In connection with the launch of the new invoice distribution solution, there will be five new options grouped as "Distribution settings" under the Settings menu in the invoice module. These options are Setup, Templates, Email, Printers, and Distribution Run. Here we review the settings available under the various buttons.
NOTE: Customer-level distribution settings in CRM will no longer apply after conversion to new invoice distribution.
Layout
Activate
The new invoice distribution is activated here. Click the Enable button to start using the new invoice distribution.
Disable Billing
Click "Disable Billing" to temporarily stop the ability to bill on the client. This will result in users trying to bill being notified that billing is disabled. It will still be possible to create orders in the system. The purpose of temporarily stopping invoicing is to prevent invoices from being sent out via the new invoice distribution before you have set up all settings and templates in the way you want, and are ready to start.
Painter
The system offers several different standard templates that can be used for both printing and PDF generation of orders and invoices. In invoicing, the system automatically generates a PDF based either on the current default template for the client, or on which rule is defined for that client. For orders, choose template when downloading or sending order via email.
If you want to change one of the default templates, you do this by first selecting the template you want to change, and then clicking "Download". We recommend using OpenOffice Writer as a template editor if major changes are to be made to the template, but the templates are compatible with most word processing programs that support the ODT format, such as. Microsoft Word, when needed for minor changes.
Customize an invoice or order template - step by step
- Select one of the available system templates.
- Select "Download" to store a copy of this template locally on your machine. This copy can be customized and re-uploaded as a new version of the template.
- Insert logo from an image file directly into the template, if desired.
- Make other changes: Add / remove fields from the template, change color scheme etc
- Available fields that can be used when customizing a new template can be found under the "Fields" button and these fields can easily be copied into the template by using CTRL + C on the desired field under "Fields", and then CTRL + V directly in the invoice template.
- Store the custom version of the invoice template locally on your machine.
- Under New Templates, click New to upload the custom template.
- Click the Change Template icon (pencil and paper) or double-click the template to adjust the name, change the default template, or set rules for the template. It is not possible to change the system templates.
- Click the Delete icon (delete) to delete a custom template. It is not possible to delete the system templates.
Policy
All custom templates can be configured to be used automatically when an invoice meets one or more criteria set up under Rules. Available rules are Country, Language, and Customer.
Country: When selecting a specific Country, the template will be used when printing invoices belonging to customers where this country is set up on the CRM customer card.
Language: When selecting a specific Language, the template will be used when printing invoices belonging to customers where this language is set up on the CRM customer card.
Customer: Here you can enter specific customers for which the template should apply. Once you place a customer on a template, you do not need to set rules for either language or country.
Here you can enter text templates used for invoice distribution via email. You can have your own template per language used. One can, for example. have an email template for Norwegian customers whose text is in Norwegian, and a template for English-speaking customers whose text is in English. The system automatically selects template based on "invoice language" under CRM customer card settings. The template can be built up from plain text, in combination with "merge fields" which are replaced by information from the actual invoice at distribution. Eg. then the "DueDate" merge field will be replaced with the actual due date for that invoice.
Add an email template for invoice distribution
We use English language as a starting point for the example below.
- Name: Name the email template, e.g. "English customers"
- Language: Choose which language the email template should apply to ("invoice language" on the customer cards) - Here we set English
- Subject: Enter heading. It is possible to use "merge fields" in the subject field as well. Sample subject field for English customers: Invoice {Number} from {Supplier.Name}
Available "merge fields" that can be used in the email templates are shown to the right of the screen. Click once on the desired field, copy, and paste in the desired location in the text template.
Example of English email template using merge fields:
Hi {Customer.Contact.Name}.
Attached you will find invoice no {Number}, due {DueDate}.
Should you have any questions regarding this invoice, please email us at {Supplier.Contact.Email} or call {Supplier.Contact.Phone} as soon as possible.
Best regards,
{Supplier.Name}
Mail account
By default, the system will distribute email invoices through a system account with the address " noreply@invoice.24sevenoffice.com ". Under Email account settings, you can add your own email account and send invoices via this account instead of the system account. The email account entered here automatically applies to all users in the client when distributing an invoice via email.
The settings consist of the following fields:
Account name: Here you enter the name of the account, e.g. "Bill-mail»
User Information
Name: Here you enter the name that you want to be displayed for the recipient (in the "From field"), eg. "Invoice department" or "Bjørn Bjørnsen".
Email Address: Here you enter the email address to be used for invoice mailings.
Credentials
Username: Here you enter the username of the email account. This information can be obtained from an email provider.
Password: Here you enter the password for the email account. This information can be obtained from an email provider.
server Information
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) : Enter the address of the SMTP server that the system will use for sending mail. This information can be obtained from an email provider.
Port for Email (SMTP) : Enter port number to be used for sending email. This information can be obtained from an email provider.
Use encrypted connection: Here you select the desired encryption level. This information can be obtained from an email provider. You can select "Use automatic encryption SSL / TLS" to set the system to level automatically.
Printers
It is possible to use cloud printing / "ePrint" in the system - "CloudPrint" is one of the new distribution methods that can be defined in a distribution run. Cloud printing involves briefly explaining that you send a document to an email address that is connected to a physical printer, and that the document is automatically printed when the printer receives the document via email. Under the Printers menu, you can enter email addresses configured on printers with cloud print support and then easily select invoice printing via these printers as a distribution channel for billing.
Distribution
Distribution flow is a set of rules for how the system processes an invoice when it is distributed. The races can be organized based on either Country or customer / customer group.
The system has a standard run that will apply to all customers, if you do not enter custom distribution runs. The standard run will initially try to distribute an invoice as EHF, by taking a check against the ELMA register and sending the EHF if the recipient is registered. If the recipient is not registered in the ELMA register, the system will send an invoice as an Email with PDF attachment. Should an email address not be registered on an invoice, it will be automatically printed and mailed by 24SevenOffice's partner ("AutoPost" method).
If you want some customers to be treated differently from the standard rule then a new distribution process must be set up.
Example: If you have customers who require to receive invoices in EHF format, then you may want to set up a separate distribution run for EHF customers - which only contains distribution method "EHF". Furthermore, all customers who require EHF invoices are included as recipients in the new distribution run.
New distribution runs are created as follows:
- Click Add to create a new distribution run
- Name the course, in our example "EHF Only"
- Set the priorities by dragging and dropping the desired distribution method at the desired priority level in the rule hierarchy. In our example, we place "EHF" as the first and only priority.
- Go to the Recipients tab and select which Country, or which customers / customer types, to which the distribution run should apply. Customers are added individually.
- Important: There is also a priority level in the list of Distribution Runs on the left of the screen. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW buttons to move the different distribution runs up or down the hierarchy. The distribution run at the top of the list is used first, and then further down. The standard run is at the bottom of the list, to capture all customers that are not included in the other distribution runs.
When the distribution runs are set up, the system will automatically distribute an invoice according to the current distribution run, provided that the distribution method "Automatic distribution" is defined on an invoice.
Email The
invoice is sent via the email account set up under Email settings, with the invoice PDF attached. The text of the email itself that is sent is controlled by Email Templates under Email Settings.
CloudPrint
Automatic printing via custom cloud print compatible printer - requires you to enter a printer under Printer Settings.