Invoices
The IBS System allows two types of invoice formats which are called Invoices and Summary Invoices. The Invoice Format will print an invoice for an individual file; whereas the Summary Invoice Format will print invoices which contain the billing for multiple files billed to the same customer.
This window titled Individual Invoice Formats Maintenance will display all of the currently defined Invoice formats and the window titled Summary Invoice Formats Maintenance will display all of the currently defined Summary Invoice formats. The system can accommodate up to 99 individual Invoice formats and up to 99 individual Summary Invoice formats in the Invoice Format File (AR1D18.TPS
[ Insert ] Press this button to open a window titled Update Individual Invoice Format which enables you to add a new invoice format to the Invoice Format File.
[ Change ] Press this button to open a window titled Update Individual Invoice Format which enables you to change an existing invoice format in the Invoice Format File.
[ Delete ] Press this button to open a window titled Update Individual Invoice Format which enables you to delete an existing invoice format from the Invoice Format File.
[ Clone Format ] Press this button to open a window titled Clone Invoice Format which enables you to make an exact copy of the highlighted invoice format and assign it a new Form ID Number and Description. This is the easiest way to make a copy of an existing invoice format which only needs minor modifications to fit a different purpose.
[ Import Format ] Press this button to open a window titled Import an ASCII File Format which is used to copy the contents of an existing ASCII Text File into a new report format. You will need to give this new invoice format a new Form ID Number and Description. Frequently multiple companies will use the same type of invoice format with only minor differences in the actual invoice between the companies. The Import Format and Export Format process provides the ability to transfer invoice formats between companies when you have multiple companies using our software. NOTE: This Import Format process also provides the user with a mechanism whereby you can create invoice formats using another software, such as Microsoft Word, and then import that invoice format into the IBS system.
[ Export Format ] Press this button to open a window titled Export Invoice Format to an ASCII File which is used to copy the current report format into an ASCII Text File. Frequently multiple companies will use the same type of invoice format with only minor differences in the actual invoice between the companies. The Import Format and Export Format process provides the ability to transfer invoice formats between companies when you have multiple companies using our software. Please note that the Export File Name specified on the Export Invoice Format to an ASCII File window must not already exist. This program will NOT overwrite an existing file.
NOTE: The Import/Export options will work well for importing or exporting formats to/from the same module (e.g., Storage to/from Storage or Accounts Receivable to/from Accounts Receivable). However, attempting to import/export formats between different modules (e.g., Storage to Accounts Receivable) can cause a problem since the Replacement Variables File in each module is different.
[ Close ] Press this button to close this window and return to the previous window.
[ Help ] Press this button (if available) or the F1 key to view the Help text for this window.
What Is An Invoice Format?
A report is a printed representation of data which is contained in an electronic format in the computer. This report (invoice) formatter enables you to exactly specify which data is to be included on each invoice and where it will be located. Reports are measured by Rows and Columns. Rows go vertically up and down on the page and columns go horizontally from side to side. The transparent grid overlay (Forms Design Grid) which was shipped with the IBS software is designed to assist you in locating the exact row and column coordinate of each piece of data when you are designing an invoice or report.
Part of the Invoice
There are a few concepts about reports which need to be understood before you can begin to design an invoice or report format. Reports usually consist of three parts - the header, the body and the footer. These parts contain both replacement variables and controls. The replacement variables, which are two letter combinations surrounded by brackets ([]), refer to the piece of data from the file which is to be used at the pre-determined spot on the invoice. The controls, which are single letters preceded by the ampersand (&), tell which section of the invoice is to be printed at each location.
Header: This is a fixed length section which is printed at the top of each page. There is no special Control to signify the Header section. It will continue until the first Body control is encountered.
Body: This is a variable length section which consists of individual records usually from a file. The number of records which need to be printed will determine both the length of this section and whether additional pages are needed to complete the printing of these lines. The variable liens on the invoice are the billing detail entries and the free-form text lines. The following controls can be used in the Body section of an invoice format:
&V - This signifies a Variable Line which will print the Billing Detail lines. Multiple Variable line controls signify a structure consisting of more than one line for each billing detail line encountered.
&D - This signifies the Variable Description Line which will print the Description Lines (free-form text lines entered during the billing process). This shows the location of the full line Description variable in the Billing Charges File.
&T - This signifies a Totals Line which immediately follows the last variable line. All formats can use multiple Totals Line controls to signify a Totals structure consisting of more than one line.
&E - This signifies the Summary Invoice File information line. NOTE: This control is used with Summary Invoice Formats only.
&S - This signifies the Summary Invoice File Totals line. NOTE: This control is used with Summary Invoice Formats only.
NOTE: The Commission lines in the Billing Charges File will not print on an invoice.
Footer: This is a fixed length section which will only print on the last page of the invoice. This section is started by using the &F control. If an invoice needs more than one page, then blank lines will be placed at the bottom of all of the invoice forms in place of the Footer. The Footer will only print on the last invoice page. The &Z control is recognized but it should be used only for 11" continuous invoices or for Laser Printer forms. There are two controls used in the Footer section.
&F - This control signifies the beginning of the fixed length Footer section.
&Z - This control will force the printer to issue a Form Feed at this point. All entries below this control will be ignored. This control should be used only for individual forms or for continuous forms which are exactly 11" long. It MUST be used with Laser Printer Forms. NOTE: Standard 11 inch length forms (66 lines at 6 lines per inch) which use this control "&Z" to indicate the last printable line on the form need to have the form length set to 66 for dot-matrix printers or 59 for Laser printers.
Controls: The report formatter must be informed of the location of each of the sections on the report. This is done through the use of Controls. All of these Controls consist of an "&" followed by a letter, e.g., &Z. All Controls must start in column #1 or they will be ignored. All of the Controls except &Z can have text and Data Replacement Variables following them. The control will be removed from the report display line.
Replacement Variables: The contents of the report are the various fields in the A/R Master File, Customer Name File, Branch Name File, and the Invoice Billing Charges Detail files. These fields are placed on the report by the use of Data Replacement Variables. These are a two-characters code surrounded by brackets (e.g., [A1]). The left bracket ([) signifies the start of the variable replacement and the right bracket (]) signifies the end of the variable replacement. The minimum size for any data replacement variable is 4 and the maximum size of any variable is 60. The variables along with their exact size can be positioned on the form for you by using the Variables button.
You may use the generic Invoice Formats and Summary Invoice Formats which are included in the Accounts Receivable Manager module for a sample of how each type of Invoice is formatted.
