The Goal: Define, customize, and upload the document templates used for your invoices, statements, and credit memos so every billing document reflects your organization’s branding and business needs.
Before You Begin:
- You need staff access to document generation settings to view, modify, or upload templates.
- A standard invoice template (Invoice.docx) is built into the software. You can use this default template as-is or modify it to meet your business needs. The steps below use the default invoice template as an example, but follow the same steps to customize other billing documents (statements, credit memos, etc.).
- NOTE: Invoice templates have a merge field that will pull in your logo if one is not uploaded in your General Billing Settings. MAKE SURE TO UPLOAD A LOGO TO THE GENERAL BILLING SETTINGS THAT IS THE PROPER SIZE to ensure your logo will fit in a standard window envelope! Recommended size is MAX 500px wide by 150px tall. See General Billing Settings: every setting explained.
Step-by-Step Instructions
View/Modify Invoice Template (PC Instructions)
- Go to Settings, General section, click Document Generation Templates. A list of existing templates will be displayed.
- Click the action icon for the template you wish to view/modify.
- Click Copy Document Generation Template.
- Click OK in the confirmation dialog box. A copy of the template will be available in the list of templates. Best Practice: Rename your template immediately.
- To view the template, click the action icon and click Edit Template Document. The Open URL:Word Protocol dialog box will be displayed.
- Click Open Word. You will be taken to the document editor login. Enter your GrowthZone username and password to launch the document.
- Enable editing of the document.
- Complete your changes.
- Save your document. You can now choose this template where applicable.
View/Modify Template (MAC Instructions)
- Go to Settings, General section, click Document Generation Templates. A list of existing templates will be displayed.
- Click the action icon for the template you wish to view/modify.
- Click OK in the confirmation dialog box. A copy of the template will be available in the list of templates. Best Practice: Rename your template immediately.
- To view the template, click the action icon and click Edit Template Document. The Open URL:Word Protocol dialog box will be displayed.
- Click Open Word.
- Click Enable Editing and make desired edits.
- Save the downloaded file.
- Enter a Name for the new template.
- Click Choose File to navigate to your saved copy and upload.
- Click Done. You will now be able to choose this template where applicable.
Available Invoice Merge Fields
When using merge fields on invoices, the system will look to the invoice(s) for the appropriate information to be included via merge fields. Many of the fields are included on the default invoice. Other fields may be added manually by editing the invoice. The table below describes the fields available for invoice templates; if there is an *, see the Notes below the table for special instructions.
| Merge Field Name | Description | Included On Default Template |
|---|---|---|
| URL | ||
| Width | ||
| Height | ||
| Company | This is the name of your association/chamber. | X |
| Address1 | This is Address 2 for your association/chamber. | X |
| Address2 | This is Address 2 for your association/chamber. | X |
| AddressOnly | ||
| Address1Only | ||
| Address2Only | ||
| AddressCityStatePostalCodeOnly | ||
| Telephone | This is the telephone number for your association/chamber. | X |
| Fax | This is the fax number for your association/chamber. | |
| This is the email address for your association/chamber. | X | |
| WebAddress | This is the web-site address for your association/chamber. | |
| No | The invoice number. | X |
| POno | Purchase Order Number. | X |
| SelectDate | The invoice date. | X |
| DueDate | The invoice due date. | X |
| MinNextBillDate | ||
| PurchasedByName | The name of the Purchasing Organization (if applicable), otherwise name of purchaser will show. | X |
| PurchasedByNamePrimaryBusiness | Purchasing Individual’s Primary Business (if applicable). | |
| BillToName | Billing Contact Name (if applicable). | |
| BillToEmail | Billing Contact Email. | |
| BillToAddress | Billing Address Line 1 and 2 on same line. | X |
| BillToAddress1 | Bill to Address 1. | |
| BillToAddress2 | Bill to Address 2. | |
| BillToCity | Billing City, State, & Zip Code. | X |
| BillToCountry | Billing Country | |
| BillToContact | Billing Contact Name (if applicable). | X |
| Message | Invoice Message, added to the invoice when the invoice was created. | X |
| Subtotal* | Subtotal of the fee items included on the invoice.* | X |
| SalesTax | Sales tax calculated on the items included on the invoice. | X |
| Shipping | Shipping costs for the items included on the invoice. | X |
| Total* | Total for all charges on the invoice.* | X |
| PaymentTotal | Total of all amounts applied against the invoice, including payments, credits, discounts, refunds and write-offs | X |
| TotalDue* | Total actually due on the invoice if, for example, a payment has been made against the invoice.* | X |
| TotalLabel* | Text field, used in combination with TotalDue only.* | |
| TotalWithoutVoluntary | Displays total without including voluntary fees.* | |
| TotalHTML* | Will show totals both with and without voluntary fees.* | |
| ARCurrent | Current open balance. | X |
| AR30 | Past Due Open Balance in the last 30-60 days | X |
| AR60 | Past Due Open Balance in the last 60-90 days | X |
| AR90Plus | Past Due Open Balance over 90 days | X |
| ContactBalance | Total Open Invoice Balance | X |
| Scheduled Payment Amount* | Amount of the scheduled payment* | X* |
| Scheduled Payment Date* | Date the invoiced scheduled payment will be charged* | |
| Scheduled Payment Description* | Summary of the scheduled payment information: includes date and profile info* | X* |
| Scheduled Payment Profile* | Last 4 digits and expiration date of the credit card to be charged* | |
| PaymentHyperlink | Link to payment screen | X |
| BillingPeriod | ||
| HasVoluntaryItems | ||
| ExcludeVoluntaryItems | ||
| BillingContactAccountNumber | ||
| PurchasedByContactAccountNumber | ||
| ScheduledPaymentDescription | ||
| ScheduledPaymentAmount | ||
| Description | ||
| Value | ||
| Quantity | ||
| Frequency | ||
| UnitPrice | ||
| Amount | ||
| UFPurchasedByContactPrefix | Prefix for the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactFirstName | First name of the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactMiddleName | Middle name of the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactLastName | Last name of the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactSuffix | Suffix of the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactCommonName | Common name of the contact who made the purchase. This is the ‘customer’. | |
| UFPurchasedByContactName | ||
| UFPurchasedFromOrganizationName | The organization from which the purchase was made (your association/chamber). | |
| UFBillingContactPrefix | The prefix for the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactFirstName | The first name of the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactMiddleName | The middle name of the billing selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactLastName | The last name of the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactSuffix | The suffix of the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactCommonName | The common name of the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingContactName | The full name of the billing contact selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddress1 | The billing address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddress2 | The billing address 2 associated to the address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddressCity | The city associated to the address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddressStateProvince | The state or province associated to the address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddressPostalCode | The postal code associated to the address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingAddressCountry | The country associated to the address selected when the invoice was created. | |
| UFPurchaseCreatedDate | The date an invoice was created. | |
| UFBillingEmailAddress | ||
| UFScheduledPaymentDate | ||
| UFScheduledPaymentAmount | ||
| UFScheduledPaymentProfile |
Notes:
- Total, Subtotal and TotalDue fields always include voluntary items on the invoice.
- TotalLabel is a text field would be used in combination with the Total Due field so that it identifies automatically if the total includes any voluntary amounts.
- TotalWithoutVoluntary does not include voluntary items.
-
TotalHTML is a special merge field that includes calculations and wording and merge fields all combined in a single merge field. It will show both totals (total with voluntary and total without voluntary) and include text that will indicate which amount is which. Due to how that field is generated, we are not able to support formatting of that field, i.e. you will not be able to apply styling to it such as bold, color or font size/style changes.
- Scheduled Payment fields: are included on the default invoice template but will only populate if a payment profile is linked to the invoiced scheduled billing items. These fields correlate to the Invoice Before Autopayment setting on the General Billing Settings page, under Finance, Administrative section, Billing Settings.
Add Custom Fields to Invoice Templates
For further customization of your invoices, business and individual Custom Fields (those displayed on the More Info tabs) may be added to your documentation templates.
- Fields must be configured as Public. See Custom Fields for information on configuration of fields.
- If the invoice is being created for a business, fields configured of type Business will be available.
- If the invoice is being created for an individual, fields configured of type Individual will be available.
- When adding a custom field to an invoice template, the name of the custom field must be exact. Do NOT use the Display Name.
See Add Merge Fields to a Document Template for further information on editing a template and adding merge fields.
Upload an Invoice Template
If you have created a document template, you can upload it to the database:
- Go to Settings, General section, click Document Generation Templates. A list of existing templates will be displayed.
- Click the Add button.
- Select the Template Type. This setting will define where the template is available to you in the software. For example, document templates of type Invoice will only be available where billing functions are performed.
- Enter a Name for the new template.
- Click Choose File to navigate to your saved copy and upload.
- Click Done. You will now be able to choose this template where applicable.
How Templates are Applied to Your Invoices
In the General Billing Settings page (Finance, Administrative section, click Billing Settings and select General Billing Settings) you will define the default invoice to be used by the system. This invoice template will be applied to all invoices that are created either automatically by the system (i.e. when you run upcoming billing, when you allow invoicing for membership application, etc.) or created manually.
You will need to expressly over-ride the template if you wish to use a template other than the default. Over-riding the default template can be done in the following location:
- Good/Service: If you wish to use an alternate template for specific fee item you can configure this when you set up your fee items. For example, if your default is setup for membership dues invoicing but you wish to use a different invoice template for event registrations you will set each of the fee items used for event registration to an alternate template. See Setup Standard Fee Items for instructions.
- Membership Type Pricing: If you wish to use an alternate template for specific membership types you will configure this when adding pricing to your membership types. See Add Pricing to a Membership Type.
- Individual Invoice: If you are manually creating an invoice, you have the ability to select the invoice template that you wish to use. These settings will be displayed under advanced options. See Create a Single Invoice.
- Generating Upcoming Billing Invoices: If you are manually generating your invoices for upcoming billing, you will have the opportunity to select an alternate invoice template under the Advanced Options. See Run upcoming billing.
- Delivering Invoices: When delivering invoices from Unsent Invoices in the Billing section, you have the opportunity to over-ride the template being used for the invoices. See Deliver invoices by email or print.
- Once an invoice template is selected you have can change that template either individually or in bulk. See Change the Invoice Template on an Existing Invoice for further details.
Show the invoice created date
Before You Begin:
- You need staff access to billing/finance settings.
- This option is no longer required to change the invoice date — that can now be achieved when you Run Upcoming Billing.
- To also display the created date on invoices and statements, you must include the invoice created date merge field UFPurchaseCreatedDate on your invoice template (an edit to the default invoice template is required).
Background
By design, when invoices are created for recurring billing, the invoice date reflects the Next Bill Date. For example, if the next bill date is January 1st, this date will show as the invoice date, regardless of when the invoice was created. If you are running and delivering your invoices several months ahead of the next bill date, you may wish to display the invoice created date rather than the invoice date.
Once enabled, the created date will display in multiple locations:
- On the “My Billing” tab in the Info Hub
- On the invoice payment page (accessible from the pay online link on PDF or .doc invoices)
- On invoices and statements, if you have included the invoice created date merge field. To display this field on invoices, use the merge field UFPurchaseCreatedDate. An edit to the default invoice template will be required.
This option is enabled from the General Billing Settings page under Finance, Administrative section, Billing Settings:
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Go to Finance, Administrative section, click Billing Settings and select General Billing Settings.
- Enable Show invoice creation date instead of invoice date.
- Click Save.
Common Pitfalls
- Created date missing on invoices/statements: Enabling this setting alone does not add the created date to invoice and statement documents. You must also add the UFPurchaseCreatedDate merge field to your invoice template, which requires an edit to the default invoice template.
Common Pitfalls
- Editing the built-in default directly: Always use Copy Document Generation Template first and rename your copy immediately, so the original Invoice.docx stays intact as a fallback. The menu enforces this: on an original template the ••• menu offers only Copy Document Generation Template and Merge Fields. Download File and Edit Template Document appear only once you are on a copy.
- Logo doesn’t fit the envelope window: Upload a logo to the General Billing Settings sized at MAX 500px wide by 150px tall; oversized logos break the standard window-envelope layout.
- Using a custom field’s Display Name: When adding a custom field to a template, the name must be exact, and the field must be configured as Public — do NOT use the Display Name.