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Statements vs. Invoices

8K views 27 replies 16 participants last post by  JFGLN 
#1 ·
I've always sent out invoices to customers. Wasn't until I was looking at my loan statement that it hit me to send out statements to customers.

Curious to see who uses statements and who uses invoices. What are the benefits of each? Thanks.
 
#5 ·
I used to use statements but it got confusing to some people. Now invoice everything. One at the end of each month - it says the account balance, and if it's a higher amount, then they must have not paid their prior one. Plus our current software invoices everything.
 
#6 ·
I use Quickbooks; kinda new to it that's why I was asking. Like I said I also send out invoices. I found out today that I could go in & customize the invoices. So I chose to have an "Account Summary" on the Invoice. So it's basically like a statement in an invoice. It shows the transactions they've paid and what not. Also, do you guys ever send out or use sales receipts? I saw this option and figured and invoice was basically the same thing.
 
#9 ·
You do not have to pay "statements".
Invoices you have to pay.
Anybody getting my drift between the two documents?
(Clue) As in look at all your bills you pay every month.
Statements = what they have paid, etc.

Invoices = what they owe

Most commercial accounts will not pay from a statement, they have to have an invoice.
 
#11 ·
I use QuickBooks, and send out Invoices at the end of every month. Only when there is a question about payments, or some need of having a back history, do I use a Statement. A Statement is always used as a secondary document. The Invoice is the primary one on which the customer pays against.
 
#15 ·
For those of you who use invoice, how do you invoice a month of lawn care for instance? Do you invoice each cut or just sum it up as 5 cuts.

I been using statements for the last two year for my weekly lawn care and snow plowing because it list the dates we provided the service. This method makes sense but some people can't follow it.
 
#16 ·
For those of you who use invoice, how do you invoice a month of lawn care for instance? Do you invoice each cut or just sum it up as 5 cuts.

I been using statements for the last two year for my weekly lawn care and snow plowing because it list the dates we provided the service. This method makes sense but some people can't follow it.
You can just enter the service dates on the invoices as well, the only time we send a statement is for overdue invoices.
 
#18 ·
I "invoice" off of statement charges. I switched the wording on top of my statements to read invoices. When I do monthly billing I click include all open transactions as of statement date. It will list all unpaid services. I'm sure there may be an easier way, but when I started using QB 4 or 5 years ago, I couldn't get a clear answer as to how I could enter multiple transactions for a single customer over the course of the month, so I did it this way and has worked great for me.
 
#19 ·
I've used the Invoice method of QB for many years. I bill monthly for all work done during the month. The Invoice includes a visit-by-visit, item-by-item, accounting for what is owed for products and/or services for the month.

On the first transaction of the month (e.g. first grass cutting), I open an Invoice for that customer. I make an entry for that transaction (e.g. 4/1/2014 Grass cutting .... 40.00). I close the Invoice. I do this for each customer. On the second transaction, I open the same Invoice, and add one more line item to the work description (e.g. 4/8/2014 Grass cutting .... 40.00). I continue this for each visit for the month.

After the last visit is made for the month, I print/send the Invoice, and change the status from Final to Pending. What the customer sees is one invoice, with a line itemization of each charge for the month. When I get payment, the status is changed from Pending to Final, and the payment is recorded as Payment Received.

This works well for me.

I only use a Statement if a customer needs a more complete history of multiple invoices. Each Invoice is listed, along with the line items on that invoice. Also, each payment that has been received is listed. I only do this if there is a question about past invoices and/or payments. For me, this is a problem because the Statement will list the Item. In my case, I have customer set as a sub-Item, that includes the fixed charge. It looks like mowcust1, mowcust2, etc. It does not include "Grass cutting," for example, rather the sub-item name. For me, that is fine, but it needs explanation of a customer will see it.
 
#20 ·
do you guys with quickbooks not set up recurring transactions for each weekly mowing customer? This auto generates a charge once a week or biweekly as you select, and then you just have to edit the unbilled charges at the end of the month before creating invoices to correct any skips and add extra work etc. no need to enter in every lawn every day/week
 
#22 ·
MowMony: Doesn't that create multiple invoices per customer?

We've been using "Batch Invoicing" to initially create our invoices at month-end and then adjust each one as necessary (rate and dates). It would be nice if QB picked up each customers "custom" pricing.
no, each recurring transaction simply creates a charge for each service you set it to charge for, on each specified date of the week. example, you set up a recurring charge for Mrs. Jones for every thursday, @ $45 for each weekly lawn service. At the end of the month, under unbilled charges summary, she will have a charge for $45, for every thursday listed in order by date, and it will show the total she has in unbilled charges (lets say 4 cuts, for $180 total). You then only have to edit this list of unbilled charges, to make corrections for skips, extra work etc. Unbilled charges summary will show all of the charges that have yet to be invoiced, broken down by customer. When you get a new lawn you just set the recurring charge for the customer, or if they cancel you delete them from recurring charges.

When all of the unbilled charges are correct and ready to bill, you then select invoice unbilled charges, and quickbooks will generate an invoice for anyone with an unbilled charge, and it emails the people setup for email and the rest print out.

hope that helps, if you have been manually entering each charge, switching to recurring transactions will save you many hours of time.
 
#25 ·
Thanks!!

That will definitely save time over using "Batch Invoicing" since I can create a recurring transaction for each customer at their specific rate rather than going in and modifying each invoice after batch invoicing is done.
you are welcome!
I'm using premier contractors edition 2013 and can't find anything that says unbilled charges summary
It should be under reports, but may be different from how its setup up on quickbooks online (which is what we use)
 
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