Invoicing & Contract Management

To use Change Orders with your Contract Managed Sales Orders, you must have the feature enabled within your Sales Order Type.

To manage your Sales Order Types, navigate to Company > Settings > Accounting > Sales > Sales Orders > Sales Order Types.

When viewing the Sales Order Type Info, toggle the”Show advanced features” checkbox. After this setting is enabled, an additional setting will display to “Turn on contract management“. Once you have selected the “Turn on contract management option, the Change Order requirement for updates on Sales Orders will automatically be activated.

Payment Terms are time conditions on which two parties agree to fulfill a sale by a certain date or period. Payment Terms are available for both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Transactions and will allow your Company to track late Payments in Collections. Learn more about setting up Payment Terms in Striven by reviewing the Payment Terms section in our Accounting Setup Guide.

You can add new Payment Terms from the Payment Terms List. To view Payment Terms use one of the following steps below:

Company > Settings > Accounting > Sales > Invoices > Payment Terms

Company > Settings > Accounting > Sales > Sales Orders > Payment Terms

Company > Settings > Accounting > Purchasing > Bills > Payment Terms

Company > Settings > Accounting > Purchasing > POs > Payment Terms

The default Payment Term for a Sales Order Type can be determined within the General Info section of the Sales Order Type – Info page.

The Payment Term for a n individual Sales Order can be determined at the Sales Order level, by using the Payment Terms field located within the Invoicing section.

Striven can help facilitate your Contract Management and the Sales Orders active Customers have placed. Included with Payment Terms as discussed above, Terms & Conditions are agreed upon by both the seller and buyer upon the point of purchase. Once the Sales Order is approved, it is then considered a Contract and both parties must meet each other’s end of the Sales Order. When at the Terms & Conditions List, individual terms can be edited by clicking on the name. This will initiate a popup as shown below in which you can choose where the Terms & Conditions appear. These include Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, public forms, recruiting, and Surveying. These can be enabled by toggling the appropriate checkbox.

To view Terms & Conditions, navigate to Company > Settings > Accounting > AR > Sales Orders > Terms & Conditions.

To use Terms & Conditions on your Sales Order, your Sales Order Type must have the “Turn on Contract Managed” option toggled.

While Terms & Conditions can be specified for Contract Managed Orders at the Sales Order Type level, you may also choose the Terms & Conditions at the Sales Order creation level using the Sales Order Approval section.

When creating a Contract Managed Sales Order, the Sales Order Approval section of the Order allows you to designate a Can Approve Until date. This option allows you to restrict the ability to approve the Sales Order after a specific date in time.

The Optional Items feature allows configuring a Sales Order to mark specific Items or entire groups as optional, enabling customer choice via the Customer Portal upon approval. This is limited to Contract Managed Sales Orders with an Incomplete, Quoted, or Pending Approval status.

When configuring Sales Orders, the Striven provides advanced flexibility through the management of individual Items and optional Item Groupings. For individual Items within a Sales Order, the system user has the capability to designate them as either optional or to select them as a default inclusion. This granular control allows for tailoring the Sales Order content precisely to the Customer’s needs.

Additionally, the Optional Item Groupings feature provides an extra level of control by allowing related or mutually exclusive optional Items to be bundled. Importantly, this bundling enables the system user to define specific selection rules for the group. These rules govern how a selection must be made from the group (e.g., “select exactly one,” “select a minimum of two,” “select up to three,”). This ensures that complex product configurations or service packages are configured correctly and consistently according to predefined business logic, streamlining the Sales Order creation process and minimizing errors.

The configuration of individual Items or Item Groupings within a Sales Order provides powerful flexibility, particularly through the use of Optional and Default selection settings. This allows for clear communication with the Customer regarding potential additions to the Sales Order without immediately increasing the total amount.

Designating an Individual Item as Optional

Any individual line item on a Sales Order can be marked as Optional. This designation is used when presenting items that the customer may want to consider but are not required for the original purchase.

To successfully mark an individual Item on the Sales Order as Optional:
Identify the specific Item on the Sales Order that you wish to designate as Optional and locate the kebab menu located on the right end of the Line Item row. From the drop-down list, choose Mark as optional to display the Mark Item as Optional popup.

Within this popup window, you will find a checkbox to activate this feature. Checking this box reveals an optional setting to Select this item by default. You can check this second box if you want the Item to be selected automatically on the Sales Order, or leave it unchecked to have no Items selected by default.

• If Selected by Default:
  • The item’s cost will be included in the initial Sales Order total presented to the customer.
  • When the customer views the Sales Order in the Customer Portal for approval, there will be a clear indicator next to the item. This indicator serves two purposes: it confirms that the item is Optional, and it shows that the item has been selected by default. The customer will have the power to easily deselect the item before approval if they choose not to include it.
• If NOT Selected by Default:
  • The item’s cost will not be included in the initial Sales Order total. The displayed SO total reflects only the mandatory and default-selected items.
  • The customer will see the item listed in the Customer Portal as an available option they can add to the order. Since it is not selected by default, the customer must actively check the box to include it, thereby adjusting the final SO total. This mechanism ensures that the initial quote remains minimal while still presenting potential upgrades or auxiliary services.

Designating an Item Group as Optional

Utilizing Item Groups on a Sales Order can be marked as Optional. This designation is used when presenting Grouped Items that the customer may want to consider but are not required for the original purchase.

The process for marking an Item Group as Optional:

First, create an Item Group on a Sales Order.

Then, select Mark as Optional from the Group’s kebab menu.

In the Mark Group as Optional popup, check the box to Mark this group as optional. Then you may set the rules for the Group’s selection.

• All Items will be automatically selected within the Group:If selected, an additional option to Select this Group by default appears.
• User can decide which Items to select::You can set rules like “Select any or none,” “At least ____ selection is required,” “Select any ____,” or “Select up to ____.”

Once your configurations are complete, you may select Save and Close.

A note will then display the applied rules in the Group Header.

Individual items within the Group can also be marked as the default selection using the Line Item’s kebab menu.

Configuring the Approved Order Notifications for Contract Managed Sales Orders is a great way to ensure you are aware each time a Sales Order is approved of the selected type, no matter who the salesperson was. When viewing your Sales Order Type info, use the waffle menu to navigate to the Approved Order Notifications option, then select the Add icon at the top of the page to begin.

When viewing the Sales Order Type – Add Approved Sales Order Notification page, there will be several fields available to you which allow you to configure the notification:

If you wish to restrict the ability to edit attachments on Sales Orders which have already been approved, you can do so with the User Role permission of “Approved Sales Orders – Edit Attachments”. Adding this permission to a User’s Role allows the user to edit or delete attachments on Approved Orders. This can be especially useful in scenarios where the attachments may have sensitive information.

The Internal Quote Review Queue serves as a crucial checkpoint in the sales process, ensuring accuracy and consistency before quotes are presented to Customers. This mechanism allows for an additional layer of oversight, particularly for quotes generated by specific Employees. By routing these quotes through an internal review process, potential errors or inconsistencies can be identified and rectified before they reach the Customer, thereby maintaining the company’s professional image and minimizing the risk of misunderstandings.

To utilize the Internal Quote Review Queue effectively, administrators must configure the system to route quotes from designated Employees into the queue. This is achieved through settings within the Employee’s Profile. Instructions for configuring these settings can be found in the Employee Info section of the Employee Setup Guide, specifically under the Settings area.

To access the Internal Quote Review Queue, navigate to Customers > Sales > Approve Quotes.

To use Change Orders with your Contract Managed Sales Orders, you must have the feature enabled within your Sales Order Type.

To manage Sales Order Types navigate to Company > Settings > Accounting > Sales > Sales Orders > Sales Order Types.

In your Sales Order Type, enable the setting “Show advanced features“. After this setting is enabled, an additional setting will display to “Turn on contract management“. Once selected, the Change Order requirement for updates on Sales Orders will automatically be activated.

To locate a specific Sales Order to create a Change Order, navigate to Customers > Sales > Sales Orders and use the search filters to locate the specific Sales Order that needs to be updated.

To initiate a Change Order, click on the Sales Order Name of an existing Sales Order that is in an Approved or In Progress status and then select the Create Change Order option from the Actions menu.

If the Sales Order is in a Quoted or Pending Approval status, changes can be made without a Change Order. Orders that have been Completed or Closed will need to be reopened in either the Approved or In Progress status to create a Change Order.

Change Order Billing Options offers flexibility in billing for contract-managed one-time change orders. Users have four distinct billing methods to choose from, allowing for better alignment between invoicing and actual operational workflows. This provides users with greater control over the invoicing process.

The Four Billing Options:

A few factors may affect how the Change Order may be created or prepopulated. These factors include, but are not limited to, other Sales Order configurations such as the recurrence of the Order or whether or not the Order is partially invoiced. The following sections will review these different scenarios and how the Change Order will be effected.

Non-Recurring Orders

For Sales Orders that are non-recurring, the Change Order will not populate any of the pre-listed Items from the original Sales Order. Additional Items or amounts can be added to the Change Order as needed.

An Item removal can be completed through a Change Order by selecting the same Item that is listed in the previous Order and changing the quantity to a negative. If needed, a Credit Memo will be created to account for the removal.

Any Invoices or Credit Memos related to this Change Order will be listed within the Related To menu option when viewing the Sales Order.

Recurring Orders

For Sales Orders that are recurring, once you have selected the Create Change Order option in the Actions menu, the previous Items listed on the recurring Order will be listed on the Change Order as well. This allows you to make changes to what is being charged to the Customer on a regular basis.

Once changes are made to either a recurring or non-recurring type of Sales Order, the Approval process will need to be completed again for the changes to take effect.

Change Orders Tab

While viewing a Sales Order, the history can be reviewed by going to the Change Orders tab located in the left-side navigation menu bar of the page. This tab will list out previous versions of the Order with an easy to digest view of pertinent information per version, such as the Status, Total and Effective Date which as detailed below.

The Frequencies page allows you to create and manage existing Frequencies. If you would like to edit an existing Frequency, select the Frequency Name to reconfigure the name, type, or occurrence frequency. To add a new Frequency, select the Plus icon from the top of the page.

When creating a new Frequency, the following fields will be available from the Add Frequency page:

When creating a Recurring Sales Order, the Frequency can be designated from the Invoicing section using the Frequency field. The Frequency field uses a drop-down menu to allow you to choose one of your configured Frequencies. A Plus icon will appear when hovering over the field, which enables you to quickly create a new Frequency.

To create a new Recurring Sales Order: Price Update request, select the Add button located on the left side of the Recurring Sales Orders: Price Updates page.

The Recurring Sales Order: Price Update page offers you options to configure the price updates, the date on which the price change will be effective, and whether an email should be sent to the customer containing a notice about the upcoming price update. Read the section below for additional details regarding the available options from this page.

Selecting Sales Orders to Update

By clicking “Click here to select Sales Orders” text, you may use Report Builder filters to search for the Sales Orders you would like to update. A Select Recurring Sales Orders window allows you to select from Where, Where Either, and Excluding filter types.

After you have selected the filters you would like to use when searching for the Sales Orders to update, select the Save option from the bottom of the window.

Once you have selected Save from the Select Recurring Sales Orders window, the window will close and the selected Sales Orders will be visible on the Recurring Sales Orders: Price Update page using the following options.

Updating Prices

You may choose for Recurring Sales Order to receive a Price Adjustment by Item, or as a percentage increase/decrease to the Sales Order as a whole.

To execute a Price Update to the entire Sales Order, you can use the “Increase/Decrease %” field to enter the percentage by which you would like to adjust the price.

• Note: If you would like to decrease the price, you must enter a minus (“-“) prior to the percentage amount, for example a 15% decrease must be entered as “-15”.

If you would like to update the price of specific items on a Recurring Sales Order, instead of adjusting the entire Sales Order price, you can select the “Update Price Per Item” checkbox. Once the checkbox is selected, you may use the following options to configure the Price Update.

Sending a Price Update Notification upon Executing the Update

To send an email notifying your Customers of the upcoming Price Updates, you may select the “Send Email” checkbox. Upon selecting this option, fields will appear allowing you to select the Sender, Recipient, and Subject of the email. The Email body may be customized using a rich text editor and merge fields.

A Sales Order may be manually invoiced by choosing the Invoice option from the Sales Order Actions menu located on the top navigation bar of an Order.

Upon saving the created Invoice, if the Sales Order has been fully invoiced, you will be presented with a pop-up window asking if you would like to mark the Sales Order as Completed. This option allows you to streamline the process of updating the Sales Order status, as you can also select the “Send status update email” checkbox to deliver the status change to your Customer.

Users may manually create Invoices for Recurring Sales Orders that are not configured with automatic invoicing. For access to this option, your User Role must include the “Sales Orders – Edit Billing Method” permission.

Settings for this new feature will be configured at the Sales Order Type level. From the Sales Order Type Info page, you can create a new type to use this option. After turning on Contract Management, you can set the Invoicing Type to Recurring. The When to Invoice setting defaults to Automated, but this is where you can change it to Manual Invoicing.

When creating a new Recurring Sales Order with the Manual Invoicing option, it will default to manually invoice the Order.

• Note: Any Change Orders related to the original Sales Order will have the same invoicing setting and this setting cannot be changed on Change Orders.

If Manual Invoicing is selected, the lead time for Invoice creation will no longer be displayed on the Sales Order. Upon approval or thereafter, there will be no Invoices generated automatically for Manual Invoicing Recurring Sales Orders.

Once a Recurring Sales Order with Manual Invoicing is created, you can create Invoices related to the Sales Order from the Actions menu. This will copy all the Line Items from the Sales Order to the Invoice.

During Invoice creation through the API, Sales Orders that are Recurring and set to Manual Invoicing can also be selected.

• Note: All existing Sales Order Types and Recurring Sales Order Types have been updated to show Automated Invoicing as the default, but can be changed to Manual Invoicing, if desired.

Invoicing on Approval can be configured by changing the When to Invoice setting at the Sales Order Type level to “Invoice on Approval”.

If you would prefer to Invoice the Sales Order on Completion, you can select the “Invoice on Completion” option at Sales Order Type level.

When selecting Invoice on Completion, a checkbox will appear allowing you to “Allow Deposit”, provided the Invoicing Type is set to “One Time”. Once selected, you can choose a Deposit Item, whether the Default Deposit will be a specific amount or a percentage.

When creating a Sales Order using a Sales Order Type that has “Allow Deposits” enabled, several additional fields will be available within the Sales Order Approval section of the Order.

Selecting the “Require a deposit amount on approval” checkbox will automatically generate an Invoice for the deposit item and amount designated, at the time of the Sales Order approval. If approved from the Customer Portal, the Customer will be automatically directed to the Invoice within the Portal to tender payment.

To create a Progress Invoicing Schedule, select the Add button from the Progress Invoicing Schedules List.

After selecting the Add button, you will be redirected to the Add Schedule page, where you can enter the following information:

After saving the schedule name and timeline settings, you will be directed to the Schedule Info page where you are able to complete the Invoice Schedule’s setup. The Basic Info section will contain the information you chose for the timeline options and the Schedule name. You are able to update these settings as needed by selecting the Edit icon.

Configuring the Schedule

When creating a new schedule, a message will display stating “No schedule set up. Click here to add one now.” Clicking this text will allow you to determine your schedule’s settings by opening an Add Threshold window.

To begin, you will need to set the Schedule Detail type. The Schedule Detail type determines what thresholds related to the Order will trigger invoicing. There are options for creating an Invoice based on the approval of the Sales Order, completion of the Sales Order, or when a percentage of the overall Order timeline has been completed.

After determining the Schedule Detail Type, you can add Payment Terms to inform the customer when payment for the Invoices generated are due.

For each item type, you can determine the percentage of the item’s total amount to be invoiced with each threshold. The item type’s percentage to be invoiced with each threshold must total 100%.

It is important to note that Inventory and Manufactured type items will need to be set at either 0% or 100%. For example, you can choose to invoice all Service and Non-Inventory type items in increments, but physical inventory being sold will be invoiced all at once during the timeline.

In the event that you would like to partially invoice for Inventory items, the Deposit item type can be utilized. For more information regarding Advanced Deposit processes, please reach out to our Support Team for assistance.

Below is an example of a completed Progress Invoice Schedule which indicates all item types, except for Inventory and Manufactured, will be invoiced 50% on the approval of the Sales Order and then the other 50% on the completion of the Sales Order. For the Inventory and Manufactured type items, they are set to be invoiced in full on the approval of the Sales Order.

Progress Invoicing Schedules can be configured to have different invoice terms and thresholds based on the price range of the Sales Order.

Selecting “Add Price Range” will prompt a pop-up window to appear with a field for Range From and a checkbox stating “No End Range”. By default, the “No End Range” checkbox will be checked. When unchecked, a Range To field will appear. These fields can be utilized to input the price range of Orders that can be invoiced using the created Invoicing Schedule.

Notes and warnings can be displayed beneath your schedule’s Basic Info. This section will display a warning advising you that the Progress Invoicing Schedule has not been properly configured. Until the price range warnings have been resolved, the schedule will not be available for selection on Sales Orders and Sales Order Types. Read the section below for in-depth information regarding these warnings.

Price Range Warnings

• “The price ranges do not go from 0 to no end”

Your configured price ranges should cover values from $0+, meaning there should be no end range. For example, having a singular price range for an Invoicing schedule of “$0 – $1500.00” will prompt this warning, but can be corrected by adding a second price range with a value of “$1500.01+” to cover any Sales Orders with prices of over $1500.00 and up.

• “Price ranges have columns that don’t equal 100%”

In order for a schedule to be properly configured, each item type will need to have a total of 100% invoiced over the whole timeline of the order.

Notes

A note will be displayed permanently on the Schedule Information page stating that if an item group contains inventory items, or manufactured items, the item group will be invoiced according to the configured schedule for inventory items.

Once you have created your Progress Invoice Schedule, you can then set it as the default setting for invoicing at the Sales Order Type level.

To have a Progress Invoice Schedule be an available option on a Sales Order Type, you will need to have the “Show advanced features” option selected within your Sales Order Type. Once this is checked, there will be a checkbox available to “Turn on contract management”. The Sales Order Type must be contract managed to enable Progress Invoicing.

After enabling Progress invoicing, you can then select the Invoicing Type; it is recommended to use the “One Time” invoicing option in conjunction with Progress Invoicing.

When choosing a When to Invoice option, select “Progress Invoicing”. This will allow you to then select the Progress Invoicing Schedule that you would like to make default for this Sales Order Type.

When creating a Sales Order using a Sales Order type with Progress Invoicing enabled, the Invoicing Schedule will populate automatically within the Invoicing section of the Order. Utilizing the drop-down menus, you may also change the Invoicing Schedule being used.

Viewing Progress Invoicing Schedules

The anticipated Progress Invoicing Schedule for a Contract Managed Sales Order can be viewed on the Sales Order Approval page by selecting the Progress Invoicing drop-down.

Once expanded, you can view the projected Invoice Dates, Item Type total breakdown, taxes, and total amount to be invoiced. The Edit button will allow you to quickly add or remove payment thresholds to the Invoicing Schedule.

When viewing a created Sales Order, you will be able to select the “View Progress Invoicing” option within the Invoicing section on the Order to view more details about the schedule.

The Progress Invoicing Schedule window will display the following information: