This template enables users to create an automated quotation and tax invoice based on the business details, banking details, customer information and quotation & invoice details that are recorded on the appropriate sheets. The template also facilitates creating automated customer account statements, reviewing monthly sales over any 12 month period, compiling an age analysis for individual or all customer accounts and compiling a customer account balance report based on a user defined statement date.

Note: Refer to the Trade Based Invoice template if you require stock codes to be included on your tax invoices. We also recommend using the Invoice templates in conjunction with our unique service based & trade based accounting templates.

The following sheets are included in this template:
Set-up - this sheet enables users to customize the template for their businesses by entering the appropriate business details, sales tax details and banking details.
Customers - create a unique customer code for each customer and enter a billing address and sales tax reference number for all customers on this sheet.
Details - the details that should be included on all quotations & tax invoices should be entered on this sheet.
Quote - this sheet includes an automated quotation. All the information that has been entered on the other sheets is automatically included on this sheet after simply specifying the appropriate quotation number in cell G11. The automated quotation accommodates 20 lines per quotation and you can add your own business logo or artwork in the space that is provided at the top of the sheet.
Invoice - this sheet includes an automated tax invoice. All the information that has been entered on the other sheets is automatically included on this sheet after simply specifying the appropriate invoice number in cell G11. The automated tax invoice accommodates 20 lines per invoice and you can add your own business logo or artwork in the space that is provided at the top of the sheet.
Statement - this sheet includes a customer account statement. All the appropriate information that has been entered on the other sheets are automatically included on this sheet after simply selecting the appropriate customer code from the list box in cell J11 and entering the appropriate statement date in cell J12. Note that the customer account statement also includes an age analysis.
Monthly - this sheet includes a 12 month sales analysis and monthly sales, receipts and debtor balance charts. The 12 month period that is included on this sheet is based on the start date that is specified in cell B4. Users can therefore compile a 12 month sales analysis for any 12 month period by simply specifying the appropriate start date.
Ageing - this sheet includes an age analysis that is automatically compiled based on the statement date that is entered in cell B4 and the customer account that is selected from the list box in cell B6. All the calculations on this sheet are automated and you can also compile an age analysis for all debtors by simply clearing the customer account selection from the list box in cell B6.
Balances - this sheet includes an age analysis for all customer accounts which is automatically compiled based on the statement date that is specified on the Ageing sheet. The age analysis includes the first 20 customer accounts by default but you can add additional accounts by simply extending the table.

Set-up

The business details that are entered on this sheet are included in the cell range from cell C10 to C21 on the Quote and Invoice sheets. The business name is also used as a heading on all the other sheets. The sales tax percentage that is specified in cell C21 is used to calculate the sales tax amounts in column J on the Details sheet and these amounts are included on the automated quotation & tax invoice in column F on the Quote and Invoice sheets.

Note: If the sales tax percentage needs to be amended, you will have to copy all the calculated amounts in column J on the Details sheet and paste the appropriate cells as values before amending the sales tax percentage on the Set-up sheet. If you don't paste all these cells as values, all the sales tax amounts on the Details sheet will be calculated based on the new sales tax percentage.

The banking details are included in the cell range from cell C49 to cell C52 on the Invoice sheet. If you don’t want to include your banking details on your automated tax invoices, simply delete the contents of these cells and clear the appropriate border formatting.

The error codes that are included at the bottom of the Set-up sheet are displayed for information purposes only. These error codes are reflected in column O on the Details sheet if there is a problem with the input in some of the user input columns on the Details sheet. Refer to the Error Codes section of these instructions for more information on the user input errors that may be encountered.

Customers

A unique customer code needs to be created for each customer and the billing address and sales tax number of each customer needs to be entered on the Customers sheet. Customer codes are included in a list box on the Details sheet in order to simplify entering the appropriate quotation / invoice details. The customer billing address is automatically included on the quotation & tax invoice based on the quotation / invoice number that is entered in cell G11 on the Quote or Invoice sheet and the customer code that has been selected for the particular quotation or invoice on the Details sheet (the appropriate sales tax number is also included on the Invoice sheet).

Note: We recommend that you use an abbreviated version of the customer name as the customer code because it will make it easier to identify the correct customer when selecting the appropriate customer code from the list box in column D on the Details sheet. For example, a customer code of ABC01 can be created for a customer whose billing name is "ABC Trading".

The customer code can also be selected on the Statement and Ageing sheets in order to automatically compile an account statement or age analysis for a particular customer. Refer to the Account Statement and Age Analysis sections of these instructions for guidance on these features.

Note: All the columns on the Customers sheet have been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format. You can create a new customer code by simply entering a new code in column A - the table will then automatically be extended to include the new customer code.

In some instances, it may be preferable to allocate quotations or invoices to a generic customer code instead of creating a unique customer code for each customer. For example, customers trading on a cash or COD basis may not require a tax invoice and these invoices can therefore be allocated to a single Cash or COD customer code (for example: the code "XXX01" can be created for this purpose).

Quotation / Invoice Details

All the transaction details that are included on the automated quotation (Quote sheet) and tax invoice (Invoice sheet) are compiled from the data that is entered on the Details sheet. The transaction details consists of the invoice number, quotation number, invoice date, description, invoice amount and the invoice due date. The customer code that is selected on the Details sheet is used in order to identify the appropriate customer and to include the customer's details on the quotation or invoice. The sales tax code is used to calculate the sales tax that is applicable to the particular quotation or invoice.

All the column headings contain a filter selection arrow - this feature indicates that a Filter has been applied to the table data. This Excel feature is very useful when you need to filter the data that forms part of a table based on one of the filter criteria that are available after clicking the selection arrow. The Filter feature can also be used to sort data based on a single column.

Example: If you only want to display the invoices for a particular month, you can filter the data based on the Invoice Date column by selecting the appropriate date filter from the filter menu that is displayed after clicking the selection arrow. After reviewing the filtered data, simply select the "Clear filter" option in the filtered column in order to remove the filter and to display all the transactions on the sheet.

You'll notice that there are totals that are included in the cells above all the amount columns (formatted in italic). These cells contain a Subtotal function which results in all filtered records being included in the total that is calculated. This means that after filtering data, only the transactions that are displayed on the sheet are included in the calculation (column total). If you therefore print the sheet while a filter is in effect, the totals above the column headings will be calculated accurately and only include the filtered transactions that have been printed.

Note: All the columns on the Details sheet have been included in an Excel table. This feature is extremely useful when entering data in a table format because the formulas in the calculated columns (the columns with light blue column headings) are automatically copied when new rows are inserted into the table or when data is entered into the first blank row below the table. You can therefore enter a new quotation by simply entering a quotation number in the first blank cell in column B - the table will be extended automatically to include the new quotation.

All the columns with a yellow column heading require user input while the columns with light blue column headings contain formulas that are automatically copied for all new transactions that are added to the sheet. The following information should be included in the columns that require user input:
Invoice Number - invoice numbers can be in any format and are used as the primary reference for including the invoice details on the Invoice sheet.
Quotation Number - quotation numbers can be in any format and are used as the primary reference for including the quotation details on the Quote sheet.
Invoice Date - the date of the tax invoice should be entered in column C and is included in cell G12 on the automated quotation and tax invoice. When you enter multiple lines for the same quotation or invoice, the invoice date must be the same for all the entries. Note that if you enter different invoice dates, only the invoice date in the first row for the particular quotation or invoice number will be included on the automated quotation or tax invoice.
Customer Code - select the appropriate customer code from the list boxes in column D. All the customer codes that have been added to the Customers sheet are included in the list boxes. You therefore need to create the appropriate customer code on the Customers sheet before it will be available for selection.
Description - enter a description of the service that is being provided in this column.
Tax Inclusive Amount - enter the total invoice amount inclusive of any sales tax that may be applicable.
Tax Code - select the appropriate sales tax code from the list boxes in column G. If the "A" tax code is selected, the sales tax amount in column K is calculated based on the sales tax percentage that is specified on the Set-up sheet and included on the quotation and tax invoice. If the "E" tax code is selected, no sales tax is calculated and the sales tax column on the quotation and tax invoice will contain a nil value. Note that if your business is not registered for sales tax purposes, all transactions should be allocated to the "E" tax code.
Invoice Due Date - enter the date on which payment from the customer is due. This date is included in the Invoice Status section at the bottom of the automated tax invoice.
Payment Date - enter the date on which payment has been received from the customer. If payment has not been received for a particular invoice, leave the payment date column blank. A complete list of outstanding invoices can therefore be compiled by using the Filter feature and simply selecting the "blank" option from the filter menu (this feature can be accessed by clicking the selection arrow next to the appropriate column heading).

The following calculated columns (columns with light blue column headings) are included on the Details sheet:
Sales Tax Amount - these amounts are calculated based on the tax codes that are selected in column G and the sales tax percentage that is specified on the Set-up sheet.
Exclusive Amount - these amounts are calculated by deducting the sales tax amounts from the inclusive amounts that are entered in column F.
SC1, StateRef, SC2 - the calculations in these columns are used in compiling the automated account statement on the Statement sheet.
Error Code - if any of the user input columns contain invalid data, an error code will be reflected in this column. It is therefore important to ensure that none of the cells in this column contain an error code. For more info on the error codes that may be encountered, refer to the Error Codes section of these instructions.

As we've mentioned before, the sales tax amounts in column J are calculated by applying the sales tax percentage that is specified on the Set-up sheet to the inclusive invoice amounts that are entered in column F. If the sales tax percentage needs to be amended, you first have to copy & paste the values in column J as values before changing the sales tax percentage on the Set-up sheet. If you don't paste all the cells as values, the new sales tax percentage will also be applied to the invoices that were issued before the sales tax amendment.

Note: We highly recommend using our invoice templates in conjunction with our unique accounting templates. The Details sheet has been structured in such a way that it should be easy to copy the data on this sheet to the Income sheet in the Service Based accounting template. You'll notice that the Income sheet does not include an Invoice Due Date column but an account number is required instead. After copying the data onto the Income sheet, you can therefore simply replace the Invoice Due Date with the appropriate account number. The Invoice template can be used to create tax invoices & customer statements and to analyse customer account balances, while the accounting template enables users to also record expenses and to compile monthly financial results.

Recording Quotations

When you record a quotation on the Details sheet, the quotation number should be entered in column B, the quotation date should be entered in column C and all the other columns should be completed as per the guidance that has been included in the previous section of these instructions. The invoice number, invoice due date and payment date columns should however be left blank.

When the quotation is accepted by the customer, the date in column C should be changed to the invoice date, the appropriate invoice number should be entered in column A and the appropriate invoice due date should be entered in column H.

Note: Invoices are only included in the debtor balance calculations on the other sheets in this template after an invoice number has been entered in column A. Quotations that have not been accepted by a customer should therefore not contain an invoice number in column A and are included in the outstanding quotation balance calculation in column E on the Monthly sheet.

Recording Partial Payments

This template allocates invoices and the payments that are received from customers to debtor balances based on an open item basis. What this means is that the user is not required to enter a payment amount but to simply specify the appropriate payment date which relates to each line that is included on a tax invoice.

If a customer only pays part of an invoice, it means that the user will have to adjust the invoice details in order to record the payment accurately. The following procedure needs to be completed in order to adjust the payment amount to the amount that has been received from the customer:

• Find the appropriate invoice on the Details sheet and insert a new row below the last entry for the particular invoice.
• Copy the entire last entry for the invoice into the new blank row and delete the tax inclusive amount in column F.
• Deduct the amount that has been paid by the customer from the unmatched invoice amount and enter this amount in column F for the new transaction that has just been copied.
• Change the original invoice amount (or the amount in the copied line if the invoice consists of multiple items) to the amount that the customer has paid and enter the appropriate payment date in column I.
• Only the difference between the original invoice amount and the amount that the customer has paid will now be included in the debtor balance and will be reflected on the customer statement.

Error Codes

The following error codes may result from inaccurate input on the Details sheet and will be displayed in the Error Code column. The heading of the affected input column will also be highlighted in orange:

• E1 - this error code means that the payment date that has been entered in column I on the Details sheet is before the invoice date in column C. These errors can be rectified by either amending the appropriate invoice date or amending the appropriate payment date.
• E2 - this error code means that the customer code that has been selected in column D on the Details sheet is invalid. All the customer codes that have been entered on the Customers sheet will be included in the list boxes in column D and the error can therefore be rectified by simply selecting a valid customer code from the list box. New customer codes must be created on the Customers sheet before being available for selection.
• E3 - this error code means that a payment date has been entered in column I but an invoice number has not been entered in column A. An invoice number should be specified as soon as a quotation is accepted and it is therefore impossible for a customer to pay an invoice before an invoice number has been specified. If this error therefore occurs, the appropriate invoice number should simply be entered in column A in order to rectify the error.

Note: Input errors may result in inaccurate template calculations and it is therefore imperative that all errors are resolved before reviewing the debtor balance and ageing calculations on the other sheets in this template.

Quotations

An automated quotation has been included on the Quote sheet. You can create, view, print or reprint any quotation by simply copying or entering the appropriate quotation number into cell G11 on the Quote sheet. All the information that is included on the quotation should be entered on the Set-up, Customers and Details sheets and the quotation is automatically updated based on the quotation number that is specified in cell G11.

The business details (business name, business address, contact details, tax reference number and business registration number) are entered on the Set-up sheet. The Customer information is looked up on the Customers sheet based on the customer code that is specified in column D on the Details sheet for the particular quotation.

The invoice date is looked up on the Details sheet based on the quotation number that is specified in cell G11. The invoice date should be the same for all the lines that need to be included on the quotation. If different dates are entered for the same quotation in the Invoice Date column, only the first date will be displayed on the quotation.

The descriptions and invoice (quotation) amounts are also looked up in column D and column F on the Details sheet respectively based on the quotation number in cell G11. Note that the Quote sheet accommodates a maximum of 20 lines per quotation and that the order in which items are included on the Quote sheet are determined by the order in which the items are included on the Details sheet.

If you want to customize the standard quotation to your own requirements (example: changing fonts, colours, etc.), you will be able to do so but take care not to replace any of the formulas because it may result in the information that is included on the quotation becoming inaccurate. Note you can insert your own logo or artwork at the top of the Quote sheet.

Tax Invoices

An automated tax invoice has been included on the Invoice sheet. You can create, view, print or reprint any tax invoice by simply copying or entering the appropriate invoice number into cell G11 on the Invoice sheet. All the information that is included on the tax invoice should be entered on the Set-up, Customers and Details sheets and the tax invoice is automatically updated based on the invoice number that is specified in cell G11.

The business details (business name, registration number, business address, contact details and tax reference number) are entered on the Set-up sheet. The Customer information is looked up on the Customers sheet based on the customer code that is specified on the Details sheet for the particular invoice.

Both the invoice date and invoice due date are looked up on the Details sheet based on the invoice number that is specified in cell G11. The invoice date should be the same for all the lines that need to be included on the invoice. If different dates are entered for the same invoice in the Invoice Date column, only the first invoice date will be displayed on the tax invoice.

The invoice description and invoice amounts that are included on the automated tax invoice are also looked up on the Details sheet based on the invoice number. Note that the tax invoice template accommodates a maximum of 20 lines per invoice and that the order in which items are included on the Invoice sheet are determined by the order in which the items are included on the Details sheet.

The banking details that are displayed at the bottom of the tax invoice are looked up on the Set-up sheet. If you don't want to include the banking details on the tax invoice, simply delete the contents of this cell range and remove the borders around it.

The invoice status section at the bottom of the invoice includes the invoice status, invoice due date and the payment date. If an invoice has not been paid, the invoice status will be reflected as "Due" (in red text) and will not include a payment date. If an invoice has been paid, the invoice status will be reflected as "Paid" and the payment date that has been entered on the Details sheet will be reflected.

If you want to customize the standard tax invoice to your own requirements (example: changing fonts, colours, etc.), you will be able to do so but take care not to replace any of the formulas that have been included on the Invoice sheet because it may result in the information that is included on the tax invoice becoming inaccurate. Note you can insert your own logo or artwork at the top of the Invoice sheet.

Account Statement

An automated account statement has been included on the Statement sheet. You can create, view, print or reprint any account statement by simply specifying the appropriate customer code and statement date in cells J11 and J12 respectively. All the other information that is included on the account statement is automatically compiled based on the data that has been entered on the Set-up, Customers and Details sheets.

The business details (business name, registration number, business address, contact details and tax reference number) are entered on the Set-up sheet. The Customer information is looked up on the Customers sheet based on the customer code that is selected from the list box in cell J11.

The outstanding balance in cell J22, the ageing in the cell range from cell C24 to J25 and the list of outstanding invoices from row 30 downwards are all automatically calculated and displayed based on the customer code that is selected from the list box in cell J11 and the statement date that is entered in cell J12.

If the statement date that is entered in cell J12 falls on a month end date, all the ageing calculations are based on calendar months but if the statement date falls on any other day of the month, the ageing calculations are based on the day component that forms part of the statement date.

For example: If the statement date is specified as the 27th of January, all invoices dated between the 28th of December and the 27th of January are included in the "Current" ageing group, all invoices between the 28th of November and the 27th of December are included in the "30 Days" ageing group and so forth.

If the statement date is specified as the 29th of February (a month end date), the ageing is calculated based on calendar months. For example, all invoices dated between 1 February and 29 February are included in the "Current" ageing group, all invoices dated between 1 January and 31 January are included in the "30 Days" ageing group and so forth.

It is also important to note that only the invoices that are outstanding on the statement date are included on the customer account statement. Outstanding invoices are invoices that are dated before the statement date with payment dates that are after the statement date or blank (indicating that the invoices have not yet been paid).

Account statements are therefore compiled on an open item basis - this means that only open or outstanding items (invoices) are included on account statements and not all the movements on the customer account during a specific period (opening balances, invoices and payments displayed separately). We believe that this is the most efficient method of compiling account statements because it negates the need for complicated account reconciliations.

One potential complication with open item account statements is the matching of partial payments to invoices. This process could be complicated regardless of which accounting system is being used, but we suggest that you follow the procedure that is listed under the Recording Partial Payments section of these instructions in order to correctly match partial payments to the tax invoices that are listed on the Details sheet.

As we've mentioned before, the outstanding invoices that are listed on the account statement include both invoices that have been paid after the statement date and invoices that have not yet been paid. If you therefore compile an account statement (especially for previous periods) and some of the invoices have been paid subsequent to the statement date, these invoices will still be included on the account statement. We recognise that the inclusion of these invoices could result in some confusion and we have therefore included functionality to display a "FP" next to the invoice amounts of all fully paid invoices and a "PP" next to the invoice amounts of all partially paid invoices in order to indicate that the affected invoices have already been paid.

Note: By default, the account statement includes a maximum of 30 outstanding invoices, but you can add more invoices to this sheet by simply copying the formulas from row 59 and pasting them into the appropriate number of additional rows. We recommend that you select the entire row before copying & pasting the formulas.

Note: Invoices are listed on the account statement in the same order in which the invoices appear on the Details sheet. If you therefore want to change the order in which invoices are listed, you need to sort the data on the Details sheet accordingly.

If you want to customize the account statement template to your own requirements (example: changing fonts, colours, etc.), you will be able to format the cells on the Statement sheet accordingly. Also note that you can insert your own logo or artwork at the top of the Statement sheet.

Monthly Sales Analysis

A monthly sales analysis and monthly sales, receipts and debtor balance charts have been included on the Monthly sheet. All the calculations on this sheet include a 12 month period which is calculated based on a user defined start date. Users can therefore amend the 12 month period that is included in the sales analysis by simply entering a new date in cell B4.

Note: The quotation balances in column E reflect the total amount of all outstanding quotations as at the end of the appropriate monthly period. Outstanding quotations are defined as all quotations that have been issued to a customer but where an invoice has not been raised for the quotation (the invoice number in column A on the Details sheet is therefore blank). In some instances, outstanding quotations may never result in an invoice being raised (for instance where the customer rejects the quotation).

Debtors Age Analysis

A debtors age analysis, ageing chart and sales / debtors balance history chart have been included on the Ageing sheet. All the calculations on this sheet are automated and the only user input that is required is the statement date that needs to be entered in cell B4 and the customer code that needs to be selected from the list box in cell B6.

Ageing calculations can be performed for a specific customer by simply selecting the appropriate customer code from the list box in cell B6 or an age analysis of all customer accounts can be compiled by simply clearing the customer code from cell B6 (select cell B6 and simply press the Delete key on the keyboard).

The Ageing sheet also includes sales history and customer account balance history calculations for a 12 month period and two charts which are extremely useful for analysing customer account movements.

Note: All ageing calculations are performed on the same basis as we discussed under the Statement section of these instructions. If you enter any month end date as the statement date, the age analysis is calculated based on calendar months and if you enter any other date, the age analysis is calculated based on the day component that is included in the specified statement date.

Note: If you accidentally clear the statement date from cell B4, you may notice that some of the calculations on this sheet result in errors. This is because a statement date should always be specified in order to perform these calculations. We have therefore implemented conditional formatting features to highlight the statement date in orange if this cell is accidentally cleared.

Customer Account Balances

A customer account balance report has been included on the Balances sheet and reflects all outstanding customer account balances as at the statement date that is specified in cell B4 on the Ageing sheet. The report also includes an age analysis of all customer account balances that is calculated based on the statement date. All the calculations on this sheet are automated and no user input is required.

Note: By default, only the first 20 customer accounts are included on the Balances sheet. If you therefore create more than 20 customer accounts on the Customers sheet, some of the accounts may not be included on the Balances sheet. This limitation can be extended by simply dragging the selection arrow in the bottom right corner of the Excel table downwards for the required number of rows. The table will be extended and all the formulas in all the columns on the Balances sheet will automatically be copied into the additional rows. All customer accounts should then be included in the report.

Note: If the number of customers on the Customers sheet and the number of customers that have been included on the Balances sheet are not the same, cell A5 (the Code heading cell) on the Balances sheet will be highlighted in orange in order to indicate that you need to add additional rows to the Balances sheet.

As we mentioned before, the customer account balance report is based on the statement date that is specified on the Ageing sheet. This functionality enables users to view an age analysis for all customer accounts by entering the appropriate statement date and clearing the customer code input cell on the Ageing sheet and to then view a breakdown of the age analysis amounts by customer account on the Balances sheet.