The mask contract manages periodic invoices with their basic conditions. This functionality can be used, for example, for maintenance and service contracts or the billing of domains or subscriptions. The mask contains information about the project, the invoice recipient, the scope of services, the terms of payment and the generated invoices.

Payment plans can also be stored in the contract.

The mask consists of the following elements:

• Basic Information:
  • Description: This alphanumeric field identifies the contract; used as the invoice number in the invoice document.
  • Status: This field defines the status of the contract.
  • Project: This field is used to select the project for which periodic services have been performed and for which invoices should be created. Projects can be defined and changed in the mask “Project”.
  • Customer: The field Customer identifies the invoice recipient for the periodic invoices. Customers can be defined and changed in the mask contact (with contact type customer).
  • Contact Person: The field contact person identifies the contact person of the invoice recipient. After selecting a customer, this field is filled with the contact persons of this customer. During billing, the different address of the contact person (if available) is used as the billing address. The contact persons are managed in the contact screen.
  • Start of Contract: In this field, the start of the contract is selected.
  • Period of Notice: The cancellation period of the contract can be defined here.
  • Note: This field allows you to enter remarks about this contract.

• Modalities:
  • Type: This selection box contains the options “Milestone”, “Periodic” and “Plan”. With the “Milestone” option, the payment modalities are stored in selected milestones and when the milestone is completed, the system generates a partial invoice. With the option “Periodic”, an entry in the field “Period” is required. The system then generates the periodic invoices (see also 4.4.6 Managing Contracts) and with the “Plan” option, a payment plan is used as the basis for invoicing (see also Payment Plan).
  • Period: In this selection element, you can define the period for the contracts if the category Payment Plan = “Periodic” is selected. The following periods are available: daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, annually and per quarter . The gross amount for the costs is displayed over this selected period in the Cumulative Amount field.
  • Period (from/to): The elements from/to indicate the duration of the defined contracts and are required for the option Type Payment Plan = “Periodic”.
  • Amount/Period: The amount payable per period defined.
  • Amount/Year: These fields show the net amount and the annual net amount of the invoice for the defined contract, if the Payment Plan Type = “Periodic” is selected.
  • AmountTotal/Sum: Here the periodic invoice value for the contract can be entered (if Payment Plan = “Periodic” and a period has been entered).
  • VAT: In this field, the VAT applicable to this invoice is entered from the drop-down menu. By default, this field is preset with the tax rate valid in the country assigned in the Configuration mask. The VAT can be defined and modified in the sales tax mask.
  • Total Net: In this field, the gross amount of the invoice for the defined contract is entered, if the Payment Plan = “Periodic” type is selected.

• Conditions:
• Start of Period: If this selection box is set, billing is always performed on the first day of the period (otherwise on the last day in the middle of the period) if the category Payment plan = “Periodic” is selected.
• Middle of the Period: If this selection box is set, payroll is always run in the middle of the period (otherwise on the first or last day of the period) if the category Payment Plan = “Periodic” is selected.
• Prepayment: This indicator is set if the bills are to be paid in advance.

• Payment Schedules: The payment plans are stored in this field.
• Milestones: Milestones related to contract fulfillment.
• Contract Positions: Here are the invoices concerning this contract.
• Positions: Positions for invoicing.

• InternalNo.: This numeric field assigns a unique identification number to the contract, which is automatically assigned by the system.
• Currency: The currency field indicates the invoice currency. By default, this field is preset with the currency from the Configuration mask. The currencies can be defined and changed in the mask currency.
• Rate: The field exchange rate is automatically preset with the valid exchange rate to the local currency (see also mask configuration) after selecting the project. Here you can also define a different exchange rate (for example for international projects, where the currency risk should be minimized). The exchange rates are managed in the Rate mask.
• Automatic Invoice Generation: Here you can select whether the invoice should be generated by the time service.

The document class contains the following actions:

• Create All Invoices: With the help of this action it is possible to generate all invoices from the defined contract data if the category payment plan = “periodic” is selected.
• Create Next Invoice: With the help of this action it is possible to generate the next invoice from the defined contract data, if the category payment plan = “periodic” is selected.