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Invoice Formats

This chapter contains the following topics:

Introduction to Invoice Formats

Printing a Location Grid

Printing a Layout Worksheet

Entering Invoice Formats

General Appearance

Header Area

Line Item and Payments Area

Totals Area

Verifying the Format

Printing a Sample Invoice

Printing Format Specifications

Copying Invoice Formats

Deleting Invoice Formats

Introduction to Invoice Formats

The Invoice Formats selection enables you to tailor the Passport Business Solutions Accounts Receivable module to work with your invoice forms.

You do not have to change to an unfamiliar or undesirable invoice form in order to use this module, but can configure A/R to print on your current invoice form or nearly any other invoice form you wish.

If you do not use an invoice form, but simply use your blank letterhead, you can tailor A/R to use this also. In Windows or Thin client, you can also merge a graphical file with the file data that contains the lines, logo, different colors, header names and so on.

You can even arrange it so that you can print the same invoice in two or more different formats, to be used for different purposes for instance, one format to send to the customer and another format to use internally.

An invoice format is sometimes referred to as a layout. It is also sometimes called a specification.

The following lists some of the definitions that are used in the invoice tailoring process.

Field location grid

The Field # location grid is a set of vertical and horizontal lines of numbers which you can print on your preprinted invoice form or graphic image file to aid in positioning information so that it matches up horizontally and vertically with the titles and lines already on the form.

Invoice layout worksheet

The invoice layout worksheet is a set of numbered vertical and horizontal lines which you can print on a blank sheet of paper to create your invoice from scratch.

Line or row

Line or row refers to the cells arranged horizontally in a table.

Column

Column refers to the cells arranged vertically in a table.

Location

Location refers to the row and column of the printed information on the page.

Format design kit

Format design kit refers to the appendix Invoice Format Design Kit, which provides the step-by-step procedure to set up a new invoice format.

Basic Invoice Format

The invoice format consists of three areas:

Header

The Header area is the first part of the invoice and includes information pertaining to the overall invoice: i.e., customer’s name and address, invoice date, invoice number, your company’s name and address, etc.

Line item and Payment

The Line item area is the middle part of the invoice and includes information on all the line items (goods and services) you are billing the customer for: descriptions, quantities, prices, etc. It can also include notes giving additional information about the goods and services.

The line item area also shares the payments if you are using multi-payments. You may assign payment fields to the invoice format. They print are AFTER the last line, service item or note. If there is more than one payment, then the print one after another. In order to print payment information you must be licensed for multi-payments. See the PBS Multi-payment Setup appendix for more information.

Totals

The Totals area is the last part of the invoice and includes the total amount of the invoice, over-all discounts, taxes, miscellaneous charges, etc.

Maximum Number of Locations

In the header area, the maximum number of locations in which you can print fields or text is 100 (including the copies of any of the available header fields printed in up to 4 different locations).

In the line item area, the maximum number of locations in which you can print fields or text is 80.

In the totals area, the maximum number is 80.

Creating an Invoice

The A/R module comes with a number of predefined invoice formats. If one of these is close to the one you want, just make a copy of it and then make changes to the copy. Refer to the Invoice Format Design Kit appendix for guides to modifying invoice formats and for designing invoice formats from scratch.

Passport recommends that you first become familiar with printing invoices in the predefined formats furnished with this module before designing your own.

The remaining parts of this chapter describe the A/R functions you run in accordance with the checklists in the Invoice Format Design Kit appendix.

If you are ready to add a format now, refer to the appropriate checklist in the Invoice Format Design Kit. The checklist will refer you to the parts of this chapter you need to perform the steps for adding formats.

Printing a Location Grid

The field location grid is a tool you can use to plan your invoice form when you are using a preprinted invoice form or graphic image file. Print this grid on your invoice form, to see the exact rows and columns of every piece of invoice information on the pre-printed form or file. You will then be able to specify the exact row and column for each piece of information when you create your invoice format.

This grid may also be useful to plan the layout of forms that you design, so you can avoid overlapping fields, a confusing layout, and when using Windows printer or a PDF printer and when merging with a graphical form file.

Select

Location grid from the Invoice formats menu.

The following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

1. # of rows on the form (top to bottom)

Enter the number of rows to appear on the grid.

The number you enter corresponds to the number of rows on your invoice form.

2. # of print columns (left to right)

Enter the number of columns to appear across the page on the grid.

Options 

The maximum number of columns you can specify is 132.

3. Graphic image file name ?

Enter the name of the file that will merge with the invoice data. This JPEG or Bitmap file must be present in the top-level PBS directory - IMAGES.

See the Form File Use and Design section in the More on PBS Printing chapter In the PBS Administration documentation to learn more about modifying the PBS graphical file examples or creating your own from scratch.

You may use the option:

The file must be present in the IMAGES directory and must be spelled exactly as the file name with the proper extension included. If running in Linux or UNIX Thin client, the file name must be entered with the same (UPPER or lower) case and do NOT use a period as part of the file name.

If you want a graphical image file to print on the page, then you must select Windows printer or a Company information PDF printer when you print the grid. In regards to Company information printers, only PDF printers will merge the image file with the data.

When using Windows printer merging with a graphical image is only available when running on Windows or Thin client. Merging with a graphical image when using a Company information PDF printer will work on all operating systems that PBS supports.

Field number to change ?

Make any needed changes, then press <Enter>. The following message is displayed:

Make sure your form is now in the printer, and that the printer will begin printing at the first print position of the very first line of the form.

Type "DONE" when ready.

The printer should always be ready to print in location 1,1 (that is, row 1, column 1).

Type DONE and the location grid will print. A sample location grid appears at the end of this chapter.

After the grid is printed, you are asked whether you want to print it again. If you answer Y, the grid is printed a second time. If you answer N, the following message is displayed:

If you have pre-printed forms mounted on the printer, replace these now with regular paper.

Type “DONE" when ready.

Type DONE and press <Enter>.

Printing a Layout Worksheet

The layout worksheet is a tool to help you lay out your invoice on blank paper, continuous-form company letterhead or when using Windows printer and merging with a form file. Whereas the location grid has rows and columns of numbers, the layout worksheet has rows of dotted lines on which you can fill in invoice information in the way you want it printed.

You can also print the layout worksheet on a preprinted form if you wish.

Select

Layout worksheet from the Invoice formats menu.

The following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

1. # of rows on the form (top to bottom)

Enter the number of rows to appear in the worksheet.

Options 

The number you enter corresponds to the number of rows on your invoice form. If you are using Windows printer, you may have to enter 63, 62 or even less. It depends on what is allowed by your printer model.

2. # of print columns (left to right)

Enter the number of columns to appear across the page on the worksheet.

Options 

The maximum number of columns you can specify is 132. For Windows printer you may have to enter a number less that 80.

3. Graphic image file name ?

This field is only available in Windows and Thin client.

Enter the name of the file that will merge with the invoice worksheet. This JPEG or Bitmap file must be present in the top-level PBS directory - Images.

You may use the option:

The file name must be spelled exactly as the file name with the proper extension included.

If you want a graphical image file to print on the page, then you must select Windows printer when you print the worksheet. The printers defined in company information will not merge the image file with the data.

Merging with a graphical image is only available when using Windows or Thin client.

Field number to change ?

Make any needed changes, then press <Enter>. The following message is displayed:

If you wish to print the worksheet on a pre-printed form, mount your form on the printer now.

Type DONE when ready

The printer should always be ready to print in location 1,1 (row 1, column 1).

Type DONE and the worksheet will print. A sample layout worksheet appears at the end of this chapter.

After the layout worksheet has printed, you are asked whether you want to print it again. If you answer Y, another worksheet will be printed. If you answer N, the following message is displayed:

If you have pre-printed forms mounted on the printer, replace these now with regular paper.

Type “DONE” when ready.

Type DONE and press <Enter>.

Entering Invoice Formats

Select

General appearance from the Invoice formats menu.

A screen appears for you to either assign a number and description to a new invoice format you want to add or to retrieve an existing format. Enter the following information:

1. Format #

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

2. Description

Enter a description of the format. This field is required.

Field number to change ?

Options 

Make any needed changes or press <Enter> to continue.

The checklists in the Invoice Format Design Kit describe the exact steps to add a new format or modify an existing format. Briefly, the sequence from this point on is:

General Appearance

Select

General appearance from the Invoice format menu.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

The following screen displays for General Appearance:

Enter the information as follows:

1. # of rows on the form (top to bottom)

Enter the number of rows on the invoice form or use the option:

2. # of print columns (left to right)

Options 

Enter the number of columns on the invoice form (up to 132) or use the option:

3. Print header data on first page only ?

Answer Y to print the header information, such as customer and customer ship-to addresses, on only the first page of the invoice. Answer N to print it at the top of every page of the invoice.

4. First row # for line item printing

Enter the row number on which you want the first line item to start printing (from 3 to [maximum rows on form minus 4]). As an illustration, if you had specified in Field #1 above that the number of rows on the form was 66, you could enter a number from 3 to 62 (66 minus 4).

Be sure to leave room for the header area, and also for any blank rows to separate the header area from the line items.

5. Last row # for line item printing

Enter the row number of the last row in the line item area. Line item information will never print after this row number. This number must be larger than the row on which you want the first line item to start printing (entered in 4 above), but smaller than the maximum rows on the form minus 3. Continuing the illustration above, if you entered 28 for the first row number for line item printing, you could enter a number from 4 to 63 (66 minus 3).

Be sure to leave room for the totals area, and also for any blank rows to separate the totals area from the line items.

6. Maximum # of rows per line item

Enter the maximum number of rows to print per line item, from 1 to 12. This number cannot be larger than the difference between the numbers entered in Fields #4 and 5 above, plus 1.

For instance, if you were designing a very short form and had specified above that the first row for line item printing is 9 and the last row is 15, the rows per line item could not be larger than 7 (15 - 9 + 1).

7. Skip a row between line items ?

If the number of rows per line item is 1, either answer Y to skip a row between line items (double-space them) or N to print them single-spaced.

8. Split line items between pages ?

If the number of rows per line item is 2 or more, answer Y to allow line items to be split between pages. Or answer N to keep all information for one line item on the same page.

If the number of rows per line item is 1, (Not applicable) displays.

9. First row # for totals section

Options 

Enter the row number of the first row of the totals section, or use the option:

These are called floating totals, since the totals area floats two rows below the last line of the last line item instead of being printed at a fixed row number on the form.

10. Order of printing of line items

Enter S to print the line items in sequence number order, or type L to print them in order by line type (goods, services, and notes).

11. Use pre-printed forms ?

If this invoice format is to be used with preprinted forms, answer Y; otherwise, answer N. If you answer Y, you will be prompted to mount preprinted forms on the printer during the Print invoices selection.

Print using graphic image ?

Answer Y to use a graphic image form file to merge with the data or N to print without an image file.

If you answer Y, then you will be prompted to enter the name of the file.

If you are using a graphical image file, then you must select Windows printer or a -PDF- Company information printer when you print invoices.

File name:

You must make an entry in this field if you select Y to Print using graphic image ?.

Enter the name of the file that will merge with the invoice data. This JPEG or Bitmap file must be present in the top-level PBS directory - IMAGES.

The file must be present in the IMAGES directory and must be spelled exactly as the file name with the proper extension.

If you are using a graphical image form file, then you must select Windows printer or a PDF printer when you print invoices. Other than a PDF printer, the printers defined in company information will not merge the image file with the data.

Field number to change ?

Make any desired changes. If you change Field #4 or 5, you will automatically go to Fields #6, 7, and 8 for you to either confirm or change your entries. The entry for Field #9 must also be confirmed unless Floating totals was selected.

Press <Enter> to continue.

If you are printing line items in sequence number order (as indicated by Field #10), your entries for General appearance are complete.

If you are printing line items in order by line type, the following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

12. First type of line item to print

Select the type of line item you want to print first on the invoice: G (Goods), S (Services), or N (Notes).

13. Second type of line item to print

Select the type of line item you want to print next on the invoice (either of the two remaining line types above). Whatever line type is left over automatically becomes the third type of line item to print.

14. Print line type sub-totals ?

Each line item has a line item net amount which is the amount you are billing the customer for that line item. Answer Y to print a sub-total of the net amounts for all Goods after the Goods line items and for all Services after the Services line items.

15. Description of goods sub-totals

If you answered N in the 14. Print line type sub-totals ? field, this field displays as (Not applicable) and may not be entered.

Options 

Otherwise, enter the description that you want to print on the same row as the Goods Subtotal Amount. You may use the option:

16. Description of services sub-totals

If you answered N in Field #14, this field displays as (Not applicable) and may not be entered.

Options 

Otherwise, enter the description that you want to print on the same row as the Services Subtotal Amount. You may use the option:

Field number to change ?

Make any desired changes, then press <Enter> to complete entry of General appearance parameters for this invoice format.

Header Area

When entering a new invoice format, General appearance must be entered before this selection may be entered.

Here you choose the header fields you want to print on your invoices and/or specify text you want printed in the header area. Field contents are printed, not their titles. For example, selecting the field Customer number containing AB1079 means that AB1079 is printed, not Customer number. To print field names (captions), specify them as text to be printed.

If you want to print a title on the invoice, you must specify a text to print. This is explained in detail below.

Select

Header area from the Invoice formats.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

A list appears showing the first 10 fields available to you for printing in the header area of the invoice. If you have previously selected any of these fields to print, an asterisk will appear next to the field number

You can press <F1> to see a diagram of the invoice you are adding or editing. This diagram will display all the fields and text you have selected to appear on the invoice in its proper format position.

Use the PgDn and PgUp keys to scroll through the fields that are available for inclusion in the invoice header area.

Use the <F2> key to shift the format to the left and to the right.

Which particular Invoice Fields are available to you is determined by decisions made in the Control information selection of A/R (and sometimes that of other modules); also in the System Manager Company information selection. For example, if your company does not use cost centers or ship-via’s, those fields do not appear.

Invoice fields may be selected and placed on the format in any order.

1. Field #

Options 

Enter the number of the invoice field to be placed on the invoice format. You may select an invoice field even though it has already been selected (that is, the same field may appear in more than one place on the invoice). You may also use one of the options:

The following screen appears:

The fields that appear after row and column depend on what kind of information is in the field. There are three different kinds of information:

Numeric Fields

Invoice number is a numeric field and the screen will appear as shown above.

The choices for a numeric field depend on the characteristics of that particular field. For instance, its maximum length, whether negative numbers are allowed, does it have any decimal places, etc.

The Invoice number field cannot be negative. It cannot contain commas or decimal places, so the screen appears as above. An example of a numeric field that can be negative, and can have decimal places and commas, is shown in an example in the Line item area section later in this chapter.

For the Invoice number field, enter the information as follows:

2. Row

Specify in which row to print this field.

3. Column

Specify the starting column in which to print this field.

4. Number of integers

Enter the number of digits you want printed to the left of the decimal point up to the maximum shown. (In this example, the invoice does not have decimal places, so all digits are considered to be to the left of the decimal point.)

5. Print lead zeros ?

Answer Y to print leading zeroes, or N to suppress leading zeroes. For instance, if the invoice number is 236 and the number of integers is 6, then if you answer Y, the invoice number will print as 000236. If you answer N, it will print as 236.

Field number to change ?

Options 

Make any desired changes, or use the option:

When you press <Enter>, the screen clears for you to enter another field number to select.

Modifying Fields

This section describes how to make changes to a field you have already specified. You can change the location, delete the entry altogether, or print the field at additional locations in the header area.

When positioned to enter another field or when first displaying an existing format, enter the field number. If the field has already been selected for use on this format, a "Field usage" window appears, showing the row[s] and column[s] where it is currently specified to print.

1. Field #

The screen now looks like this:

Notice the appearance of the Field usage box, which indicates the places where this field is already used (up to four, and in this case one).

2. Row
3. Column

Enter the same row and column as before:

Field number to change ?

Options 

Since this is an existing location on the invoice format, Screen Fields #4 and 5 display automatically and the cursor is positioned here. Your options now are:

Changing a Field Without Changing Its Location

If you want to change how a field appears (length, etc.) in a location you have already specified, select the field number as above.

Enter the row and column of the location you want to change. Make any desired changes.

Changing the Location of a Field

If you want to change where a field prints without otherwise changing its appearance, select the field number as above. Enter the row and column of the location you want to change. Make any changes to its row and/or location from Field number to change ?. When no more changes are required, press <Enter>.

Deleting a Field

If you want to delete a field in a location you have already specified, select the field number as above. Enter the row and column of the location you want to delete. When prompted, press <F3> to delete the field from this location.

If you specified earlier that this field is to be printed in more than one location, the field will be deleted from the current location selected, by not from the other locations.

Printing a Field in More than One Location

You can print any field in up to four different locations in the header area.

Enter the new location (row and column), then specify how to print in the field in the new location.

Date Fields

Date fields are specified as follows:

1. Field #

The screen displays as follows:

2. Row and
3. Column

Enter the row and column in the same way as for a numeric field.

4. Date format to use

Enter one of these choices for how the date is to appear:

When you make the choice, the Will look like field on the right side of the screen shows how the date will look. The length of the field displays so you will know how much room this field will occupy on the invoice.

Field number to change ?

Press <Enter> to terminate the date example.

Alphanumeric Fields

All alphanumeric fields allow the same set of choices, as shown below. The maximum size of the field depends on the particular field you have chosen. You specified the maximum sizes of some fields in Control information; the maximum sizes of other fields are preset by the software.

1. Field #

The following screen appears:

2. Row
3. Column

Enter the row and column in the same way as for a numeric field.

4. Length to print (maximum = nn)

Enter the number of characters you want to print in this field.

The maximum number shown is the size of that field as it is stored in the software, but because of the way you have defined the format the entire length may not be available to you. You may need to experiment a bit with the layout if your previous choices impose limits which you do not want.

5. Justify

Justify means to adjust the spacing of characters within the space allowed.

Enter one of the following options:

For instance, you might have already centered your company’s name and address when you entered them in the Company information function. To print them this way, type N.

Field number to change ?

Press <F1> to view the invoice.

Inserting Text in the Header Area

You would usually print text next to fields containing information. In particular, if you do not have a preprinted invoice form but print invoices on blank paper, you would specify text (captions) to print alongside or above the actual invoice information.

1. Field #

2. Row
3. Column

Enter the row and column where you want this text to begin.

4. Text

Enter the exact text you want to appear in that row and column. A ruler beneath the field to be entered lets you see exactly in which column each character is entered:

Text length is restricted to forty characters (or less if the right border of the invoice is encountered, as it is in this example). To print longer texts, enter each group of forty characters as a separate text.

5. Suppress ?

Answer Y if you want the text to be suppressed (not to print) when some field (to be specified next) is zero or blank. For instance, if you are interfaced to J/C you might not want the caption Job: to print when the job number field is blank (that is, when the invoice is not for a job).

Field #

If you answered Y to Screen Field #5, the available header fields display. Enter the number of the field which, when it contains zero or blank, will cause the text not to print.

If this field is not already selected to print on the invoice, you get a warning message, but your choice is still accepted. Make a note to select the field later. The field you select here must also be selected to print on the invoice.

Viewing the Format

Whenever you are at field 1 of the header field selection screen, or are at "Field number to change ?" on a text screen, you can press <F1> to see what the invoice looks like.

The following screen appears:

X’s will appear to represent the alphanumeric fields that you have selected for the invoice, and will occupy the length and locations you have selected. 9’s will appear for your numeric fields. ?’s will appear where any of the fields overlap, in which case you need to change the position of a field.

If yours is a color monitor, each portion of the invoice (header, line items, or totals) will be a different color.

Options 

To view a different part of your invoice, enter the number of the last line you want to view. You may also use one of the following options:

Options 

Make any needed changes. Your options are:

If you press <F1> you will observe that unlike data entry (which displays as X’s or 9’s), text entry appears exactly as entered.

Changing or Deleting Text

Changing or deleting text is similar to modifying fields.

To delete a text, or change the location or wording of a text you have entered, get to the text screen by pressing <Enter> at the "Field #" field.

A window will display the Row, Column and Text of texts that have already been entered.:

Texts are shown in the order in which they were entered. Five texts are visible at a time; if the format contains more than this, you can page through them:

To delete a text, enter its row and column number and press <F3> when prompted to do so.

To change the wording of the text, enter its row and column number, select field 4 and enter new wording. You can also change the "Suppress ?" information by selecting field 5 and entering a new answer or new field number.

To change the row or column in which the text starts, select the text by its current row and column numbers, then change those from Field number to change ?.

When through specifying header fields and text to print, press <Esc> at Field #1.

Line Item and Payments Area

When entering a new invoice format, General appearance must be entered before this selection may be entered.

Add, change, and delete line item area fields and texts is handled in much the same way as header area fields and texts, except for minor differences

Select

Line item area from the Invoice formats menu.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

The following screen displays for line item area:

Inserting Text in the Line Item Area

Entering text is the same as for headers, except for the Type field.

1. Field #

Options 

Enter the number of an invoice field from the display shown, leave this field blank to enter text, or use one of the options:

The text screen appears as:

2. Row
3. Column

Enter the row and column where you want the text to begin.

Options 

If you have left Field #1 blank and if there are texts already on file for the line-item area, a window will display showing the existing texts. At each screen field from #2 through #5, you may use one of the options:

4. Type

Enter S if this text is to appear only for services line items, G if it is to appear only for goods line items, or B if it is to appear for both types.

There is no separate Type for Note line items. It is not possible to print text on a note.

5. Text

Enter the exact text which you want to appear for the type of line item specified above.

6. Suppress ?

Answer Y if you want the text to be suppressed (not to print) when some field (to be specified next) is zero or blank. Answer N if you want the text to always print.

Field #

If you answered Y to Screen Field #6, the available line item fields display. Enter the number of the field which, when it contains zero or blank, will cause the text not to print.

Field number to change ?

Options 

Make any needed changes. Your options are:

Press <Enter> to complete this entry. The cursor moves to Screen Field #1.

Numeric Fields

The following example shows characteristics of numeric fields in addition to those shown by the example in the Header area.

Not all the screen fields described in this example appear for all invoice fields. It is explained in each case when a screen field is optional. The screen fields are always numbered sequentially from one. Depending on which invoice field you select, you may see a screen field numbered differently from that shown here.

Enter the information as follows:

1. Field #

Options 

Enter the number of an invoice field from the display shown, leave this field blank to enter text, or use one of the options:

The screen now appears as:

2. Row
3. Column

Enter the row and column where you want this numeric field to begin.

4. Number of integers

Enter the number of integers (digits to the left of the decimal point) you want to print in this field, up to the maximum shown.

5. Use commas ?

Answer Y to separate digits into groups of three by commas. This option is available only where appropriate (it would not be available for an invoice field such as the line number, which never gets large enough to require commas).

5. Print lead zeros ?

Answer N to suppress leading zeros. This options is available only where appropriate. When printing line numbers, for example, this lets you choose between numbering the twelfth line as 12 or 012.

6. Decimals

Enter the number of decimal places you want to print, up to the maximum shown. If the number has no decimals places, this choice does not appear.

7. Show negative with

Enter M to show negative numbers with a minus sign, or P to show them in parentheses.

For numeric fields which do not allow negative values, this selection either does not display, or displays N/A and does not allow you to make an entry.

8. Print when zero ?

Answer Y to print a zero when the number is zero, or answer N to leave the field blank when the number is zero.

This screen field only appears for appropriate invoice fields (amounts or quantities).

Field number to change ?

An example appears to the right to show what your number will look like when printed. A negative number example is also shown if negative numbers are allowed.

Make any needed changes. Your options are:

Press <Enter> to complete this entry. The cursor moves to Screen Field #1.

Alphanumeric Fields

Alphanumeric fields are entered in line items the same way as they are in the header and total area. Be aware that each line of an item description, a service description, or a note is a separate field and must be formatted individually.

Suppose for instance that you wanted to save space by printing nine lines of a Note line-item on three lines of the invoice. You have a space on the form sixty characters wide to hold this information.

Payment Fields

Payment fields will only print if you are using Multi-payments per the A/R Control information. See the PBS Multi-payment Setup appendix.

Payment field rows must be entered below the line fields. Never put a payment field and a line item field on the same row. The first payment row must be larger number that the last line item row.

If you need three lines for printing the item and service information, one line in between the line items and payments and two lines for printing payments, then in the General appearance set the Maximum # of rows per line item to 6. The first row for the payment field, in this case, is five.

The payments float on the page depending on the number rows used for the last item line.

The payment fields start at 54 and go to 60 as seen in the field list below:

Totals Area

When entering a new invoice format, General appearance must be entered before this selection may be entered.

Adding, changing, or deleting totals area fields and texts is handled in much the same way as for the header area and the line-item area.

Variations in the available invoice fields include:

Select

Totals area from the Invoice formats menu.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

The following screen displays for the Totals area:

Printing with Floating Totals Selected

If you selected floating totals (in General appearance), enter a relative row number. For example, type 1 for the first row of the total area.

Otherwise, enter an absolute row number, counting from the top of the page.

Printing Floating Totals with a Laser Printer

When printing an invoice that uses "floating totals", the location of the multi-part label does not float. If you put the Laser multi-part label field at row 10 of the floating totals area, the label will print on the 10^th row after the format’s Last row # for line item printing. On the last page of the invoice, this means that the multi-part label will not print on row 10 of the totals area, but on the 10^th row after the format’s Last row # for line item printing. For example, in General appearance, if you enter 55 for last row # for item printing and you put the Laser multi-part label field at row 10 of the floating totals area, the label will print on row 65 of each page (55 + 10 = 65).

When printing an invoice, it is possible that a totals field may overlap the fixed location of the Laser multi-part label field. To avoid this, put the Laser multi-part label field on or near the last row of the floating totals area and locate it so that it does not print in the same columns as any other totals area fields. It is also possible to position the Laser multi-part label field so that its printed location (calculated as described above) falls beyond the number of rows on the form. To avoid this, make sure that the row # of the Laser multi-part label field plus the last row # for item printing does not exceed the number of rows on the form.

So that this invoice will print invoice totals and can be verified, enter the data on the following screen:

Verifying the Format

Invoice formats, indeed all A/R formats, must be verified before they can be used. This process diagnoses any errors which could not be detected when the format was entered. You can verify a format as soon as you have entered its General appearance.

Once an invoice has been verified it becomes available for use indefinitely, but as soon as you change it you have to verify it again. If you anticipate having to make extended changes to an invoice it is a good idea to copy it first under some other name, so that you can continue to use the old version while developing the new one.

There is no special screen for this selection; the program immediately begins checking the invoice format for errors.

At the end of the verification, an error report is printed. Some messages on the report are warnings and are identified by *WARNING ONLY *.

Select

Verify from Invoice formats menu.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

View a Verify Report example in the Sample Reports appendix.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

Unless you have directed the error report to the screen, the following screen displays as the format is verified.:

Printing a Sample Invoice

This selection lets you print a sample invoice after you have verified it. The invoice you enter here must have been verified before you will be allowed to print this sample. If the invoice has not been verified, an informational message will be displayed and you will not be allowed to proceed.

Select

Sample Invoice from the Invoice formats menu.

An entry screen will be displayed prompting you for the invoice format number that you want to work with.

Options 

Enter a format number, or use one of the options:

If you are answered Y to Use pre-printed forms ? in General appearance, a screen appears telling you to mount invoice forms on the printer. Mount these forms on the printer, then type DONE.

You may select a Company information printer or Windows printer. The following includes a description of each.

Company Information Laser Printer or PDF Printer

If you are printing the sample invoice on a laser printer, you will be asked to enter Up/down adjustment and Left/right adjustment amounts to adjust the alignment of the laser printer. The values last entered for these amounts are shown. After entering new values or accepting the values shown, the sample invoice is printed.

When using a -PDF- printer, as setup in Company information, the invoice is saved to a PDF file and displayed on screen in Adobe™ Reader™ or Adobe Acrobat™. Within the application you have other options with the invoice such as email, print and so on. The sample or alignment file is named ARI_ALIGNMENT_999999.PDF. Default configurations are provided for PDF files. See the PBS Administration documentation for information on the PDF configuration options and the setup of a Company information PDF printer.

You may view and email statements that have been generated to PDF files at Email/view printed PDFs under the CTL menu selection of PDF form file processing.

Windows Printer

If you selected Windows printer, the alignment starts for the upper left corner of the page. However, you should enter an amount greater than the default margin that displays at the bottom of the screen.

Press <F1> at any time to stop printing.

After one sample invoice prints, you are asked whether or not you want to print another sample invoice.

Print sample invoice again ?

Answer Y to print the sample invoice again or N to exit this function.

If you select Y you will be positioned to print another invoice form.

If you select N and you are using pre-printed forms, you will be prompted to replace these forms with plain paper. Type DONE to the question Please mount regular paper on printer.

Printing Format Specifications

Use this option to print a full list of the exact specifications that define one or more invoice formats. This is different from a sample invoice-a sample invoice shows what the invoice will look like. The format specifications show the location and other properties of all fields entered.

Select

Format specifications from the Invoice formats menu.

The following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

Starting format #
Ending format #

Enter the range of the formats you want to print. You may use the option:

Any change ?

Answer Y to re-enter this screen, or N to print the Format Specifications.

Copying Invoice Formats

If you have already created an invoice format which you want to keep, and you are going to add another similar format, use this option to copy the existing format. Then make changes to the copy.

Select

Copy from Invoice formats menu.

The following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

1. Copy from format #

Options 

Enter the number of the format you want to copy from. This must be an existing format, but need not have been verified. Copied formats have the same verification status as the formats they were copied from. You may use the options:

Upon entry or selection of a valid format, its name and verification status are displayed.

2. Copy to format #

Enter the number you wish to assign to the new format. This may not be an existing format.

3. Description

Enter a description for the new format.

Field number to change ?

Make any needed changes, then press <Enter>. There will be a period of processing as the format is copied. You will be notified when this has completed; press <Esc> to return to the menu.

Deleting Invoice Formats

Use this option to delete invoice formats which you no longer want.

Select

Delete from the Invoice formats menu.

The following screen appears:

Enter the information as follows:

Please enter number of format to delete

Options 

Enter the number of the format you want to delete. This must be an existing format, but need not have been verified. You may use the options:

Upon entry or selection of a valid format, its name and verification status are displayed.

Any change ?

Answer Y to re-enter this screen, or N to delete the format.

There will be a period of processing as the format is deleted. You will be notified when this has completed; press <Esc> to return to this screen for the next format to be deleted.

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