Invoice template setup for transfer to QB

SECURITY  Security level with Admin permission to configure Finance, Accounting, & Invoicing. Refer to Admin security settings.

NAVIGATION   > Admin > Features & Settings > Finance, Accounting & Invoicing > Invoices > Invoice Templates

NOTE  This step applies if you are transferring invoices to QuickBooks.

The Autotask invoice template that is applied to an invoice determines the following on both the Autotask and the QuickBooks (QB) versions of the invoice:

  • Which Autotask fields will appear on the invoice.
  • Which Autotask fields make up the Item Description field in QB.
  • What constitutes a line item. Each line item on the Autotask invoice will become a line item on the QB invoice. If you group multiple billing items into one line item, that one line item will be transferred to QB.
  • The sort order of invoice items.

To get the invoices you want in QB, you will probably need to create one or more invoice templates that are optimized for QB invoice transfer and assign them to organizations on the Invoice Settings page. Refer to Designing an invoice template.

How to...

All fields that can appear on an Autotask invoice are either mapped to one or more QB fields, or in the case of Totals and Sub-totals, re-calculated in QB. For details, refer to the Invoice field map.

Account and invoice-level fields are added to the top and bottom sections of the Autotask invoice. These sections are designed by adding invoice field variables to an HTML editor page. Refer to Designing an invoice template and The HTML editor.

While the Item Name that appears on the QB invoice is determined by the naming conventions you configure (refer to Managing Naming Conventions), the Item Description in Autotask and therefore QB is often made up of data from several Autotask fields.

These fields are selected when you configure the Item Description column on the invoice body. You can customize the item description for each item type. Refer to Customize the Description column.

IMPORTANT  QB imposes a 4,095 character limit on item description fields.

Each line item on the Autotask invoice will become a line item on the QB invoice. Autotask lets you combine multiple billing items into one line item by grouping them into one.

This is no problem if you invoice your customers from Autotask, because Autotask has access to the underlying billing items and their tax settings. The taxes we calculate will be correct even for grouped line items that may consist of taxable and non-taxable items or items with different tax rates.

If you transfer such mixed grouped items to QB, however, the entire group will be non-taxable in QB, because it doesn't have access to the underlying separate billing items. The only way to charge the correct tax amount would be to transfer tax amounts from Autotask to QB. Refer to Calculating taxes in Autotask instead of QuickBooks? (US versions only).

IMPORTANT  For the record, we strongly advise against doing this for new customers. We continue to make this feature available to support a number of legacy customers who depend on this workflow.

BEST PRACTICE

If you transfer invoices to QB, we strongly recommend that you do NOT roll up billing items or transfer taxes directly. This way, each billing item is also a separate line item on the invoice, and your QB tax settings can be applied correctly. Refer to Roll Up items.

The invoice template also determines the sort order of invoice items in Autotask and QB. Refer to Sort.

NOTE  Currently, the QB export does not support two sort orders: "Task/Ticket Number, then Date, then Item Type" and "Date, then Item Type, then Item".

If you roll up billing items

If you do not itemize services and bundles, or if you group billing items in certain ways, the resulting billing items will not have billing codes that can be used as item names. During the transfer to QB, a generic item name is applied that will become the QB item name.

Rolled up billing items transferred to QB will show the quantity of items even if the grouped item includes items with different rates. QB will divide the amount by the quantity to get the item price.

Item names used when grouping is turned on Grouping options that result in a generic item name
Labor

Labor invoice items when:

  • Grouping Labor by Line of Business
  • Grouping All by Line of Business
  • Grouping All by Location (of the organization)
  • Grouping All by Grouping Description and Labor Grouping is turned on.
  • Grouping All by Billing Code or Labor by Work Type, and the invoice line item does not have a Work Type.
  • Labor Invoice line item when there is no grouping and the naming convention choice is Work Type and the invoice line item does not have a work type.

Resource

Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Resource

[Role Name]

Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Role
Projects

Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Project

Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Project & Phase
Tickets

Ticket labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Task/Ticket Number
Tasks

Task Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Task/Ticket Number

Charges

Charge invoice items when grouping All by Roll Up Description, All by Location or All by Line of Business, and grouping is turned on

Expenses

Expense invoice items when grouping All by Roll Up Description, All by Location or All by Line of Business, and grouping is turned on
Recurring Services

Recurring service/bundle/setup fee invoice items when:

  • Grouping by anything other than All by Billing Code
  • Grouping All by Roll Up Description, and Service/Bundle grouping is turned on
  • There is no grouping, and Itemize Recurring Services is OFF
Milestone
  • Milestone invoice items when grouping All by Billing Code, and the invoice item doesn't have a billing code
  • Milestone invoice items when there is no grouping, and the invoice item doesn't have a billing code
  • Milestone invoice items when grouping All by Roll Up Description, All by Location or All by Line of Business, and grouping is turned on
Subscription

Subscription invoice items when:

Grouping All by Line of Business

Grouping All by Location

Grouping All by Roll Up Description, and grouping is turned on

Contracts

Labor invoice items when grouping Labor by Contract.
Taxes from Autotask Used for the line item added to the invoice when "Transfer Taxes Directly" is selected. Refer to Calculating taxes in Autotask instead of QuickBooks? (US versions only) for additional information.

NOTE  When you roll up items, only the "rolled up" line item transfers to QB, even if the rolled up items are itemized on the invoice display.