Creating and processing invoices
Producing an invoice means telling KAMI which client, which period, and which template — then letting it assemble the amounts from payroll and attendance. The work is in checking the result, not in building it.
Where: Invoices You need: invoicing rights for that client
Before You Start
Finish payroll for the period. A timesheet or cost-plus invoice draws on payroll figures. Invoicing before payroll is final means billing numbers that are about to change.
Check picking and skipping rules for anyone who joined, left or moved cost centre mid-period. That is where invoices go wrong — see Picking and skipping rules.
Confirm the client's template is the one you intend. The template decides what appears and how it is grouped.
How to produce an invoice
- Open Invoices and create one for the client and period.
- Confirm the template and the invoice type.
- Process it. The status moves through processing to ready or error.
- Open it and check the lines before anyone approves.
- Send it for approval — see Reviewing, approving and issuing.
Processing status, and what error means
| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| Pending | Not yet built |
| Processing | Being assembled |
| Ready | Built, awaiting review |
| Error | Could not be produced |
⚠️ Error is not a state anything recovers from on its own. It is not in an approval queue and nobody is notified by its existence. An invoice left in error simply does not get sent, and the first sign is usually a client asking why they have not been billed. Check for errors as part of every run.
What gets billed
The amount is built from the fee components configured for the client:
| Component | Is |
|---|---|
| Billable wage | The employee's wage, as billed |
| Management fee | Your fee for the placement |
| Other charge | Anything additional |
On top of those, service fee options can include employer contributions and 13th month — the latter calculated on basic, fixed or gross wage depending on configuration. See Fee components.
Advance and arrears
Billing in arrears invoices for a period that has finished, so the figures are known.
Billing in advance invoices before the period, which means estimating and then reconciling. KAMI handles the reconciliation through calculation types that pair an advance with its arrears counterpart — for 13th month, employer contributions, leave conversion and other charges.
The practical consequence: an advance invoice is not the final word. Expect a later adjustment, and tell the client to expect it too.
What Happens Next
- A ready invoice awaits approval; nothing is issued until it is approved.
- Approved invoices are issued as documents with an allocated invoice number.
- Amounts become receivable and appear in the overview and aging views.
Tips
- Produce invoices in a single batch after payroll closes, not as clients ask. A predictable cycle is easier to check and easier to explain.
- Check errors first, then totals, then lines. An invoice that failed to build is more urgent than one that built with an odd figure.
- Compare against last period for the same client. A material change should be explainable in one sentence — a new placement, a leaver, a rate change.
- Never hand-edit an issued document. Correct the source and reissue, so the record and the document agree.
- Watch the first invoice after any contract change. New rates, new fee components and new templates all surface there.
Troubleshooting / FAQ
Q: An invoice is stuck in error. It could not be built. Check the client's template, fee components and the picking rules for that period.
Q: An employee is missing from the invoice. No picking rule covers them for that cost centre and period, or a skipping rule excludes them.
Q: An employee we do not bill for is on the invoice. Add a skipping rule with a reason, rather than deleting the line.
Q: The figures changed after payroll was recalculated. Expected — the invoice draws on payroll. Reproduce the invoice so it matches.
Q: We billed in advance and the actuals differ. That is what the advance/arrears reconciliation is for. The difference appears in the corresponding arrears calculation.