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Managing Invoices

An invoice is a bill you send to a customer for a completed shipment. The system tracks each invoice from creation through payment so you always know what has been billed, what is outstanding, and what is overdue.

Overview

Each shipment gets one invoice. By default, the system creates a draft invoice automatically when a shipment is finalized through leg completion -- that is, when the last leg on a shipment is completed, the shipment moves to Completed status and a draft invoice is created, pulling in the customer, amount, and payment terms from the shipment record. This auto-invoicing behavior is controlled by the Auto-Create Invoices setting. When disabled, invoices are not created automatically and you create them manually from the Uninvoiced Shipments view (see below). From there, you send the invoice to the customer and mark it as paid when the money comes in.

Invoices move through a simple lifecycle:

Draft --> Sent --> Paid

At any point before payment, you can Void an invoice if something went wrong (wrong amount, duplicate, customer dispute). Voided invoices can be reset back to draft if needed.

Getting There

  1. Click Invoices in the top navigation bar.
  2. Click Invoices in the dropdown menu.

You will see the invoice list showing each invoice's number, customer, shipment, amount, status, invoice date, date sent, due date, and age in days.

How It Works

How Invoices Are Created

When auto-invoicing is enabled (the default), invoices are created automatically when a shipment is finalized through leg completion. When the last leg on a shipment is completed, the shipment moves to Completed status and a draft invoice is generated. The system pulls in:

  • Customer -- From the shipment record.
  • Amount Total -- From the shipment's customer rate.
  • Payment Terms -- From the customer's billing settings.

Each shipment can only have one active (non-void) invoice at a time. If you need to re-invoice a shipment, you must void the existing invoice first.

You can also create invoices manually from the Uninvoiced Shipments view (see below).

Tip: On any customer form, you will see an Invoices stat button that shows the total number of invoices for that customer. Click it to jump directly to a filtered list of that customer's invoices.

The Invoice Form

When you open an invoice, you will see the invoice number displayed as a large heading at the top. Invoice numbers are assigned automatically by the system (for example, INV/2026/00001) and cannot be changed.

The form is divided into two main sections at the top:

Invoice Info (left side):

  • Invoice Date -- The date the invoice was created. Defaults to today. You can change this on draft invoices.
  • Customer -- Filled in automatically from the shipment. Read-only.
  • Shipment -- The linked shipment. Click it to jump to the shipment record.
  • Amount Total -- The dollar amount being billed. You can edit this while the invoice is in draft.
  • Payment Terms -- Pulled from the customer's billing settings (for example, "Net 30"). Read-only.

Payment Tracking (right side): (visible after the invoice leaves Draft status)

  • Date Sent -- Filled in automatically when you click Send.
  • Due Date -- Calculated automatically from the date sent plus the payment terms.
  • Date Paid -- Filled in automatically when you click Mark as Paid.
  • Age (Days) -- How many days since the invoice was sent. Updates daily.
  • Overdue -- Shows a checkmark if the invoice is past due.
  • Sent By / Paid By -- Which user performed each action.

Below the main fields, there are several tabs:

  • Shipment Details -- Shows reference numbers, pickup and delivery locations with dates, commodity, weight, and pieces from the shipment. All read-only.
  • Documents -- Shows the Rate Confirmation and Proof of Delivery (POD) documents attached to the shipment. If either is missing, you will see a warning banner. Both documents are required before you can send the invoice.
  • Notes -- A free-text area for any additional notes about this invoice.
  • Void -- Only visible on voided invoices. Shows the void date, who voided it, and the reason.

Sending an Invoice

Sending an invoice marks it as delivered to the customer and starts the payment clock.

  1. Open the invoice (it must be in Draft status).
  2. Verify the amount and details are correct.
  3. Click the Send button in the top-left header area.

The system will:

  • Check that the shipment has a Rate Confirmation document attached.
  • Check that the shipment has at least one Proof of Delivery (POD) document attached.
  • If either document is missing, you will see an error message telling you what is needed.
  • If both documents are present, the status changes to Sent, and today's date is recorded as the Date Sent.
  • The Due Date is calculated automatically based on the payment terms. The system parses the payment terms text to determine the number of days: it first looks for a "Net N" pattern (e.g., "2% 10 Net 30" uses 30 days), then falls back to the first number it finds (e.g., "45 days" uses 45), and defaults to 30 days if no number is found.

Note: Only TMS administrators can send invoices. If you do not see the Send button, ask your administrator for access.

Recording Payment

When the customer pays the invoice:

  1. Open the invoice (it must be in Sent status).
  2. Click the Mark as Paid button.

The status changes to Paid and today's date is recorded as the Date Paid.

Note: Only TMS administrators can mark invoices as paid.

Voiding an Invoice

If an invoice was created in error, has the wrong amount, or needs to be cancelled for any reason, you can void it. Voiding is available from any status except Void.

  1. Open the invoice.
  2. Click the Void button.
  3. A popup window appears asking for a Reason. Type a clear explanation of why the invoice is being voided (for example, "Duplicate invoice" or "Rate correction needed").
  4. Click Confirm Void.

The invoice status changes to Void. The Void tab on the form will show the date, who voided it, and the reason. The linked shipment is freed up so a new invoice can be created for it if needed.

Note: Only TMS administrators can void invoices. Voided invoices cannot be deleted from the list -- they remain in the system for audit purposes.

Resetting a Voided Invoice to Draft

If you voided an invoice by mistake, you can bring it back:

  1. Open the voided invoice.
  2. Click Reset to Draft.

The system checks that the shipment does not already have another active invoice. If it does, you will see an error telling you to void that invoice first. If the shipment is clear, the invoice returns to Draft status so you can edit and resend it.

Note: Only TMS administrators can reset a voided invoice to draft.

Invoice Aging

The Age (Days) field on each invoice shows how many days have passed since the invoice was sent. This updates automatically every day.

  • Invoices that have not been sent yet show an age of 0.
  • An invoice is marked Overdue when it is in Sent status and today's date is past the Due Date.
  • Overdue invoices appear with orange text in the list view so they stand out.

Searching and Filtering the Invoice List

The invoice list has a search bar with built-in filters to help you find what you need:

Quick search: Type in the search box to find invoices by number, customer name, or shipment reference.

Status filters:

  • Draft -- Invoices waiting to be sent.
  • Sent -- Invoices that have been sent but not yet paid.
  • Paid -- Invoices that have been paid.
  • Void -- Cancelled invoices.
  • Overdue -- Sent invoices that are past their due date.
  • Not Void -- All invoices except voided ones (this is the default view).

Date filter:

  • Invoice Date -- Filter by date range using the built-in date picker (This Week, This Month, This Quarter, etc.).

Group by:

  • State -- Group invoices by their status.
  • Customer -- Group invoices by customer.
  • Invoice Date -- Group invoices by month.

Tip: By default, the invoice list hides voided invoices. If you need to see them, remove the "Not Void" filter from the search bar, or click the Void filter to show only voided invoices.

Finding Uninvoiced Shipments

The Uninvoiced Shipments view shows completed shipments that do not have an invoice yet. This is your go-to screen for catching anything that slipped through the cracks.

  1. Click Invoices in the top navigation bar.
  2. Click Uninvoiced Shipments.

You will see a list of completed shipments grouped by customer, showing each shipment's ID, reference numbers, customer, rate, and status.

To create an invoice from this view:

  1. Select one or more shipments by checking the boxes on the left.
  2. Click the Create Invoice button in the list header.

The system creates a draft invoice for each selected shipment using the shipment's customer rate as the invoice amount.

Tips & Common Questions

Q: I clicked Send but got an error about missing documents. What do I do? The system requires both a Rate Confirmation and a Proof of Delivery (POD) before an invoice can be sent. Go to the linked shipment, upload the missing document(s), then come back and try sending again. You can check the Documents tab on the invoice form to see what is missing.

Q: The amount on the invoice is wrong. Can I change it? Yes, but only while the invoice is in Draft status. Open the invoice and edit the Amount Total field. Once the invoice has been sent, you will need to void it and create a new one with the correct amount.

Q: I voided an invoice by mistake. How do I fix it? Open the voided invoice and click Reset to Draft. This returns the invoice to draft status so you can edit and resend it. If the shipment already has a new active invoice, you will need to void that one first.

Q: Can I delete an invoice? Only draft and voided invoices can be deleted. Sent and paid invoices are permanent records. In most cases, voiding is preferred over deleting because it keeps an audit trail.

Q: How do I know which invoices are overdue? Use the Overdue filter in the invoice list search bar. Overdue invoices are also shown in orange text in the list view. You can also check the Age (Days) column to see how long each sent invoice has been outstanding.