Invoice Batching

Walkthrough guide

This tutorial will guide you through the available options for batching invoices, which is the next step in the processing chain, following on from invoice creation (see How to create a Sales Invoice) and invoice delivery (see How to deliver a Sales Invoice).

Within Etz, batching is used as a way of grouping items together in order to facilitate exporting of, and reporting on, a collection of entries.

To access the invoice batching section, navigate to 'Sales Invoices' and then 'Manage Invoice Export Batches'. This will bring you to a screen as in the image below.

Near the top of the screen is an indication of the number of invoices that are waiting to be batched and a 'Process these invoices into a batch' button. Clicking on this will take you to a view as in the image below, where all of the unbatched invoices are displayed and can be individually selected using the tickboxes to add to a new batch.

A name can be assigned to the new batch within the 'Label' field and any relevant comments or descriptions added to the 'Notes' field. Then clink on the 'Create invoice export batch' to produce the new batch.

This will take you batch to the main batch overview screen, where you will be able to see the new batch added to any existing batches in the lower half of the page.

The two tabs on the left hand side of the screen allow you to switch between 'Open Batches' (classified as batches on which some processing, reporting or exporting still has to be completed) and 'Processed Batches' (those that you have finished using and so should be moved out of the way).

Various details can be seen for each batch, such as the assigned label, status, number of invoices (or 'Items') included in the batch, currencies and values.

The 'Batch currency values' section details the net amount of the currency you are invoicing and the VAT amount, and the 'Agency currency values' displays the amount batch in your local currency (using the conversion rates defined within the 'Exchange Rates' tab of the 'Agency Details').

If you invoice in several currencies, it is important to ensure each batch contains only invoices of a single currency.

For each batch, there are a range of options represented by the line of buttons, displayed in the image below.

In order, from left to right, these represent:

- Re-calculate totals for batch: recalculates the totals for a batch, to be used if an invoice has been altered after it had been included in the batch.

- Request Authorisation: sends an authorisation request to a listed authoriser for approval. 

- Set batch to status 'Processed Complete: sets the batch status to 'Processed', signifying that all reporting and exporting procedures have been completed. Moves the batch to the 'Processed Batches' tab.

- Create or re-create batch document: used if the batch needs to be created (or recreated) for any reason. Once clicked, a message will advise you that a batch document is being created in the background. Once finished, click the green 'Refresh' button to refresh the page and to show the recreated batch.

- Download batch document: downloads a PDF of all the invoices and attached images contained within the batch.

- View reports: brings up a window with all of the report options, used to generate reports for exporting invoice data from the Etz system to your accounts package.

- Xero Connect: if you use the Xero accounts package, use this button to export the batch.

- View log: shows an audit trail of the batch history.

- View Notes: allows you to view and edit the notes associated with the batch.

- Add item to batch: brings up a list of the unbatched invoices, from where you can select any invoices you wish to add to the current batch. Once selected and added, the batch will be automatically recreated and totals recalculated to include the new invoices.

- Remove item from batch: displays the invoices included in the current batch, allowing you to select the invoices you wish to remove. The batch is automatically recreated and totals recalculated, returning the removed invoices back into the collection of unbatched invoices listed near the top of the screen.

Once you have finished all necessary tasks with a particular batch and clicked on the 'Set batch to status 'Processed Complete' button, the batch will be moved to the 'Processed Batches' tab. If you later need to carry out further report or export tasks, the batch can be moved back into the 'Open Batches' tab by clicking on the 'Re-open batch' icon.