Understand invoice amounts, credits and currencies
Invoice creation copies the agreed order's saved amounts. It does not recalculate prices, tax, discounts or exchange rates. Use these examples to reconcile the result, not as tax or accounting-policy advice.
Example 1: the Café Aroma invoice
| Component | Mugs | T-shirts | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity × unit price | 180.00 | 120.00 | 300.00 |
| Discount | 27.00 | 0.00 | 27.00 |
| Net after discount | 153.00 | 120.00 | 273.00 |
| Illustrative 20% tax on net | 30.60 | 24.00 | 54.60 |
| Line total | 183.60 | 144.00 | 327.60 |
For this simple no-freight/no-surcharge example, copied Subtotal is 300.00, Discount 27.00, Tax 54.60 and Total 327.60. 273.00 is net goods after discount, not the pre-discount subtotal. Read the saved labels and values rather than subtracting the discount twice.
Line Discount and Tax columns contain amounts, not percentages. A tax entry of 30.6000 means 30.60 currency units.
Example 2: order charges and apparent differences
Sales pricing can include conditions such as surcharges, freight and rounding. The invoice copies the order's header total, while the current invoice summary exposes subtotal, discount, tax and total rather than a full sales-pricing breakdown.
If the grand total does not appear to equal only subtotal − discount + tax, compare the source order's pricing breakdown and charge components. Do not change an Accounting journal to make a copied commercial amount look different. The invoice has no line/charge editor.
Transaction and base currency
| Item | Transaction currency EUR | Base currency GBP |
|---|---|---|
| Subtotal | 1,000.0000 | 850.0000 |
| Discount | 100.0000 | 85.0000 |
| Tax (illustrative) | 180.0000 | 153.0000 |
| Total | 1,080.0000 | 918.0000 |
Here the source order's transaction-to-base rate is 0.85000000. One euro corresponds to GBP 0.85 in the saved order. The invoice copies those values and rate date. It does not retrieve a new rate on the invoice date.
The Totals table labels both columns even if their codes are the same. Amounts show four decimal places; exchange rate shows eight. A missing rate date is displayed as Unavailable, not silently replaced with today's rate.
Payments and credits
Amount due = Original invoice total − recorded settlement
Paid / credited = payment allocations + effective invoice credits
| Situation for total 327.60 | Payments allocated | Effective credit | Paid / credited | Amount due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing settled | 0 | 0 | 0 | 327.60 |
| First payment | 200.00 | 0 | 200.00 | 127.60 |
| Payment plus existing credit | 200.00 | 27.60 | 227.60 | 100.00 |
| Further payment clears remainder | 300.00 cumulative | 27.60 | 327.60 | 0 |
| Existing full-value credit, no payment | 0 | 327.60 | 327.60 | 0 |
The final row can produce Paid without cash receipt. Credit examples are interpretations of existing records; browser credit writes are currently unavailable.
An unallocated payment does not reduce this bill
Suppose a Posted invoice is due 327.60 and a posted customer receipt for 200 exists but is not allocated. The invoice still shows due 327.60. Allocating 200 to this invoice changes due to 127.60.
A filtered Payments list is not evidence of allocation. Open the receipt and inspect its allocation rows, including invoice identity and amount.
Practical reconciliation
- Compare invoice totals with the saved source order.
- Compare settlement with actual allocation records and effective credits.
- Check every document's currency before combining figures.
- Use base-currency reporting for a common-currency sales comparison.
- Keep bank evidence separate from the Paid / credited figure.
Do not use the invoice balance card as a cash-receipts report or sum unlike transaction currencies in the register.