Using Bookings and Prepay is a great way to track Product needs as well as lock in special pricing for Customers. Bookings allow Product-specific prices and prepaid dollars to default into the Invoice.
Booking Types
There are three basic Booking types available for use when invoicing.
- Product-Specific (Unpaid or Prepaid)
- Unpaid – Products can be booked at predetermined prices, but money is not taken at this time.
- Prepaid – Products can be booked at predetermined prices, and money is taken from the Customer at this time. Not only can quantities and prices be tracked, but the Customer's Prepay balance is also affected.
- Down Payment – Down Payment Bookings are used when the Customer is required to make a partial payment to lock in a specific price. There is no expectation that the remainder of the Booking will be paid. No additional Payments can be taken once the Booking is saved.
- Generic Prepaid – This type allows the Customer to pay a lump sum of Prepay not associated with certain Products. The money does not have to be assigned to a specific Product but can be automatically used on the Invoice at a designated Price Level.
It is also possible to use a mix of unpaid and prepaid Bookings on the same line item. This can be helpful with Products Customers book ahead of time but then have to be substituted later (e.g., seed). An unpaid, Product-specific Booking helps track quantity, and prepaid dollars from a Generic Prepaid Booking are used to cover the Invoice line-item. More information on this process can be found here.
Invoice Screen
To invoice a Booking, go to A/R / Invoice or select the Add an Invoice shortcut icon. Choose the Customer and Products. Products not on the Booking can also be included.
The Level column indicates pricing information.
- Book – A Booking has been pre-selected.
- View – The Customer has Bookings for this Product, but there may be multiple Bookings for the same Product, the Booking is not enough to cover the line item, or the Booking may have expired. Expired Bookings can still be used on an Invoice. Selecting View opens the Booking Details screen to make additional decisions.
Note: Invoices cannot be saved if View is displayed under the Level column for any of the Products. - Quote – A priced ticket has been imported.
The Status column indicates the paid status of the line item.
- Blank – There are no Bookings associated with that line.
- Paid – Prepay is being used.
- Book – An unpaid Booking is being used.
- Dwn – A Down Payment Booking is being used.
- Book/Paid – Prepay is being used, and a Book-only Booking is also being relieved for the quantity.
Note: This is helpful when needing to track the quantity used from a Booking, but it is also necessary to use Prepay to cover the line item. Book/Paid may default if the criteria within the Booking hierarchy has been met.
Booking Details Screen
Select under a Product's Level column to open the Booking Details screen. This window provides Booking information related to the selected Invoice line item as well as Bookings available to the Customer. If the Product on the Invoice has View under the Level column, it must be selected and a Booking or Bookings chosen to save the Invoice. However, this screen can be accessed regardless of what is displayed under the Level column.
Information such as the Booking's Start and Expiration Dates, Comments, and Price Level is available here. The DP/Unit (Down Payment per unit) rate is shown here for Down Payment Bookings. The number of the Booking line item is indicated under the Li column.
If the Customer needs to be charged a different price compared to what was booked, the Unit $ can be changed on the Invoice. Checking the Retain Invoice Price option should then be checked to use the Invoice price rather than the Booking price. If this is not checked, the Booking price will default.
Initially, only Bookings pertaining to the line item are displayed. Choosing Show Products displays all available Bookings.
Selecting Unbook Line only untags Bookings pertaining to the Invoice line items. Unbook Invoice will untag all Bookings for all Invoice line items. If one Booking line should be used to cover the whole Invoice, highlight that line and choose Book Invoice (the Booking line item must cover the entire Invoice). Prepay Book Only is for situations when a Book-only Booking is to be used along with the prepaid dollars on the same Invoice line item.
Bookings can be sorted by selecting a column heading or filtered by Prepay Status. Alternatively, enter a Booking # and choose Show Products to view only Products from that specific Booking.
The P column shows the paid status for the Booking.
- Y – Paid
- N – Not paid
- D – Down Payment
Single or multiple Bookings can be selected to cover a line item on the Invoice. Once the appropriate Booking(s) has been selected, choose Done. If the Booking does not cover the line item completely, the Select A Booking Option window displays to indicate how the portion not covered should be handled.
- Split – The Invoice line item is split into two. One line will use the remainder of the Booking, and the other will use the current List Price or the Customer's Price Level (if one is set) for the remaining Invoice quantity.
- Partial – The booked price will be used for the whole quantity of the line item with an amount due on the Invoice for what is not covered by the Booking. The dollar amount for the entire line item's quantity will use the booked price.
- Steal – The Booking Details screen is displayed with all available Bookings to choose which Bookings to use to cover the line item.
