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226 Figure 18.1: Process for handling a Sales Order Once the order has been approved, OpenERP will automatically generate an invoice andor a delivery document proposal based on the parameters you set in the order. The invoice will be managed by the system depending on the setting of the field Shipping Policy on the order’s second tab Other Information: • Payment Before Delivery : OpenERP creates an invoice in the Draft state. Once this is confirmed and paid, the delivery is activated. • Invoice on Order After Delivery : the delivery order is produced when the order is validated. A draft invoice is then created when the delivery has been completed. • Shipping Manual Invoice : OpenERP starts the delivery from the confirmation of the order, and adds a button which you manually click when you are ready to create an invoice. • Invoice from Delivery : invoices are created from the picking stage. Note: Delivery of an order The term ‘delivery’ should be taken in the broadest sense in OpenERP. The effect of a delivery depends on the configuration of the sold product. If its type is either Stockable Product or Consumable, OpenERP will make a request for it to be sent for picking. If the product’s type is Service, OpenERP’s scheduler will create a task in the project management system, or create a subcontract purchase order if the product’s Procurement Method is Make to Order. Invoicing after delivery does as it says: invoicing for the services when the tasks have been closed. When you sign a new contract, you can just enter the order into the system and OpenERP will track the order. This works well for small orders. But for large valued service orders, you might want to invoice several times through the contract, for example: • 30 on order, • 40 on completion, • 30 one month after the system has gone into production. In this case you should create several invoices for the one Sales Order. You have two options for this: • Do not handle invoicing automatically from the Sales Order but carry out manual invoicing instead, • Create draft invoices and then link to them in the third tab History of the Sales Order, in the Related Invoices section. When you create an invoice from the order, OpenERP deducts the amounts of the invoices already linked to the order to calculate the proposed invoice value.

18.1.2 Cost-reimbursement contracts

Some contracts are not invoiced from a price fixed on the order but from the cost of the services carried out. That is usually what happens in the building sector or in large projects. The approach you use for this is totally different because instead of using the sales order as the basis of the invoice you use the analytic accounts. For this you have to install the module hr_timesheet_invoice. An analytic account is created for each new contract. The following fields must be completed in this analytic account: 227 • Partner : partner associated with the contract, • Sale Pricelist, • Invoicing. The selection of an invoicing rate is an indirect way of specifying that the project will be invoiced on the basis of analytic costs. This can take different forms, such as delivery of services, purchase of raw materials, and expense reimbursements. Note: Pricelists and billing rates You can select a pricelist on the analytic account without having to use it to specify billing rates. An example of this is a client project that is to be invoiced only indirectly from the analytic costs. Putting the pricelist on the analytic account makes it possible to compare the actual sales with a best case situation where all the services would be invoiced. To get this comparison you have to print the analytic balance from the analytic account. Services are then entered onto timesheets by the various people who work on the project. Periodically the project manager or account manager uses the following menu to prepare an invoice Accounting → Periodical Processing → Billing → Bill Tasks Works. OpenERP then displays all of the costs that have not yet been invoiced. You can filter the proposed list and click the appropriate action button to generate the corresponding invoices. You can select the level of detail which is reported on the invoice, such as the date and details of the services. Figure 18.2: Screen for invoicing services Note: Project Management and analytic accounts Analytic Accounts is only available once you have installed the module account_analytic_analysis. It provides various global financial and operational views of a project manager’s projects. Select an entry and click Invoice analytic lines link on the right of the form. You can then invoice the selected entry by clicking Create Invoices.

18.1.3 Fixed-price contracts invoiced as services are worked

For large-valued projects, fixed-price invoicing based on the sales order is not always appropriate. In the case of a services project planned to run for about six months, invoicing could be based on the following: • 30 on order, • 30 at the project mid-point, • 40 at delivery. Such an approach is often used in a company but there are other options. This method of invoicing can pose many problems for the organization and invoicing of the project: • It is extremely difficult to determine if the project is on track or not. The endpoint is fuzzy, which can result in a tricky discussion with the client at the moment of final invoicing. • If the project takes more or less time than forecast, it will effectively result in under- or over-invoicing during the project.