Create an invoice from a sales order
Where: Sales invoices → Create from sales order.
Who: sales.invoice.create; invoice viewing to inspect the saved result. The source order must belong to the current tenant and an accessible business unit.
Creation at a glance
1. Verify the source order
Open the sales order and confirm the customer, unit, warehouse, pricing, discount approvals and currencies. Eligible states are Confirmed, Partially dispatched and Dispatched. Check the invoice register by Sales order ID if you are unsure whether an invoice already exists.
The form does not search or preview the full sales order before saving; it accepts a known numeric ID. Verify that ID in Sales rather than using an invoice ID or copying the printed order number into a numeric field.
2. Complete the form
| Field | Required? | Example | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales order ID | Yes | 1188 | Positive integer for the actual source order |
| Invoice date | Yes in the browser | 07/11/2026 | Initially today's local date; check the business date |
| Due date (optional) | No | 07/12/2026 | Leave blank for Invoice date + 30 calendar days |
| Notes (optional) | No | November café supplies; PO CA-441 | Up to 1,000 characters |
The source order determines customer, business unit, warehouse, currency, exchange rate, quantities, prices, tax, discounts and totals. You cannot change those using this form.
Date examples
| Invoice date | Due date input | Saved due date |
|---|---|---|
| 07/11/2026 | Blank | 07/12/2026 |
| 07/11/2026 | 21/11/2026 | 21/11/2026 |
| 31/01/2027 | Blank | 02/03/2027: 30 days, not month-end |
| 07/11/2026 | 06/11/2026 | Browser refuses the earlier date |
This form does not fetch a customer-specific payment-term calculation. Enter an explicit date if the agreement differs from the 30-day default.
3. Save the draft
Select Save draft invoice. The application opens its detail with a generated INV-… number and Draft status. Record the invoice number and numeric ID.
For the Café Aroma exercise, check total GBP 327.60, Paid / credited 0 and Amount due 327.60. The amount due on a Draft is its proposed bill balance; it does not prove that the receivable has been posted.
Creation can prepare a draft journal in Accounting, but it does not post the invoice, receive payment, dispatch goods or email the customer. Continue with Review the invoice.
Copying is not repricing
The invoice copies the order's saved commercial values. A changed price list does not reprice the invoice during creation. Likewise, a partially dispatched order does not make this a partial-quantity invoice: all source lines and their recorded quantities are copied.
Example: an order contains 40 mugs and 10 T-shirts, but only 6 T-shirts have been dispatched. Creating an invoice from that eligible order still copies the order's 10 T-shirts. There is no Create invoice for remaining 4 control.
Failure and recovery
| Message / condition | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Enter a valid sales order and invoice date… | Invalid/missing ID/date, date order or notes length | Correct marked fields |
| Sales order not found | Wrong ID, tenant or inaccessible record | Verify the source and access |
| Sales order status does not allow invoice creation | Order not in an eligible state | Complete/review Sales workflow |
| Sales order has no lines | There is nothing to invoice | Correct the source |
| Invoice already exists for the order | A non-cancelled invoice already exists | Search by Sales order ID and open it |
| The invoice may have been created | The browser cannot confirm the write outcome | Use Check the invoice register before any retry |
An uncertain outcome blocks repeat saving in the current form. Do not work around it by opening another creation form until you have checked for the first invoice.