Centralized invoicing (invoices to issue)

By default, Autoria issues the invoice of a rental when it is settled. If your accounting prefers to issue invoices later, from completed rentals, turn on centralized invoicing: no rental is ever left without an invoice, the invoice is simply issued later.

Turn on centralized invoicing

Open Paramètres (settings), Facturation tab, Mode de facturation (invoicing mode) block, choose Facturation centralisée (centralized invoicing) then click Enregistrer le mode (save the mode): nothing is saved before this click, and Annuler (cancel) restores the current mode. Each option shows its description, so you can compare them before choosing. Only a role that manages the legal and tax settings can change it. To go back to the default behaviour, choose Au règlement (at settlement) then Enregistrer le mode: the invoices already waiting to be issued stay in the list and are issued the same way.

What happens when the vehicle is returned

When the vehicle is returned, Autoria creates an invoice to issue, with no number and no issue date. It holds the amounts of the rental; at settlement, its amounts are recomputed (late return, damage, discount, payment collected) and it stays to issue. While it is to issue, it can neither be sent to the customer nor corrected with a credit note.

Issue the invoices to issue

From the Facturation (billing) page, the Factures à établir (invoices to issue) button opens the list of completed rentals whose invoice is not issued yet, from the oldest to the latest. You can limit it to one month of rental end, or go back to Tous les mois (all months). The non réglée (not settled) mention flags a rental returned but not settled yet.

• Émettre (issue) issues a single invoice.
• Tick several invoices, or Tout sélectionner (select all), then Émettre la sélection (issue the selection) to issue them at once.

When issued, each invoice receives its number and its issue date, in the order of the rental ends, and its PDF is generated. Each invoice is issued separately: if one fails, the others are still issued, and the message tells how many were issued and why the others were not. An invoice cannot be dated before the last invoice already issued.

Issuing invoices is reserved to the Propriétaire (owner), the Administrateurs (administrators) and the Responsables (managers). By default, the Comptable (accountant) sees the list without being able to issue; the Agent de comptoir (counter agent) cannot issue.

Send the invoice to the customer

In Paramètres (settings), Facturation tab, the Envoi de la facture (invoice sending) block sets how the issued invoice reaches the customer. Choose an option then click Enregistrer l'envoi (save the sending):

• Envoi automatique (automatic sending): the invoice is emailed to the customer as soon as it is issued, at settlement or from Factures à établir, when their email is filled in.
• Sur demande (on request): the invoice is issued for every rental, but only sent to the customer if they ask for it, with the Envoyer la facture demandée (send the requested invoice) action of the Facturation page. Autoria keeps a record of every sending.

Sending on request is only offered when the legislation of your company's country allows it. Otherwise the Sur demande option stays visible but cannot be chosen, with the note: « L'envoi sur demande n'est pas proposé pour le pays de votre société. » (sending on request is not offered for your company's country). This is the case in Tunisia for now.

Reminder before the declaration deadline

When invoices of rentals completed the previous month are still to be issued, the Propriétaire (owner) and the Administrateurs (administrators) receive a notification 7 days, 3 days, then 1 day before the VAT declaration deadline: the 28th of the following month for a company, the 15th for an individual. It states the number of invoices to issue, the month concerned and the deadline. Each reminder is sent only once; none is sent once the invoices are issued.

Settle a rental whose invoice is already issued

If the invoice was issued before the settlement, the settlement uses it: no second invoice is created. If the settlement changes the amount of the rental (late return, damage, discount), it is refused: first generate a credit note for the whole amount of the invoice; the settlement then issues a new invoice.