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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use all the invoice columns showing?
I can't see any reference in my software to the product codes that are mentioned in the help file
How do I refund part or all of an invoice?
My business is required, by law, to show a breakdown of all Sales Taxes charged
I can't change the Invoice Number
What are the grey backgrounds in the Invoice Window
No data is printing on my invoices, although the totals show
Is there anywhere in the software where I can see or print a breakdown of all sales taxes owed?
Not all the Monthly Accounts are converted to Invoices - why?
I have just booked down $1000 of goods to a customer's monthly account, but it is not reflected in the sales figures
I offer my shop customers' a weekly Account facility - can the software handle this?
My customers' cannot see my logo on their e-Mailed invoices
The customer's address is not printing in the correct place
I am not getting the same columns appearing on my invoices as they do on screen
The columns are too narrow on the invoices
The lines are not printing on my Office Copy of the invoice
I want to change the text used on my Invoices and Statements
I want a button to access the product database - I don't use the Quick Invoice or Quick Pay section at all


Do I need to use all the invoice columns showing?

No - Account&See has been developed to cater for the invoicing requirements of almost every type of company or business type. The minimum number of columns required 'on screen' are the description, quantity, list and net price columns - i.e. you enter a description of the product/service you have supplied to your customer and the cost of the supply. However, on the actual invoice, you need only print the description line - the invoice totals including any sales tax amounts are then printed at the bottom of the invoice. To change the columns that are used, select the Edit Invoice Columns under the Options drop down menu in the Create a New Invoice window.

I can't see any reference in my software to the product codes that are mentioned in the help file

Product codes - and their associated grouping codes are by far and away the most powerful feature of the software. For a description of all the various codes - products, customers, departments, groups, prefixes etc., see this description. To show product codes in your software select the Edit Invoice Columns under the Options drop down menu in the Create a New Invoice window and make sure the first option 'Product Codes' is checked. You do not need to print the product codes on your invoices.

How do I refund part or all of an invoice?

If you need to refund part or all of an invoice, the correct way to do this is to create a credit note. The credit note is then allocated against the original invoice.
If you do not use products codes then simply open a new invoice, select the customer to whom the original invoice was created, in the first description line enter some text similar to 'To crediting Invoice Number 1234', and in the List Price column enter the amount to credit - in negative - i.e. if you want to credit $50, enter -50 in the list price and finally, if required, select the same tax that was applied to the original invoice. If multiple items were supplied and some were charged at full sales tax rate and some at a zero rate, you must calculate the totals of both the full and zero rated items and enter two lines in your credit note, e.g. if $40 of goods were standard rated and $10 zero rated, enter -40 in the first line, selecting your full tax rate and enter -10 in the second description line, selecting the zero rated tax code. You must also place some text in the second description line to trigger the calculation of the second line - although it could be just a space character.
If you do use product codes you must recreate the invoice, entering negative quantities - not list prices. You may find it useful to import the original invoice's data by selecting Import Invoice Data from the Invoice Screen's Options drop down menu and typing in the invoice number of the invoice you need to credit. This will then populate your 'Credit Note' with the original invoice's data (including all sales tax settings) allowing you to change the quantities. If, for example you supplied 10 Blue Widgets and 10 Black Widgets, to offer a full credit simply change the quantities of both items to -10. However, if only the 5 Blue Widgets need to be credited, enter -5 in the Blue Widget quantity and 0 in the Black Widget quantity.
Whichever system you use, you will see that the Invoice Type has changed to Credit Note (or whichever word you have chosen to describe a Credit Note (found in the Printer and Language Settings on the Invoice Printing Options Window and the Setup Company Details Section) and this word or words is printed on your Credit Note.
For further information see Credit Notes

My business is required, by law, to show a breakdown of all Sales Taxes charged

The software allows you to enter up to ten different sales tax rates. Within each rate you enter a Description, a single character Code and the actual rate. For instance the UK's rates, shipped with the software are:
Standard Rate - S - 17.5%
Exempt Rate - E - 0%
Zero Rate - Z - 0%
On the invoice, the single letter code is printed alongside each item's description and price, and the total sales tax amount is printed at the bottom of the invoice. However, many countries require a detailed breakdown of sales tax charged on each invoice - the name, rate, net and tax amounts. This is possible on both printed and HTML e-Mailed invoices by checking the 'Print Sales Tax Breakdown' on the Invoice Printing Options window.

I can't change the Invoice Number

To change the invoice number, you must exit the Create a New Invoice window and locate Setup Company Details from the Main Screen's Setup drop down list. Once loaded click on the Accounting Details tab and you can change the number - and numbering system - from the right hand side of the screen. Account&See uses three different numbering systems

What are the grey backgrounds in the Invoice Window

The grey backgrounds on an invoice entry line indicate that the product is a non printing product. You can change the printable status of a product by editing the product and checking the 'Is Printable' option on the product's first screen.

No data is printing on my invoices, although the totals show

Account&See has an option of non-printing codes. These were designed to track the true cost of each invoice and customer by being able to include costs, such as labour or carriage, whilst not appearing on the actual invoice.

Is there anywhere in the software where I can see or print a breakdown of all sales taxes owed?

Yes, a complete breakdown of Sales Tax charged, and therefore owed by you to your local tax authority, is available for viewing and printing in monthly, quarterly and yearly totals. This information can be used to enter the relevant data into your tax authority's return forms (VAT100 form in the UK). To view this form, go to the Account Book and then click on the Utilities drop down menu and select the Sales Tax Details option.

Not all the Monthly Accounts are converted to Invoices - why?

There are a number of options, selected by clicking on the Options button in the bottom left hand corner of the Monthly Accounts section of the Account Book. You can set a minimum limit, under which a Monthly Account is 'held over' to the next period. For example, if you set a value of $5, any Monthly Accounts with a net value over this amount are converted to Invoices, whilst those with a net value of less than $5 remain unchanged. If these Monthly Accounts are added to during the following Month and their values exceed the $5 limit, they will be converted automatically on the next 'Make Invoices' run. However, you can force these Monthly Accounts to be produced individually by right clicking them and selecting 'Convert to Invoice' - regardless of the Monthly Account's net value.

I have just booked down $1000 of goods to a customer's monthly account, but it is not reflected in the sales figures

Any goods added to a Monthly Account are simply 'held' in the system until they are converted to a standard Invoice. Products supplied and account totals are not shown or included in any report, graph, breakdown or sales tax figures. When you convert the Monthly Account into an Invoice, all products included in the Account are added to any reports and the Sales Tax Date (or tax point) is the date the Monthly Account is converted into an Invoice. For example, if you supply a customer with 100 Widgets on the first day of March and then convert the Monthly Account into an Invoice on the 1st April, the taxable date would be the 1st April and, whilst the customer has already had the goods for 31 days, the customer's Account Ageing would show this amount as current.

I offer my shop customers' a weekly Account facility - can the software handle this?

The Monthly Account facility is only called a 'Monthly Account' because this is the most common period of time most businesses offer accounts. The software does not automatically convert them into an invoice (unlike the Auto Biller that constantly checks the date and next due periods), so you can use Monthly Accounts to offer weekly or fortnightly account facilities, or simply a handy place to store small transactions until a reasonable invoice level is achieved, or a place to store work done, goods supplied for a single project. For time-based projects, however, the Timer Project may be a better option.

My customers' cannot see my logo on their e-Mailed invoices

The filename specified in the e-Mail design form must point to an Internet address i.e. you must upload your company logo and background image to your web site in order for it to be referenced by your e-Mail and the filename must point to this address. Filenames are also case-sensitive, so MyLogo.jpg and mylogo.jpg are two different files.

I am not getting the same columns appearing on my invoices as they do on screen

You do not need to use the same columns on-screen as those appearing on an invoice. For example a professional fee notice normally includes just a description of the service supplied with no other information, except the invoice totals, appearing on the printout. It is also common to use product codes to select the items to include in an invoice, but to not print the product code on the invoice. To see which columns are selected for both screen and printer/e-Mail, select Edit Invoice Columns from the Invoice Creation's Options drop down menu. Alternatively, to see just which columns are used on the printed/e-Mailed click on the Printers and Language settings buttons on the Invoice Printing Options or Setup Company Details windows.

The columns are too narrow on the invoices

If you use all or most of the available columns for creating your invoices, we suggest that you print your invoices using the Landscape option found in the Invoicing Printing Options Window.

The lines are not printing on my Office Copy of the invoice

We have included a 'Draft Copy' option that allows you to print invoices to your customers which include all lines, logos, text etc., but, for users of inkjets, just the bare invoice details are printed for in-house copies. This can greatly improve the speed of your invoice production in addition to the savings in ink and printer wear and tear. This option can be enabled/disabled by the use of the Draft Copy check box on the second and fifth invoice types found in the Invoice Printing Options Window.

I want to change the text used on my Invoices and Statements

From either the Setup Company Details window, found on the Main Screen's Setup drop down window, or from the button on the Invoice Printing Options window (the window that appears when you click Print when creating an invoice). From this screen you can change the look of your invoices, fonts etc., as well as changing the text that appears on your invoices and statements of account.

I want a button to access the product database - I don't use the Quick Invoice or Quick Pay section at all

By clicking on the Arrange Buttons option from the Main Screen's Setup drop down menu, you can select up to seven buttons out of eleven options to display at the top of the main screen. You can also change the order in which the buttons appear and also change the text that appears on the button's face.