# Create an Invoice

Raise it from the order, or from the part of the order that has actually shipped.

An invoice can be raised at any point, and the useful discipline is billing what has left rather than what was agreed.

## Raise one

- **Open the sales order and create an invoice from it**

  The customer, the lines and the rates carry across, and the two documents stay linked.

  ![The Invoices list with its Invoice action and columns for Invoice Date, Invoice Number, Reference Number, Customer, Status, Total Amount, Balance Due and Due Date.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/invoices/invoices-list.png)
- **Trim to what has shipped**

  If half the order is on backorder, invoicing half is what matches the delivery note the customer is holding.
- **Check the payment terms and the due date**

  Both come from the customer record and both are editable here. The due date is what drives the Overdue by N days label afterwards.
- **Quote their purchase order number**

  It carries across from the sales order. Trade accounts routinely hold payment on an invoice that does not show it.
- **Save, then send it**

  A draft invoice reaches nobody and appears in no balance.

> **Note:**
>
> **An invoice moves no stock**
>
> The shipment already did. Raising, editing or deleting an invoice changes what the customer owes and nothing on any shelf.

## Invoicing before or after the goods

| Order | When it fits |
| --- | --- |
| Ship, then invoice | The normal case. The invoice matches the delivery note |
| Invoice, then ship | Payment up front, or a customer whose process needs the paperwork first |
| Invoice part, ship the rest later | A long order delivered in stages |

> **Tip:**
>
> **Reconcile shipments against invoices monthly**
>
> It is a short comparison and it catches the one failure this module has that costs real money: goods that went out and were never billed for.