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Elate builds invoices from completed visits, priced by their contracts. This page covers generating invoices, sending them, recording payments and correcting mistakes. Who can do this: anyone whose role includes Finance. By default that is Organisation Owners, Service Provider Admins and Finance Users. Read Only Auditors can view invoices and open their PDFs, but cannot generate, send, pay, void or delete them. Your organisation can change this in Settings > Permissions.
This is not included in Elate Free.
Your organisation may use different words for some things, such as “Service users” instead of “Support recipients”. Elate shows your organisation’s words everywhere, so follow what you see. Finance, Invoices tab (demo data)

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Generate invoices

Each invoice covers one support recipient. Elate makes as many invoices as your selection needs.
1

Select the visits

Go to Finance > Overview, filter to the completed, unbilled visits you want to bill and tick them. Then select Generate invoices. See Finance overview if a visit cannot be ticked.
2

Choose the invoice periods

The Generate invoices sheet says how many invoices it will create. Under Invoice periods, choose One selected period for one invoice per support recipient, or Split into calendar months for one per support recipient per month.
3

Choose how lines are grouped

Under Group line items by, choose Each visit, Day, Week or Month. It starts on your invoice template’s setting.
4

Set the dates

Issue date starts on today. Leave Due date override blank to use each invoice’s payment terms (see below), or pick a date to use instead.
5

Add the optional details

Add a Purchase order number and Notes if you need them. Include approved billable expenses adds approved expenses and mileage that were marked for the invoice. Tick Record as paid in full only if the money has already arrived.
6

Add manual lines if needed

Select Add manual line and fill in the description, Quantity, Unit price and VAT (%). Manual lines are added to every invoice in this batch. A negative price makes a discount. Leave VAT blank to use the invoice default.
7

Check the preview and generate

The Preview shows each invoice’s visits, hours, net, VAT, total and due date. These are estimates; the saved totals use the contract rates and template in force at generation. Select Generate 1 invoice (or Generate 2 invoices, and so on).
8

Open the new invoices

Links to the new invoices appear under Created invoices. Select Done to close the sheet.
New invoices start as Draft. Nothing is sent until you send it.
Each invoice can have only one funder and one currency. If a support recipient’s selected visits are billed to different funders, or priced in different currencies, the sheet tells you to select one at a time.
If generation stops part way, the invoices already made are kept. The button changes to Retry remaining invoices, which only creates the rest.

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How the due date is worked out

The due date is the issue date plus the payment terms, unless you set Due date override. Elate takes the payment terms from the first of these that applies:
  1. The contract’s Payment terms (days).
  2. The funder’s Payment terms (days).
  3. The invoice template’s Payment terms (days), if the invoice uses a template.
  4. Default payment terms (days) in Settings > Branding, which is 14 days unless your organisation changed it.
The most specific agreement wins. An invoice keeps the terms it was issued with, even if a contract, funder or template changes later. See Funders and invoice templates for which template an invoice uses.

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Invoice statuses

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Find an invoice

Go to Finance > Invoices. The status buttons (All, Draft, Sent, Overdue, Paid, Void) show a count each. You can also use Search invoices, filter by support recipient or funder, sort by Newest first, Oldest first, Invoice number or Highest total, and set Issued from and Issued to dates. Export CSV downloads the matching invoices, up to 5,000 rows, with totals, VAT, amount paid and balance. Select an invoice number to open the invoice. It shows the Line items, the totals, Payments, Notes and Activity. Under a line, open the details link (for example View 3 visit / expense details) to see the visits or expenses behind it.

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Send an invoice

1

Open the send sheet

Select Send invoice on the invoice, or Send on its row in the list.
2

Check the recipient

Recipient email is filled in with the funder’s billing email. When there is no funder, it uses the support recipient’s email. Change it if needed. There is one main recipient.
3

Add copies and a message

Put any other addresses in CC emails, separated by commas (up to 20). Check the Subject and write a Message if you want one.
4

Send

Leave Attach invoice PDF ticked to attach the PDF. Select Send invoice.
When the email is accepted for delivery, a draft becomes Sent. You can send a sent or overdue invoice again, for example as a reminder. Paid and void invoices cannot be sent.

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Record a payment

1

Open the invoice

Select Record payment.
2

Enter the payment

Amount (GBP) starts at the balance due (the invoice’s currency shows in brackets). Change it for a part payment. Set the Payment date, the Method (Bank transfer, Card, Cash, Cheque or Other) and an optional Reference.
3

Save

Select Record payment. The balance updates. When payments add up to the total, the invoice becomes Paid.
To undo a payment, select Delete payment next to it in Payments. The balance is worked out again, and a paid invoice can go back to sent.

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Add a line to a draft

Only an unpaid draft can take new lines. Open it, select Add line, fill in Description, Quantity, Unit price (GBP) and VAT rate (%), then select Add line item. A negative unit price is a discount. Leave VAT blank to use the invoice default.

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Open the PDF

Select PDF on the invoice or its row. The PDF opens in a new tab.

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Void or delete an invoice

Both ask for a Reason before you confirm. To act on several at once, tick them in the list and select Void selected or Delete selected. If an invoice has payments, delete the payments first.

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Common questions

No. Once an invoice is issued, its details are fixed. Void it, which returns its visits to billing, then generate a new one.
Only unpaid drafts can be deleted. Void a sent invoice instead, so its number stays in your records.
The funder is set to need a purchase order. Enter one in Purchase order number on the sheet, or add it to the contract.
One of the visits has no care rate on its date. Add or fix a rate on the contract. See Contracts and rates.
Only approved expenses that were marked for the invoice are added, and only when Include approved billable expenses is ticked. See Expenses and mileage.

Finance overview

Review and select billable visits.

Funders and invoice templates

Bill-to details, numbering, VAT and terms.