Invoicing

Invoices are generated after bids are complete. Each invoice goes to a single buyer and lists the animals they purchased, any applicable miscellaneous charges and credits, and a total amount due. Invoices must exist before payments can be received.

Generating Invoices

Selecting a Buyer to Invoice

On the Issue Invoices screen, identify the buyer by either their Bidder Number or their GEM ID (entity ID). The system retrieves all uninvoiced bids for that buyer — any lot where the bid is recorded but no invoice number has been assigned yet.

Invoice Numbers

Invoice numbers are assigned automatically from a shared sequence (nextValueSeq2). The number is assigned once per buyer when their first item is processed. It is stored in the auction_invoices table along with a timestamp.

Applying Miscellaneous Charges and Credits

Miscellaneous charges defined for the auction (see Managing the Catalog) are applied in two phases:

1. Phase 1 — Before Credits: All charges with APPLY_AFTER_CREDITS = N are applied first. These are calculated against the gross sale total.
2. Phase 2 — After Credits (see below): After private credits are consumed, charges with APPLY_AFTER_CREDITS = Y are applied against the remaining balance.

Charges marked Selectable appear as checkboxes during invoice generation — you can choose whether to apply them. Automatic charges apply without intervention.

Applying People Credits

If the buyer has a prepaid People Credit balance (see Credits), check the Use Credits option when generating the invoice. The system applies credits sequentially in credit_no order until the invoice balance reaches zero:

• Each credit's amount_remaining is drawn down.
• If the final credit would reduce the invoice below zero (a negative balance), only the portion needed to reach zero is consumed, and the remainder stays on the credit account.
• After credits are consumed, Phase 2 miscellaneous charges (those marked APPLY_AFTER_CREDITS = Y) are applied to the net balance.

Credits appear on the invoice as individual line items.

Ad-Hoc Credits and Debits

You can add one-time credits or debits directly on the invoice generation screen:

• Credit (CR) — reduces the buyer's total
• Debit (DB) — increases the buyer's total

Provide a description and amount for each. These are stored as high-numbered line items (2000+) and appear on the invoice.

Delivery Type at Invoice Time

The buyer's delivery type (Delivered, Picked Up, Stay, Unknown) can be set or confirmed at invoice time. For details on delivery types, see Delivery.

Bill Later

Bill Later defers the invoice without requiring immediate payment. The invoice is generated and assigned a number, but it is flagged as a deferred billing. Use this when a buyer needs to be invoiced now but will not pay on the sale day.

Bulk Invoice Generation

To invoice multiple buyers at once, use the bulk generation option. This runs through all buyers with uninvoiced bids and generates invoices for each one using the default (automatic) charge settings.

Invoice PDF Generation

Filtering by Payment Status

When printing or exporting invoices, filter by:

• Paid only — include only invoices that have been fully paid
• Unpaid only — include only invoices with an outstanding balance greater than $0.001
• No filter — include all invoices

Sort Options

Invoices can be sorted by:

• Buyer name, then invoice number (default)
• Invoice number, then buyer name (used for email delivery and explicit sortBy=invoiceNo requests)

Including Ownership Information

When the Include Owners option is selected, each animal line on the invoice includes the ownership percentage being transferred, along with seller and buyer ownership details. This is used when partial interests are being sold.

Reprinting Invoices

Previously generated invoices can be reprinted at any time using the Reprint flag. Reprinting re-renders the PDF from the stored invoice data — it does not modify any records or re-run charge calculations.

Editing Invoice Comments

Per-Invoice Comments

From the Edit Invoice Comments screen, you can update three comment fields for each invoice in the auction:

• Print Comment — appears on the printed/PDF invoice, visible to the buyer
• Private Comment — internal staff notes, not printed on the invoice
• Delivery Instructions — special delivery or pickup instructions for this invoice

Only invoices you actually change are updated when you save — unchanged invoices are left untouched.

Auction-Wide Invoice Comment

A single Auction Comment (commentx in the auctions table) can be set for the entire auction from the Edit Auction Invoice Comment screen. This serves as a general note available across the auction's documents.

Deleting an Invoice

To delete an invoice, the invoice must be unpaid. If a payment has been recorded (PAID IS NOT NULL), deletion is blocked and the system displays: "Cannot delete invoices that have cleared."

When a valid invoice is deleted, the system fully reverses all associated records:

1. Any private credits that were applied are restored to the buyer's credit account.
2. Ad-hoc credit and debit line items are removed.
3. Invoice numbers are cleared from all associated buyer lot records.
4. The invoice record itself is deleted.

After deletion, the buyer's lots return to uninvoiced status and can be re-invoiced.

Uninvoiced Sales

The Uninvoiced Sales view shows all lots that have a recorded bid but no invoice number assigned. Use this to verify that every sold lot has been invoiced before closing out the sale.

Excel Invoice Export

Export the auction's invoice data to Excel for external analysis or record-keeping. The export includes buyer information, invoice numbers, lot details, amounts, and charge line items.