Invoicing

[Parra]

Have any of you ever created a database for invoice generation and cash payment application?

I want to get some ideas, because I am working on something.

Was it difficult? Are there any examples?

Parra

 

[SydneyGeek]

The answer to your questions is Yes, Not really, and Yes, in that order.

The trick is to work out what you need to do, and what you need to capture -- I don't know how much Access experience you have. When I started out I found the Northwind database very helpful. There is also a Developer Solutions database on the Office disks -- you may have it already if you did a Full install.

Give us an idea of what you need to capture and you will get a more specific reply.

Denis

 

[Parra]

OK here is another question.

At the end of the month, I want to run a billing. This will be a report based on a query. When the payment is returned I want to apply it to the invoice number.

But how do I keep track of the invoices generated. Once the query is ran, and invoice numbers generated. Do I store the results in a new table and then as the months go by append it????? That is the only idea that I could come up with, and I actually came up with it as I was typing. It sounds good but what do you recommend?

Parra

 

[SydneyGeek]

Sounds good to me, but if you don't want the hassle of writing invoice values to another table and hoping like crazy that you can get them back again (I had an application do just that to me...) try this.
I recently built a billing database for a client. They create weekly invoices and want to be able to trace back over previous invoices, but didn't necessarily want to store the invoice summaries separately. We use the end date of the invoice period as the invoice number -- formatted as a general number. If you always bill monthly, this should work for you -- all you need is a form allowing you to enter the end date, and let the queries do the rest.

 

[Parra]

The reason I need the invoice number is to apply cash payments and for tracking in the aging reports (outstanding balances).

So if I generate the query and then append that data to a table the invoice number might be lost????

I know I can develop this database, but I do feel overwealmed at the task.

 

[SydneyGeek]

You could try looking at an Append query to grab a completed invoice with its summarised information, and adding that to a Processed Invoices table.
If you do that, the Invoice No could be an Autonumber that just increments as required and this, too, gets transferred. Then you apply payments to the items in that summary table.