This article will provide you with a comprehensive guide to Invoicing in LMN for your convenience!
Select from the list below to jump to its spot within the article!
Invoicing Explained
- What are the billing types?
- Using the Invoice Screen
- Invoice Groups
- Viewing + Editing Invoices
- Reviewing + Approving Invoices [in Bulk]
- Invoice Settings
Invoicing
- Creating ad hoc or one-time invoices?
- Exporting Estimates for Invoicing
- Invoicing from Service Estimates
- Invoicing from Standard Estimates
- Marking Invoices as Closed
- How to Merge Invoices
- Generating Invoices
- Invoice Runs
- Invoice Automation
- Bulk Invoicing
What are Billing Types?
Billing Types is set so that you would know how you are charging your customers. You can set the billing types within your Service estimates as "Per Season", "Per Hourly" or "Per Visit":
-
- Per Season - If a service is included in a contract , it will not trigger additional billing since the cost for this service is included in your monthly invoicing.
- Per Visit - This option will not be included in the contract as it will be billed when the service is completed, triggering billing outside of the monthly invoicing.
- Per Hour/Unit - This option will not be included in the contract as it will be billed when the Service is selected for the exact amount of time someone is clocked into the service.
Using the Invoices Screen
From the Invoice list screen, you can open and edit invoices in your list. But you can also use this screen to make fast changes to a list of selected invoices - like changing dates, changing statuses and more.
Use FILTERS to view a specific list of invoices
Using filters, you can view invoices by Invoice Group, for a range of dates, or only invoices with a specific status.
Open an Invoice for Editing or Viewing
To open any invoice to view/edit the details, just click the invoice in the list.
Changing the Status of a List of Invoices
To change the status for a group of selected invoices, follow these steps:
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the invoices you wish to edit
- Once you've selected all your invoices, click the Update Invoices > Change Status button in app bar (along the top of the screen)
- Choose the new status for all the selected invoices
- Click Update when the confirmation screen appears
Changing the Invoice Date for a List of Invoices
To change the status for a group of selected invoices, follow these steps:
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the invoices you wish to change the date
Note: you can only change the date of PENDING invoices. Invoices that are approved, under review or exported will have to be flipped back to Pending before you will be allowed change the date. - Once you've selected all your invoices, click the Update Invoices > Change Date button in app bar (along the top of the screen)
- Choose the new invoice date for all the selected invoices
- Click Update
Preparing a List of Invoices for Quickbooks Export
To add a group of invoices to the queue in order to be exported to Quickbooks, follow these steps
- Make sure all the invoices you want to export have already had their status set to Approved
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the invoices you wish to export to Quickbooks
- Click the Update Invoices > Queue for Export button (located at the top of the screen)
At this point the invoices are ready for export, but they haven't been exported to Quickbooks yet. The next time you sync your invoices to Quickbooks, these invoices will be included in the export. Once successfully exported to Quickbooks, their status will automatically change to Exported.
Printing a List of Invoices
LMN isn't really designed to print/send invoices - we strongly recommend you do this from your accounting software. However, you can print invoices if you need to - or if you find them easier to review and approve this way.
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the invoices you wish to print
- Click the Print button (located at the top of the screen)
- Choose the Standard option, or the Letterhead option. The letterhead option keeps the top of the page clear, in case you're printing on company letterhead
- Click Generate. Your invoice printout(s) will be generated - click View to view or print your invoices
Deleting a List of Invoices
You can also delete lists of invoices from this screen - handy if you've made a mistake on a bunch of invoices.
Note that you can only delete invoices whose status are Pending. If you wish to delete invoices that are approved or under review, you must first set their status back to Pending.
- Use the checkboxes on the left to select the invoices you wish to print
- Click the Delete button (located at the top of the screen)
- Type DELETE in the confirmation box, then delete button.
The invoices you selected will be permanently deleted. Also, any timesheet billing information or monthly invoices that were deleted will be reset to Unbilled; they will show up again for billing the next time you go to generate invoices.
Invoice Groups
Setting up Invoice Groups and be very beneficial, and make invoicing easier by chunking like type of customers or billing styles in groups, so that you can invoice a whole group at a time!
To Setup Invoice Groups:
- Login to LMN
- Click Invoice
- Click Invoice Groups
- Click +NEW in the top right corner
- Enter in the Group Name that you would like for this particular group i.e. Maintenance
- Click on the Invoice Group Name to add jobs into your group. You can search Jobsite, Task name & activity name using the search bar provided.
- To add a Jobsite to the group, simply click on the jobsite(s) you wish to add from the left side menu and it will automatically go over to the right side.
- To remove any Jobsites from a group, click on the Jobsite(s) you want to remove on the right side menu and it will automatically move back over to the left.
- Click SAVE.
To view a video tutorial about Invoice Groups, click HERE
Viewing + Editing Invoices
Once you build contracts and generate your invoices for your completed work there are several ways to access and edit those invoices before you get paid and make money! This article will first show you how to access those invoices and then how to edit those invoices before you export them to QuickBooks for payment or complete the final transaction manually.
Viewing Invoices
Via the Invoicing Screen:
- Click on INVOICE on the left side menu > Invoice List
- Click on a CUSTOMER INVOICE
- You can edit your invoice (must be in Pending Status to edit*) from this screen by simply clicking on any field that you want to edit
Via the Jobs Screen:
- Click on JOBS on the left side menu > Click on Job List
- Click into a JOB
- Click on Invoicing > Invoices
- Click into a CUSTOMER INVOICE
- You can edit your invoice from this screen by simply clicking on any field that you want to edit
Note: If you want to edit the Billing or Jobsite Address, you will have to go into the CRM Tool to update. This will automatically update your estimate, contract and invoice.
Editing Invoices
- The Acctng#, PO# and Contract # come from the contact that you created for that job, but they are not mandatory.
- VERY IMPORTANT: LMN generates an invoice # for you. When you export an invoice to QuickBooks it will also generate a QB invoice number which will translate back to the Acctng Inv# on your LMN invoice. This is because your QuickBooks invoice should take precedent for accounting purposes and we do not want to mess up that process. If you need more clarification on this please contact LMN support.
- After an invoice is created you can add additional line items to it. This will not interfere with your original contract details from an estimating point of view. It will only affect your actual billing. You can do this by clicking the Add New Item in an invoice as show below.
- The last step is to Approve and Export (to QuickBooks) if you have the security privileges to do so.
- There is also a Print option which is available if you do not use QuickBooks and/or prefer to approve invoices by paper methods as shown below.
- Underneath the Account Invoice Number field, you'll see an 'Online Payments' readout. This can be used to check whether credit/debit and/or ACH will be accepted as methods of online payment against this invoice.
- By mousing over the Payment Methods readout, you can see information about whether the online payment settings applicable to this invoice were pulled from the universal settings (see LMN Pay: A Guide), or from the customer level if a customization exists there (see CRM: A Guide).
- You may also use the green Edit button to override the pulled-in acceptability settings at the level of this individual invoice.
Reviewing + Approving Invoices [in Bulk]
This article will show you how to set the review and approved statuses for your invoices within LMN.
How to Review & Approve Invoices
Reviewing & Approving invoices will automatically change the status on the invoice.
- LOGIN to LMN
- Click on Invoice, then Invoice List
- Click on the invoice you wish to Review or Approve > Select Update Invoices > Change Status
- Click on the REVIEW or APPROVE button on the bottom task bar, then Update *Note: You must have the appropriate permission levels to change the status of an invoice.
Invoice Settings
There are a couple of fields which will print on your Invoices and these fields are customizable by company. To set your Invoice Settings, follow the steps below:
- In LMN, click on the Settings wheel on the bottom left of your screen
- Click on Invoice Settings
- Add the following fields, based on your company information:
- Invoice Prefix - This will be listed at the beginning of each Invoice Number. Some companies choose to use the calendar year, while other companies may use an Alfa-Numeric code.
- Next Invoice Number - This will be the next number LMN will use for Invoicing. Some companies choose to adjust this number based on their existing Invoicing numbering system and other companies choose to simply increase the number from one so it does not look like this is their first generated invoice.
- Default Contract Start/End Dates - When you add a contract manually in LMN, by default LMN will go by the dates indicated here. You will have the opportunity to adjust these dates in the LMN Contracts specifically. You will need to change these defaults as the season/estimating times change (ie. when you begin creating your Snow Jobs, it may be worth changing your Default Contract dates).
- Default Invoice Terms - How many days before the invoice becomes "overdue".
- Invoice Note (1, 2 and 3) - Invoice Notes will allow you to add text to your printed Invoices. Some companies choose to use these fields for Tax Numbers, Business Identification Number, Association Memberships, etc.
To view a video tutorial about Invoice Settings, click HERE
Creating ad hoc or one-time invoices
Sometimes, you may have completed a job without needing or wanting to track time on it but you would like to invoice the customer separately.
You can create this ad hoc or one-time invoice by going into LMN > Job List > search for the job > Invoices > + Invoice (at the top right corner) to create an invoice from there
On the next screen, type in the information on what you need to charge the customer by clicking on +New Item, then choosing the crew lead, cost code, quantity, rate and adding tax or no tax etc.
Under Invoice Actions, you can then set the invoice to be Approved. The invoice should also appear on your Invoice List section.
Exporting Estimates for Invoicing
When you export an Estimate into LMN to create a Job, you will see some new information displayed in the job itself. Please see a summary of this information, below.
Contract
- Your contract from the Estimate will come over into the Job under the Invoicing Tab
Estimate
Jobs
- Once exported, any changes to the contract will need to be done in the LMN Job: Invoicing Tab; the contract in the Estimate will be frozen (see below).
Services
- Any Service Types indicated in your Estimate will come over as Services in your job.
Estimate
Job
- The Est Visits, Invoice Type and Price (if applicable) associated in the Estimate will be the same in your Job.
- Anything that comes over as Included, was marked as Billing Type: Per Season in the estimate. Since it is included in the monthly billing, you will not see a Price indicated here.
- Anything that comes over as Hourly, was marked as Billing Type: Per Hour/Unit in the estimate. The price for these items will indicate Hourly Rates since the rate was determined in the estimate.
- Anything that comes over as Billed Per Visit, was marked as Billing Type: Per Visit in the estimate. The price for these items will indicate the pricing from the estimate (see below).
Estimate
Job
Hourly Rates
- Once imported, any rates in the job will be automatically added into the Job under Hourly Rates.
Estimate
Job
Invoicing from Service Estimates
Now you can send invoices to your customers 10x faster without having to setup a job. Create invoices from contract schedule payments within your LMN Estimate. This will allow you to easily collect pre-job payments (deposits) from your customers right away!
- Manage your invoices from estimates with the ability to edit, approve, and sync invoices to QuickBooks.
- Add, edit, delete payments for invoices and send them to the customer portal or via email for payment.
- Assign multiple crew leads, an account manager or salesperson to track Staff Revenue Goals.
Invoicing for Service Estimates
Once you build contracts and generate your invoices for your completed work there are several ways to access and edit those invoices before you get paid and make money! This article will first show you how to create invoices from your Estimates and then how to edit those invoices before you export them to QuickBooks for payment or complete the final transaction manually.
Generating Invoices:
In order to invoice with LMN, you must first create a contract for the estimate.
- In your estimate, open your Contract tab
- Click on Create a contract for the estimate and select either calculate payments (simple) or calculate payments (by cost code). In the example below, we will be using calculate payments (simple). LMN will generate all of the monthly payments based on the number of payments selected and the total seasonal price. In this case, the monthly contract has been split into 12 payments. Each payment will be separated into its own invoice.
- Ensure that the payment total equals the contract total.
- When we click Recalc Payments (simple), you will see that your contract has been updated to include 12 monthly invoices with 12 separate payments.
- The invoice date is set based on the date selected within the Contract Details section under Day of Month. If you want to change the date that the invoice goes out to your customer, click the calendar button and change the date. Or use the dropdown within Day of Month to apply the selected date to all the invoices.
- To generate this invoice click on Invoice on the right-hand side. You will be asked if you wish to generate an invoice for this payment, click on Yes.
- You can edit your invoice from this screen by simply clicking on any field that you want to edit. Then once you are done editing, you can click on Invoice Actions to set the invoice to review status or approved status. You also have the option to print the invoice as well. Now our estimate is set up with a contract and invoice - if you do decide to export this estimate to LMN, the invoice will already be set up.
- You can also assign multiple crew leads, an account manager or salesperson within the invoice to track Staff Revenue Goals.
Editing Invoices:
- The Acct#, PO# and Contract # come from the contact that you created for that job, but they are not mandatory.
- VERY IMPORTANT: LMN generates an invoice # for you. When you export an invoice to QuickBooks it will also generate a QB invoice number which will translate back to the Acctng Inv# on your LMN invoice. This is because your QuickBooks invoice should take precedent for accounting purposes and we do not want to mess up that process. If you need more clarification on this please contact LMN support.
- After an invoice is created you can add additional line items to it. This will not interfere with your original contract details from an estimating point of view. It will only affect your actual billing. You can do this by clicking the Add New Item in an invoice as show below.
- The last step is to Approve and Export (to QuickBooks) if you have the security privileges to do so.
- There is also a Print option which is available if you do not use QuickBooks and/or prefer to approve invoices by paper methods as shown below.
To view a video tutorial about Invoicing Service Jobs, click HERE
Invoicing from Standard Estimates
Now you can send invoices to your customers 10x faster without having to setup a job. Create invoices from contract payment milestones as well as contract schedule payments within LMN Estimating. This will allow you to easily collect pre-job payments (deposits) from your customers right away!
- Manage your invoices from estimates with the ability to edit, approve, and sync invoices to QuickBooks.
- Add, edit, delete payments for invoices and send them to the customer portal or via email for payment.
- Assign multiple crew leads, an account manager or salesperson to track Staff Revenue Goals.
Invoicing for Standard Estimates
Once you build contracts and generate your invoices for your completed work there are several ways to access and edit those invoices before you get paid and make money! This article will first show you how to create invoices from your Estimates and then how to edit those invoices before you export them to QuickBooks for payment or complete the final transaction manually.
Generating Invoices:
- In your estimate, open your Contract tab
- Click on Create a contract for this estimate and add payment milestones. In the example below, 3 payment milestones have been added to our contract. Each payment will be separated into its own invoice.
- Ensure that the payment total equals the contract total.
- When you click add in the bottom right corner, you will see that your contract has been updated to include 3 invoices with 3 separate payments.
- To set the invoice date, click on Ready as shown below. From here, select the date using the calendar button here and then click Ok.
- To generate this invoice click on Invoice on the right-hand side. You will be asked if you wish to generate an invoice for this payment, click on Yes.
- You can edit your invoice from this screen by simply clicking on any field that you want to edit. Then once you are done editing, you can click on Invoice Actions to set the invoice to review status or approved status. You also have the option to print the invoice as well. Now your estimate is set up with a contract and invoice and if you do decide to export this estimate to LMN, the invoice will already be set up.
- You can also assign multiple crew leads, an account manager or salesperson within the invoice to track Staff Revenue Goals.
Editing Invoices:
- The Acct#, PO# and Contract # come from the contact that you created for that job, but they are not mandatory.
- VERY IMPORTANT: LMN generates an invoice # for you. When you export an invoice to QuickBooks it will also generate a QB invoice number which will translate back to the Acctng Inv# on your LMN invoice. This is because your QuickBooks invoice should take precedent for accounting purposes and we do not want to mess up that process. If you need more clarification on this please contact LMN support.
- After an invoice is created you can add additional line items to it. This will not interfere with your original contract details from an estimating point of view. It will only affect your actual billing. You can do this by clicking the Add New Item in an invoice as show below.
- The last step is to Approve and Export (to QuickBooks) if you have the security privileges to do so.
- There is also a Print option which is available if you do not use QuickBooks and/or prefer to approve invoices by paper methods as shown below.
To view a video tutorial about Invoicing Design-Build jobs, click HERE
Marking Invoices as Closed
Admin can mark Invoice as closed to indicate payment was received. It is not mandatory, it is just an extra option to add an extra layer of accountability to make sure you do not miss any billing.
To mark Invoice as Closed:
- From the Invoice List, use the checkbox to select all or select individually Invoice(s) that are ready to be APPROVED.
- Click Update Invoices button > Change Status and set to APPROVED.
- Once Invoice is APPROVED and/or EXPORTED to QuickBooks, Admin can mark Invoice(s) as CLOSED to track that payment was received.
How to Merge Invoices
You may have different jobs that need to be invoiced for a particular client, or even multiple invoices within the same job that need to be sent out; Rather than receiving multiple invoices, the customer may prefer receiving only one. Follow these simple steps for merging your invoices;
Please Note: once merged, it can not be unmerged. So, make sure you are sure on the action you are about to perform!
- Click on INVOICE on the left side menu >Invoice List
- From the Invoice List, ensure you have set your search filters correctly, and use the checkbox to select all, or select individually, Invoice(s) that you wish to have merged then click Merge button - Note that only invoices under "Pending" status can be merged
- A new message will pop up, make sure to make the right selections and Click Merge button
- Then, the merged invoice will pop up > Check all the details, and click the Save button
Generating Invoices
Click on Invoices on the left of your screen. You will then see the generate tab on the drop down menu. The Generate screen is a compiled list of your invoices that are ready to be created, all information is automatically populated here for your convenience! Additionally, deleting an invoice from your job, will send the invoice back to the Generate screen to be re-created when you are ready.
From here you will want to follow these steps:
- Select the date range you want LMN to search for invoices. Extending your date range is a great way to ensure no bills have been missed.
- Select which Invoice Group you want to search for.
- Select your Filter from the following:
- All Billable
- Only Monthly Charges
- Only Billable Extras
Once you have selected the above, click Update. LMN will produce a list of jobs that have invoices matching your search criteria that have not been invoiced yet. Check off which invoices you want to run - by default they will all be selected for you.
A job with a gold flag means there is an invoice marked for review. If you click on the job, you'll see an invoice with a gold flag signaling which invoice should be reviewed carefully.
By clicking on a job you will also see all of the invoice-able work included in your search criteria.
- Individual invoices can be checked on or off depending if they're ready to be ran or not
- The Service header outlines what service was performed (Contract, Activity, Service, or Hourly)
- If you need to adjust the Quantity in your invoice to round up or down, for example, you can click the Edit button next to the invoice and change the quantity there.
- The Total reflects your Pre-Tax Total for the invoice
- T-Sheet indicates the status of your timesheet that invoice was pulled from. *Please note: Best practice is to only run invoices from Approved Timesheets and In Progress timesheets will not show up here.*
If you want to run an individual invoice and not your whole list you can do so by clicking the +Invoice button.
Once these invoices have been reviewed and you're ready to run them, click on the Invoice Run button at the top right of your screen.
After clicking +Invoice or Invoice Run and you're ready to export your generated invoices!
Invoice Runs
Invoice Runs is a very simple concept; it’s a collection of invoices that were all created at the same time.
How to View Invoice Runs
- LOGIN to LMN
- Click Invoice
- Click Invoice Runs
- Here you will see all of your Invoice Runs. Anytime you Generate one or multiple invoices it will collaborate those invoices into a single run so you can look back at a specific date and time and user name, and see the invoices generated within that date and time.
- Show Runs by User drop down: Will filter the run by user
- Date Range: Filter by date range
- If you select a specific run, it will take you to a view of all the individual invoices that were generated at this date and time.
- From here you can select a specific Invoice and make any edits or changes that you please to that specific invoice.
How To Delete Invoice Runs
- Click the Revert icon
- This run will be deleted and your invoices will go back to the GENERATE tab
- If you have clicked on the invoice, deleted the invoice you will see 0 beside that run, which you can then click the Revert button to remove that run.
To view a video tutorial about Invoice Runs, click HERE
Invoice Automation
Automated invoicing will improve the efficiency of your business, and simplify the task of billing your customers for the work you've done. Follow this guide to learn:
1) How to create an invoice schedule for monthly billing.
2) How Hourly and Per Visit billing can be automated through timesheet activity, powered by the LMN Crew App.
Using timesheet activity for invoice automation and understanding invoice schedule will reduce the need for manual entry, saving you hours of administrative time.
Invoice Schedule for Monthly Billing
In order for a job to generate an Invoice, it must be set up for invoicing.
Step 1: Click Jobs > Job List and select the job you would like to invoice
Step 2: Click Invoice Activation and Click Setup Job For Invoicing
Step 3: Click > Invoice Schedule > Determine the number of monthly invoices. You can also pick what day of the month you would like invoices to be dated for. Then Click > Calculate > OK
The Invoice schedule will auto-populate with entries that reflect the number of invoices you selected with equal distribution of the total contract price. Ensure you hit Save.
Invoice Automation for Hourly Billing
Unlike the above example, jobs that are billed Hourly or Per Visit (per occurrence) are automated by timesheet activity. This action is done via the LMN Crew App by the foreman logging activity.
In this example, the screenshots will reflect how punching out of a task via LMN Crew App on an hourly billed job will trigger an invoice on the administrative side for office staff to review and approve.
Step 1: Jobs > Jobs List > Invoice Activation > Setup Job For Invoicing
Step 2: Activate hourly billing. Click Tasks > Select a Task and check-off Track hours and rates for billing-by-the-hour
Step 3: Click Invoice Activation and Click Setup Job For Invoicing (select the appropriate Sales tax, if applicable. No further action is needed i.e no invoice schedule if billing is hourly)
Now that hourly billing has been enabled, staff in the field can trigger invoices through timesheet activity on the LMN Crew App.
Step 4: Login to the LMN Crew App and track your hours on the job as shown below
Step 5: Once the timesheet has been submitted an entry will be added automatically under Invoice > Generate, reflecting the number of hours and the preselected labor rate
From this point, you can create an Invoice Run. It is good practice to Review Timesheets and invoices prior to approval to avoid discrepancies in the billing process.
To view a video tutorial about Invoicing Hourly, click HERE
Invoice Automation for Per Visit Billing
Per Visit billing is activated differently than Hourly billing.
Step 1: Jobs > Jobs List > Invoice Activation > Setup Job For Invoicing
Step 2: Activate Per Visit billing. Click Services > Select a Service and use the dropdown menu to select Billed Per Visit
Step 3: Click Invoice Activation and Click Setup Job For Invoicing (select the appropriate Sales tax, if applicable. No further action is needed i.e no invoice schedule if billing is per visit)
Note: You can choose what information you wish to display on the invoice with regards to the service via the Service Dates option.
Moving forward, Per Visit billing will be triggered similarly to "Hourly". As opposed to preselected hourly rates, work will be billed based on per visit price, which is tracked through timesheet activity. The invoice will be triggered once the foreman or crew lead checks off the service as "Complete" in the LMN Crew mobile APP:
To view a video tutorial about Invoicing Per Visit, click HERE
Bulk Invoicing
Follow this guide to learn how to invoice in bulk. Invoicing in bulk will save you hours of administrative time, reducing the need to generate or update each invoice manually.
Bulk Invoicing
Step 1: Simply log in to yourLMN Account and click Invoice > Generate
Step 2: Select the date range you want LMN to search for invoices. Extending your date range is a great way to ensure no bills have been missed
Step 3: Select which Invoice Group you want to search for.
Step 4: Select your Filter from the following:
- All Billable
- Only Monthly Charges
- Only Billable Extras
Once you have selected the above, click Update. LMN will produce a list of jobs that have invoices matching your search criteria that have not been invoiced yet.
Step 5: Select the invoices which you would like to generate by clicking the check box to the left of the invoice name (by default, they will all be selected for you). Once they are all selected, click > +Invoice Run (A pop-up will appear asking you if you would like to generate an invoice run. Click > OK) You will then be redirected to your Invoice Runs
Step 6: From here, you will be able to see the invoice run that you have just generated, along with a list of past invoice runs below it. Click the Invoice Run that you have just generated
Step 7: You will now be able to see a list of all the invoices in your invoice run. You can update your invoices in bulk by checking off the box to the left of the invoice name and clicking Update Invoices. A drop-down menu will appear with a list of options to choose from:
- Change Status (Pending, Review, Approved, Closed)
- Change Date
- Export to QB (Ensure Invoice status is set to Approved)
- Set to Exported (Ensure Invoice status is set to Approved)
- Set to Closed (Ensure Invoice status is set to Approved)
- Send/Publish Invoices - This will publish the invoice to the customer portal. (Ensure Invoice status is set to Approved)
- Send Invoice Reminders (Ensure Invoice status is set to Approved)
- Hide from Portal - This will unpublish the selected invoices from the Customer Portal. Useful if changes need to be made to the Invoice
Step 8: Once your updates have been made, click > Update to save your changes
If you require further assistance, please contact our Support Team via email at support@golmn.com or reach out to us through our Live Chats feature or by Phone: (888) 347-9864!
Comments