The Goal: Manually create a one-off invoice for a contact, either from the contact's Billing tab or from the All Sales/Invoices page in the Billing section.
Before You Begin:
- NOTE: It should be very rare that you would need to manually create an invoice within GrowthZone. An action taken (adding a membership or registering an attendee) should automatically trigger an invoice. Create a manual invoice only when the system will not do so.
- Fee items must be configured before creating an invoice. Go to the Finance, Billing section, click Settings, and select Fee Items.
- If linking the invoice to a membership type, ensure the membership type exists and is assigned to the contact.
Option A — Create Invoice from a Contact's Billing Tab
- Open the desired contact record and click the Billing tab.
- Click the down arrow adjacent to Enter Check/Payment, then click Add Invoice.
- Configure the invoice fields as needed:
- Invoice Number: Defaults to Auto Assigned. Click Auto Assigned to enter a custom number. Best practice is to allow auto-assignment; manual numbers will trigger an error if duplicated.
- Invoice Date: Defaults to today. Change by entering a date or clicking the calendar icon.
- Term: Defaults to terms defined in General Billing Settings. Select from the drop-down or click the + icon to add a new term.
- Due Date: Auto-populated based on Terms. Override by entering a date or using the calendar icon.
- PO #: Optional. Enter a purchase order number if provided. This can also be added later by editing the invoice.
- Purchase Date: Defaults to today. Adjust as needed.
- Customer: Auto-populated.
- Contact: Select from the drop-down. If none is selected, the billing contact is used.
- Address: Optional. Required if mailing a printed invoice. Click Select an Address and the + icon to add a new address.
- Email: Optional. Required if emailing the invoice. Click Select an Email and the + icon to add a new email.
- Message: Optional. Appears on the invoice below the address.
- Internal Memo: Optional. Visible in the back office only.
- Delivery: Select Mark to Print and/or Mark to Email to add the invoice to the Unsent Invoices list in the Billing section.
- Add line items:
- Fee Item: Select from the drop-down. If you select a membership dues fee item, you must also select the associated Membership Type. If no memberships appear, go to the Overview tab and add a membership first.
- Description: Auto-populated from the fee item; override as needed.
- Price: Auto-populated from the fee item; override as needed.
- Quantity: Enter the quantity.
- Hide: If adding multiple fee items and you wish to roll them into the first line item, check Hide on each subsequent item.
- Tax: Auto-populated if the item is configured as taxable.
- Disc: Optional. Click the Disc hyperlink to add a discount. Select from the Discount drop-down or click + to add a new one. Click Done when finished.
- Advanced Options: By default, the system uses the default payment gateway and invoice template from your General Billing Settings. To override these defaults, check Advanced Options and select the desired gateway and template.
- Click Done. The invoice is created.
Common Pitfalls
- Duplicate invoice number error: The system will error if you enter a manual invoice number that already exists. Allow auto-assignment unless there is a specific business reason to set a custom number.
- Membership type not visible: If no membership types appear in the drop-down when selecting a membership dues fee item, navigate to the contact's Overview tab and add the membership before creating the invoice.
- Invoice not appearing in Unsent Invoices: Ensure Mark to Print and/or Mark to Email is selected on the invoice or the line item; otherwise, the invoice will not be queued for delivery.