Invoicing Process

MyCorbu supports your invoicing process, but DOES NOT create invoices for you. MyCorbu shows you what your invoice might contain and you insert that information into your preferred format for your invoices. 

However, MyCorbu has a downloadable template that you can modify.

Getting to the point of preparing invoices starts with the winning of a new commission and makes use of all the data that you enter about that Project. There are five steps in the process, but most of the steps are things you already do. 

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Step A - Project Setup
The Invoicing Process starts as soon as you win a new project. As you setup this Project in your bookkeeping system, you are documenting information that will be used in invoicing.

First is information about the project
On the Projects page, select “Add Project”. Then create a new Client Organization (if new client); afterwards return to the form and enter:

• Project name (think title block)
• Project ID (Invoice number prefix)
• Project Address  (think title block)
• Project description (optional) 
• Project Type (optional, marketing?)
• Mileage rate selected as appropriate
• Reimbursable markup
• Custom Project Billing Rates (if desired)

Second is information about the Phases
On the Projects page, select “Add Project-Phase”

• Select a standard Project phase name or create a new one
• Give the Phase a ’Sort By’ number so it will appear in the correct order in tables and lists
• Design budget hours allotment
• Design budget amount allotment
• Optionally, repeat this for each Phase that you will have.

 
Third is information about the Fee
On the Bookkeeping page, select “Fees” button. Then select “+Add Fee” button. Add info for each Project-Phase:

• Select the Project-Phase 
• Select the Fee Type (Hourly Rates or Lump Sum)
• Enter the total Fee Amount for this Phase 
• Select whether the fee is an estimate (EST) or fixed (MAX).
• Optionally add a description 

Fourth is information about the client contact person
This is optional, but keeps the information handy for others.
On the Bookkeeping page, select “Tools”. Then select "Manage Contacts", and "Add Contact".

• Contact First Name
• Contact Last Name
• Select Client Organization that Contact is part of
• Contact email / phone
• Select the Project that this Contact is associated with

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Step B - Data Collection Stage
This is the day to day data collection that normally occurs and includes:

• Time Entries
• Mileage Entries
• Reimbursable Expense Entries by individuals
• Reimbursable Expenses Entries by your organization
• Other Project Expenses

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Step C - Project Invoice Template
After a project has been fully documented in your bookkeeping system, the next step is to set up the Invoice Template for the Project. This is done outside of MyCorbu using a word processor and, optionally, a spreadsheet for calculations.

Before you assemble the first invoice for a project, you edit your office master invoice template to suit the project and it’s fee structure. Your template may be highly formatted and colorful or be very simple. You could enter client information into the Contacts feature of MyCorbu or rely on your invoice template for this project’s information. 

These are the pieces of information that you should consider for your Invoice Template. This graphic shows the downloadable Invoice Template mentioned above. 

This Invoice Template example shows the suggested content of an invoice for architectural services. This example is intended to show all types of invoices in one document. Customization is necessary.

Information about your Organization

• Logo
• Name
• Address
• Contact Info

Information about the Client

• Recipient of Invoice
• Client Organization's Name
• Client Address
• Phone / Email Address

Information about this Invoice

• Invoice number
• Invoice date
• Invoice period
• Project Name
• A “For:” statement

Information about Fees and Expenses

• Total Fee by Phase 
• Percent of Fee by Phase that has been earned
• Amount of Fee by Phase that has been earned
• Fee by Phase that has been previously invoiced
• Fee by Phase that is being invoiced now
• Total Amount of Fee that is due

Other information 

• Determination of Fee Amount (e.g. Percent of Construction Cost)
• Breakdown of fee amounts
• Terms

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Step D - Retrieving Data For An Invoice
Because Fee information is tracked by Project-Phase, Invoices are also documented by each Project-Phase.

Preparing an Invoice from your data in MyCorbu is done by going to the Bookkeeping page and selecting the INCOME button “Add Invoice Line Items”. Then select the Project from the table for which you want to create invoice line items (fee due per Project-Phase). 

Next a page opens which shows an invoice-oriented view of the Project’s Fees.

The fee for each Project-Phase is shown with the calculated percent complete (Calculated %), which is based on the total hours that staff have entered and the budget that you have set for the Project-Phase. This is a reference for how much of the design budget has been spent. Time entries since the end of the invoice period are INCLUDED, so take that into consideration.

Next is the last reported percent complete (Reported %). This represents your value judgement. Click in the cell to update the Reported %. This percent determines the "Earned JTD" amount. The Earned JTD represents the total amount of the fee earned so far through this invoice period. 

The Invoiced JTD is an equation that sums all previous invoice line items created for this Project-Phase. By tracking all invoices in MyCorbu you will have this information available and up to date.

The final column shows the Fee Due based primarily on the percentage that you entered in Reported %. However it also assumes that all the previous invoices have been entered.

Below the Fees Table is the form for adding an Invoice line item. You should be able to keep the Fees table in view while you complete a form for each Project-Phase. Create line items for only the Project-Phases that show a positive amount due (skip any Project-Phase with a Fee Due = $0.00). 

In the Invoice Form:

• Select the Project-Phase that this invoice line item represents.
• Add the INV NO (Invoice Number). This is important because all line items with the same INV NO are grouped together and refer to the invoice that you will prepare and send.
• Add the Invoice Amount for this Project-Phase. This does not have to be equal to the Fee Due amount in the Fee Table if there are extenuating circumstances.
• Select the Invoice Date. This might be the day after the invoice period ends, but whatever you use is strictly internal.
• Enter a Due Date. This will be used to calculate how many days past due the invoice is until it is paid.
• Select the Category that you set up to represent this type of transaction. 
• Add a Description if desired.

Invoices often show more than just the amounts of the Project-Phase Fees that are due.

Below the Add INVOICE Line Item form are three additional tables that you might need to prepare an invoice.

Time Entries 
If it is your practice to include a breakdown of time spent on a project, you can filter the Time Entries table to get each time entry per date and Project-Phase with the amount to be invoiced. There are subtotals too.

Mileage 
The Mileage table shows all entries that staff have entered for mileage reimbursement. By entering the same INV NO on each mileage line item that you used for Fees above these Mileage entries will be grouped together in the Receivables report with the fees. This gives you an ‘abstract’ of what the invoice contains.

Reimbursable Expenses
Similar to Mileage the Reimbursable Expenses table shows all the expenses that you may want to include in your invoice. Add the INV NO to each item that you plan to include.

You may find that this process of retrieving invoice data lends itself to completing the actual invoice document simultaneously. But if you prefer to see all the decisions that you have made summarized, then the next step is to go to the Receivables report found by going to the Bookkeeping page > Receivables button.

In the Receivables table you will find all the items for each invoice grouped by Invoice Number and by Type of Transaction. This should make it easy to transcribe the line items (or summarized data) of an invoice into your Invoice Template. 

It is critical that Invoices have unique Invoice Numbers*.

Using the Receivables table makes it easy to show which line items have been included in the Invoice that you are preparing by marking them 'Invoiced? = Yes" as you add them.

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Step E - Monitoring An Invoice
When an Invoice is paid, return to the Receivables table and click in the "Paid?” cell to change the status to ‘Yes’.

This will remove the Receivables line item from the table and set the 'settled date' for the transaction. The 'Aging' calculation for the line item is stopped.
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This distinction between paid and unpaid will make a difference when preparing tax reports.

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*The recommended invoice numbering scheme is to use a combination of a ‘Project ID’ and date-based number. For example, MHA-1911, which would stand for the Meyer House Addition invoice for work during November of 2019. This scheme makes it easy to know what the current invoice number should be. It also conveys more information than a sequential number when viewed months later. Consider using this system in MyCorbu even if you use something else on the official invoice.