Customer and supplier contracts are used for automatic invoicing at regular or irregular intervals based on the use or provision of services.
Under customer contracts, you are the supplier and you generate invoices for your customers based on defined contracts — these are therefore outgoing invoices.
Conversely, with supplier contracts, you are the customer and you have a contract with your suppliers for a service (or goods), on the basis of which you generate incoming invoices.
Before you start working in the contracts module, we recommend watching the video tutorial or reading the written guide below it on creating your first contract.
Using the example below, we will walk through a practical case of regular monthly invoicing in advance.
First, we will create a contract type (Business Partners -> Customer Contract Types):
Name - Service Provision
Code - SERVICE_PROVISION (filled in automatically)
Invoice type - ADVANCE:Advance payment - not a tax document
Billing method - in advance
Invoice days in advance - 14 (it is reasonable for this value to be greater than the invoice due date)
Turnover day - 1 (we want documents to always be issued on the first day of the calendar month)
Now we will create the first contract (Business Partners -> Customer Contracts):
Contract type - Flexi Service Provision
Company - select a company from your address book
Contract number - 1
Billing frequency (months) - 1 (0 = one-time; 1 = monthly; 2 = once every 2 months; ..)
And we will add a new contract line item:
Label - Flexi
Name - Flexi License
Manual price - Yes
Unit price - 1,000
Price type - excluding VAT
VAT rate - standard
Now click the Generate Invoices button and the invoice will be created.
Both customer and supplier contracts contain a number of fields, and the meaning of each one has not been covered in either of the guides above. Detailed documentation with explanations of the individual fields can be found at the links below.
If the basic guides were not sufficient for your invoicing needs and the contract setup is more complex in certain respects, please review the specific contract examples and focused use cases described below.
Contract examples
Example using the turnover day (invoicing for each month)
Turnover day field (start of billing period): 10.3.2013;
end of billing period: 9.4.2013;
Invoice days before/after field: 10 days after;
invoice generation date: 20.4.2013
Example using the turnover month (invoicing for a quarter, half-year, or full year)
Turnover month field (start of billing period): 10.3.2013;
end of billing period: 9.9.2013;
Invoice days before/after field: 10 days after;
invoice generation date: 20.9.2013
How do I cancel an invoice that was generated by mistake?
Every generated invoice is linked to a contract, so if it was created in error, it must be deleted.
1. In the menu Business Partners – Customer Contracts or Supplier Contracts, click on the relevant contract.
2. Open the individual line items on the Standard Contract Items tab.
3. In the line item detail, on the Details tab, adjust the value in the End of Last Billing Period field (move it back by one period).
4. Before creating a new invoice, delete the originally generated invoice (in the given contract, click the Invoices button and delete the record).
How do I record an amendment to a contract?
A situation may arise where, for example, a different amount will be charged for electricity starting from the following month.
1. In the menu Business Partners – Customer Contracts, click on the relevant contract.
2. Open the individual line items on the Standard Contract Items tab.
3. In the line item detail, on the Basic tab, fill in the Valid Until field.
4. Click the Save and Close button.
5. Create a new standard contract line item — on the Basic tab, enter a value in the Valid From field, and for reference, enter the amendment number in the Texts tab.
6. Save the record using the Save button.
How do I link a contract to a specific object (e.g. a transmitter)? How can you find out which objects are linked to individual contracts?
1. In the menu Business Partners – Supplier Contracts, open the specific contract.
2. At the top, click the Show User Links icon.
3. The currently recorded links between individual objects and the specific contract will be displayed.
4. Click the New button.
5. A wizard will open — set the Link Type field (values can be added via the menu Tools – Code Lists – User Link Types) and the Link From Form field.
6. Click the Next button.
7. Based on the form selected in the previous step, the relevant records will be offered — for example, if you selected Company Addresses, a list of all companies recorded in the Flexi system will appear.
8. Select the desired record (e.g. the address of a specific company) by checking the checkbox on the left — this is the record you want to link to the contract.
9. Click the Finish button.
How do I generate a monthly invoice in advance?
You invoice company "X" a monthly amount of CZK 500 for internet service provision. The service is always delivered from the first to the last day of the month, e.g. from 1 February to 28 February. You need to generate an advance invoice for the following month 15 days before the start of the period you want to bill.
Valid From = 15.1.2011
Billing frequency (months) = 1
Turnover day = 1
Invoice days before/after = 15
Billing method = in advance
First invoice date: day the contract was created (after 17.12.2010)
First invoice period: 15.1.2011 to 31.1.2011, amount is prorated by calendar days
Second invoice date: 17.1.2011
Second invoice period: 1.3.2011 to 30.3.2011
How do I generate an annual invoice in advance?
You need to generate an invoice for the entire following year at the beginning of December each year. The contract will not take effect until partway through the first year.
Valid From = 1.2.2011
Billing frequency (months) = 12
Turnover month = 1
Turnover day = 1
Invoice days before/after = 30 days
Billing method = in advance
First invoice date: from 1.12.2010
First invoice period: 1.2.2011 to 31.12.2011
Second invoice date: 1.12.2011
Second invoice period: 1.1.2012 to 31.12.2012
How do I generate an invoice retrospectively each month?
You need to invoice every two months for the previous period. Invoices are generated in January, March, May, etc. If you need to invoice every two months from the contract start date, clear the value in the turnover month field.
Valid From = 15.2.2011
Billing frequency (months) = 2
Turnover month = 1
Turnover day = 15
Billing method = retrospectively
Invoice days before/after = 4
First invoice date: 19.3.2011
First invoice period: 1.2.2011 to 14.3.2011
Second invoice date: 19.5.2011
Second invoice period: 15.3.2011 to 14.5.2011
Automation (API)
The generation of both customer and supplier contracts can be automated via the API. In practice, this means you will no longer need to navigate to the contracts module and manually click the invoice generation button each time.
The API-based invoice generation described above assumes that the contract already exists in Flexi. However, you can also create the contract itself via the API.
If you are unsure how to set up the automation of invoice generation yourself, or do not have a developer available to implement it, you can automate the process using Integromat. Among other things, Integromat can automate countless processes that would otherwise need to be performed manually.
FAQ
The guides above may not cover every specific scenario or frequently asked question.
Browse our FAQ help section, which we continuously expand.
Is there a link between a contract and the invoice generated from it?
How do I set up a customer contract so that the invoice is issued as of a date within the period it covers?
Is it possible to issue multiple invoices with the same variable symbol without having to change it manually each time?
How do I generate an invoice from a contract so that the taxable supply date matches the issue date and the invoice is issued within the period it covers?
How do I generate a new invoice from a contract if one was already generated for the given period but was deleted (incorrectly or accidentally)?
To be able to generate the invoice again, you must clear the "End of Last Billing Period" field on the contract line item under the Details tab.