Chipply Business - How to Invoice a Store

Invoicing lives on a store's Sales Order Summary page, the financial home base for that sale. From here you can do two things. You can request money (a deposit request, covered in How to Request a Deposit) when you want payment before you know the final amount, or you can send an invoice for what the group owes. Most stores only need the invoice, and when everything already matches, because shoppers paid at checkout and there are no extra fees, it takes just a few clicks and leaves nothing to collect.

This article starts with that simple case, then covers what changes when there's still money to collect. If you're invoicing a catalog store with batches, see How to Invoice a Catalog Store afterward, since it builds on these same steps.

 Where to find invoicing within your stores

1. Open the store you want to invoice.
2. From the left-hand menu, go to Reports → Sales Order Summary.
3. Check the invoicing status badge at the top of the page. It will read Not Invoiced, Partially Invoiced, or Invoiced, so you always know at a glance whether there's anything left to do.

Walkthrough: invoicing a store when everything matches

This is the simplest case. The group's shoppers paid for everything at checkout, there are no extra fees, and nothing is owed. You're invoicing it so the store has a record and shows as Invoiced.

1. Open the store's Sales Order Summary and confirm the status badge reads Not Invoiced.
2. Check that Total Sale and Deposit Balance match. When they're the same number, everything has been paid and there's nothing left to collect.
3. Click Create Invoice. This is the main action button at the top of the page.
4. Leave the eCom Deposit box checked. Chipply applies what was already collected, so Balance Due shows $0.00.
5. Add a memo if you'd like (optional). The memo prints on the invoice itself.
6. Choose whether to notify the customer and download a copy. Notify Customers of Invoice Creation is on by default. Turn it off if you'd rather not email the group about a store that's already paid, and toggle on Download Invoice if you want a PDF for your records.
7. Click Accept. The status badge changes to Invoiced, and you're done.

Walkthrough: when there's still money to collect

When the numbers don't match, the steps are the same, with a few more things to look at first. Say one of your groups just wrapped up a store, and there's money left to collect. Maybe it's e-certificates that were issued but not paid for up front, a PO, or an extra fee. The steps below walk through it using e-certificates as the example, but the process is the same no matter what's driving the balance.

1. Check the Accounting Summary. On the left side of the Sales Order Summary, the Accounting Summary shows you everything that makes up the sale (product price, decoration, any organization fees), adding up to the Total Sale amount.
    
2. Look at Total Sale and Deposit Balance. These two numbers, near the top of the page, are the ones to watch. If a group used e-certificates, you'll usually see Deposit Balance come in lower than Total Sale. That gap is what still needs to be collected.
    
3. Review Payment Activity. This section breaks down eCom Deposits, Deposits, and Accounts Receivable Invoices, so you can see exactly what's already been collected and how.
    
4. Click Create Invoice. This is the main action button at the top of the page.
5. Confirm the amount and apply any available deposits. The invoice amount defaults to what's due on the sale. If there's a Deposit Balance available, it's automatically checked so it gets applied, reducing the balance due to just what's left unpaid (in this example, the e-cert amount).
6. Add a memo if you'd like (optional), for example "Invoice for e-certs." The memo prints on the invoice itself.
7. Choose whether to notify the customer and download a copy. Notify Customers of Invoice Creation is on by default and opens the messaging drawer with a pre-filled invoice notification email. You can also toggle on Download Invoice to save a PDF copy for yourself.
8. Click Accept (or Accept & Make Payment if the customer is on the phone with a card ready right now).

Messaging organization contacts

If you chose to message contacts, clicking Accept opens a messaging drawer pre-filled with an invoice notification email and an attached copy of the invoice. Review it, update the recipient if needed, and click Send Now.

Once it's sent, the status at the top of the Sales Order Summary updates to reflect where things stand: Not Invoiced, Partially Invoiced (if only part of the sale has been billed so far, such as when new orders come in after the first invoice), or Invoiced. 

Taking payment right away

If the customer is ready to pay while you're creating the invoice, you don't have to come back later. On the Create Invoice window, click Accept & Make Payment instead of Accept. Chipply creates the invoice and takes you straight to payment.

1. Click Accept & Make Payment on the Create Invoice window.
2. Choose how they're paying. The options are Online Payment, Cash, Check and Advertising Expense. Each one asks for different details, covered below.
3. Enter the details for that payment type and add an optional memo.
4. Confirm the amount. The payment amount is editable, so if the customer can only pay part of the balance now, enter that amount and collect the rest later.
5. Submit the payment. The payment is recorded against the invoice and shows up in Payment Activity.

The different ways they can pay

Card payments. Online Payment is the one to use for cards. You type in the card details yourself, so the customer doesn't need a device of their own. Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay need the customer to complete the payment themselves, so they aren't part of taking a payment for them here. If you'd like a customer to pay that way, send them to the Organization Portal instead.

Cash and checks. These can only be recorded by your team. Use the memo to note anything worth remembering, like who handed over the payment or what the check was for.

Fees. You can set a fee for each payment type under Dealer Settings → Accounting. If you charge one, review the payment summary before you submit so you and the customer both know the total. See Dealer Settings: The Accounting Page for how fees and payment types are set up.

Part now, rest later. Because the amount is editable, you can take a partial payment today. The invoice stays open for what's left, and you can record the next payment whenever it comes in.

Other ways the customer can pay

• Later, from the invoice. Anytime after you create the invoice, open it from the Sales Order Summary or from Accounts Receivable and click Make Payment. The same options appear.
• Several invoices at once. If an organization wants to pay more than one invoice in a single payment, use Make Payment from that organization's page in Accounts Receivable.
• Online, on their own. Send the billing contact a link to the Organization Portal, and they can pay from their own device without calling you.

If you're not taking payment right now

Click Accept. The invoice is created, the status updates, and the balance stays open until you record a payment against it. Nothing else is needed on your end.

What your customer sees

The invoice is a PDF. Your logo and the organization's name are at the top. In the top right, Remit to shows your company's name, address, phone number and email, which come from your primary dealer branch. Below that is the invoice header: the invoice number, the sales order, the customer, the event, the sales rep and the contact, along with the order date, invoice date and last payment date.

Then the PDF lists the items being invoiced, with their pictures, artwork and options, followed by any handling or organization fees. At the bottom, a Payments Applied section shows each payment and any deposit that was applied, next to the subtotal, tax, invoice total, amount paid and balance due. If you added a memo, it prints on the invoice too.

Frequently asked questions

Can I invoice just part of a sale?Not yet. Creating an invoice bills everything on the sale that hasn't already been invoiced. You can't currently pick and choose individual line items. If new orders come in after you've already invoiced once, invoicing again will just bill the new amount.

What if I need to refund someone?You can create an invoice for a negative amount to record that money is owed back. Note that Chipply doesn't yet automatically send money back to a customer's card, so you'll need to handle the actual refund yourself for now.

What if the organization has billing turned off?You'll see a message that invoicing isn't allowed for that organization. Turn on Allow Billing in the organization's settings, then come back and create the invoice.