Creating Invoices, Purchase Invoices & Orders

Invoices, purchase invoices and orders are all created with the same underlying system - albeit with slightly different options and processes. Note, Orders may be referred to as Offers, Proposals or Sales Orders depending on your Business -> Payments & Invoicing settings.

To begin creating an invoice simply navigate to the Sales -> Invoices section and select the Create Invoice button.

To begin creating a purchase invoice simply navigate to the Sales -> Purchase Invoices section and select the Create Purchase Invoice button.

To begin creating an order simply navigate to the Sales -> Orders section and select the Create Order button.

Next, follow the process to search for or add a new customer contact record, once added you may optionally add a different delivery address if required.

If you are selling a vehicle please follow our Selling A Vehicle documentation. Vehicles can not be added to invoices, you must create an invoice for a vehicle - starting from the vehicle's Sell Vehicle section.

If you're looking to sell multiple vehicles to the same customer at once you can use the Batch Invoice tool. Note, the individual invoices created by the batch invoice process can be edited individually after they've been created.

Vehicle, Products, Adjustments & Discounts

Once you've added a contact to your invoice you can then begin building the invoice by adding any additional products. Adjustments and discounts can also be added as required. Any products added via the Sales -> Products section will be available to quickly add using the Add Product search tool, or individual products can be added using the Add One-Off Product method.

Part Exchanges

Part exchanges can be added by entering the vehicle registration (or VIN in non-VRM countries) and selecting the search button, the vehicle details will then be retrieved - then simply enter the mileage and price. If Create Purchase Invoice is enabled a purchase invoice will be created for the part exchange when the invoice is issued. If Add to Vehicles is enabled the vehicle will be added into stock when the invoice is marked as paid, note you can add it before this by going to the Mark as Paid section and selecting the Add Vehicles Now option - this is particularly useful for Sale or Return (SOR) vehicles.

VAT/TAX & Accounting Codes

Accounting code and VAT/TAX rates can be adjusted depending on your accounting set-up - for example accounting codes are only supported when you have connected accounting software.

Finance

If the customer is using finance select the Finance link to expand the finance options. Three methods of adding finance are provided depending on how the finance provider would like to be invoiced.

Option 1. Invoice Customer Only
If the finance provider is happy to accept the customer's invoice simply enter the Finance Amount and select/add a Finance Provider contact. The invoice will then be generated for the customer, with the finance amount and provider listed.

Option 2. Invoice Finance Provider Only (not recommended)
You may choose to invoice the finance provider and not the customer, in this case the customer at the top of the Create Invoice form would be set as the finance provider. You may then enter the Customer Deposit and Due From/Paid By name to list the customer and their deposit payment on the invoice.

Option 3. Invoice Both (recommended)
The recommended approach is to follow the instructions for Option 1, but enable the Generate Finance Provider option. In this case you will invoice the customer as per option 1, but when you issue the invoice a second Finance Provider Invoice will be generated - essentially this is like you've completed both option 1 and option 2 simultaneously. Note when you do this both invoices will link to each other at the bottom of the View Invoice section. To complete the sale you only need to mark the customer invoice as paid, the finance provider invoice can be handled separately and marked as paid at a later date as you require.

Documents

The documents option can be used to upload and attach any documents you wish to the invoice. If using the electronic invoice method then these documents will be available for the customer to download.

Options

The Options section provides a range of additional fields including the default accounting codes and invoice dates. Invoice notes can be added, and the default terms and conditions can be adjusted. Note, default terms and conditions are set in the Business -> Payments & Invoicing section.

If electronic signatures are enabled then a signature can be added once the invoice is issued. Using the Invoice Options menu shown to the top right of the invoice simply select the 'eSign' option to collect a signature on your device, alternatively you can select the 'Email eSign' option to email the request to the customer, or you can select the 'Share eSign' option to retrieve the invoice URL and QR code.

If you have set-up a card payment provider then the Allow Credit/Debit Card Payment option can be enabled accordingly to show this payment option on your electronic invoice page.

Issue Invoice

Issuing an invoice confirms it is correct and enables you to proceed with sharing the invoice, and marking it as paid. By default the invoice will be created in the connected accounting software when it is issued, rather than when it is first created.

When an invoice is issued the associated purchase invoice and finance provider invoice will be generated. Note, once an invoice is issued some options can not be changed - including the Generate Finance Provider Invoice option.

Mark as Paid

If you have set-up payment methods then customers may pay their invoices via the electronic invoice. Alternatively you can go to the Mark as Paid section to record the customer payments.

Part Payment or Deposit
To record a part payment or deposit simply enter the date, amount and method, and then select the Save option. This will save the changes without marking the invoice as paid and the invoice will then update to show the part-payments and balance to pay.

Mark as Paid
Once all payments have been received select the Mark as Paid option, at this point the vehicle will be marked as sold and will be automatically removed from the sales channels.

Sales Orders

Orders (optionally called offers, proposals or sales orders) are the same as invoices but without creating the legal sales invoice. Once issued orders can then be converted into invoices - this enables you to create a sales document for the customer to agree to a deal (with optional electronic signature) before creating the sales invoice, this is particularly useful if you use accrual accounting and don't expect to receive payment immediately.

The process for creating an order is the same as for an invoice, but rather than marking it as paid you will convert it to an invoice which will then be marked as paid.

Creating Purchase Invoices

Purchase Invoices can be created in the Sales -> Purchases section. You'll see a button labeled Create Purchase which will first prompt you to add the contact who is your supplier. You can add products or vehicles to this purchase invoice under their respective drop-down sections in exactly the same way as you do for invoices.

VAT Calculator

Next to price inputs throughout MotorDesk you'll find a calculator icon on the right hand side of the input, when selected the price input will be automatically updated to deduct the VAT, therefore reversing the VAT caluclation. For example, if you were to enter £120 with 20% VAT selected, when you select the calculator icon the price would be updated to £100 to remove the 20% VAT.