13 Jul, 2022

Efficient Invoice and Billing Management Using NetSuite

Invoice and Billing Management in NetSuite signifies the method of tracing the amount payable by the customers for the commodities and facilities they have obtained. Bills are developed in order to trace the sold items, the quantity, and the total amount to be paid. These details are necessary for obtaining payments from customers. 

Client invoices must be sent to the customer after being entered into NetSuite so that they are aware of the amount that is to be paid. This can be accomplished by printing the bill and mailing, faxing, or emailing it to the client directly. 

After the settlement of the bill, the payment details are required to be stored in NetSuite. This can be executed physically or automatically, for example, through establishing bank rules. The bill will display as fully paid, once payments have been processed, and the customer's account balance will be adjusted to reflect this. Tracing customer account balances and making sure payments are made on time depends heavily on invoice and billing management in NetSuite. Businesses will get a better impression through standing with their customers by keeping precise records of what all things are sold, when it was sold, and how much is owing. This helps them prevent collection difficulties. 

Various Methods of Billing in NetSuite 

There are numerous choices for billing in NetSuite. Companies can opt to bill customers through an invoice, cash sale, or statement charge based on the product or facility being sold.  

A bill for the products or services that have been offered to a customer is termed as an invoice. Enterprises can develop invoices in NetSuite either by hand or automatically depending on sales orders.   

A statement charge is another bill for products or services that the client has not yet received. For instance, this can be used if a client has to be invoiced in advance for a service that will be rendered at a later time.   

A bill for products or services that is paid at the moment of purchase is referred to as a cash sale. This is frequently employed in retail settings where customers utilize cash, checks, or credit cards to make purchases.  

Advanced Billing 

NetSuite provides excellent billing features for enterprises that require extra supervision in their billing process. This consists of the capability to develop repeated billings, distribution charges, and automatically created invoices depending on the sales orders.

Repeated billings are charges that recur at frequent intervals, including monthly or yearly. This is generally used for subscription-based services.  

Distribution charges permit enterprises to invoice customers depending on the number of days or units utilized, instead of a preset rate. This can be useful when invoicing for services that are used occasionally, including storage rental or software licenses.  

Mechanically creating invoices from sales orders consumes less time and guarantees accuracy through ignoring the necessity to generate bills manually. 

Billing terms and due dates 

Determining the provisions and due dates for client bills is a crucial component of managing invoices and bills. Provisions, which are commonly written as ‘net 30’ or ‘net 60,’ are the time frame during which a customer must pay their invoice. This means that the client has 30 or 60 days, respectively, to settle the invoice.

The date by which a bill should be settled is known as the due date. Businesses can specify unique due dates in NetSuite for each customer or have them produced in real-time based on the customer's terms. 

The bill is regarded as late if the customer does not pay it by the due date. Late payments may have a negative impact on a company's cash flow as well as increase accounting and administrative costs. 

Businesses must have a system in place for monitoring late payments and following up with clients in order to avoid these issues. Businesses can manage late payments using a number of features provided by NetSuite, such as dunning management and email templates that can be customized.

Standard Invoice types Available in NetSuite 

Enterprises can opt from the below-mentioned standard invoice types in NetSuite, 

Finance Charge 

Customers are charged for late payments using the Finance Charge invoice type, which includes the date, finance charge number, bill to address, conditions, due date, project, item, description, amount, and total.  

Product Invoice 

This is used to bill customers for shipped commodities using the product invoice type. That includes standard service invoice details, the ship-to address and ales representative, ship date, Free on Board (FOB), and unit cost.  

Professional Invoice 

This invoice is employed to charge clients for services rendered. that includes date, a bill number, payment-to-address, terms, a deadline, project, item title, description, quantity, task and total.  

Service Invoice 

Customers are billed for incurred time and costs using the service type of invoice. Typical professional invoice details, a Purchase Order (PO) number that details the quantity and price for each line item are included. 

Progress Invoice 

This kind of invoice is used for the completed work to request partial payment. This is often employed in larger projects that are invoiced in stages, including date, invoice number, bill-to address, terms, due date, PO#, sales rep, end date, shipping details, item name, current percentage completed, description, the amount, and percentage of total cost.   

Businesses can simplify their invoicing and billing procedures with the help of NetSuite's invoice and billing management features. The system enables companies to administer bills, trace payments, and develop invoices. Enterprises can also automate the billing operations and create repeating invoices. 

Want to streamline your business by managing the Invoice and Billing with NetSuite? Connect with Jobin & Jismi for any assistance on NetSuite.