Invoicing Ahead of Stock

Invoicing ahead of stock lets you save an invoice against a sales order when you do not yet have all the goods in stock. The invoice is saved as usual, and the goods that were short are settled automatically as stock arrives, so you can bill your customer without waiting for the shelf to fill.

Where to switch it on

Open the Bizconnekt admin console and go to Settings → Entity → Invoice, then tick Allow invoicing ahead of stock (against a sales order) and click Save. You need Tenant Administrator access. The setting is per business unit and is off until you turn it on.

What changes when it is on?

Without the setting	With the setting
An invoice against a sales order cannot be saved if stock is short.	The invoice is saved, and the short goods are marked as still to follow.
You wait for stock before you can bill.	You bill now. The goods settle on their own as stock arrives.

Invoices that have all their stock behave exactly as before.

Save an invoice when stock is short

1. Create the invoice against a sales order, as you normally do.
2. Click Save.
3. When some goods are short, you see this message: "Invoice saved. Some goods are short — they will be settled automatically as stock arrives."
4. The transport details box still appears, so you can enter the transporter, vehicle and LR details for what you are sending.

See which invoices are waiting for stock

The invoice list shows a small chip beside the status of every invoice that was saved ahead of stock:

Chip	What it means
Stock to follow	Some goods are still waiting for stock.
Needs attention	A settlement could not complete. Open the invoice to see why.
Settled	All the goods have been settled.
Closed	The remaining quantity was closed and will not be settled.

The Stock to follow tab on an invoice

Open the invoice and go to the Stock to follow tab. It appears only on invoices saved ahead of stock.

• Lines table: for each item, how much was Invoiced, Settled, Closed and is still Pending.
• Settlements: every settlement made so far, with its number, whether it was settled or closed, its date and its cost.
• Needs attention: when a settlement could not complete, the reason is shown here.

If you have edit access to invoices, you also have two actions:

• Retry settlement asks for the settlement to be tried again. You see "Queued. Refresh in a moment."
• Close pending qty lets you give up on the quantity still pending. Enter how much to close for each item (you can reduce it down to 0) and confirm. A close moves no stock and posts nothing.

Stock Settlement entries in the invoice tabs

Each time stock arrives and goods are settled, a Stock Settlement entry is created with a number such as SS-0001.

• The Inventory tab groups the stock movement under a heading such as "Stock Settlement · SS-0001". While goods are still to follow, a strip at the top tells you how many are still to settle.
• The Accounting tab shows the invoice's own entries first, then each Stock Settlement entry in date order, so you can see the cost of goods sold as it posts.

Pending stock settlements

The Pending stock settlements list shows every invoice that is still waiting for stock. Find it in the Sales menu, right after Invoice. It appears only when the setting is on and you can view invoices.

• Each row shows the invoice, its date, the customer, the sales order, the state, how many items are pending and, if any, the reason it needs attention.
• Click Load more to see further invoices.
• Use the Needs attention filter to show only the invoices that need a look. The filter works on the rows already loaded, so click Load more if you expect more.
• If you have edit access to invoices, each row has Retry and Close pending qty, and the page has Retry all to try every waiting invoice again.

The Stock Settlement view

Click a settlement number to open its page. It is read-only: you see the settlement number, whether it settled or closed the goods, its date, the invoice and sales order it belongs to, the location, the items and the cost. You cannot edit, delete or void a settlement.

When a settlement is a Close, no stock moved and nothing was posted, so its Inventory tab is empty and it has no Accounting tab.

Close pending quantity from a credit note

When you raise a credit note against an invoice that still has goods to follow, the credit note offers a Close pending qty option. It is unticked by default. Tick it to close the pending quantity for the items you are crediting, so you are not left waiting for goods your customer will never receive. The option appears only on a new credit note that is not a draft, for an invoice that is still waiting for stock, and only if you have edit access to invoices.

Closing an accounting period

When you close your books through a date in Settings → Accounting Period Lock, Bizconnekt checks for invoices in that period that are still waiting for stock. If there are any, it lists each one with its invoice number, date, state and the estimated cost still to come, and asks you to confirm. If you go ahead, the cost of those goods is recorded after the period closes. If you cancel, nothing changes.

Who can do what

Action	Access needed
View chips, the Stock to follow tab, Pending stock settlements and Stock Settlement entries	Invoice view access
Retry, Retry all, Close pending qty (including from a credit note)	Invoice edit access (full)
Switch the setting on or off	Tenant Administrator

Turning the setting off

Turning the setting off stops new invoices from being saved ahead of stock. Invoices that are already waiting for stock keep waiting, so settle or close them from Pending stock settlements in the app.

Related guides

• Invoice — billing your customers
• How to add an invoice
• Invoice settings

Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com