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Community > Feature Requests >
Done
Edit invoices & tax when invoice is paid or part paid
Started by David Bowles in Feature Requests | Done!
While the accounts posted to can be edited even tho payment is attached, currently we cannot edit the amounts or tax codes of an invoice without deleting the payments first.
This is annoying.
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This thread has evolved to include editing all parts of a paid/part-paid Invoice. Remember, as an Advisor, Find & Recode allows you to edit the Tax Rate & Account Code of a part/fully paid invoice.
Matt, Community Manager
This is annoying.
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This thread has evolved to include editing all parts of a paid/part-paid Invoice. Remember, as an Advisor, Find & Recode allows you to edit the Tax Rate & Account Code of a part/fully paid invoice.
Matt, Community Manager
264
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Official Xero Reply
Hey all, I have some good news.
We’ve made a few changes today so that you’re now able to edit the following fields on paid/part-paid invoices and bills:
Contact, due date, invoice number, reference, and line item descriptions.
For those who need to increase the invoice amount or add additional items you’ll still need to create a new invoice for the changes. Our recommendation for how to handle this is:
1. create a new invoice with the additional line items
2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment
3. when you go into the new invoice - you will be able to apply the overpayment
4. If you need to send an updated invoice to the customer showing line items, amounts etc - you can now copy multiple invoices into a new sales invoice - see release notes here.
If you need to change tax rates, Find & Recode is an efficient and easy way to do this as an adviser.
With the release of Find & Recode, and these changes made today, most items on a paid invoice can be edited. Currently we have no plans to extend this. So we have returned your votes for this feature request and, based on our analysis of the comments in this thread, created these new feature requests:
a. Sales Invoices - Add/remove line items on a paid/part-paid invoice
b. Sales Invoices - Edit the Unit Price and Quantity of a paid/part-paid invoice
Thanks again for your thoughts, criticisms and pushing us! We want Xero to become the best thing since sliced bread, so please continue to add your thoughts on the requests we’ve linked above.
We’ve made a few changes today so that you’re now able to edit the following fields on paid/part-paid invoices and bills:
Contact, due date, invoice number, reference, and line item descriptions.
For those who need to increase the invoice amount or add additional items you’ll still need to create a new invoice for the changes. Our recommendation for how to handle this is:
1. create a new invoice with the additional line items
2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment
3. when you go into the new invoice - you will be able to apply the overpayment
4. If you need to send an updated invoice to the customer showing line items, amounts etc - you can now copy multiple invoices into a new sales invoice - see release notes here.
If you need to change tax rates, Find & Recode is an efficient and easy way to do this as an adviser.
With the release of Find & Recode, and these changes made today, most items on a paid invoice can be edited. Currently we have no plans to extend this. So we have returned your votes for this feature request and, based on our analysis of the comments in this thread, created these new feature requests:
a. Sales Invoices - Add/remove line items on a paid/part-paid invoice
b. Sales Invoices - Edit the Unit Price and Quantity of a paid/part-paid invoice
Thanks again for your thoughts, criticisms and pushing us! We want Xero to become the best thing since sliced bread, so please continue to add your thoughts on the requests we’ve linked above.
+1 much needed- i have tried to edit these many times - sometimes you just need to edit the description & it is annoying not to be able to.
+1. Can't see why they have inconsistent functionality here. You can edit spend money items that have been reconciled, but not invoices. Cause a lot of wasted time deleting payments and then reapplying them.
Yes please. I'd need at least the ability to change GST code, especially if the line item is part of an invoice paid by a big batch payment. If a client gets a wrong GST code on a big expense, to fix it, I need to take record of all the batch invoices, then delete the payment, edit the GST code and batch pay again. Quite annoying. Or is there a smarter way to achieve the same result?
I'm pretty sure that came in a recent update. I've been able to do that for awhile now. What really gets my goat is the inability to change the date on an invoice once it's been paid off. A client recently input a whole bunch of invoices as December 2012, didnt notice and then paid them off in batches - now I have to delete untold numbers just to fix the ones that are wrong.
Thanks for the comments. Totally understand regarding unraveling a batch payment and we'll look at how we can improve this. As for changing something that changes the sales tax code, the complexity comes when that might alter the overall amount of the invoice therefore causing a potential mis-match with the payment. Also, depending on legal requirements in each region, if sales tax is altered on an invoice do you need to resend a copy to the customer, understand this is different if it's a supplier invoice. This situation is something we talk about a bit, trying to figure out the alternations to the journals for automatically removing and re-applying the payment - good to have a thread going on this.
@Deepti - as others have pointed out in expense claims posts in this Community, you can't edit or delete a receipt after it's been approved or authorized. We have a bit of work to do to tidy up expense claims and editing is one thing to consider. For now you need to void the claim, re-enter the receipts and submit again. Sorry about that.
+1 . I ran into the need to edit invoices with payments attached in the case of partial payments that end up making the invoice late. I generally add interest each month the invoice is late until it is paid off. That doesn't work after the first payment. I posted a related feature request here: https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/70481/
Merged: Be able to edit invoices even after partial payments have been made on that invoice
I would like to request that invoices can be edited even after a partial payment has been made to that invoice. When a customer changes quantities after paying a deposit is not easy. Being able to update an invoice at any given time would be awesome
I would like to request that invoices can be edited even after a partial payment has been made to that invoice. When a customer changes quantities after paying a deposit is not easy. Being able to update an invoice at any given time would be awesome
Hi Mario,
I was looking at the community forum for the first time and came across your request. It caught my eye as just today I have been looking at AR - filling in gaps in my knowledge as I certified back in 2010.
Your idea is a good one and I think Xero needs to consider it carefully from an accounting perspective which I'll cover off in more detail shortly. What I'm writing is probably more for Xero to consider...
A straight edit of an approved invoice with a payment, sounds like a good idea but thinking about the implications about editing an already processed invoice (the transaction may have already been included in the tax/VAT returns, published Profit reports already relied on etc) would lead to all sorts of problems.
The original transaction should in my view stay the same and an adjustment invoice posted. This could still be a simple process in Xero but there has to be more than just an edit button.
I think a prudent approach would be to tackle it from an invoice adjustment > accounting process.
What needs to happen is Xero should post any sales tax (VAT) adjustments, sales revenue adjustments debtors control adjustments automatically behind the scenes.
In theory the customer should be getting a new invoice or an additional invoice/credit note. So perhaps an Invoice or Credit note could be the output from a change in invoice quantity or unit value.
Anyway enough on the subject - I used to work for a software house as well....
Be interested to find out how the request is dealt with
Cheers
Simon
I was looking at the community forum for the first time and came across your request. It caught my eye as just today I have been looking at AR - filling in gaps in my knowledge as I certified back in 2010.
Your idea is a good one and I think Xero needs to consider it carefully from an accounting perspective which I'll cover off in more detail shortly. What I'm writing is probably more for Xero to consider...
A straight edit of an approved invoice with a payment, sounds like a good idea but thinking about the implications about editing an already processed invoice (the transaction may have already been included in the tax/VAT returns, published Profit reports already relied on etc) would lead to all sorts of problems.
The original transaction should in my view stay the same and an adjustment invoice posted. This could still be a simple process in Xero but there has to be more than just an edit button.
I think a prudent approach would be to tackle it from an invoice adjustment > accounting process.
What needs to happen is Xero should post any sales tax (VAT) adjustments, sales revenue adjustments debtors control adjustments automatically behind the scenes.
In theory the customer should be getting a new invoice or an additional invoice/credit note. So perhaps an Invoice or Credit note could be the output from a change in invoice quantity or unit value.
Anyway enough on the subject - I used to work for a software house as well....
Be interested to find out how the request is dealt with
Cheers
Simon
Simon, Xero already handles the GST/VAT changes if a change is made after filing your GST/VAT reports.
Catherine: Xero need to get off their chuff and change this! As a Xero Partner I WASTE so much working around this. I know that the purist says you shouldn't change an invoice after it has been entered/sent, but the practical reality is that we change and reissue invoices all the time! The most common problem here is that the client enters something (usually an AP invoice) but enters it incorrectly (often the tax rate) and then pays it. Now the only way to change it is to start deleting reconciled payments - often done in batches, or use Journals, which disconnects the adjustment from the original transaction. The functionality is there in Spend/Receive Money, so you should just be consistent and let the client/accountant decide how "pure" they need to be - please don't make value judgements for us in this case!
Catherine: Xero need to get off their chuff and change this! As a Xero Partner I WASTE so much working around this. I know that the purist says you shouldn't change an invoice after it has been entered/sent, but the practical reality is that we change and reissue invoices all the time! The most common problem here is that the client enters something (usually an AP invoice) but enters it incorrectly (often the tax rate) and then pays it. Now the only way to change it is to start deleting reconciled payments - often done in batches, or use Journals, which disconnects the adjustment from the original transaction. The functionality is there in Spend/Receive Money, so you should just be consistent and let the client/accountant decide how "pure" they need to be - please don't make value judgements for us in this case!
Thanks. I knew about the GST adjustments going into the next GST/VAT period. What I was referring to was if a tax period has been filed with the IRD or HMRC by the transactions that make up the return shouldn't be editable but reflected by new transactions. Example a credit note and issuing of a new invoice. Any VAT impact would be reflected in a later tax period.
Peter's note on VAT/GST AP invoice adjustments is a common one - I have seen it too. But because the system I was using at the time had an easier way of processing tax adjustments it was never a big issue to me nor did it take much time. Tax adjustments were entered via general ledger journals. The equivalent in Xero would be extending the AR/AP tax adjustments to GL journals. Xero already has a tax record on a journal line and would have to include a tax adjustment field.
I have been on both sides of the fence - when I posted my (NZ) client's Accountant's schedule of GST adjustments, all I had to do was a 2 line GL journal. Easy, took less than a few minutes and involved no unraveling of transactions (which it didn't allow anyway). The GL journal tax adjustment was picked up in the next tax report and the Accountant's happy. There should be no need to unravel anything if Xero had GL journal tax adjustment functionality.
As commerce becomes more B2B, with direct VAT return filing and especially with the customer portal Xero is planning, editing of AR/AP/cashbook transactions will become a more important topic and the issue more important to resolve. An example springs to mind - take the customer invoice portal which Xero is planning. Should this display the AR invoice that was sent? Or the latest version the the client has amended? Or should the invoice be "fixed" once it has been printed or sent? What is the value of the portal showing the original invoice and not the amended one?
Catherine, my recommendation is that tax adjustment functionality to be included in GL journal entry which would allow AP coding errors affecting tax to be quickly corrected by simple journal entry.
Regards
Simon Davidson
Peter's note on VAT/GST AP invoice adjustments is a common one - I have seen it too. But because the system I was using at the time had an easier way of processing tax adjustments it was never a big issue to me nor did it take much time. Tax adjustments were entered via general ledger journals. The equivalent in Xero would be extending the AR/AP tax adjustments to GL journals. Xero already has a tax record on a journal line and would have to include a tax adjustment field.
I have been on both sides of the fence - when I posted my (NZ) client's Accountant's schedule of GST adjustments, all I had to do was a 2 line GL journal. Easy, took less than a few minutes and involved no unraveling of transactions (which it didn't allow anyway). The GL journal tax adjustment was picked up in the next tax report and the Accountant's happy. There should be no need to unravel anything if Xero had GL journal tax adjustment functionality.
As commerce becomes more B2B, with direct VAT return filing and especially with the customer portal Xero is planning, editing of AR/AP/cashbook transactions will become a more important topic and the issue more important to resolve. An example springs to mind - take the customer invoice portal which Xero is planning. Should this display the AR invoice that was sent? Or the latest version the the client has amended? Or should the invoice be "fixed" once it has been printed or sent? What is the value of the portal showing the original invoice and not the amended one?
Catherine, my recommendation is that tax adjustment functionality to be included in GL journal entry which would allow AP coding errors affecting tax to be quickly corrected by simple journal entry.
Regards
Simon Davidson
+1, We review a lot of BAS's prepared by our clients and being able to edit supplier invoices would save a stack of time.
+1. All I want to do in this particular instance is change the due date on the purchase invoice, something that doesn't affect anything! So it seems absurd that it's locked down just because a payment is allocated against it.
Merged: Ability to edit Invoices after a partial payment has been made on that invocie
I would like to request the ability to edit and invoice such as delete lines or prices or quantities after a partial payment has been made to that invoice. Currently QBO allows for that feature.
I would like to request the ability to edit and invoice such as delete lines or prices or quantities after a partial payment has been made to that invoice. Currently QBO allows for that feature.
You could always issue a credit note - my accountant says that is how I should do it becuase its not good accounting practise to edit invoices once they have been created and approved - in her words "you shouldn't really do it" :)
So mostly that is what I do if i need to edit the invoice in removing lines or prices, if i need to add, it is just another invoice.
So mostly that is what I do if i need to edit the invoice in removing lines or prices, if i need to add, it is just another invoice.
I'd like this feature because a couple of my clients start paying their big BAS bills before the BAS is lodged - and so I have to take off all the payments before I can amend the "Dummy" BAS to reflect the true figures, which is a pain.
Any update on this feature? Sounds like people would like this feature as well. I know Quickbooks online allows for this to happen.
+2 (my company and my audit consultant who considers promoting XERO to his customers...)
Merged: Y U no let people edit paid invoices?
Most annoying thing about Xero. I want to keep account up to date but often don't receive invoices for a few days. I then need to delete the payment and set the tax point/item description and then mark as paid again. Not a time saver.
Also where's the option to account for VAT for pre-xero invoices?
Also some invoices have typos in VAT - There should be a 100% VAT option on invoices to enter this manually.
Most annoying thing about Xero. I want to keep account up to date but often don't receive invoices for a few days. I then need to delete the payment and set the tax point/item description and then mark as paid again. Not a time saver.
Also where's the option to account for VAT for pre-xero invoices?
Also some invoices have typos in VAT - There should be a 100% VAT option on invoices to enter this manually.
I can appreciate not being able to edit invoices if FULLY paid, but I would suggest that PARTIALLY paid invoices should still be editable. Until the invoice has been paid in full, the client is still likely to make changes, and /or business owner may want to modify the items invoiced.
I can make many examples of where this may be the case:
• Client is charged for installation with deposit paid and balance payable on completion. At time of installation additional power boards or cables may be required and need to be added to the invoice.
• Client short pays a small amount and business owner agrees to adjust price.
• Client decides he only wants part of the goods ordered and certain line items need to be deleted
• Client is charged shipping or postage and then decides to collect
• Client is late on paying final balance and a late fee is to be added
Xero’s policy to prohibit changes is fine for fully paid invoices and this possibly covers many over the counter sales businesses, but does not cater for the many service related businesses where deposits are taken. As mentioned previously the final amount payable is not confirmed until fully paid.
I can make many examples of where this may be the case:
• Client is charged for installation with deposit paid and balance payable on completion. At time of installation additional power boards or cables may be required and need to be added to the invoice.
• Client short pays a small amount and business owner agrees to adjust price.
• Client decides he only wants part of the goods ordered and certain line items need to be deleted
• Client is charged shipping or postage and then decides to collect
• Client is late on paying final balance and a late fee is to be added
Xero’s policy to prohibit changes is fine for fully paid invoices and this possibly covers many over the counter sales businesses, but does not cater for the many service related businesses where deposits are taken. As mentioned previously the final amount payable is not confirmed until fully paid.
agree! (to full editing) ... even if the end invoice is the same result, you may just want to break up a line into to two lines for expense allocation ... Full editing please!
Totally agree. I love Xero but this is a massive inconvinience. I get bulk payments for around 40 people - 1 payment allocated to 50 different accounts - if anyone wants to change anything on thier invoice I need to delete the payment but this means I delete all other 50 payments so have to spend another whole hour putting all the payments back in - they need to sort this issue fast otherwise it leaves me no choice but to use a different accounting system which would be a shame. WE NEED NEED NEED FULL EDITING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i agree, it would be nice to be able to add extra amounts to the invoice after a deposit/payment has been added. We take a 50% deposit on all work approved and then sometimes they want more work, so i have to delete the payment etc etc. being able to change the amount due date would also work, especially if the work is done earlier than expected and we want payment earlier!
I have items that a customer has on lay buy and when they make the final payment and pick up their item my staff are encouraged to up-sell add on's, but if this happens i need to go back and delete all of the payments to add the extra item to the invoice then re apply each payment and sometimes there are more than 10!. This happens at least once a week so slows me down quite a bit. Id REALLY like to be able to edit an invoice once it has been partially paid, is this possible????
Puhleeeeeease change this! I don't want to bring up MYOB but come BAS time it was really easy to change incorrect GST codes on the report. At this stage i have to undo a batch payment, change what is incorrect, then redo the batch payment. For more than one batch! I am paying over 50 people at a time and i think there is more room for error remembering which invoice to tick as paid, than changing the tax in a transaction.
Thanks!
Thanks!
I just realized how locked an invoice is. We can't even change the name of the contact once payment has begun. I believe in not having users shoot themselves in the foot but at times like these where we have what I consider a simple change from one account exec to another--making me void the entire thing to redress is a long way around. Some of this should be set at an administration level, like how Mac's have the lock icon and you can unlock it with the right access level. Have better role control and points that can be changed with those levels or approvals.
This is a big headache for me and is actually the tipping point to use xero or not. I get take deposits on account up to two years in advance, how can I delete a payment that has been reconciled / locked from last year. Why not have the facility to amend an invoice that simply transfers assigned payments and voids the existing invoice. Deleting and re-entering already accounted customer payments is a recipe for disaster.
This is an absolute must. If there is an audit log for changes, I don't understand why Xero is so opposed to implementing this. The inability to change paid invoices is an absolute nightmare (ie GST time). Xero, stop treating your customers like children and give them the option! Obviously this feature would need to be linked to user permissions.
Oh please please please change this. This occurs reasonably regularly when a business owner is doing their own coding. When we have to undo the payments to be able to amend the coding it opens things up to greater error & inefficiencies ie. we have to over handle the transaction which leaves room for greater error. We can change a spend money transaction easily enough so if changing an item in purchases effects the BAS or Cash reporting then wouldn't the changing of a spend money transaction have the same impact. It seems a little crazy that we can only change the Account code on a transaction that has payments allocated unless we delete the payments - which is frustrating and as above opens up to greater error/missing things when we have to re-work. If we are having to change an account code it's likely that we'll have to change the take code also.
Sure there is some logic to it but if there is not and or there is a solution that can enable us to be able to change transactions without having to delete payment(s) that have been applied please please do it. Our lock periods and or user access, audit trail should pick up the effects of changes - ultimately we can change anyway, we just need to delete payments which is dangerous and fiddly so we look very forward to a more user friendly process.
Sure there is some logic to it but if there is not and or there is a solution that can enable us to be able to change transactions without having to delete payment(s) that have been applied please please do it. Our lock periods and or user access, audit trail should pick up the effects of changes - ultimately we can change anyway, we just need to delete payments which is dangerous and fiddly so we look very forward to a more user friendly process.
Grrrr doing one now with 3 payments against it & have to delete the payments - can't even unreconcile. V V frustrating. Please Please Please fix this :-)
Yes I completely agree, this really needs to be changed. 'Editing' should enable all parts to be edited, not just the account code
Yes please Xero change this!
We offer services and experiences and some fixed price products so a deposit is made, then very near every one of our invoices requires extra's added to it. So we end up having to create multiple invoices with none that actually show the grande total.
We also deal in accommodation for groups so the numbers change right up to the last day.
We are considering whether Xero is right for us and have been trialling for a few months now. As this is a problem with every invoice we make, I'm not sure the employee time spent producing and reproducing invoices is going to be worth it.
This is a basic function. As noted above, don't worry about how we run our business, just provide the tools to customize the products you are selling and I'll be happy.
We offer services and experiences and some fixed price products so a deposit is made, then very near every one of our invoices requires extra's added to it. So we end up having to create multiple invoices with none that actually show the grande total.
We also deal in accommodation for groups so the numbers change right up to the last day.
We are considering whether Xero is right for us and have been trialling for a few months now. As this is a problem with every invoice we make, I'm not sure the employee time spent producing and reproducing invoices is going to be worth it.
This is a basic function. As noted above, don't worry about how we run our business, just provide the tools to customize the products you are selling and I'll be happy.
Merged: changing tax rate on items in approved and paid invoices
Hi,
Just wondering if i can change the tax rate on accounts to which the invoice has already been approved and paid?
Im a tradesperson so all this Accounting is very new to me.
I have been invoicing clients, however for each item on the invoice, which requires an account be assigned, i have been applying 'expense' accounts instead of 'sales - income' accounts.
i now realise that this is adversely affecting my activity statement because certain sales are showing as expenses.
I need to go back into the existing invoices for the last quarter and change all the accounts to sales accounts with a 'GST on income' tax rate, so that this may be reflected in my activity statement.
I tried editing the invoices, and it will let me change the account associated with each item, however the existing tax rate will not adjust accordingly, hence it will not adjust my activity statement report.
I would appreciate any help
Hi,
Just wondering if i can change the tax rate on accounts to which the invoice has already been approved and paid?
Im a tradesperson so all this Accounting is very new to me.
I have been invoicing clients, however for each item on the invoice, which requires an account be assigned, i have been applying 'expense' accounts instead of 'sales - income' accounts.
i now realise that this is adversely affecting my activity statement because certain sales are showing as expenses.
I need to go back into the existing invoices for the last quarter and change all the accounts to sales accounts with a 'GST on income' tax rate, so that this may be reflected in my activity statement.
I tried editing the invoices, and it will let me change the account associated with each item, however the existing tax rate will not adjust accordingly, hence it will not adjust my activity statement report.
I would appreciate any help
Alexander Miller
Hi Alexander
Once an invoice has a payment against it, the only way you can change the Tax rate is by removing the payment you would change what is needed and then reapply the payment.
Once an invoice has a payment against it, the only way you can change the Tax rate is by removing the payment you would change what is needed and then reapply the payment.
This about the only thing I don't like about Xero. I hope they allow more changes soon to not only the tax rate but also contact etc
This has been marked Not Planned.. Does that mean people should just take their votes back because Xero still doesn't think this has validity?
It'd be nice to get some conversation going with Xero; it's an echo chamber in here.
It'd be nice to get some conversation going with Xero; it's an echo chamber in here.
Can you do this in quickbooks? YES
Can you do this in myob? YES
Can you do this in any other accounting or general ledger program? YES
I am sick of Xero excuses
Can you do this in myob? YES
Can you do this in any other accounting or general ledger program? YES
I am sick of Xero excuses
Luke Pullin
Merged: Editing GST transactions
When sales or payments are entered and money is receipted against them, we are unable to move the GST type. For example if the client codes a payment to an income area, we can correct the account code to the correct expense code but the GST type stays and 15% on income and does not change to 15% on expense. Therefore stays in the GST ledger as a debit to income, and if the client is on ratio method, the calculation for the ratio is based on net figure not the Gross figure.
When sales or payments are entered and money is receipted against them, we are unable to move the GST type. For example if the client codes a payment to an income area, we can correct the account code to the correct expense code but the GST type stays and 15% on income and does not change to 15% on expense. Therefore stays in the GST ledger as a debit to income, and if the client is on ratio method, the calculation for the ratio is based on net figure not the Gross figure.
Once an invoice or bill has been paid, the tax rate cannot be changed. If you need to change the tax rate you will need to remove the payment/s, update the invoice, then reconcile the payments to the invoice/bill again.
Kim Payne
Agree with above, this needs to be changed.
It's an extremely frustrating trait of Xero which as Luke pointed out in the last post isn't a problem when using other 'older' accounting software products.
Xero is about making things easier and faster, however the inability to change part paid invoices has the opposite effect
It's an extremely frustrating trait of Xero which as Luke pointed out in the last post isn't a problem when using other 'older' accounting software products.
Xero is about making things easier and faster, however the inability to change part paid invoices has the opposite effect
Merged: EDIT BILLS AND INVOICES
Fifth supplier invoice received today with changes from original order placed due to necessary changes and additions or freight finalised costs.
Unfortunately we've paid deposits.
So CANNOT be edited and need to create and work out additional entry bills.
PLEASE fix this so bills and invoices can be EDITED after a payment is applied - BOTH XERO AND WFM.
It is getting ridiculous.
Fifth supplier invoice received today with changes from original order placed due to necessary changes and additions or freight finalised costs.
Unfortunately we've paid deposits.
So CANNOT be edited and need to create and work out additional entry bills.
PLEASE fix this so bills and invoices can be EDITED after a payment is applied - BOTH XERO AND WFM.
It is getting ridiculous.
@Jason
I agree, I had similar problems but for different reasons. Freight and international transfers are good examples of variable costs that may change after the original invoice is raised.
Meanwhile what you can do is unreconcile the payment from the invoice, this will show the invoice as unpaid and allow you to edit it. Click the payments link on the bottom of the invoice and choose remove and redo option from the drop down menu on the payments screen. The original payment will reappear as an unreconciled line item on the bank rec screen. Once you have made the edits you can reconcile the payment back again. Usually if I know I need to edit an invoice I reconcile everything in the bank account first so when I unreconcile the payment from the invoice it will appear as only one item to be reconciled on the bank rec screen. Once you re-reconcile the payment it will appear on the invoice included in payments made and amount to pay totals at the bottom. Not ideal and takes a bit of time but avoids having to make more invoices/credit notes/bills etc to balance the books.
I agree, I had similar problems but for different reasons. Freight and international transfers are good examples of variable costs that may change after the original invoice is raised.
Meanwhile what you can do is unreconcile the payment from the invoice, this will show the invoice as unpaid and allow you to edit it. Click the payments link on the bottom of the invoice and choose remove and redo option from the drop down menu on the payments screen. The original payment will reappear as an unreconciled line item on the bank rec screen. Once you have made the edits you can reconcile the payment back again. Usually if I know I need to edit an invoice I reconcile everything in the bank account first so when I unreconcile the payment from the invoice it will appear as only one item to be reconciled on the bank rec screen. Once you re-reconcile the payment it will appear on the invoice included in payments made and amount to pay totals at the bottom. Not ideal and takes a bit of time but avoids having to make more invoices/credit notes/bills etc to balance the books.
This should have been something that was done correctly from the get go. Needs fixing and SOON ! A real pain and embarrassing to try and explain through to ex MYOB users and still convince them that Xero is a better system for them. Too many things not really up to speed and progress is slow. Perhaps time to take stock, slow down on getting your product out there and get the basics crossed off before you get bigger ... currently not better or faster .. so slow down and focus on making a great product ... bones are there but small things annoying and costing too much downtime. Thx
Actually it looks like this feed has been going for over a year and nothing has been done about it. Perhaps it needs to be getting fed through Facebook to get some traction ? Hidden away here - it's not impacting marketing and needs to !!
Hi Everyone, I set this one to "Not Planned" to reflect that, while we agree this would be useful, we don't currently have the resources to tackle it any time soon. Really important for me to be upfront about this so that there's no confusion as to our position. Unfortunately, this request is not quite as simple as it might seem and would take our focus off some of the other larger features we've committed to (including purchase orders, quotes and reporting improvements). It's not a terminal decision though - as we work through our current priorities we are constantly reviewing what should be tackled next. Sorry it's not better news.
I agree that the GST type should be able to be moved and changed from a credit to a debit and vice versa if required.
This is a shame Andrew, we really need this. Even just to be able to change the due date on an invoice would be helpful. We work with the building trade, and dates are guesses at the best of times. I often end up with several invoices for £15 - 20k flagging as overdue, when they aren't yet due and probably won't be for several months. They will have had deposits and interim payments against them, so they become completely unchangeable.
At least it is deemed a requirement now. The Xero/WFM having been emailing me telling me they don't want to do this as they would get a substantial number of complaints if people were able to edit things after they had been issued and if incorrect invoices were sent to clients, then Xero would have all us on the phone complaining to them. Doesn't quite make sense that mentality to me. I have been saying editing invoices and bills is something that is our responsibility, not big brother mentality of Xero/WFM. I should post the replies I have been getting one day, extremely frustrating and clearly Xero are not doing what is in the best interests of the actual and real users.
There are over 100 odd thousands subscribers apparently, but a handful post on the boards. Which is not really a true reflection of what is generally required.
It's probably time for them both to go on a recruiting drive and issue the product that is claims to be - accounting package = false advertising.
There are over 100 odd thousands subscribers apparently, but a handful post on the boards. Which is not really a true reflection of what is generally required.
It's probably time for them both to go on a recruiting drive and issue the product that is claims to be - accounting package = false advertising.
In Australia where you enter an invoice and pay it, but don't have the physical Tax Invoice, you cannot claim the GST. So what if you subsequently receive the Tax Invoice, you can then claim the GST.
But in xero if you initially marked it as GST free because you didn't have the Tax Invoice, then you can't change the purchase to now include GST once you've received the Tax Invoice. You have to cancel/void everything and re-enter.
Xero: this is standard functionality in myob in the Accounts Payable / Purchasing side. Can you please match it. I don't think we're asking for anything out of the ordinary here.
But in xero if you initially marked it as GST free because you didn't have the Tax Invoice, then you can't change the purchase to now include GST once you've received the Tax Invoice. You have to cancel/void everything and re-enter.
Xero: this is standard functionality in myob in the Accounts Payable / Purchasing side. Can you please match it. I don't think we're asking for anything out of the ordinary here.
accounts@securebits .
Ashley, it is the same in NZ, and I 150% support the enhancement request. However, here are some work-arounds for you:
1. Take a pragmatic approach and enter the transactions including the GST if you expect to receive the paperwork, You can always change it before you file (see next point)
2. you don't need to delete/void everything to make a change to the bill. You only need to disconnect the payment bank feed from the invoice (find it in the Bank Account Transactions screen, and use "remove and redo"), then you can edit the coding and reconcile the transaction again. Still annoying, but it works.
1. Take a pragmatic approach and enter the transactions including the GST if you expect to receive the paperwork, You can always change it before you file (see next point)
2. you don't need to delete/void everything to make a change to the bill. You only need to disconnect the payment bank feed from the invoice (find it in the Bank Account Transactions screen, and use "remove and redo"), then you can edit the coding and reconcile the transaction again. Still annoying, but it works.
I would like to add my vote to changing the functionality on this - it is very time consuming when you have a long list of client BAS to review
I would also like to add my vote to this as each month we add interest and/or additional fees to an account if the invoice has been left unpaid. This is extremely annoying if the client has par paid the account. This is something that I know we use to do in MYOB with out any issues and if know that was not possible we would not have changed systems.
Merged: Ability to change GST codes when transactions are reconciled
Hi
I would like the ability to change GST codes using 'edit' on reconciled transactions. Currently to change the GST code you need to unreconcile the transaction change the code and then reconcile it again. This leads to inefficiency in processing and confusion as to how the transaction was originally reconciled unless you use a pen and paper to write all the details down before unreconciling.
Currently you can change the account the transaction is posted to using the 'edit' function and I would like this to be extended to the GST codes.
I am an accountant using the Partner edition, perhaps you could provide this function just in the Partner edition.
Thanks
Erin
Hi
I would like the ability to change GST codes using 'edit' on reconciled transactions. Currently to change the GST code you need to unreconcile the transaction change the code and then reconcile it again. This leads to inefficiency in processing and confusion as to how the transaction was originally reconciled unless you use a pen and paper to write all the details down before unreconciling.
Currently you can change the account the transaction is posted to using the 'edit' function and I would like this to be extended to the GST codes.
I am an accountant using the Partner edition, perhaps you could provide this function just in the Partner edition.
Thanks
Erin
I agree this is very frustrating and often very time consuming!!!
This can be done in Myob, Quickbooks and other accounting softwares - why not in Xero?
This can be done in Myob, Quickbooks and other accounting softwares - why not in Xero?
It's a joke. Sick of seeing stupid fixes when main things like this are needed. Functional changes for users instead of changes deemed better by Xero. Stuff what the investors need. Without the subscriber base you have no users, no income, no investors. Too much big brother talk and mightier than thou attitude. This forum is a joke. Very rarely every week are upgrades to what is seen on this site.
@Jason - we certainly don't want this Community to be a joke and I'm sorry you feel that way about it. We have hundreds of requests posted on this site as well as many we receive via email, direct from customers and partners, our blog, other social media channels - that's not to say that Xero has hundreds of holes in it, but across our entire user base people are putting up suggestions. Obviously some are bigger and major in many peoples' eyes and that is reflected in the votes we collect here and the count of requests through other channels, others are small and really a pain in the neck for one person. We literally cannot build everything at the same time but we have several things in the pipe at once and as they're ready, they're released. Time, complexity, security all come into play when it comes to what's released next. Please be assured that we read these threads, they're escalated as need be, we look at the ranking of requests based on votes.
There is nothing sinister going on here, we want software that meets its core function and is a delight to use and we are building every day and disheartened when you guys are disappointed in us. We know there’s a a whole heap more capability and potential for Xero and we are going as fast as we can. Thanks for your comments, and patience!
There is nothing sinister going on here, we want software that meets its core function and is a delight to use and we are building every day and disheartened when you guys are disappointed in us. We know there’s a a whole heap more capability and potential for Xero and we are going as fast as we can. Thanks for your comments, and patience!
This is one of the biggest issues I see with xero. Having used MYOB and then QBI which had this function in our business and having moved to Xero which doesn't, it is quite frustrating not to be able to edit transactions once they are paid and to remove a payment is very time consuming if it is part of a large batch payment. My thoughts are this needs to be a priority change.
Please. This is the major issue for me. How else can you quickly fix clients work without pulling your own hair out
+1, Desperately need the ability to change invoices once a part payment has been made. This seems like a very basic functionality flaw.
+1! If anything at least "Due Date" and "Reference" fields should be modifiable even after payments have been applied, they're non-essential fields that don't affect numbers and not tied to other fields.
It is also driving me nuts correcting client allocations: deleting payments, then editing, then reapplying payments - too too slow.
This is just a ridiculous!!! A Vote WTF. you have had enough complaints - CHANGE IT!
Again experiencing an ongoing problem of reviewing work with a large number of data entry errors. Seems to be confusion here of issues – though in part this may be due to merging of threads.
Firstly I want to acknowledge that it is part of good program design to include restrictions that are aimed at ensuring data/systems integrity.
Appears to be confusion between Invoices & Sales Orders/Purchase orders. Generally, an Invoice should be expected to have an enduring value. Problems often get created where sales invoices are edited/amended after being issued. Amending a sales invoice should only be done with great caution & in a current period. Further caution to where it’s being issued – ie the business receiving may be on different reporting cycles. At the end – an amended Invoice should be clearly identifiable as amended. In most cases it is more appropriate to issue a credit note.
Generally where a sale or purchase value may change, should be done via sales/purchase order – maybe a quote. These instruments don’t hit the general ledger and so don't create problems like invoices which do hit GL. There might be some exceptions to invoicing eg Building Industry –it’s also more difficult finding systems to fit with it. Some of the above comments should be directed at requests for sales/purchase orders & quotes.
The issue of editing invoices is different for A/R (Sales) & A/P (Bills). Changing the value & tax type on a sale has implications not only for business issuing but also business receiving – controls are appropriate. Perhaps not totally prohibitive but appropriate controls maybe in the form of cautionary or linked to a user profile to help ensure the person doing so has considered consequences.
My grief is with A/P & & just correcting what are data entry errors and in the current reporting period. Sometimes it’s the client who doesn’t appreciate the crazy GST system we have, but another common problem is data entry get’s delegated to anybody who can produce characters from a keyboard or mouse. It must be a major pain to all who have the role of reviewing a client’s file for lodgement. Every BAS On time there'll be a file or more where time allowance is a quick review that turn into major rework on a BAS deadline. Also a pain for end client when suddenly their bill goes through the roof. Grief all round.
Love Xero, but Xero love get’s tested at BAS time.
Firstly I want to acknowledge that it is part of good program design to include restrictions that are aimed at ensuring data/systems integrity.
Appears to be confusion between Invoices & Sales Orders/Purchase orders. Generally, an Invoice should be expected to have an enduring value. Problems often get created where sales invoices are edited/amended after being issued. Amending a sales invoice should only be done with great caution & in a current period. Further caution to where it’s being issued – ie the business receiving may be on different reporting cycles. At the end – an amended Invoice should be clearly identifiable as amended. In most cases it is more appropriate to issue a credit note.
Generally where a sale or purchase value may change, should be done via sales/purchase order – maybe a quote. These instruments don’t hit the general ledger and so don't create problems like invoices which do hit GL. There might be some exceptions to invoicing eg Building Industry –it’s also more difficult finding systems to fit with it. Some of the above comments should be directed at requests for sales/purchase orders & quotes.
The issue of editing invoices is different for A/R (Sales) & A/P (Bills). Changing the value & tax type on a sale has implications not only for business issuing but also business receiving – controls are appropriate. Perhaps not totally prohibitive but appropriate controls maybe in the form of cautionary or linked to a user profile to help ensure the person doing so has considered consequences.
My grief is with A/P & & just correcting what are data entry errors and in the current reporting period. Sometimes it’s the client who doesn’t appreciate the crazy GST system we have, but another common problem is data entry get’s delegated to anybody who can produce characters from a keyboard or mouse. It must be a major pain to all who have the role of reviewing a client’s file for lodgement. Every BAS On time there'll be a file or more where time allowance is a quick review that turn into major rework on a BAS deadline. Also a pain for end client when suddenly their bill goes through the roof. Grief all round.
Love Xero, but Xero love get’s tested at BAS time.
I totally agree - this is very annoying. Why is this issue still not fixed when the issue was first raised in February 2012!!! Totally unproductive.
best response to date.
thanks, this was helpful.
but i am in the building industry. where does this leave us?
thanks, this was helpful.
but i am in the building industry. where does this leave us?
Alexander Miller
There are many reasons this is a legitimate requirement across all business sectors.
People need to remember this software is not just used by accountants, it's used by business owners and employees in businesses.
Compliance for this lies between our company and our client or supplier. Not a Xero enforced ruling. We never had any issues with compliance being able to edit under MYOB for these thing - like I am sure most companies out there did not.
Nearly every invoice we receive needs to be amended from a factory as changes are made after deposits are paid upon receiving samples. Or quantity changes. Or freight is changed. It's endless what is required after deposits are made. This is sometimes the case with client side invoices, however not as much. We usually work this out with a client before money is paid, or it's placed into a balance invoice or separate invoice.
It is the painful experience of not being able to edit supplier bills that is a major, major issue.
People need to remember this software is not just used by accountants, it's used by business owners and employees in businesses.
Compliance for this lies between our company and our client or supplier. Not a Xero enforced ruling. We never had any issues with compliance being able to edit under MYOB for these thing - like I am sure most companies out there did not.
Nearly every invoice we receive needs to be amended from a factory as changes are made after deposits are paid upon receiving samples. Or quantity changes. Or freight is changed. It's endless what is required after deposits are made. This is sometimes the case with client side invoices, however not as much. We usually work this out with a client before money is paid, or it's placed into a balance invoice or separate invoice.
It is the painful experience of not being able to edit supplier bills that is a major, major issue.
Merged: Edit Invoices after a deposit is paid
What we want:
1. receive a deposit to confirm an order
2. then at a later date adjust that invoice to include all the additional features and services we can add to their order package.
3. we finalize the invoice, they settle the balance.
What currently happens:
1. we create an invoice to receive a deposit
2. we enter the deposit paid amount and it locks the invoice from further alterations.
3. we create a second invoice for the balance including the adjustments to their original booking estimate and manually enter the deposit as a deduction on that account.
This feature is available in a number of other accountancy packages. Please XERO, implement this basic feature. Love your work, but this is a hassle.
What we want:
1. receive a deposit to confirm an order
2. then at a later date adjust that invoice to include all the additional features and services we can add to their order package.
3. we finalize the invoice, they settle the balance.
What currently happens:
1. we create an invoice to receive a deposit
2. we enter the deposit paid amount and it locks the invoice from further alterations.
3. we create a second invoice for the balance including the adjustments to their original booking estimate and manually enter the deposit as a deduction on that account.
This feature is available in a number of other accountancy packages. Please XERO, implement this basic feature. Love your work, but this is a hassle.
Hi Al
I know Xero are working on more with orders for customers, but am not sure if this will be resolved.
We have clients that utilise Xero to do this as follows (and it also keeps the accounting correct):
* Create a Draft Invoice - this can be sent to the customer as a trigger for them to pay the deposit (you may want to have a different invoice template)
* When the deposit is received, enter it via Receive Money, and select the Prepayment Option. This should be an account sitting on your Balance Sheet as a liability. This will ensure that when you look at Accounts > Sales > Awaiting Payment that the deposit is clearly visible against the customer - you will see a small PP icon next to their name.
* Once the invoice is ready to be finalised, it can then be approved for the full value. At this stage, Xero will recognise that there is a PrePayment for your customer, and allow you to apply it against the invoice.
Hope that makes sense!
I know Xero are working on more with orders for customers, but am not sure if this will be resolved.
We have clients that utilise Xero to do this as follows (and it also keeps the accounting correct):
* Create a Draft Invoice - this can be sent to the customer as a trigger for them to pay the deposit (you may want to have a different invoice template)
* When the deposit is received, enter it via Receive Money, and select the Prepayment Option. This should be an account sitting on your Balance Sheet as a liability. This will ensure that when you look at Accounts > Sales > Awaiting Payment that the deposit is clearly visible against the customer - you will see a small PP icon next to their name.
* Once the invoice is ready to be finalised, it can then be approved for the full value. At this stage, Xero will recognise that there is a PrePayment for your customer, and allow you to apply it against the invoice.
Hope that makes sense!
The work-around solution for fixing errors by creating a copy of the bill/invoice, reversing the incorrect entry and re-entering it correctly with a zero dollar total does not always work. I have an issue with an incorrect opening balance for the GST liability on a balance sheet. Invoices were entered incorrectly. Xero Customer Care have confirmed that a work-around will not fix this problem. All payments need to be undone, transactions edited and payments reapplied. This is going to be 2-3 hours of work. Editing would have fixed the issue in under 20 minutes. This is a HUGE waste of time. In addition, less experienced staff that rely on referring to older transactions in the system to ascertain whether they are entering current transactions correctly could get the wrong impression if work-arounds are used rather than original entries corrected. Please fix this ASAP.
This is such a huge time wasting exercise.Especially if payments are part of a batch!! If you can lock periods down in Xero when they are finalised, then why won't Xero allow changes after payment in unlocked periods?
Xero was "sold" to us on the premise that we can review clients data inputting & edit the errors they make to ensure the clients work is completed efficiently & accurately. First job we get we cant edit the GST category without undoing the payment. Every other software we have worked with allows us to do this & it seems so basic that we assumed Xero would do it too. New user, very disappointed with this inability to edit transactions & very surprised that nothing has been done yet given the amount of requests & length of time that people have been raising this issue. Its a basic functionality that is necessary for Accountants.
Please fix this, at least let advisers be able to edit. Xero is suppose to be a time saving tool, and currently I waste a lot of time when reviewing clients BAS's and accounts. The lock period facility should be sufficient to prevent unwanted changes to entered information. Advisers need to be able to change incorrectly entered client information efficiently. Please fix this as a matter of urgency. The original post here was Feb-12, 21 months and no action to fix this not a good look xero.
My sentiments exactly. I have to go back and change 3 months worth of entries, and this will take forever. We should have the ability to change the account code and GST category after payment has been made.
This has been available functionality in other accounting software since GST arrived in Oz in 2000 and the same rules apply. Any bookkeeper and adviser worth their salt advises clients of the date and reporting rules around GST changes. Most in-house bookkeepers know the rules.
As BAS Agents its maddening, time consuming and frustrating to not be able to easily change the tax code before lodging BAS.
I strongly lend my voice and my vote to this.
As BAS Agents its maddening, time consuming and frustrating to not be able to easily change the tax code before lodging BAS.
I strongly lend my voice and my vote to this.
Extremely frustrating and feels archaic. Xero has its good points, this is definitely one of its bad points. Took me 3 hours to change a number of tax codes, which would have taken me approximately 3 minutes I reckon in Sage.
Just lending another voice to the mix, this one from an Accountant who reviews many accounts of many clients on a weekly or daily basis.
When trying to do a BAS for a client, I would say that there is probably 1 in 10 clients who's doesn't need adjusting. That means that 9 out of the 10 have bodged the GST in some fashion and it needs fixing. At the moment, the course to change the GST to the right GST code is so time consuming and frankly, rife with potential for error. I know that the reason for this complex editing process may be 'protecting the integrity of the file' however the course to change or fix a pre-existing error has just as much potential to cause a further error.
Thanks for listening.
When trying to do a BAS for a client, I would say that there is probably 1 in 10 clients who's doesn't need adjusting. That means that 9 out of the 10 have bodged the GST in some fashion and it needs fixing. At the moment, the course to change the GST to the right GST code is so time consuming and frankly, rife with potential for error. I know that the reason for this complex editing process may be 'protecting the integrity of the file' however the course to change or fix a pre-existing error has just as much potential to cause a further error.
Thanks for listening.
Merged: edit reference numbers for supplier invoices that have been paid
As a growing company, we have decided to change our numbering system for filing, and wish to re-number our supplier invoices using the reference box (which you may put the supplier invoice number into typically). However I cannot edit this box for supplier invoices that have had a payment put against them. Please Please PLLLEEAASSEE can you update the system so that we can make these changes, as the work involved to undo payments and re-do them would be horrendous, and I think it would be an easy update to do, and cant think of a reason why this might not be ok for the system. There must be other companies out there who would love this feature too.
Thank you in advance
As a growing company, we have decided to change our numbering system for filing, and wish to re-number our supplier invoices using the reference box (which you may put the supplier invoice number into typically). However I cannot edit this box for supplier invoices that have had a payment put against them. Please Please PLLLEEAASSEE can you update the system so that we can make these changes, as the work involved to undo payments and re-do them would be horrendous, and I think it would be an easy update to do, and cant think of a reason why this might not be ok for the system. There must be other companies out there who would love this feature too.
Thank you in advance
I have been a bookkeeper for 10 years and have been using Xero since 2011. I would recommend it over any other accounting software for the majority of most small businesses. Bravo Xero! However, having to undo payments to edit GST codes is the biggest frustration I have with Xero. I have been patiently waiting for this problem to be fixed but back to another BAS and am pulling my hair out. When will you guys get this sorted????
I'm an accountant yet I am surprised at the requirement by many to change what a client has entered to fix a GST (VAT) errors a client has made.
Changing what the client has done seems an easy fix but there is a consequence. There is a loss on an audit trail and neither the professional advisor or the client can't go back later on to see what the original error was and what the fix is.
It is easy to enter one GST adjustment transaction with a reference to the error based on the end of year GST adjustment worksheet. How many accountants prepare a GST worksheet detailing the GST to pay or refund due to errors? A Quite a few. How many think the fix is to change the original errors - many!.
There is an easy way and better way of fixing GST or VAT tax errors - just that Accountants in the main don't realise it.
Changing what the client has done seems an easy fix but there is a consequence. There is a loss on an audit trail and neither the professional advisor or the client can't go back later on to see what the original error was and what the fix is.
It is easy to enter one GST adjustment transaction with a reference to the error based on the end of year GST adjustment worksheet. How many accountants prepare a GST worksheet detailing the GST to pay or refund due to errors? A Quite a few. How many think the fix is to change the original errors - many!.
There is an easy way and better way of fixing GST or VAT tax errors - just that Accountants in the main don't realise it.
Thanks Cassandra, that will be a step better than what we are doing currently. Appreciate it - should have replied to you earlier.
This is causing so much annoyance within our business that I am even thinking about changing to another cloud based software. We have numerous payments along the way then add serial numbers at the very end of the transaction. Our transactions take up to 6 months to finalise so you could imagine the grief when I have to delete all payments, make alterations then put payments back on, too many areas for error.
Merged: Editing an Invoice once paid
Is there any reason why the options for editing an invoice are so restricted once it has been paid? The same restrictions don't seem to apply to a straightfoward Spend Money from the bank account, which you can edit any part of once it has been created. On an invoice, the only thing you can edit once it has been paid is the Account. Our clients sometimes accidentally use the wrong VAT code or date, and it is quite time consuming to have to delete the payment in order to edit the invoice, and then go back in and redo the payment (especially if it is a large batch payment) and reconcile it again.
Is there any reason why the options for editing an invoice are so restricted once it has been paid? The same restrictions don't seem to apply to a straightfoward Spend Money from the bank account, which you can edit any part of once it has been created. On an invoice, the only thing you can edit once it has been paid is the Account. Our clients sometimes accidentally use the wrong VAT code or date, and it is quite time consuming to have to delete the payment in order to edit the invoice, and then go back in and redo the payment (especially if it is a large batch payment) and reconcile it again.
Hannah Upton
While I appreciate that removing payments to be able to alter the tax rates or amounts on an invoice feels laborious, it is that way so that it's absolutely clear what the impact of a change will be. It forces you to navigate into the payments and see what the dependencies are, before they are potentially undone. If Xero allowed easy editing of an invoice in a way that undid huge bank rec batches, I am sure there would be even more complaints.
Spend and receive money transactions are only allowed to be edited in a tax inclusive way, you can alter the net, but not the gross. How would people feel about editing paid invoices if they couldn't alter the gross?
I raise this because while still being a very big piece of work, that method is far more achievable than exclusive editing, which allows a change of gross. Change of gross means invoices becoming unpaid if the amount increases or tax is added. It means overpayments generated or bank rec batches undone when the invoice value drops and the payment now exceeds the invoice. That is a massive piece of work behind the scenes.
Philosophically there is also the issue that if this is a receivable invoice, you shouldn't be editing tax rates or amounts once it is paid. If you have sent an invoice to a customer and they have made payment, you can't address a tax rate coding error by just changing it on your end. The invoice you issued is their proof to a tax authority as to how much tax to pay. If what you have now differs from theirs, you have placed both parties at risk in an audit situation.
For people who are editing invoices in a work-in-progress style, please investigate prepayments in Xero, it allows you to capture non-refundable payments ahead of a presented full invoice.
We want to be honest with you when we say that this work is huge and we are focusing on reporting, quotes and inventory at the moment. Full editing of paid invoices will not be scheduled any time soon, as much as we hate not being able to deliver things we know some of you want.
Spend and receive money transactions are only allowed to be edited in a tax inclusive way, you can alter the net, but not the gross. How would people feel about editing paid invoices if they couldn't alter the gross?
I raise this because while still being a very big piece of work, that method is far more achievable than exclusive editing, which allows a change of gross. Change of gross means invoices becoming unpaid if the amount increases or tax is added. It means overpayments generated or bank rec batches undone when the invoice value drops and the payment now exceeds the invoice. That is a massive piece of work behind the scenes.
Philosophically there is also the issue that if this is a receivable invoice, you shouldn't be editing tax rates or amounts once it is paid. If you have sent an invoice to a customer and they have made payment, you can't address a tax rate coding error by just changing it on your end. The invoice you issued is their proof to a tax authority as to how much tax to pay. If what you have now differs from theirs, you have placed both parties at risk in an audit situation.
For people who are editing invoices in a work-in-progress style, please investigate prepayments in Xero, it allows you to capture non-refundable payments ahead of a presented full invoice.
We want to be honest with you when we say that this work is huge and we are focusing on reporting, quotes and inventory at the moment. Full editing of paid invoices will not be scheduled any time soon, as much as we hate not being able to deliver things we know some of you want.
I just want to edit the reference number box on paid invoices, surely that cant harm any inner workings of the system? This would make my life so much easier as I am looking at having to undo literally hundreds of paid invoices if this functionality is not possible withouth undoing the payments and part payments.
Personally, I rarely need to change the actual gross amount of an invoice - I can see this would create issues with under/overpayments. The main thing for me is being able to change the rate of VAT, for example, if a client has included a train ticket with 20% VAT, I need to be able to go in and correct the VAT code but essentially leaving the amount paid exactly the same. Changing the date would also be very useful and again would not change the payment amount.
Hannah Upton
Merged: Invoice modification with partial payments
I have a client that is a general electrical contractor as a result customers might pay him portion of the invoiced totals, at times it is possible that the original invoice amount set could change based on the changes in the scope of work as a result my client must be able to modify the invoice to reflect the correct changes. I noticed one important limitation in Xero, Invoices and line items can be added and changed as long as no payments (even partial) are applied to an invoice. I understand why and invoice would be locked from the ability to make changes if the payment is in full, but it does not make sense if you have a partial payment situation. As a result, I would suggest allowing the ability to modify an invoice by adding additional sale items even if partial payment was received eliminating the need for the client to have to delete the payment history, modify the invoice, and re-apply the payments.
I think this should be an easy fix especially since you are giving the ability to edit an Invoice and add sale items when payments are not applied to it.
I have a client that is a general electrical contractor as a result customers might pay him portion of the invoiced totals, at times it is possible that the original invoice amount set could change based on the changes in the scope of work as a result my client must be able to modify the invoice to reflect the correct changes. I noticed one important limitation in Xero, Invoices and line items can be added and changed as long as no payments (even partial) are applied to an invoice. I understand why and invoice would be locked from the ability to make changes if the payment is in full, but it does not make sense if you have a partial payment situation. As a result, I would suggest allowing the ability to modify an invoice by adding additional sale items even if partial payment was received eliminating the need for the client to have to delete the payment history, modify the invoice, and re-apply the payments.
I think this should be an easy fix especially since you are giving the ability to edit an Invoice and add sale items when payments are not applied to it.
Xero has still not fixed the problem of being able to edit a paid invoice. There are NUMEROUS reasons for needing to do this and the comments and requests have been going onto this site for 2 years!!1 What does it take to get this changed?
BAS time again. Frustration with XERO time again. Come on Xero, we need the ability to change BAS codes! This should be a priority. Processing adjustments for GST errors by way of new invoices is just ridiculous. An advisor should be able to adjust paid invoices. I can understand restrictions on Sales invoices, but why purchase invoices?
Also the current system is flawed as there is no way of marking an adjusted invoice. (apart from footnotes). There should be a visible reminder in list view and a link to the adjusted invoice.
Of course it would be a lot easier just to adjust GST codes on the fly.
Also the current system is flawed as there is no way of marking an adjusted invoice. (apart from footnotes). There should be a visible reminder in list view and a link to the adjusted invoice.
Of course it would be a lot easier just to adjust GST codes on the fly.
Could I suggest the introduction of an additional field (or flag) on each invoice line that can be selected independently of whether the invoice is paid. This field would then show on the GST Audit Report allowing users to flag that an invoice line has been altered/fixed elsewhere.
ie similar to a footnote.
Alternatively, allowing 1 footnote to be attached quickly to multiple lines in the GST audit report would be good. Ideally the footnote should be available within the invoice entry screen and be independent of the paid status.
ie similar to a footnote.
Alternatively, allowing 1 footnote to be attached quickly to multiple lines in the GST audit report would be good. Ideally the footnote should be available within the invoice entry screen and be independent of the paid status.
is very annoying and time is lost when changing bills paid. totally inefficient system!
This is more than just an inconvenience, actually. Because of the way it affects the Xero API, it renders the two-way sync with various third-party add-ons almost useless. We use Bill.com for example, which we absolutely love, to eliminate all paper from our bill payment and invoicing activities. However, because of the limitation that Xero will not allow any changes to paid bills/invoices via the API, this basically makes it impossible for us to change ANYTHING about a bill or invoice after it has a payment attached to it. This is really problematic, as it turns what would be a beautiful two-way sync into an irreversible one-way street. There are workarounds, all of which are extremely manual and can quickly balloon into nightmares due to duplicated/corrupted data if you don't know exactly what you are doing.
Please, particularly for the sake of the sync, allow an option to loosen this restriction. If it causes too many issues internally (recalculations of tax, audit trails, etc), perhaps it would be possible to create an admin option to allow this rule to be violated only via approved API applications. Right now it's not possible to change anything after-payment, even re-allocating between accounts, which is a serious issue for the Xero API.
Please, particularly for the sake of the sync, allow an option to loosen this restriction. If it causes too many issues internally (recalculations of tax, audit trails, etc), perhaps it would be possible to create an admin option to allow this rule to be violated only via approved API applications. Right now it's not possible to change anything after-payment, even re-allocating between accounts, which is a serious issue for the Xero API.
This is such a basic requirement to an accounting package I cannot understand why this problem was not corrected many, many months or even years ago.
XERO, please change for the next update - its such a simple process it could even be done prior to any update...!!!
XERO, please change for the next update - its such a simple process it could even be done prior to any update...!!!
Hi Guys,
Is there any way that you can put in your next software update - the function to update invoices without having to 'remove & redo' applied payments?
It is VERY time consuming as I have to then edit, re-apply payment & reconcile, which is ultimately triple handling (Not to mention room for human-error & difficulty in training sales staff!) I love Xero but an up-date on this function is VERY necessary & over due.
Regards
Sarah Spillane
Is there any way that you can put in your next software update - the function to update invoices without having to 'remove & redo' applied payments?
It is VERY time consuming as I have to then edit, re-apply payment & reconcile, which is ultimately triple handling (Not to mention room for human-error & difficulty in training sales staff!) I love Xero but an up-date on this function is VERY necessary & over due.
Regards
Sarah Spillane
Merged: edit reference
Please add the ability to edit an invoice's "reference" without having to un-apply payment. We often need to change them after payment has been received and there really doesn't seem to be any reason that it shouldn't be editable.
Please add the ability to edit an invoice's "reference" without having to un-apply payment. We often need to change them after payment has been received and there really doesn't seem to be any reason that it shouldn't be editable.
Merged: Ability to amend a VAT code before filing
I would like to be able to edit the code for vat before filing. at present you have to delete the payment - or payments in my case! - and then amend the vat code, then repost the payments to the bank and re-reconcile the bank account.
you can edit the nominal code block, so why not extend that to the vat return block to be edited.
driving me nuts!
I know its user error in the first place, but when trainees are learning vat it can be quite a minefield. as advisor status I should be able to correct these postings easier.
i.e my administrator has allocated my sales invoices to '20% of expenses' and not 'income' I now have to reallocate all of these invoices before I can file the return.
any suggestions would be good?
thanks
Chris
I would like to be able to edit the code for vat before filing. at present you have to delete the payment - or payments in my case! - and then amend the vat code, then repost the payments to the bank and re-reconcile the bank account.
you can edit the nominal code block, so why not extend that to the vat return block to be edited.
driving me nuts!
I know its user error in the first place, but when trainees are learning vat it can be quite a minefield. as advisor status I should be able to correct these postings easier.
i.e my administrator has allocated my sales invoices to '20% of expenses' and not 'income' I now have to reallocate all of these invoices before I can file the return.
any suggestions would be good?
thanks
Chris
Part 1
To add to my previous post on how this destroys the API, I think there are many ways to loosen this restriction without creating the related-transaction or reconciliation issues that Xero/Mark mentions. Those are legitimate concerns, and while to be fair many other accounting packages have figured out how to deal with them, I understand that it may take longer to build the full solution.
However, the inability to edit a paid bill for example is a complete show-stopper for us. It's a very, very blunt tool for a relatively targeted and nuanced problem. There are many things that you could edit without creating the issues referenced (date or due date, number, account classifications and allocations, etc etc). For issues which do break other related transactions or which could cause unexpected consequences, it's fine to require an extra step until Xero is able to build a more comprehensive solution (or better yet, simply make it a super-admin permission, or a security setting, or have a clear pop-up warning). Right now, though, the solution is to basically lump a ton of desirable editing capabilities into a single bucket, and ban them all. Much more could be achieved with a scalpel here. As other users have pointed out, this is a particular pain point for partially paid invoices for example, which don't have many of the same issues as fully paid invoices at all and would be a quick win in terms of releasing functionality.
After all, I thought the idea of Xero was to streamline accounting and reduce the amount of specialized "accounting" know-how, tricks, and work-arounds to get simple daily accounting tasks done. This limitation has taken us far away from this aim. This is particularly true, in my opinion, because of the way that it affects the API (Xero's greatest strategic strength over time is the API and integration with other cloud providers, in my opinion). Through the API, absolutely no changes are allowed. So for us, because we use Bill.com to process payables/receivables, we literally can't change a single thing (account classifications, splits, due dates, invoice name, supplier, annotations/notes, etc) one an invoice or bill has been paid or partially paid. It's a nightmare, when it could be bliss.
To add to my previous post on how this destroys the API, I think there are many ways to loosen this restriction without creating the related-transaction or reconciliation issues that Xero/Mark mentions. Those are legitimate concerns, and while to be fair many other accounting packages have figured out how to deal with them, I understand that it may take longer to build the full solution.
However, the inability to edit a paid bill for example is a complete show-stopper for us. It's a very, very blunt tool for a relatively targeted and nuanced problem. There are many things that you could edit without creating the issues referenced (date or due date, number, account classifications and allocations, etc etc). For issues which do break other related transactions or which could cause unexpected consequences, it's fine to require an extra step until Xero is able to build a more comprehensive solution (or better yet, simply make it a super-admin permission, or a security setting, or have a clear pop-up warning). Right now, though, the solution is to basically lump a ton of desirable editing capabilities into a single bucket, and ban them all. Much more could be achieved with a scalpel here. As other users have pointed out, this is a particular pain point for partially paid invoices for example, which don't have many of the same issues as fully paid invoices at all and would be a quick win in terms of releasing functionality.
After all, I thought the idea of Xero was to streamline accounting and reduce the amount of specialized "accounting" know-how, tricks, and work-arounds to get simple daily accounting tasks done. This limitation has taken us far away from this aim. This is particularly true, in my opinion, because of the way that it affects the API (Xero's greatest strategic strength over time is the API and integration with other cloud providers, in my opinion). Through the API, absolutely no changes are allowed. So for us, because we use Bill.com to process payables/receivables, we literally can't change a single thing (account classifications, splits, due dates, invoice name, supplier, annotations/notes, etc) one an invoice or bill has been paid or partially paid. It's a nightmare, when it could be bliss.
Part 2
I'm all for protecting users against themselves. But when you start doing so in a way that requires accountants, who actually do know what they're doing, to jump through 10 extra hoops to do it, in order to protect those who don't, it's time to think about a better way. Usually, that way involves warning a user against risky actions (via permissions, pop-ups, red-button style admin settings, etc) to make sure they know what they're doing before they do it, rather than simply throwing 100% of users into a straight jacket to prevent them from being able to do it at all.
If Xero wants to be a real accounting program, and not just another cloud-based over-simplified expense tracking system for independent contractors, it will need to start treating its users more like informed adults. Radical simplicity/safety is ok in some settings, but a flexible accounting solution which is aiming to serve multiple industries in a truly global setting, is not one of them. For this, there needs to be much more balanced and nuanced solution. Recurring journals (or lack thereof), for me, is another example of this sort of basic table-stakes functionality which is still missing.
If Xero has more modest ambitions, perhaps this is ok, but that's not the messaging or promises that I'm hearing. What I'm hearing, and what I hope, is that Xero has some pretty grand ambitions. If that's true, I think it is a fair request for users who have high hopes for Xero and have gone out on a limb to make a bet on Xero at this relatively early stage, to demand answers to why certain basic functionalities which we've all come to expect are still lacking. If it's that we're not the target audience, perhaps I've misinterpreted Xero's ambitions and marketing (and if so, I'd love to clarify this). If we are, then it can't purely be because of quotes/inventory/busy, which has been the party line for quite some time across a variety of standard feature requests.
I'm all for protecting users against themselves. But when you start doing so in a way that requires accountants, who actually do know what they're doing, to jump through 10 extra hoops to do it, in order to protect those who don't, it's time to think about a better way. Usually, that way involves warning a user against risky actions (via permissions, pop-ups, red-button style admin settings, etc) to make sure they know what they're doing before they do it, rather than simply throwing 100% of users into a straight jacket to prevent them from being able to do it at all.
If Xero wants to be a real accounting program, and not just another cloud-based over-simplified expense tracking system for independent contractors, it will need to start treating its users more like informed adults. Radical simplicity/safety is ok in some settings, but a flexible accounting solution which is aiming to serve multiple industries in a truly global setting, is not one of them. For this, there needs to be much more balanced and nuanced solution. Recurring journals (or lack thereof), for me, is another example of this sort of basic table-stakes functionality which is still missing.
If Xero has more modest ambitions, perhaps this is ok, but that's not the messaging or promises that I'm hearing. What I'm hearing, and what I hope, is that Xero has some pretty grand ambitions. If that's true, I think it is a fair request for users who have high hopes for Xero and have gone out on a limb to make a bet on Xero at this relatively early stage, to demand answers to why certain basic functionalities which we've all come to expect are still lacking. If it's that we're not the target audience, perhaps I've misinterpreted Xero's ambitions and marketing (and if so, I'd love to clarify this). If we are, then it can't purely be because of quotes/inventory/busy, which has been the party line for quite some time across a variety of standard feature requests.
Part 3
My personal feeling is that global coverage and expansion has taken priority over product, at least for a period of time, and that this is an issue of bigger-picture prioritization than just quotes/inventory taking up 100% of development time. If so, while I'm not thrilled about it, I'd be more understanding if we could have a candid conversation about timelines and prioritization not just at the feature level, but perhaps at a broader big-picture level which incorporates a discussion of when Xero will be suitable for accountants, bigger companies, power users, etc. I'd personally prefer it if Xero bit off less to chew in some dimensions, and focused more on the core functionality for a time, but I may not be the target audience and that's Xero's choice.
I would however like to know this, if so. I'd be thrilled to revisit Xero in 12-24 months, if that's the timeframe in which it will evolve into something more full-featured. If Xero if focusing on expansion and catering to independent contractors and small business owners, I'd be happy to rejoin when I am more of the target audience (medium/large businesses, accountants, etc). What I think at times has frustrated me, and others, is the feeling that we're being told one thing but being delivered something different. To me, Xero seems to be clearly marketed based on it's power, capabilities, large feature set, and accountant/bookkeeper friendliness, which is clear from a quick scan of the homepage content and major links/link structure. In other words, it's positioned clearly as a Quickbooks/ Intacct competitor, and not at all as a competitor to Freshbooks/ InDinero/ Kashoo/ Wave/ Outright/ LessAccounting, the latter of which are all marketed as lightweight, super-simple, super-intuitive, just-the-essentials products.
Resources are scarce and trade-offs are necessary, which I understand, but I'd like to have a better sense of who and what Xero is prioritizing so that I can make an informed decision as a consumer. Right now, I feel like the marketing/messaging is spot on for me, but the execution is for someone else.
My personal feeling is that global coverage and expansion has taken priority over product, at least for a period of time, and that this is an issue of bigger-picture prioritization than just quotes/inventory taking up 100% of development time. If so, while I'm not thrilled about it, I'd be more understanding if we could have a candid conversation about timelines and prioritization not just at the feature level, but perhaps at a broader big-picture level which incorporates a discussion of when Xero will be suitable for accountants, bigger companies, power users, etc. I'd personally prefer it if Xero bit off less to chew in some dimensions, and focused more on the core functionality for a time, but I may not be the target audience and that's Xero's choice.
I would however like to know this, if so. I'd be thrilled to revisit Xero in 12-24 months, if that's the timeframe in which it will evolve into something more full-featured. If Xero if focusing on expansion and catering to independent contractors and small business owners, I'd be happy to rejoin when I am more of the target audience (medium/large businesses, accountants, etc). What I think at times has frustrated me, and others, is the feeling that we're being told one thing but being delivered something different. To me, Xero seems to be clearly marketed based on it's power, capabilities, large feature set, and accountant/bookkeeper friendliness, which is clear from a quick scan of the homepage content and major links/link structure. In other words, it's positioned clearly as a Quickbooks/ Intacct competitor, and not at all as a competitor to Freshbooks/ InDinero/ Kashoo/ Wave/ Outright/ LessAccounting, the latter of which are all marketed as lightweight, super-simple, super-intuitive, just-the-essentials products.
Resources are scarce and trade-offs are necessary, which I understand, but I'd like to have a better sense of who and what Xero is prioritizing so that I can make an informed decision as a consumer. Right now, I feel like the marketing/messaging is spot on for me, but the execution is for someone else.
Really hate not being able to do this, we include a discount for prompt payment on the invoice and reverse this when full payment is not received. Which means if a part payment has been received I have to redo the payment. No issue if it were just effecting one payment but as we are a club and members pay subs over the bar, it often means multiple payments to invoices are matched to one eftpos banking.
So its not just one invoice that needs to be un-reconciled, edited and then re matched it can be dozens
Frankly a pain in the neck.
So its not just one invoice that needs to be un-reconciled, edited and then re matched it can be dozens
Frankly a pain in the neck.
Merged: Changing Sales invoices amount after payments added
Once a payment has been applied to a sales invoice there does not seem a way of changing the TOTAL on the invoice. So for example the payments amounts do not match the total on the sales invoice, I have to remove all the payments applied just so I can go into the invoice and add on 5c????
This seems absolutely crazy!! Surely there is another way of doing it??
If not then my job is going to take me a lot longer than it used to on MYOB.
Once a payment has been applied to a sales invoice there does not seem a way of changing the TOTAL on the invoice. So for example the payments amounts do not match the total on the sales invoice, I have to remove all the payments applied just so I can go into the invoice and add on 5c????
This seems absolutely crazy!! Surely there is another way of doing it??
If not then my job is going to take me a lot longer than it used to on MYOB.
Merged: Edit description when editing Invoices
This is a fairly simple request yet a very important one, when editing an invoice that is already approved with partial payment received we cannot edit the Description field. I have an electrical contractor client that needs the flexibility to change the description even if the invoice is approved and partially paid for.
I can edit the description but I must first undo the payment to the invoice, while this sounds an acceptable thing it is a huge issue when the client makes one deposit and it contains a large number of invoices. In that case we have to look back at the deposit amount, subtract the invoice payment undone, re-reconcile the deposit. All these steps for a simply change in the description, it would be so much easier to simply allow the user to modify the description whether the invoice is partially paid or not.
This is a fairly simple request yet a very important one, when editing an invoice that is already approved with partial payment received we cannot edit the Description field. I have an electrical contractor client that needs the flexibility to change the description even if the invoice is approved and partially paid for.
I can edit the description but I must first undo the payment to the invoice, while this sounds an acceptable thing it is a huge issue when the client makes one deposit and it contains a large number of invoices. In that case we have to look back at the deposit amount, subtract the invoice payment undone, re-reconcile the deposit. All these steps for a simply change in the description, it would be so much easier to simply allow the user to modify the description whether the invoice is partially paid or not.
You are correct that you can't change the total (and a lot of other things) once payments have been applied. However, in your particular use case you are probably doing the wrong thing anyway.
If a customer overpays then the overpayment should be treated as an "overpayment" type or you could use the Minor Adjustment or Bank Fees (can code to anything. but just bank fees) line when allocating. This way you can deal with any minor over/underages through an adjustment account without having to edit the invoice. If the client underpays and you choose not to chase it you could use the adjustments mentioned above, or you could use a Credit Note - both much faster than deleting payments, changing, and reapplying.
If a customer overpays then the overpayment should be treated as an "overpayment" type or you could use the Minor Adjustment or Bank Fees (can code to anything. but just bank fees) line when allocating. This way you can deal with any minor over/underages through an adjustment account without having to edit the invoice. If the client underpays and you choose not to chase it you could use the adjustments mentioned above, or you could use a Credit Note - both much faster than deleting payments, changing, and reapplying.
Unfortunately Xero does have a few things that one needs to take the long way around to get the desired result.
Merged: Expenses coding
Hi, it would be really great to be able to change the nominal account that employees have used for employee expenses (as it is sometimes wrong) and also amend the VAT.
Hi, it would be really great to be able to change the nominal account that employees have used for employee expenses (as it is sometimes wrong) and also amend the VAT.
In response Mark Blundel, not being able to edit the total gross payment amount is understandable, but the biggest issue is not being able to change tax codes. At my firm we work larger clients with batch payments sometimes in excess of 20 supplier payments. When reviewing your BAS if you have made a mistake and used the incorrect tax code, having to undo that whole batch just to change a tax code is very annoying a tedious....
re the Official Xero Update - 4 April 2014
I don't know whether I have miss understood the offical position, but I believe the answer is and should be as follows;
1. For sales invoices I agree you should not be able to change the tax code - if it needs fixing you need to issue a credit note to remove the error sales invoice and reissue a new Sales Tax invoice (both correctly referred to as adjustment notes)with the correct tax code. This then gives the customer the correct documents to claim or not claim GST credits.
2. However where purchase/bills are involved and you are not changing the source document but merely correcting an incorrect GST coding, then this should not be a problem for Xero to allow changes to be made. There is no limiting factor in this case.
If the bill has been paid we are not changing the payment already made and therefore the bank reconciliation is still correct. If the amount increases to greater than the amount paid, no problem it sits in creditors until paid or a credit note issued or the bill is re corrected to be a lessor amount. The bank reconciliation is still intact.
Currently the undo and redo functions cause more chance of a bank reconciliation becoming incorrect than the proposed solution of allowing changes to the Tax Code.
Certainly there could be GST issues where GST returns have been lodged, but I believe for those on actuals Xero apparently pick these up in the next round of GST returns.
If I have missed something here I am happy to be corrected, but I vote for the edit function to also allow for not only a change in account coding, but also for changing the Tax Code.
I don't know whether I have miss understood the offical position, but I believe the answer is and should be as follows;
1. For sales invoices I agree you should not be able to change the tax code - if it needs fixing you need to issue a credit note to remove the error sales invoice and reissue a new Sales Tax invoice (both correctly referred to as adjustment notes)with the correct tax code. This then gives the customer the correct documents to claim or not claim GST credits.
2. However where purchase/bills are involved and you are not changing the source document but merely correcting an incorrect GST coding, then this should not be a problem for Xero to allow changes to be made. There is no limiting factor in this case.
If the bill has been paid we are not changing the payment already made and therefore the bank reconciliation is still correct. If the amount increases to greater than the amount paid, no problem it sits in creditors until paid or a credit note issued or the bill is re corrected to be a lessor amount. The bank reconciliation is still intact.
Currently the undo and redo functions cause more chance of a bank reconciliation becoming incorrect than the proposed solution of allowing changes to the Tax Code.
Certainly there could be GST issues where GST returns have been lodged, but I believe for those on actuals Xero apparently pick these up in the next round of GST returns.
If I have missed something here I am happy to be corrected, but I vote for the edit function to also allow for not only a change in account coding, but also for changing the Tax Code.
It is very annoying not being able to change the date due on an invoice when part payment has been made
It is frustrating that we are unable to change details on an invoice that is partially or fully paid as we are a mechanical business and need to input certain information after our jobs have been completed for example ; Engine Number,Odometer, Registration .
You can put it in notes but theses particular details need to be provided to our customer on the final invoice.
You can put it in notes but theses particular details need to be provided to our customer on the final invoice.
It is extremely annoying and needs to be fixed!
If I am closing off the daily sales I.e
sales are $4000
I should receive $500 cash,$1000 cash, $500 payouts, $1500 amex, $500 visa.
But after I have got to the last entry of Visa $500- I only received $499 the sale cannot be closed. Unless I go back and delete all the previous 3 entries to alter the sale down by $1 then start all over again.
As I have to do this daily and there are up to 6 entries a day to close off each sale it is a very annoying system. With MYOB I could just alter the reg variance and close the sale.
If I am closing off the daily sales I.e
sales are $4000
I should receive $500 cash,$1000 cash, $500 payouts, $1500 amex, $500 visa.
But after I have got to the last entry of Visa $500- I only received $499 the sale cannot be closed. Unless I go back and delete all the previous 3 entries to alter the sale down by $1 then start all over again.
As I have to do this daily and there are up to 6 entries a day to close off each sale it is a very annoying system. With MYOB I could just alter the reg variance and close the sale.
TJ - don't forget that you can use Credit Notes and Minor Adjustment (in the bank rec). These are much more efficient methods.
Peter.
I'm an NZ Chartered Accountant, Xero Certified Advisor, add-on Developer and Xero's 2012 Most Valuable Professional. I support small businesses in NZ with professional accounting services and offer paid Xero support and implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Feel free to email me at peter at business-express.co.nz if you need a Xero MVP on your team! Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
Peter.
I'm an NZ Chartered Accountant, Xero Certified Advisor, add-on Developer and Xero's 2012 Most Valuable Professional. I support small businesses in NZ with professional accounting services and offer paid Xero support and implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Feel free to email me at peter at business-express.co.nz if you need a Xero MVP on your team! Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
A credit note is not really the right thing if I am just adjusting the amounts.
I have never done a minor adjustment - how would I do this?
I have never done a minor adjustment - how would I do this?
TJ - when reconciling your incoming cash, after allocating the invoices you click on the "Adjustments" button. There you can choose Bank Fees (you can code anything here, not just bank fees, so it is very useful to code a shortfall) or Minor Adjustment (I think that this posts to the Rounding account, but am not sure).
I agree that we should be able to change a description on an invoice after a payment has been applied. It would make no difference to the amounts or the tax codes etc.
All our invoices are processed through inhouse programme automatically to Xero due to the high volume on invoices we do daily (no manual input). Our clients are charged a daily rate and this changes on a daily basis depending on the no. of days onsite. But if they have made a partial payment we cannot update this and have undo any payments and redo them. If you have 100 Invoices to change but in each payment batch you have 50 transactions per payment batch and have to undo and redo the payments 100 times. This makes the input of invoices automatically redundant and correcting them labour intensive which is what we are trying to get away from due to the volume generated. Is there any solution for this until this problem is solved. Surely levels of authority can put safe guards in place to prevent fraud and the onus be put on the company using Xero to give access to the relevent person.
Thank you Tempest, this is exactly our issue, this is the very down side in cost associated with time management for us in using this system and I really don't see why this is an issue when every other finance system allows this at some level of authority.
This is such a sorely needed improvement and many Xero Advisors like myself have been really frustrated with the lack of response by Xero regarding this issue. You cannot say you are an efficient accounting system when you are forcing someone to undo 50 payment batch transactions in order to fix a description or modify something in one of the invoices (see Tempest Hindman comment above). It is absolutely ridiculous to have a process in place that allows virtually no editing once an invoice is tagged for payment, and for those that hide behind the audit trail issue, then create a module in the back end of the system that will record the changes implemented to these invoices. Perhaps this is an issue for a Fortune 500 company but in my entire career working in public accounting, I have never seen a small business owner get in trouble because he had to update the description of an invoice he sent out to a customer which was now paid. To my knowledge Xero is a small business accounting software right? I absolutely LOVE Xero and will not change this system for anything in the world, but it is truly disappointing to see a progressing software company like Xero lack in even responding or promptly addressing such an important issue!
I would like to add also that this is a 2012 post! it has been almost two years and we are still talking about this.
Tempest, it sounds like you are not actually issuing invoices, but estimates, While I would love to see Xero relax the editing rules, I would have to suggest that the way that you are using the system may not be the best. By building an API interface you obviously know what you are doing, so I presume that you have thought through all the possible variations. But if you want some consulting advice I could certainly help you explore it.
Peter.
I offer live remote Xero support. I am a Xero Certified Advisor and Xero's award winning Most Valuable Professional. I support small businesses in NZ with professional accounting services and offer paid Xero support and implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Get a Xero MVP on your team! I'm an NZ and Canadian Chartered Accountant, business advisor and add-on Developer.
Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
Peter.
I offer live remote Xero support. I am a Xero Certified Advisor and Xero's award winning Most Valuable Professional. I support small businesses in NZ with professional accounting services and offer paid Xero support and implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Get a Xero MVP on your team! I'm an NZ and Canadian Chartered Accountant, business advisor and add-on Developer.
Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
Hi Peter, we are not issueing a estimation, we are issuing an invoice, which someone pays part of, because the invoice has now gone past the due date we then add interest and late fees to the invoice, to do this we have to remove the part payment everytime. This is the issue both Tempest and I are having. Also to be able to fix up a description in bills is very annoying to have to redo a whole bulk payment. This is an area that really does need priority. As this is the biggest time waster in the xero program.
PLEASE CHANGE THIS FEATURE SOON XERO!!!!
I have had enough of having to go back and delete off 6 payments because the bill is out by a small amount. No I do not want to add a credit on- I just want the sales to be exactly what they should be every day.
XERO need to fix this feature soon before a lot of us get very, very tired of having to do this.
I have had enough of having to go back and delete off 6 payments because the bill is out by a small amount. No I do not want to add a credit on- I just want the sales to be exactly what they should be every day.
XERO need to fix this feature soon before a lot of us get very, very tired of having to do this.
Hi Shan
Are you aware that you can use a "Minor Adjustment" function if the payment you receive, or make is out by a few cents, rather than having to go and adjust the Sale or Bill.
https://help.xero.com/AU/#BankAccounts_Details_Reconciliation$BK_BankRec_Adjustment
Are you aware that you can use a "Minor Adjustment" function if the payment you receive, or make is out by a few cents, rather than having to go and adjust the Sale or Bill.
https://help.xero.com/AU/#BankAccounts_Details_Reconciliation$BK_BankRec_Adjustment
A little while ago our last update explained why we hadn’t allowed for the editing of transactions in the past. We’re pleased to say our team in New York have found a clever solution to this. As part of the (in development) Find & Recode functionality you’ll be able to edit the following fields: Account, Tax, Tracking, and Contact. To begin with you'll be able to edit within the bulk tool - subsequently support for individual invoice editing will be released.
There will be limitations on what type of user can edit transactions, and a full audit trail given - so any blunders can be found and undone. Note this is planned for release in the next 90 days, thanks!
There will be limitations on what type of user can edit transactions, and a full audit trail given - so any blunders can be found and undone. Note this is planned for release in the next 90 days, thanks!
Brittany you have made my day:)
Joseph makes a very valid point about changing the description field. Hope you can include that as well but if not just making the changes to contact, account and tax code is a great start.
Joseph makes a very valid point about changing the description field. Hope you can include that as well but if not just making the changes to contact, account and tax code is a great start.
Wendy Thompson
Yes, please, please, please allow us to update the description field. it's crazy (and incredibly annoying) that it's not editable as it's not even really part of the invoice.
Great news, but also please can you also allow us the change the reference field too, this will literally save me hours and hours of work. Thanks!!
I would like to be able to edit the date of an invoice to put into correct month accounts.
In the business I work for the need to be able to make changes to a Clients Invoice is a great need. As we deal with students whom can change courses, add courses, be offered a discount or cancel from their courses it would be great to be able to reflect the changes instead of having to do new invoices, apply credit notes to then write off etc etc. It is confusing for the Client/Student and is time consuming for the Accounts Department. The ability to be able to adjust an invoice to reflect what is happening with the client would be great!!
Being able to edit/change all aspects of invoices and purchases after payments have been applied will be a huge step forward and save our business so much time and angst not to mention reduce the amount of errors that happen when you have to remove payments and then go back and re-enter them. Can't wait for this upgrade to become available!
Agree with Accounts Dept and Lisa - Xero needs to allow top level users (administrators/advisors) the right to modify paid invoices in whatever manner they deem necessary, to delegate that permission as they deem necessary, and to provide a complete audit trail of all changes made (versus the very skimpy one Xero currently provides).
Merged: Change invoice descriptions once paid
It is so frustrating when I need to change the description of a invoice once it has been paid as I have to reverse the payment this can be a pain if there are a lot of invoices included in one payment. This needs to be changed!!
It is so frustrating when I need to change the description of a invoice once it has been paid as I have to reverse the payment this can be a pain if there are a lot of invoices included in one payment. This needs to be changed!!
please please please let this be done soon!! we take a deposit for all jobs - i have to put a due date in, but then i can't change the due date with out deleting the deposit!! so so so so so frustrating!!
Merged: Edit GST codes
At the moment, the way to edit the GST code within a purchase transaction that has already been paid is to undo the payment and then edit the transaction, for the accountant, this is cumbersome. It would be great if the GST codes could be edited without doing this
At the moment, the way to edit the GST code within a purchase transaction that has already been paid is to undo the payment and then edit the transaction, for the accountant, this is cumbersome. It would be great if the GST codes could be edited without doing this
Xero is Great - this decision not to be able edit invoices or Bills with payments on them is very poor. If its an ideological approach by xero then that is their way, but not neccessarily the way of many businesses. We have a system where sales are made and payment from the third party comes in installments. We know the general installment amounts and the total for the invoice, however due to refunds and other things that change the final amount we need to be able to change the invoice. If we creat extra invoices for each installment it just makes outsatnding amounts harder to track.
In short - fix this because its a mosquito of an issue (which as we know causes also sorts of annoyances)
In short - fix this because its a mosquito of an issue (which as we know causes also sorts of annoyances)
as an addition if it is a xero "way" just add an overide password for certain people editing the invoice to allow them to do it - or create a "are you sure you want to do this" splash screen when wanting to make the changes
So Xero's reasoning is, an invoice shouldn't be changed after payment has been made because the amount of tax the payee has accounted for would have changed, and would lead to auditing issues in the future.
But then you are telling people to undo the payments, make the changes, and reapply the payment. The client's still not going to know to adjust their records, unless you tell them.
So what is it exactly are you trying to prevent? Just give us what we want instead of trying to be the accounting police. We will get our way in the end so why not save us both the time and angst.
This is a complete waste of time for people that aren't registered for GST, like me.
But then you are telling people to undo the payments, make the changes, and reapply the payment. The client's still not going to know to adjust their records, unless you tell them.
So what is it exactly are you trying to prevent? Just give us what we want instead of trying to be the accounting police. We will get our way in the end so why not save us both the time and angst.
This is a complete waste of time for people that aren't registered for GST, like me.
I agree as well Test 612, not everyone using Xero is subject to Sales Tax think for example at a service bases business lake a Property Manager, or Attorney.
We need the ability to change these invoices and the last communication we received in September said that a solution was found and that the development team was working on implementing it. I personally have not heard anything new on this project, and would love to have an update.
We need the ability to change these invoices and the last communication we received in September said that a solution was found and that the development team was working on implementing it. I personally have not heard anything new on this project, and would love to have an update.
The oldest post here I can see regarding this problem is from 2012 and yet 2 years later and Xero has STILL not fixed it.
Come on Xero can you not see that your customers have been continually frustrated with this issue and surely a solution is possible.
Come on Xero can you not see that your customers have been continually frustrated with this issue and surely a solution is possible.
Hi everyone, as I mentioned in my last update, the upcoming Find & Code feature will allow you to edit the Account, Tax, Tracking, and Contact details of invoice(s) from within this tool.
Please have a look at this thread for the most up to date info of the feature: Faster editing of transactions especially to recode. I've included the latest update from there below:
---
It's currently going through testing. We don't have hard estimates on the testing effort - however since it potentially affects all your transactions (and therefore has a ripple effect throughout the system) it's going to be a fairly intensive effort.
It definitely won't be released this year (which sounds bad but since we're half-way through November that's just pragmatic). It was due to be released about now - but to be honest it was more complicated than I thought it would be. Am hoping for January but my sense is it'll be February.
I sincerely apologize to everyone that's waiting for this. (It's looking good - it's a cool feature and my team and I are excited about getting it live)
Craig
CTO @ Xero
Please have a look at this thread for the most up to date info of the feature: Faster editing of transactions especially to recode. I've included the latest update from there below:
---
It's currently going through testing. We don't have hard estimates on the testing effort - however since it potentially affects all your transactions (and therefore has a ripple effect throughout the system) it's going to be a fairly intensive effort.
It definitely won't be released this year (which sounds bad but since we're half-way through November that's just pragmatic). It was due to be released about now - but to be honest it was more complicated than I thought it would be. Am hoping for January but my sense is it'll be February.
I sincerely apologize to everyone that's waiting for this. (It's looking good - it's a cool feature and my team and I are excited about getting it live)
Craig
CTO @ Xero
Merged: Enable full editing of invoices/bills with payments
Not being able to edit invoices and bills with payments makes editing more time consuming.
For use, we often get a sale and payment on an auction site, and then the buyer comes in an adds to their order. Currently, we need to either make a new invoice or remove their payment so we can then add/change their invoice.
Likewise, when we buy larger orders overseas, we often make partial payments. The final cost in local currency is determined by what it cost over two transactions. However, the costs can not be changed unless the payments are removed. The other option is to leave the invoices unpaid, but that make reconciling messy for the 2.5 months between initial payment and arrival.
Another annoying uneditable part of the invoice is the invoice format (branding). I can not fathom the reason why this cannot be edited once a payment has been added. Really annoying when I've entered a wholesale invoice with the default retail invoice form.
I understand there are security problems with doing this, as someone may accidentally edit the wrong invoice. The 'simple' solution to this is to make this permissions based eg only advisors can do this.
Not being able to edit invoices and bills with payments makes editing more time consuming.
For use, we often get a sale and payment on an auction site, and then the buyer comes in an adds to their order. Currently, we need to either make a new invoice or remove their payment so we can then add/change their invoice.
Likewise, when we buy larger orders overseas, we often make partial payments. The final cost in local currency is determined by what it cost over two transactions. However, the costs can not be changed unless the payments are removed. The other option is to leave the invoices unpaid, but that make reconciling messy for the 2.5 months between initial payment and arrival.
Another annoying uneditable part of the invoice is the invoice format (branding). I can not fathom the reason why this cannot be edited once a payment has been added. Really annoying when I've entered a wholesale invoice with the default retail invoice form.
I understand there are security problems with doing this, as someone may accidentally edit the wrong invoice. The 'simple' solution to this is to make this permissions based eg only advisors can do this.
I often need to change the description of a invoice once it has been part paid. We are a service company, we don't sell widgets. Sometimes the customers wants to tweek variations, or an error has been made in data entry. I regularly have to reverse the payment and start again just to change one or two words in the description. This is such a waste of time. MYOB was so much more user friendly, I'm regretting having changed to Xero.
Merged: Change Description field on Bills (Purchases) -after payment processed
I need to be able to change the Description field on Bills (purchases) after payments have been processed. This should not be a locked field. It should be able to be changed, I can change The account (ledger) code but not the Description field.
Example: I have a description "Laundry Services - August" I already paid that bill but I Just need to change the word "August' for "September".
I need to be able to change the Description field on Bills (purchases) after payments have been processed. This should not be a locked field. It should be able to be changed, I can change The account (ledger) code but not the Description field.
Example: I have a description "Laundry Services - August" I already paid that bill but I Just need to change the word "August' for "September".
Expremely disappointing that changes to invoice amount and description were not added to the release. This is a very important feature which is included in most other accounting software, such as MYOB.
I need to make changes constantly for clients who do trade in foreign currency, but do receive some invoices in USD for example, and will of course pay them depending on the exchange rate on the day.
Other examples include any payments, such as to the ATO, which include an interest component which fluctuates constantly.
Please update to allow everything within a purchase/sales invoices to be editable after payment or part-payment, as we are all spending many an hour rectifying what should be simple 30-second editing jobs.
If you feel that there is a security issue, you could always add this feature to the list of things that cannot be accessed by limited users.
I need to make changes constantly for clients who do trade in foreign currency, but do receive some invoices in USD for example, and will of course pay them depending on the exchange rate on the day.
Other examples include any payments, such as to the ATO, which include an interest component which fluctuates constantly.
Please update to allow everything within a purchase/sales invoices to be editable after payment or part-payment, as we are all spending many an hour rectifying what should be simple 30-second editing jobs.
If you feel that there is a security issue, you could always add this feature to the list of things that cannot be accessed by limited users.
Merged: invoice editing / modification / update
If a client adds or deletes items from invoices after a partial (deposit) payment has been made is cumbersome.
You have to delete payment first, then amend / update only to re-apply payment again, this is time consuming and unnecessary. I have even had clients make full payment upfront prior to goods despatched, then request a greater quantity etc. All we are doing is creating a larger log file for the same result.
Why can we not amend invoices as we go regardless of payment applied?
If a client adds or deletes items from invoices after a partial (deposit) payment has been made is cumbersome.
You have to delete payment first, then amend / update only to re-apply payment again, this is time consuming and unnecessary. I have even had clients make full payment upfront prior to goods despatched, then request a greater quantity etc. All we are doing is creating a larger log file for the same result.
Why can we not amend invoices as we go regardless of payment applied?
I just wish you would make this an even more useful change and allow us to edit invoice line items as well when there is a payment applied. I realize this could cause potential problems. For example, suppose you have an invoice for $1,000, with payments for $800. If the final edit on the invoice items would let you reduce the invoice total to $700, you'd end up with an overpayment.
But you could solve that by only allowing changes that would make the edited invoice equal to or greater than the sum of the payments applied.
We have large invoices, some over $60,000, with multiple payments. Our clients make partial payments on those invoices to get production going. Then, when everything is finished, they make the final payment. The problem is, there are always minor changes in the unit count finally produced, and by the time the production comes in, and invoice can have up to four payments applied.
You can imagine how aggravating it is to delete four payments against and invoice, adjust it for $100, then re-add the four payments, and then re-reconcile the bank account. All for something that should take 30 seconds! And just imagine the pain if those payments are split across multiple invoices, which they often are.
Please, give some consideration to making invoice edit truly useful and applicable to the real world, not just the world of accounting.
But you could solve that by only allowing changes that would make the edited invoice equal to or greater than the sum of the payments applied.
We have large invoices, some over $60,000, with multiple payments. Our clients make partial payments on those invoices to get production going. Then, when everything is finished, they make the final payment. The problem is, there are always minor changes in the unit count finally produced, and by the time the production comes in, and invoice can have up to four payments applied.
You can imagine how aggravating it is to delete four payments against and invoice, adjust it for $100, then re-add the four payments, and then re-reconcile the bank account. All for something that should take 30 seconds! And just imagine the pain if those payments are split across multiple invoices, which they often are.
Please, give some consideration to making invoice edit truly useful and applicable to the real world, not just the world of accounting.
Tom, I completely agree with you and it does not make sense from an accounting prospective as well since audit history can be used to capture changes to the invoice.
I just spent 10 minutes adding a couple of items to someones order which had 4 payments on it. In MYOB it would be a 30 second job.
After Inventory, or lack thereof, this is my only major gripe with Xero.
After Inventory, or lack thereof, this is my only major gripe with Xero.
Please, please please!!! It would save me so much time if I could amend the details/items in an invoice that has had payments applied!
This is a real time waster and as my clients are constantly changing their travel arrangements the accounting side of the business is extremely time consuming when you have to delete multiple payments, then re-enter them and then go back and reconcile the bank account again.
I still - after complaining about this months ago - do not see what the issue is with being able to change the content of an invoice - any of the content - once a payment has been applied.
This is a real time waster and as my clients are constantly changing their travel arrangements the accounting side of the business is extremely time consuming when you have to delete multiple payments, then re-enter them and then go back and reconcile the bank account again.
I still - after complaining about this months ago - do not see what the issue is with being able to change the content of an invoice - any of the content - once a payment has been applied.
Another shout out & please please please - assign some resources to this (think we've established it makes absolutely no sense/logic why it's so difficult to change AccPays with payments yet spend money do it without any obstruction so that is a moot argument -bottom line it was an oversight in dev) I know you guys have to focus on marketing stuff and keeping things looking good but the time & resources it would have taken to dev the new dashboard which is nice and all - think the old was pretty good so wish you guys had(do) rather assigned resources to fixing these little Oh so frustrating bugs - We train a lot of DIY's too and it's just confusing & frustrating for them let alone us using it on a day to day basis. Again when it's soo easy to edit spend/receive money makes no sense we have to undo payments to edit tax rates.
Oh and on assigning resources priorities -Job Costing/Tracking too - my experience is that now people are over the initial convincing Xero works and is great, common knowledge - being confident with all the basics, they now want more and jobs costing is starting to become a bit of an expectation and disappointment - please please put it on the road map Andrew Tokeley it would be such a nice fit and huuuge celebration for all - it would go along way to bringing back some of the lost love from people. My only real bug bears (not sure if that's the right spelling of bear/bare :-)) is this and inability to do jobs costing in Xero- otherwise still beautiful stuff so pretty good but would be soooo nice. Cheers
Oh and on assigning resources priorities -Job Costing/Tracking too - my experience is that now people are over the initial convincing Xero works and is great, common knowledge - being confident with all the basics, they now want more and jobs costing is starting to become a bit of an expectation and disappointment - please please put it on the road map Andrew Tokeley it would be such a nice fit and huuuge celebration for all - it would go along way to bringing back some of the lost love from people. My only real bug bears (not sure if that's the right spelling of bear/bare :-)) is this and inability to do jobs costing in Xero- otherwise still beautiful stuff so pretty good but would be soooo nice. Cheers
Shhh... its a secret...... but...... it should be out within the next 90 days (but don't tell anyone I told ya!)
:-)
:-)
Just wanted to put my vote in for this feature! We definitely need to edit items/amounts on invoices after payments have been received. We often take deposits on orders, so the invoice will be partially paid, but then the customer may want to add additional items to it as well.
With the introduction of Find & Recode a little later this year, users with the adviser role will be able to edit the following on paid (and non-paid) invoice line items in bulk: account, tracking, tax rate and contact.
We’re also doing early investigation into another piece of work; the ability to edit the Description, Reference, and Invoice Number from within individual invoices. Further down the track we’ll look into invoice amount changes, but we’ll let you know how we're tracking later on this year.
We’re also doing early investigation into another piece of work; the ability to edit the Description, Reference, and Invoice Number from within individual invoices. Further down the track we’ll look into invoice amount changes, but we’ll let you know how we're tracking later on this year.
Peter McCarroll: I totally agree with what you said on 5/5/2012: “I know that the purist says you shouldn't change an invoice after it has been entered/sent, but the practical reality is that we change and reissue invoices all the time!”
And Catherine Walker, re what you wrote on 06/03/2012: “Also, depending on legal requirements in each region, if sales tax is altered on an invoice do you need to resend a copy to the customer,” – may be Xero should realise that their customers are not idiots and that the onus is up to US to be aware of legal requirements. Not up to you to stop us from making changes that we could make had we still been in the pen & paper era!
Oh and this forum has been going since 2012?!?!!..... jeez, don’t rush
And Catherine Walker, re what you wrote on 06/03/2012: “Also, depending on legal requirements in each region, if sales tax is altered on an invoice do you need to resend a copy to the customer,” – may be Xero should realise that their customers are not idiots and that the onus is up to US to be aware of legal requirements. Not up to you to stop us from making changes that we could make had we still been in the pen & paper era!
Oh and this forum has been going since 2012?!?!!..... jeez, don’t rush
Merged: Allow edit after payment made
Sometimes I can have multiple payments made on an invoice, or, if Ive made a batch payment and I may have to change the invoice, like I didn't add shipping or got a price wrong. I hate that I cant edit without taking off a payment first.
Sometimes I can have multiple payments made on an invoice, or, if Ive made a batch payment and I may have to change the invoice, like I didn't add shipping or got a price wrong. I hate that I cant edit without taking off a payment first.
I thought this update was supposed to be released this month and now I read that "Find and Recode" (which is not even enabling you to edit all invoice fields) will only be introduced later this year.
I am extremely disappointed, I have to edit quite some invoices with partial payments and it is simply taking forever. It's a waste of time. Please try to get this feature released earlier!!!!
I am extremely disappointed, I have to edit quite some invoices with partial payments and it is simply taking forever. It's a waste of time. Please try to get this feature released earlier!!!!
Absolutely disappointing! I completely agree with you Melinda... I have clients that require changes and we are spending huge amounts of time trying to get invoices updated by having to undo payments and then re-applying them. The Find and Recode feature is not going to be that much useful, not when I can't modify everything in those invoices partially paid.
Merged: Change to Purchase Invoice after Payment
Once you have allocated a payment to a Purchase Invoice the only change you seem to be able to make is to the Expense Code it is allocated to without unhinging the payment, changing and reconnecting the payment. I find this very time consuming. I would like to be able to edit all facets except the amount of the invoice, eg date, GST treatment, expense, GL code, add lines to dissect etc.
Thoughts?
Once you have allocated a payment to a Purchase Invoice the only change you seem to be able to make is to the Expense Code it is allocated to without unhinging the payment, changing and reconnecting the payment. I find this very time consuming. I would like to be able to edit all facets except the amount of the invoice, eg date, GST treatment, expense, GL code, add lines to dissect etc.
Thoughts?
Merged: Let me change the reference field on paid invoices or bills please
that is all :)
actually I would like to be able to change a lot more fields.
that is all :)
actually I would like to be able to change a lot more fields.
Xero, please let me make up my OWN mind on whether or not I even want to enter anything in the Description field. It is NOT an ATO requirement, and all transaction lines need an Account (ledger) code so please DO NOT FORCE users to enter more in the Description field unless they want to. And I don't want to!!!
Hi all
Just wanted to let you all know that Find & Recode is now live - this new feature will enable you to edit some parts of paid and part-paid transactions in bulk. Using Find & Recode, you can edit the Contact Name, Account Codes, Tax Rates, and Tracking on Invoices.
You can read more about it here.
Be sure to check out help for more info on what you can and can't do.
Craig
CTO @ Xero
Just wanted to let you all know that Find & Recode is now live - this new feature will enable you to edit some parts of paid and part-paid transactions in bulk. Using Find & Recode, you can edit the Contact Name, Account Codes, Tax Rates, and Tracking on Invoices.
You can read more about it here.
Be sure to check out help for more info on what you can and can't do.
Craig
CTO @ Xero
Merged: Please improve the edit function
I will mention again, that you compare yourselves to Quickbooks. In QB I can edit reference information on a bill and the check that paid the bill without having to delete the payment. It is very irritating to have to delete the payment when I am changing something that is not directly tied to the actual payment. It is a waste of time. If I am changing the amount, yes. If I am changing anything else? No. Also, when changes are made. I want to remain in the area that I was in and not have to navigate back to where I was. I want to control when and where I go within the accounting system. I do not want to be continually navigating back to where I want to be. These are flaws, because these should have been considered. Quickbooks does these things, but your system does not. I am just frustrated with the amount of time it takes to do my work in your system. It takes me much longer to get anything done compared to Quickbooks.
I will mention again, that you compare yourselves to Quickbooks. In QB I can edit reference information on a bill and the check that paid the bill without having to delete the payment. It is very irritating to have to delete the payment when I am changing something that is not directly tied to the actual payment. It is a waste of time. If I am changing the amount, yes. If I am changing anything else? No. Also, when changes are made. I want to remain in the area that I was in and not have to navigate back to where I was. I want to control when and where I go within the accounting system. I do not want to be continually navigating back to where I want to be. These are flaws, because these should have been considered. Quickbooks does these things, but your system does not. I am just frustrated with the amount of time it takes to do my work in your system. It takes me much longer to get anything done compared to Quickbooks.
Merged: Change Contact Name on outstanding invoice without removing & redoing part payments
Most of our invoices are paid off by monthly installments over a lengthy period of time and because of this a lot of companies we deal with have name changes during this time. It would make life a lot easier if a name change could be applied against an invoice which is partly paid as well as new invoices.
Most of our invoices are paid off by monthly installments over a lengthy period of time and because of this a lot of companies we deal with have name changes during this time. It would make life a lot easier if a name change could be applied against an invoice which is partly paid as well as new invoices.
+++++1
switching from QB to Xero has been overall amazingly positive, but not being able to edit bills without removing and redoing all payment hurts pretty bad when you want to add detail to a bill.
here's a scenario why this is important:
our event has a bill from our hotel for around 100 hotel rooms for our staff and guests for, say, $100k. when I first enter the bill, I will put one line item in $100k of hotel rooms so that I can reconcile the payment in the bank account.
later, I'm analyzing our budget and want to add more detail to this bill (i.e. how much did we spend on guest rooms?)
I want to be able to go back and add detail to that bill to split up that one line item from $100k into two line items, one for 'staff hotel rooms' at $60k and one for 'guest hotel rooms' at $40k, and want to tag these with different tracking codes.
EXPECTED: I should be able to add/remove line items and their amounts, accounts, tracking codes to this bill as long as they still sum to the original $100k
ACTUAL: if any credit notes or payments have been made, I have to remove and redo them in order to add or remove line items or their amounts.
this is really bad if there are a lot of payments and credits from a bunch of mixed bank accounts and cash accounts because re-creating them later is a potentially very error-prone process.
please add the ability to refine detail in bills by editing more fields without requiring a remove+redo of the payments. it's very counter-intuitive
switching from QB to Xero has been overall amazingly positive, but not being able to edit bills without removing and redoing all payment hurts pretty bad when you want to add detail to a bill.
here's a scenario why this is important:
our event has a bill from our hotel for around 100 hotel rooms for our staff and guests for, say, $100k. when I first enter the bill, I will put one line item in $100k of hotel rooms so that I can reconcile the payment in the bank account.
later, I'm analyzing our budget and want to add more detail to this bill (i.e. how much did we spend on guest rooms?)
I want to be able to go back and add detail to that bill to split up that one line item from $100k into two line items, one for 'staff hotel rooms' at $60k and one for 'guest hotel rooms' at $40k, and want to tag these with different tracking codes.
EXPECTED: I should be able to add/remove line items and their amounts, accounts, tracking codes to this bill as long as they still sum to the original $100k
ACTUAL: if any credit notes or payments have been made, I have to remove and redo them in order to add or remove line items or their amounts.
this is really bad if there are a lot of payments and credits from a bunch of mixed bank accounts and cash accounts because re-creating them later is a potentially very error-prone process.
please add the ability to refine detail in bills by editing more fields without requiring a remove+redo of the payments. it's very counter-intuitive
Dominic Cerquetti
Merged: edit invoice
I wish you could edit the date of an invoice after it has been reconciled. Now I have to go remove and redo 15 items of a split payment invoice in order to change the date, and then go through the trouble of reconciling all items again.
Thanks!
I wish you could edit the date of an invoice after it has been reconciled. Now I have to go remove and redo 15 items of a split payment invoice in order to change the date, and then go through the trouble of reconciling all items again.
Thanks!
Pia Lindstrom
please please please work on being able to edit invoices after a payment has been added! we take deposits on all our invoices - i have to put a due date of the final payment in, usually this is an approximate date and i would REALLY REALLY love to be able to change it after i have processed a payment to it! would also REALLY REALLY love to be able to add items to the final bill. your customers want this function, so please please please deliver!!
Leah, while the Find and Recode feature has given us a bit of relief on this, we need to push the Xero developer to allow users to completely update an invoice when partially paid. I have a General Contractor that often has to update the description of an invoice and he should be able to modify the invoice. For the purist out there that hate the idea of modifying and invoice when it is approve, we can easily settle this by allowing a company to chose the ability to edit an invoice at a global level in the settings section. But this single issue has been one of the most painful parts of using Xero for folks that need the ability to change descriptions in the invoices.
Just for goodness sakes Xero, just get on with giving users a CHOICE!!! We're not school kids, we actually are capable of making up our own minds whether or not we need to amend an invoice after payment!
We deal with builders; they want an x amount of work done and in the process of doing that work they realise they need more done (aka variations) and these get added onto the SAME bill. We claim, and receive, progress payments along the way and thus we need to amend certain invoices AFTER part payment has been made. By the looks of this there are a LOT of people in same or similar boat so just change it!!!!
We deal with builders; they want an x amount of work done and in the process of doing that work they realise they need more done (aka variations) and these get added onto the SAME bill. We claim, and receive, progress payments along the way and thus we need to amend certain invoices AFTER part payment has been made. By the looks of this there are a LOT of people in same or similar boat so just change it!!!!
Please change this soon - it is MEGA annoying and causes me so much extra work than when I had MYOB.
Its getting a bit tiresome seeing replies coming to this thread, 184 exactly and nothing has been done about it. I am having to reconcile payments to one invoice 100 times as someone is paying it off, god help me if the company decide to change the original invoice amount on me.
Simply continuing to write on this discussion thread is no longer sufficient, so I encourage Xero partners to write today to your individual account managers and ask for a clear timeline and resolution of this issue and provide them a link to this discussion. Today I am writing an email to Jamie Sutherland and my Xero Account Manager to ask for a clear resolution on this, please do the same.
As a Xero partner I share your frustration, and for the purists out there that tell me an invoice should not be modified after it has been approved, I see your point, I understand your concern, and to some extent I even agree with it... but it is unfeasible and inefficient for many industries and small businesses. If the software cannot track the changes in the background then simply give people a choice whether to edit an invoice after approval or not so that this decision can be made between the client and the accountant. Xero should NOT arbitrarily decide if this feature is available or not because hours are being wasted in accounting firms as a result of the inability to efficiently modify an invoice that has been paid or partially paid.
As a Xero partner I share your frustration, and for the purists out there that tell me an invoice should not be modified after it has been approved, I see your point, I understand your concern, and to some extent I even agree with it... but it is unfeasible and inefficient for many industries and small businesses. If the software cannot track the changes in the background then simply give people a choice whether to edit an invoice after approval or not so that this decision can be made between the client and the accountant. Xero should NOT arbitrarily decide if this feature is available or not because hours are being wasted in accounting firms as a result of the inability to efficiently modify an invoice that has been paid or partially paid.
Hopefully they'll put the new capital, and a new Head of US, to work on a better product. I love Xero, and still bet on it regularly as the horse to ultimately win, but have been very disappointed by the velocity of product improvements over the past few years. They were moving 100mph and got way out in front, and then, to me, have just stalled while QBO and others have caught up. I hope they can get their mojo back and be the innovative cloud accounting company that I still have faith they can be.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/24/xero-accel-matrix-111-million/
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/24/xero-accel-matrix-111-million/
Would be great, most times I just need to edit a description and then to do that I have to delete a whole batch of over 50 invoices. Takes time, I have found a short cut so I do not have to delete the whole batch, but still takes longer thn it should if I could edit the description only :)
Hi Corlika, can you share with us your shortcut. It might be beneficial for all of us to at least have some interim method to deal with this.
From what I can see, first post was in Feb 2012!!! Then a couple of promises and info on time-frames... But now, 3 and a half years later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! still no ability to edit even the Reference field or the Description field..!!. There would be absolutely NO "ripple effect" on any other transactions if these fields are changed!! XERO, do us a favour and PLEASE EXPLAIN THE LOGIC of not allowing users to change these fields. Otherwise,please ask MYOB how they do it!!!!
I notice that most of these replies date back to 2012, but nothing appears to have been done.
Here is my scenario. I operate a small 501c3 ministry in the US (similar to a charitable trust in the UK). We have a bookstore, where we use the Square system for card payments. Ths integrates nicely with Xero. By default, all payments from Square into our checking account are logged by Xero into one account, which I have set as "sales". However, there are occasions when someone in our store wishes to give a donation to our ministry, via credit or debit card. At the moment, the system for amending these Square invoices inside Xero is HORRENDOUSLY complicated, involving a "remove & redo", then editing, then "repaying". There is considerable scope for getting this wrong. I see no reason at all why this cannot be part of a sumple edit procedure - just adding a new line for the donation, and decrementinng the amount in the sales line by the same amount. Please do not wait another THREE YEARS. This cannot be that difficult to program. This is important in the US, because in Washington state I must report sales tax paid on sales, but donations are not taxed.
Here is my scenario. I operate a small 501c3 ministry in the US (similar to a charitable trust in the UK). We have a bookstore, where we use the Square system for card payments. Ths integrates nicely with Xero. By default, all payments from Square into our checking account are logged by Xero into one account, which I have set as "sales". However, there are occasions when someone in our store wishes to give a donation to our ministry, via credit or debit card. At the moment, the system for amending these Square invoices inside Xero is HORRENDOUSLY complicated, involving a "remove & redo", then editing, then "repaying". There is considerable scope for getting this wrong. I see no reason at all why this cannot be part of a sumple edit procedure - just adding a new line for the donation, and decrementinng the amount in the sales line by the same amount. Please do not wait another THREE YEARS. This cannot be that difficult to program. This is important in the US, because in Washington state I must report sales tax paid on sales, but donations are not taxed.
Paul - completely agree. Have you looked at whether Square can push the donations in to a different account with no tax?
Paul, Peter and Laurette I completely agree my suggestion would be to please contact your Xero representative in fact I would highly encourage everyone that is following this discussion to do so. I have escalated this to Jamie Sutherland and was told that I would have an update on this issue very soon. Again, I highly encourage everyone to email or call your Xero contact and voice your concerns regarding this limitation
Merged: Added information on paid invoices
Hi,
We often issue an invoice prior to shipping goods and receive payment. To do this we have to 'approve' the invoice to add the Stripe payment option.
Once payment has been received, we ship the goods and add additional notes to the product item description field e.g. Product Serial Numbers etc.
The problem we have it that we cannot edit an approved invoice that has been paid/reconciled and we have to 'undo & redo' to edit the invoice product field.
Would it be possible to have a 'notes' section on the invoice, that is always editable irrespective of the invoice status please?
Thanks
Neil
Hi,
We often issue an invoice prior to shipping goods and receive payment. To do this we have to 'approve' the invoice to add the Stripe payment option.
Once payment has been received, we ship the goods and add additional notes to the product item description field e.g. Product Serial Numbers etc.
The problem we have it that we cannot edit an approved invoice that has been paid/reconciled and we have to 'undo & redo' to edit the invoice product field.
Would it be possible to have a 'notes' section on the invoice, that is always editable irrespective of the invoice status please?
Thanks
Neil
Thanks Joseph (26 Jun 2015), I agree. I actually logged this with Customer Care as an issue a coupe of times a while ago. They suggested I look this issue up on this forum, which I did, and have been keeping track of the posts in this thread since and adding my 'bit' when I really get cranky with it again (and again and ...). I certainly think it is a good idea for more people to log it as a problem via Customer Care.
I for one don't think Xero is intuitive at all and the fact that this simple issue still exists after so many years is representative of Xero's ability.... Sorry, it had to be said.
I for one don't think Xero is intuitive at all and the fact that this simple issue still exists after so many years is representative of Xero's ability.... Sorry, it had to be said.
I just want to be able to edit the reference and description field of part paid invoices, please please please make this possible!!!
Yes, please just let us edit the reference on invoices. There's absolutely no reason why this isn't available. We've been asking for this for years.
OMG, I had to change the gst component on an old invoice that had a payment on it which was part of a HUGGGGGGGE batch payment and now I have to reconcile allllllllllll the payments in the batch. This is a nightmare!!!
+1 for the editing of reference and other fields via find and recode. Without this it is so much more difficult to add in references and edit the sales tax reports to fit the authorities' requirements. It shouldn't be too difficult to add in a couple more fields to the very useful Find & Recode function?
Merged: Edit Due Date on Part Paid Sales Invoices
We have a lot of sales invoices that have 5% retentions held till project completion, then a further 5% held for a further 12 months. Is there any chance that you could enable the editing of the due date on these part paid invoices, so they dont appear on my overdue list until I expect them to be paid. Unfortunately, we do not know this when the job is first invoiced, as project completion time is reliant on other contractors on these jobs. I really don't want to invoices the retentions individually, as this would be confusing when we have multiple projects with the same client. I currently enter an expected date, but this doesnt remove the items from overdue figures/reports.
We have a lot of sales invoices that have 5% retentions held till project completion, then a further 5% held for a further 12 months. Is there any chance that you could enable the editing of the due date on these part paid invoices, so they dont appear on my overdue list until I expect them to be paid. Unfortunately, we do not know this when the job is first invoiced, as project completion time is reliant on other contractors on these jobs. I really don't want to invoices the retentions individually, as this would be confusing when we have multiple projects with the same client. I currently enter an expected date, but this doesnt remove the items from overdue figures/reports.
I see you have merged my request with this thread, but have not commented? My request is slightly different from this thread, as I would like to edit Due Date, not coding. Has this been noted?
We use invoices as a way of confirming colours on a custom product. Very frequently we'll have customers pay the invoice and make a minor colour change. The amount of the invoice doesn't change, but we cannot edit the invoice without removing the payment and re-applying which is a pain.
We've recently hired a sales staff member who is "Invoice Only (Approve & Pay)" - however this means that staff member cannot remove payments to make these simple colour changes.
I need to find a work-around for this so my salesman can do his job without requiring myself or the accountant to remove payments, then re-add them once changes have been made:
1) Change user permissions - not ideal as the next permission level allows bank balances to be viewed and accounting damage to be done
2) Send out DRAFT invoices to customers, however it appears that regardless of invoice branding the 'pay online now' creditcard link will not be sent to customers therefore they have no way of paying. Again, not ideal.
3) Any other suggestion?
The inability to edit a paid or partially paid invoice creates an incredibly frustrating workflow for us.
We've recently hired a sales staff member who is "Invoice Only (Approve & Pay)" - however this means that staff member cannot remove payments to make these simple colour changes.
I need to find a work-around for this so my salesman can do his job without requiring myself or the accountant to remove payments, then re-add them once changes have been made:
1) Change user permissions - not ideal as the next permission level allows bank balances to be viewed and accounting damage to be done
2) Send out DRAFT invoices to customers, however it appears that regardless of invoice branding the 'pay online now' creditcard link will not be sent to customers therefore they have no way of paying. Again, not ideal.
3) Any other suggestion?
The inability to edit a paid or partially paid invoice creates an incredibly frustrating workflow for us.
come on Xero! let us change the due date, or add extra items!
I'm currently checking out MYOB and it lets you do it AND they are giving xero users 6 MONTHS FREE if you change over!!
such a simply request that has no implications on anything!!!!
I'm currently checking out MYOB and it lets you do it AND they are giving xero users 6 MONTHS FREE if you change over!!
such a simply request that has no implications on anything!!!!
where is the MYOB offer @Leah.
I can see an old 2013 offer. Is there a link to a current offer?
I can see an old 2013 offer. Is there a link to a current offer?
I signed up for the free trial and then they rung me within 30 minutes. I told them i was currently with Xero and they said i can get 6 months free, plus the 30 day trial, so 7 months free! Plus they will do the conversion from xero free before 31st July.
Go to MYOB Leah, Heather, anyone... - definitely do NOT go to XERO. They're too busy advertising they're the best program and yet they are so NOT. For this still to be an issue, still not fixed since at least Feb 2012 is a disgrace!
My old accountant strongly recommended to switch from MYOB because of cloud-based access.... What a nightmare that was. If only I had waited.
My old accountant strongly recommended to switch from MYOB because of cloud-based access.... What a nightmare that was. If only I had waited.
Still a real pain in the ass!
Why do we have to remove any or all payments to make such a simple change to invoices.
Once a payment is applied it locks you out of so many simple and basic functions that should just be a single click rather than the current 10 steps.
Can't change description...
Can't change unit price...
Can't change quantity...
Can't change date...
Why do we have to remove any or all payments to make such a simple change to invoices.
Once a payment is applied it locks you out of so many simple and basic functions that should just be a single click rather than the current 10 steps.
Can't change description...
Can't change unit price...
Can't change quantity...
Can't change date...
OMG!!! we can now change the due date on approved invoice!! Its a step in the right direction - now let us add lines!!! yah!!
Official Xero Reply
Hey all, I have some good news.
We’ve made a few changes today so that you’re now able to edit the following fields on paid/part-paid invoices and bills:
Contact, due date, invoice number, reference, and line item descriptions.
For those who need to increase the invoice amount or add additional items you’ll still need to create a new invoice for the changes. Our recommendation for how to handle this is:
1. create a new invoice with the additional line items
2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment
3. when you go into the new invoice - you will be able to apply the overpayment
4. If you need to send an updated invoice to the customer showing line items, amounts etc - you can now copy multiple invoices into a new sales invoice - see release notes here.
If you need to change tax rates, Find & Recode is an efficient and easy way to do this as an adviser.
With the release of Find & Recode, and these changes made today, most items on a paid invoice can be edited. Currently we have no plans to extend this. So we have returned your votes for this feature request and, based on our analysis of the comments in this thread, created these new feature requests:
a. Sales Invoices - Add/remove line items on a paid/part-paid invoice
b. Sales Invoices - Edit the Unit Price and Quantity of a paid/part-paid invoice
Thanks again for your thoughts, criticisms and pushing us! We want Xero to become the best thing since sliced bread, so please continue to add your thoughts on the requests we’ve linked above.
We’ve made a few changes today so that you’re now able to edit the following fields on paid/part-paid invoices and bills:
Contact, due date, invoice number, reference, and line item descriptions.
For those who need to increase the invoice amount or add additional items you’ll still need to create a new invoice for the changes. Our recommendation for how to handle this is:
1. create a new invoice with the additional line items
2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment
3. when you go into the new invoice - you will be able to apply the overpayment
4. If you need to send an updated invoice to the customer showing line items, amounts etc - you can now copy multiple invoices into a new sales invoice - see release notes here.
If you need to change tax rates, Find & Recode is an efficient and easy way to do this as an adviser.
With the release of Find & Recode, and these changes made today, most items on a paid invoice can be edited. Currently we have no plans to extend this. So we have returned your votes for this feature request and, based on our analysis of the comments in this thread, created these new feature requests:
a. Sales Invoices - Add/remove line items on a paid/part-paid invoice
b. Sales Invoices - Edit the Unit Price and Quantity of a paid/part-paid invoice
Thanks again for your thoughts, criticisms and pushing us! We want Xero to become the best thing since sliced bread, so please continue to add your thoughts on the requests we’ve linked above.
Merged: Editing invoice without removing payment
Would be great if we could edit an invoice that has a payment allocated already - without removing and redoing the payment. Would save us a lot of time!
The edits that we usually do is: changing the due date, or adding an extra payment, or adding a new item or fee etc.
Thank you!
Would be great if we could edit an invoice that has a payment allocated already - without removing and redoing the payment. Would save us a lot of time!
The edits that we usually do is: changing the due date, or adding an extra payment, or adding a new item or fee etc.
Thank you!
You're in luck! We made an update today which means that more fields of a paid invoice can be edited - with the payments still allocated. Have a look at this thread here :)
Great news!!! This would save accounting firms throughout the United States significant amounts of time.
Agree with some of the comments made, if we had full editing available on invoices it would kind of fix my problem with ALL of my customers as we are in construction and can only take progress payments!
Progress payments would be better thou :)
Progress payments would be better thou :)
This is great. I understand that we should not be able to edit amounts, as this would affect the GST. Thanks so much !! One happy Bookkeeper :)
Merged: Bills - Edit Tax Rate on paid Bills
Currently once a purchase invoice is paid, partly or fully, we cannot edit the tax code. To change the tax code, we would need to undo all the payments. This would save us a lot of time if we can edit tax code on the invoice when it has been paid (or partly paid).
Currently once a purchase invoice is paid, partly or fully, we cannot edit the tax code. To change the tax code, we would need to undo all the payments. This would save us a lot of time if we can edit tax code on the invoice when it has been paid (or partly paid).
I must be missing something
"2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment "
If the original invoice was for £50 and the payment against that invoice was £50 then how is there an overpayment?
Is a line item needs to be changed, or added, then I am assuming the only way of doing this is to remove/redo the payment and edit the invoice.
Once you remove/redo the payment, the system then takes you into an account transaction list - really helpful when you need to be in the original invoice to edit it. So yet more unnecessary clicks to go back and find the invoice again to edit it.
Unless I am missing something, I can see now other way around this, and creating a new invoice isn't any quicker.
it seems yet again that Xero are simply resisting this on a point of principle. You have many many customers on this thread asking specifically for functionailty which you simply refuse to implement. It's the same old story.
"2. when the payment comes in from your customer - apply this to the original invoice. This will create an overpayment "
If the original invoice was for £50 and the payment against that invoice was £50 then how is there an overpayment?
Is a line item needs to be changed, or added, then I am assuming the only way of doing this is to remove/redo the payment and edit the invoice.
Once you remove/redo the payment, the system then takes you into an account transaction list - really helpful when you need to be in the original invoice to edit it. So yet more unnecessary clicks to go back and find the invoice again to edit it.
Unless I am missing something, I can see now other way around this, and creating a new invoice isn't any quicker.
it seems yet again that Xero are simply resisting this on a point of principle. You have many many customers on this thread asking specifically for functionailty which you simply refuse to implement. It's the same old story.
Jeff,
Peter Harvey's step 2 does combine a couple of items and over-simplifies it. You are right in that if you want change a line, the only way is to remove & red the payment, make the change and then re-apply the payment. I agree that Xero are dragging their heels here - it is my single most frustrating part of an otherwise enjoyable experience! I would really like Xero to put a setting under Financial settings that allowed Advisors to set whether invoices could be edited after payments had been applied. This would allow the purists to maintain their "thou shall not touch" approach to be maintained, and give the rest of us real-world pragmatists fixing up thousands of client errors ever year (not to mention the clients themselves) the flexibility to do our job faster!
Here is a tip to speed up the process:
1. From the invoice right click on the payment and choose Open in new Tab. Do this for each payment if necessary.
2. In the new tab(s) choose Remove & Redo. Close the tab once it is complete.
3. In the original invoice refresh the screen.
4. Now you can edit the invoice.
5. Go and reapply the payments.
I hope that helps.
Peter.
Xero Certified Advisor, Canadian CPA & New Zealand CA and Xero's award winning Most Valuable Professional. I give implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Get a Xero MVP on your team! Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
You can book a live remote Xero support session with me or self-paced Xero training for a very reasonable price.
Peter Harvey's step 2 does combine a couple of items and over-simplifies it. You are right in that if you want change a line, the only way is to remove & red the payment, make the change and then re-apply the payment. I agree that Xero are dragging their heels here - it is my single most frustrating part of an otherwise enjoyable experience! I would really like Xero to put a setting under Financial settings that allowed Advisors to set whether invoices could be edited after payments had been applied. This would allow the purists to maintain their "thou shall not touch" approach to be maintained, and give the rest of us real-world pragmatists fixing up thousands of client errors ever year (not to mention the clients themselves) the flexibility to do our job faster!
Here is a tip to speed up the process:
1. From the invoice right click on the payment and choose Open in new Tab. Do this for each payment if necessary.
2. In the new tab(s) choose Remove & Redo. Close the tab once it is complete.
3. In the original invoice refresh the screen.
4. Now you can edit the invoice.
5. Go and reapply the payments.
I hope that helps.
Peter.
Xero Certified Advisor, Canadian CPA & New Zealand CA and Xero's award winning Most Valuable Professional. I give implementation advice to clients all over the globe. Get a Xero MVP on your team! Visit my blog for various Xero articles.
You can book a live remote Xero support session with me or self-paced Xero training for a very reasonable price.
I completely agree with Jeff with the only caution... If a payment is bundled with other invoices by clicking the Remove & Redo you will remove the batch payments so be careful that other invoices are not affected as well. Most of my clients make one single deposits for multiple invoices, so if you need to change the invoice you have to redo those payments across all invoices. The latest changes have certainly helped by giving us the ability to change some things in a paid invoices, but ultimately Jeff's solution is the best one. Give me the ability to decide if I want to change the invoice or not when a payment is applied to an invoice
We still need to be able to add lines and change amounts on invoices that have been partially paid. The creating a new invoice/overpayment idea won't work for our business, as the original taxes are adjusted- so we would then have to figure out the difference in new tax amounts and pro-rate that on the new invoice. No way. This is really frustrating, and I like Xero otherwise- but this is such a headache. The other company I own uses quickbooks online, and this is not an issue at all there. I'm going to have to switch, I think.
Merged: ABILITY TO CHANGE TAX RATE AFTER BILL PAYMENT
After paying supplier payments, I have noticed that the tax rate is incorrect on a supplier invoice.
ie. something that should be GST Free was initially entered incorrectly as GST applicable.
The Grand Total amount is still the same.
After making making a supplier payment, I cannot edit the TAX RATE field.
So I have to "Remove & Redo" the payment in order to do the editing.
Can we have as a new feature that we can edit the TAX RATE.
At the moment, we are able to edit the ACCOUNT/ general ledger code field without having to "Remove & Redo" the payment. Surely, this feature can be switched on for the TAX RATE field as well.
After paying supplier payments, I have noticed that the tax rate is incorrect on a supplier invoice.
ie. something that should be GST Free was initially entered incorrectly as GST applicable.
The Grand Total amount is still the same.
After making making a supplier payment, I cannot edit the TAX RATE field.
So I have to "Remove & Redo" the payment in order to do the editing.
Can we have as a new feature that we can edit the TAX RATE.
At the moment, we are able to edit the ACCOUNT/ general ledger code field without having to "Remove & Redo" the payment. Surely, this feature can be switched on for the TAX RATE field as well.
I also think it'd be great to add/change an invoice after a part payment has been made.
I.E. If a customer has added another item after their initial deposit.
I.E. If a customer has added another item after their initial deposit.
Just merging so you can have a look at the discussion here - this is something you can already do with Find & Recode :)
EDIT button is all that is required.
A customer made a progress payment or deposit to begin work and now they want more work done and the invoice is not finalised because balance is still outstanding because the works are not completed in full yet but I have to delete all payments to make a basic change of an amount or do the long winded way XERO thinks is better....really?
A simple edit button is all that is required. Listen to the customers that need this function most days!
It is really becoming frustrating now!
A customer made a progress payment or deposit to begin work and now they want more work done and the invoice is not finalised because balance is still outstanding because the works are not completed in full yet but I have to delete all payments to make a basic change of an amount or do the long winded way XERO thinks is better....really?
A simple edit button is all that is required. Listen to the customers that need this function most days!
It is really becoming frustrating now!
Being able to make changes to the amounts when an invoice is already paid or part paid would be a great feature as it is really frustrating when I need to make changes and I have to delete all the payments out first as sometimes there are over 20. Please make this happen Xero as I know there would be other people in the same boat as me. Thanks :)
This conversation began in Feb 2012 ... 4 years and 11 months to put these changes into affect and it still hasn't yet happened. How disappointing.
This new solution of creating a new invoice will not work in our business model and unfortunately is not a positive solution at all. We need to edit invoices without removing payments as our wedding clients in particular constantly change their mind (as they should be able to). Can someone please explain why this cannot be done?
We have been close to cancelling our subscription because of this issue. Please fix this as this is a major flaw in your system and does not streamline our services, therefore taking more time and money to complete what should be a very simple task.
There are many great things about Xero, however this is one issue that is certainly tarnishing our experience.
This new solution of creating a new invoice will not work in our business model and unfortunately is not a positive solution at all. We need to edit invoices without removing payments as our wedding clients in particular constantly change their mind (as they should be able to). Can someone please explain why this cannot be done?
We have been close to cancelling our subscription because of this issue. Please fix this as this is a major flaw in your system and does not streamline our services, therefore taking more time and money to complete what should be a very simple task.
There are many great things about Xero, however this is one issue that is certainly tarnishing our experience.
Here Here Donna Shannon!
We are a landscaping business and the amount of times our customers changed their minds while we are onsite is like 90% of the time and this is when they have paid a deposit and a progress payment or two.
My husband won't use Xero because of this MAJOR inconvenience and invoicing has to wait until he gets home. Our invoices are normally sent 24 to 48 hours later than they should instead of being able to send them while he is onsite, therefore putting us in financially stress!!!
We are a landscaping business and the amount of times our customers changed their minds while we are onsite is like 90% of the time and this is when they have paid a deposit and a progress payment or two.
My husband won't use Xero because of this MAJOR inconvenience and invoicing has to wait until he gets home. Our invoices are normally sent 24 to 48 hours later than they should instead of being able to send them while he is onsite, therefore putting us in financially stress!!!
I am glad to see I am not alone :) I think the only thing we can do is keep emailing them and pestering them about the situation.
Good luck fellow Xero users!
I would really appreciate someone from Xero to enter this conversation as this issue is clearly not 'done' and explain why after nearly half a decade this issue has not need fully resolved.
Good luck fellow Xero users!
I would really appreciate someone from Xero to enter this conversation as this issue is clearly not 'done' and explain why after nearly half a decade this issue has not need fully resolved.
Have you noticed how on the top of this thread, where the original question was posted nearly half a decade ago, that this has been marked as finished!
So seems to me Xero made a couple of other fields editable BUT NOT THE INVOICE AMOUNT and then just marked it as finished. Probably just so that they can state that they listen to users.... Maybe re-posting this will do the trick...
So seems to me Xero made a couple of other fields editable BUT NOT THE INVOICE AMOUNT and then just marked it as finished. Probably just so that they can state that they listen to users.... Maybe re-posting this will do the trick...
Hi Laurette,
Yes, thank you I did notice that. I will be writing another email to Xero today stating this and reposting is a great idea as well.
Thank you and best wishes
Yes, thank you I did notice that. I will be writing another email to Xero today stating this and reposting is a great idea as well.
Thank you and best wishes
This is beyond ASTOUNDING that XERO is ignoring such a basic and ESSENTIAL functionality. Is there at least an ADD ON that would be able to handle editing invoices? PLEASE?!!!!!!!!
AND THE WORK AROUND TO COPY/MERGE INVOICES IS NEEDLESSLY TEDIOUS AND CLUNKY. FOR A SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS WITH THE CLAIMS XERO MAKES THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND THE 'DONE' CHECKMARK AT TOP ON THIS ISSUE IS GROSSLY MISLEADING. XERO NEEDS TO WARN PEOPLE OF THIS CATASTROPHIC FAILURE DURING SIGN UP TO AVOID HUGE HEADACHES FOR MANY OF US WHO CANNOT WRAP OUR MINDS AROUND AN ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE THAT IS NOT CAPABLE OF HANDLING THIS BASIC ISSUE.
Merged: Edit Existing transaction/s ? Make new transaction from old ?
How to edit existing transactions, correct a date, or add some more details, then save the changes ??
How to call up a previous transaction, change its date and/or invoice number/s, then save as new transaction ??
TIA's
How to edit existing transactions, correct a date, or add some more details, then save the changes ??
How to call up a previous transaction, change its date and/or invoice number/s, then save as new transaction ??
TIA's
Hi Brian.
When it comes to editing existing transactions, you can edit a draft invoices to correct date, drag and drop columns and add more details then send it for approval or approve it yourself depending on your user role. You may also check this link: https://help.xero.com/au/Invoice-EditDraft.
You can also edit a previous transactions and save it as a new transactions, however there are limited fields that you can edit. You may check it here. On editing paid invoices, you may also check this link: https://help.xero.com/au/Payments_AR_PaidView
Hope that helps.
When it comes to editing existing transactions, you can edit a draft invoices to correct date, drag and drop columns and add more details then send it for approval or approve it yourself depending on your user role. You may also check this link: https://help.xero.com/au/Invoice-EditDraft.
You can also edit a previous transactions and save it as a new transactions, however there are limited fields that you can edit. You may check it here. On editing paid invoices, you may also check this link: https://help.xero.com/au/Payments_AR_PaidView
Hope that helps.
Thanks so much for your help here, Zyra! You can fully edit an invoice that doesn't have a payment attached to it. So what I'm going to do is merge this thread here so you can read some of the discussion on editing invoices.
Hi - we cannot edit an invoice if there are overpayments allocated - even if I only want to edit the tracking codes - please make this a feature request as this is a common problem - we have to unallocate all the credits (ie lots) then edit the invoice, then reallocate all the credits. Time consuming!
Xero have still not fixed this really annoying feature. The way you are asking us to solve it is to create another invoice and add that on to the date to make an over payment! How messy I end up with double invoices virtually each day because of this solution. I do not have time to sit and deleted 8 payments each day if the invoice is out by 5cents.! And what do we do if we need to make the amount less? Please consider this a much needed change still.
Hey Folks, it looks like Xero marked this as "completed", but only went half way.
A new feature request thread has been started to allow EDITING OF UNIT PRICE AND QUANTITY OF A PAID/PART PAID INVOCE. Please visit this new thread and vote for this feature if it's important to you. The more votes we get, the more likely this will be addressed.
Here's the link: https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/11338545/
Thank you!
A new feature request thread has been started to allow EDITING OF UNIT PRICE AND QUANTITY OF A PAID/PART PAID INVOCE. Please visit this new thread and vote for this feature if it's important to you. The more votes we get, the more likely this will be addressed.
Here's the link: https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/11338545/
Thank you!
What if I receive a payment that is BELOW the original invoice amount, and I and the client have agreed with this new amount? This happens often with one particular client, but in order to send out the original invoice I need to enter a "guesstimate." How do I change the original invoice so that the payment and the finalized amount agree?
Tp everyone who voted for this. Xero pretended to fix this, they didn't
A new thread has started, please vote:
https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/11338545/#answer
A new thread has started, please vote:
https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/11338545/#answer
Jill Blunsom
We have been lobbying this for 2 years
This partial change does not help our organisation
We need to be able to have the option to edit invoices without having to remove the payments first
When asked our opinion on Xero we always refer to our frustration and time wasting on this particular issue
Come on Xero - this is a daily frustration for us
This partial change does not help our organisation
We need to be able to have the option to edit invoices without having to remove the payments first
When asked our opinion on Xero we always refer to our frustration and time wasting on this particular issue
Come on Xero - this is a daily frustration for us
This is by far the biggest problem with Xero that we have come across. We are processing thousands of invoices each year and more than half will make payments and changes. The remove and redo is extremely frustrating & time consuming.
Please Xero fix it! Invoices that are part paid or fully paid need to be able to be editable.
Please Xero fix it! Invoices that are part paid or fully paid need to be able to be editable.
Apologies for not updating you on this thread sooner, Lesleigh and Hoang. You can now edit the tax rate of the lines of your paid and part paid bills through the use of Find & Recode. Just goign to merge in with the larger conversation of this here and give you back your votes here. :)
I would like to be able to edit ANY part of an invoice that has been paid or partially paid, often we discount invoices that are partially paid and I do not want to create credit notes but to discount the charge itself if I choose. It's annoying having to delete payment adjust invoices weeks later and reapply old payments. Why must you have all the control?
HI I TO PAY FOR subscription BECAUSE IT WAS PROBLEM IN MY ACCOUNT BANK I FIX IT IS IT POSSIBLE TO RETRIVE ALL BILLS AND business IN MY account ?
This is a massive pain in the proverbial. What was a simple process in myob now takes minutes.
Please Please give us the ability to add or remove lines from a partially paid invoice!
Please Please give us the ability to add or remove lines from a partially paid invoice!
Does anyone know how to change an invoice when the BAS has already been completed during that period?
Can this option also be added to the app. ( the option to edit the invoice after it has been partly paid)
I put all the details of my customers order on the invoice. When they make minor changes I need to update it quickly
I put all the details of my customers order on the invoice. When they make minor changes I need to update it quickly
Cmon guys, this is so silly. We need to be able to make edits on invoices. Dates change, other info changes and when our clients have made 3 deposits it is such a waste of time to remove and redo them all. Any ETA??? Thanks
Very well said Leighton, completely agree. Actions matter most, and when it comes to actions (design) Xero doesn't seem to care about the amount of work its customer shave to do using the product, or saving their customers work. On forum posts time and time again I see Xero suggesting long laborious workarounds as excuses or explanation for years of users complaining about inefficiencies and unnecessary effort it takes to work in Xero. For example if a problem is posted, Xero will not even consider it a worthy problem if there is a giant long workaround that exists. Anything that can't be done quickly and efficiently is a problem and is broken, companies that understand this absolutely dominate their competitors. If some new upstart accounting software enters the market that is efficient and lacks the unnecessary-work-creation of Xero that company can threaten Xero, similar to what Xero did with Intuit. Xero's design basically creates more work using Xero, in unnecessary ways, and the customer base is constantly frustrated by this and Xero just never gets it. So many community posts about things that are very difficult or take too long that Xero continues to respond to like they aren't problems. Xero projects you can't even see which projects have unbilled time without going and running a report, every single competitor in the space I've ever seen you can see on each project in your live project list whether there is unbilled time or not. The design is just junk out of the gate with Xero and then it takes years of complaining to fix it, and it
s still usually 75%. Case in point this issue, they fixed it 60% and then call it done. They made it so you can change a few fields, but not the ones we really need to change in the real world. They allow us to change the ones that require the least amount of rewrite of code and least amount of work for their developers. Xero you really need to look at is product team or developer laziness contributing to a less great product than you could have. Its infuriating they fix this issue, like others 60%, at best, then mark it as done only to never re-visit it again.
s still usually 75%. Case in point this issue, they fixed it 60% and then call it done. They made it so you can change a few fields, but not the ones we really need to change in the real world. They allow us to change the ones that require the least amount of rewrite of code and least amount of work for their developers. Xero you really need to look at is product team or developer laziness contributing to a less great product than you could have. Its infuriating they fix this issue, like others 60%, at best, then mark it as done only to never re-visit it again.
Yep exactly Chris. I changed from Quickbooks as I believed this was a superior product, but considering going back. You can do so many more things and it is a lot easier with Quickbooks. So many unnecessary workarounds instead of just giving the paying customer what they need
Folks, Xero moved the goalpost as usual, so you need to go vote on this now: https://community.xero.com/business/discussion/11338545/
Finding this situation really frustrating. As a building contractor we take a lot of stage payments throughout the build and often the customer will request additional work which I need to add to the invoice total but of course I can't without deleting all the stage payments !!
Has anyone managed to edit the price without having delete the first payment yet? I dont understand why this is a thing.
Thank you in advacnce.
David W - Web Design Tauranga
Thank you in advacnce.
David W - Web Design Tauranga
No. It has been like this for over 7 years, Xero have said they are not planning to change it.
It is the worst feature of Xero for a lot of us but they do not care to change it!
It is the worst feature of Xero for a lot of us but they do not care to change it!
Xero are never going to change this.
We now use zero just for pay run and reports.
We bought a customer management system called planning pod which has so much more functionality and flexibility ans great client support too.
We are having a way better experience with invoicing as we can change items and pricing without unreconciling payments already made. I suggest to look for a better platform that won't cause you frustration.
We now use zero just for pay run and reports.
We bought a customer management system called planning pod which has so much more functionality and flexibility ans great client support too.
We are having a way better experience with invoicing as we can change items and pricing without unreconciling payments already made. I suggest to look for a better platform that won't cause you frustration.
I agree with all the comments posted today 17/6/2021, Xero need to understand that all businesses and their customers change their minds on works actually performed and then invoiced, hence why line amounts needs to be changed but once you take a deposit or several progress payments, you have reverse all payments just the change the amount.
Get your head out of the sand XERO......
Regards,
Frustrated user!!
Get your head out of the sand XERO......
Regards,
Frustrated user!!
We have many suppliers / contractors who invoice us for an agreed amount multiple times in a year but some additional out of pocket expenses also come up so they change their invoice and as such we need to have ability to edit the amount of partially paid bill. Adding line items are quite helpful.
Don't understand the logic of not allowing this in a partially paid bill.
Don't understand the logic of not allowing this in a partially paid bill.