forma Invoicing. Please refer to your business practices to determine if the Pro Forma process is needed. Often if any of the following apply, a Pro Forma Invoice may be required. 

• Manufacturing companies that offer Just in Time (JIT) products, meaning the company does not manufacture until demand (an order) is generated. 
• Payment is required prior to the production or delivery of goods.
• Industry standards require a finalized proof of order before shipment. This is different from a Quote or Order confirmation and usually requires the words "Pro Forma" on the form.