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A funder is whoever pays for someone’s care, such as a council or an NHS body. An invoice template sets how invoices are numbered, taxed and laid out. Both feed into every invoice Elate generates. Who can do this: funders need Finance. By default that is Organisation Owners, Service Provider Admins and Finance Users; Read Only Auditors can view funders but not change them. Invoice templates are in Settings, and only Organisation Owners and Service Provider Admins see that tab. Your organisation can change Finance access in Settings > Permissions.
This is not included in Elate Free.

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Add a funder

1

Start a new funder

Go to Finance > Funders and select New funder.
2

Fill in the details

Enter the Name (required) and the fields below.
3

Save

Select Save funder.
The Funders tab lists each funder with its contact, payment terms, whether a purchase order is Required or Optional, and its status. Use Search funders and the status filter to narrow it, and Export CSV to download it. Select a funder’s name to open its page. It shows its details and the Contracts that use it. Select Edit funder to change it.

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How a funder affects invoices

You link a funder to a contract with the Funder field on the contract. See Contracts and rates. Then:
  • Bill to. Invoices for visits under that contract are billed to the funder. The invoice page says Billed to the funder, and the PDF shows the funder’s name and address under Bill to, with the support recipient named as the care recipient. Without a funder, the invoice is billed to the support recipient.
  • Sending. Send invoice fills in the funder’s Billing email.
  • Purchase orders. If Purchase order required is ticked, a contract for this funder cannot be saved without a Purchase order number, and invoices cannot be generated without one (from the generate sheet or the contract).
  • Payment terms. The funder’s terms are used when the contract sets none, and they come before the invoice template’s.
  • Template. The funder’s Invoice template is used when the contract does not name one.
  • One funder per invoice. An invoice never mixes funders. Select one funder’s visits at a time.
  • Filtering. Finance > Overview and Finance > Invoices can both be filtered by funder.
Set a funder to Inactive only when you no longer bill it. Inactive funders are not offered for new contracts, and Elate will not generate invoices for a contract whose funder is inactive.

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Invoice templates

Go to Settings > Invoice templates. Until you create a template and set it as the default, invoices use the standard layout, numbered like INV-2026-0001.

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Create a template

1

Start a template

Select Create template.
2

Fill in the settings

Give it a Template name and change the settings you need (listed below).
3

Preview it

Select Preview PDF to see a sample invoice in the same layout as a sent one.
4

Save

Select Save template.
5

Make it the default, if you want

In the list, select Set default next to the template. The default is marked (default).
To change a template, select Edit next to it. Changes apply to invoices generated afterwards. Invoices already made keep the settings they were generated with.

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Template settings

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Which template an invoice uses

Elate uses the first active template it finds:
  1. The template chosen on the contract.
  2. The template chosen on the funder.
  3. Your default template.
The due date uses the contract’s Payment terms (days) first, then the funder’s, then the invoice template’s, then Default payment terms (days) in Settings > Branding. An invoice keeps the terms it was issued with.
Your organisation’s name, address, VAT number, bank details and default payment terms are set in Settings > Branding. See Organisation settings.

Contracts and rates

Link a funder and template to a contract.

Invoices

Generate and send invoices.