Proforma invoices

Pro-forma Invoice is an abridged or estimated invoice sent by a seller to a buyer in advance for the delivery of services/goods. It notes the kind and quantity of services/goods, their value, and other important information. Proforma invoices are commonly used as preliminary invoices with a quotation, or for customs purposes in importation. They differ from a normal invoice in not being a demand or request for payment.

In our billing system, a Proforma Invoice can be used as a request for payment in advance. For example, it can be created 1 month before the occurring payment, so you will see if the customer is able to pay the Proforma Invoice. When a proforma invoice is created, the customer’s balance will not be changed. The main reason for this billing approach is to prevent the payment of VAT tax for non-paying customers. If the customer pays the amount specified in the Proforma Invoice PDF, the company can issue a tax Invoice.

An example of this document is shown in the picture below:

All issued Proforma invoices in the system can be found in Finance → Proforma Invoices. It is possible to range them by a particular period of time or partner. You can also access a specific customer's proforma invoices, navigate to Customers / List / Select customer / Billing / Proforma Invoices:

You can also filter proforma invoices in finance to view specific data by its number, period, status or partner.

Let's consider the proforma invoice statuses in details:

Status	Description
	the invoice has been created, but the customer has not made any payments towards the balance
	the proforma invoice has not been paid and is not yet past due but payment is sent for processing. Once the invoice payment is processed successfully, the proforma invoice will be updated to either a Paid or Unpaid status.
	a payment has been successfully collected

Changes can be made to all proforma invoice with the icons in the "Actions" column.

• To be able to view proforma invoices in PDF format with the view icon , it is necessary to configure an invoice template first in Config → System → Templates and define the template to use in Config → System → Company information. More information about Invoice template configurations can be found here - Templates, Invoices.

• You can also set up proforma invoice global settings for all customers in Config → Finance → Settings.

To edit the proforma invoice with the edit icon , click on the tab Billing → Proforma Invoices.

It is possible to send the proforma invoice via email with (if the email server is configured). You can write a message body or choose it from templates and load it.

You can also write here a message body and save it as a template.

To print or export the list of proforma invoices for accounting purposes, click on Finance → Invoices and click on Export. You can select here Period of time, Partner, Location, Customer payment type (cash, bank transfer, PayPal, Credit card, refill card, etc.), Status (paid\ unpaid), Export type (CSV, PDF file inactive, one PDF file, etc.). You can also check an export history here.

It is possible to enable auto-creating of proforma invoices in Customer's Billing → Billing overview choose the particular day, month and type. Automation for creating proforma invoices is also possible, navigate to Customer's Billing → Billing overview and simply enabled the toggle and complete the parameters for generating.

Parameter descriptions

• Day of generating Auto Proforma Invoices- the day to generate proforma invoices
• Period - the period to charge customers for on the invoice
• Create Proforma Invoice for - which month to charge the customer for
• Next Proforma - when to generate the next proforma invoice

There is also the possibility to create Proforma Invoices manually by clicking on Add Proforma Invoice in Customer's Billing → Proforma Invoices.