Quote to cash
Quote to cash is the path you follow with every sale: record the customer, make an offer, bill it, collect the money and, when needed, correct a charge. This page shows which record you use at each step and how they connect.
How it fits together
Section titled “How it fits together”- An account is your customer, and a contact is a person there who receives your documents. Create the account first.
- An opportunity is optional. Use it to keep a deal together while you work on it; it can hold several quotations — a revised offer, an alternative or a follow-on sale.
- A quotation is your offer, before the customer owes anything. It is optional too: you can create an invoice directly, and you can raise several invoices from one quotation when you bill a project in stages.
- An invoice is what the customer must pay.
- A receipt records money you receive. One receipt can pay several of the customer’s invoices, and money left over stays on the account for a later invoice or a refund.
- A credit note reduces one issued invoice when a charge needs correcting. Credit it does not use there can go to another invoice or be refunded.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”While an invoice is a draft, you can change anything on it. When you issue it, it takes its number and its amounts are locked; from then on, only payments and credit notes change what the customer owes. To correct an issued invoice, issue a credit note rather than editing it, so the customer’s documents and statement stay consistent.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”The amounts below include GST at 9%.
One transfer, three invoices
Section titled “One transfer, three invoices”Harbour Café pays SGD 4,000.00 by one bank transfer for three invoices. Here is how to record it and what you will see.
- In Invoices, tick Harbour Café’s three invoices and select Record receipt (3).
- Enter SGD 4,000.00 as the Amount received, with the date and the bank reference. easySales applies the money to the invoice due first, then the next.
- Select Save receipt.
| Invoice | Outstanding before | Applied | Afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| INV-7001, due first | SGD 1,090.00 | SGD 1,090.00 | Paid |
| INV-7002 | SGD 2,180.00 | SGD 2,180.00 | Paid |
| INV-7003 | SGD 2,180.00 | SGD 730.00 | Partial Paid, SGD 1,450.00 outstanding |
| Total | SGD 4,000.00 | One receipt, RCT-10000001 |
The receipt lists all three invoices. Had the transfer been SGD 5,500.00, all three would show Paid and the extra SGD 50.00 would stay on Harbour Café’s account as unapplied money, ready for its next invoice or a refund.
A return after part payment
Section titled “A return after part payment”North Point Clinic has paid SGD 1,090.00 of invoice INV-12001 (SGD 2,000.00 plus GST of SGD 180.00: SGD 2,180.00). It returns goods worth SGD 1,200.00 plus GST of SGD 108.00. Here is how to credit the return and what you will see.
- Open INV-12001, select its Credit notes tab and select New credit note.
- Choose the reason Goods returned, add the returned lines — SGD 1,308.00 in all — and select Save draft.
- Select Issue and confirm.
| What you see | Amount | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Credit applied to INV-12001 | SGD 1,090.00 | The most the invoice still owed |
| INV-12001 status | Credited | A credit note, not money, cleared the rest |
| Remaining on the credit note | SGD 218.00 | SGD 1,308.00 less SGD 1,090.00 |
| Most you can refund | SGD 218.00 | Never more than the credit left, or than the invoice actually received |
You can then apply the SGD 218.00 to the clinic’s next invoice or refund it — one or the other, not both. The credit note is allowed even though part of the invoice was paid: it may be as large as the invoice’s own total, less any credit notes already issued against it.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- An issued invoice’s amounts cannot be edited. Correct them with a credit note, or void the invoice if none of it should stand.
- A receipt belongs to the account, so it can pay any of that customer’s open invoices in the same currency.
- Credit left on a credit note, or money left on a receipt, can be used on another invoice or refunded — not both.
- Account / Contact: The customer, and a person connected to it.
- Opportunity: An optional container for a deal, which can hold more than one quotation.
- Quotation: An offer describing what you propose to supply and on what terms.
- Invoice: A request for payment for a confirmed sale.
- Receipt / Unapplied money: Money received, spread across several invoices if needed; what is left unused is kept as account credit.
- Outstanding balance: The part of an invoice that remains unpaid and uncredited.
- Credit note / Refund: A document reducing one issued invoice, and money paid back out of its or a receipt’s leftover balance.
Common misunderstandings
Section titled “Common misunderstandings”- A quotation does not mean the customer already owes you money. The invoice creates the amount to collect.
- A receipt is not tied to only one invoice, and anything left over stays on the account rather than disappearing.
- A credit note does not erase an invoice. The original stays as issued, and the correction is recorded separately.
- An opportunity is not required to raise a quotation or an invoice.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”Start by creating the customer in Accounts, then add the people you work with in Contacts. Quotations, invoices, receipts and credit notes then follow from those records.