Creating Contract Invoices

08/09/2022
7 minutes to read

A contract invoice is an invoice that has been linked with a purchase contract. When the invoice is registered, the lines of the purchase contract will be automatically inserted into the invoice.

The first step in the process is to link an incoming invoice with a contract, and the second step is to register the invoice as a contract invoice. Upon registration, the contract invoice will be created as a real business entity in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Using the posting setup, you can also enable Continia Document Capture to automatically create the link between the invoice and the contract during the actual registration of the invoice, as described under To create a contract invoice using the posting setup.

For ease of understanding, this article will deal exclusively with invoices as a representative example, as this is by far the most common scenario. However, the exact same principle applies to contract credit memos.

Important

In order for the lines of the contract to be automatically inserted into the invoice, line recognition must be disabled in the relevant template.

To link a purchase contract with an invoice

A purchase contract can be linked to an incoming invoice either manually by you or automatically by Document Capture when the invoice is created from a document. Both methods are described below:

Automatic linking

To have the contract linked with the invoice automatically, you must create the contract based on a purchase invoice, as described under To create a purchase contract from a document. This will automatically link the contract with the invoice and add the following two values to the Document Header section of the document journal for the selected invoice:

In the Account Type field, the value Purchase Contract will be added.
In the Account No. field, the contract number will be added.

Manual linking

To manually link the contract with the invoice, you must add the same two values yourself by following these steps:

Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the list of documents, select the invoice that you want to link with the contract.
In the Document Header section, select the three dots on the right of the Account Type field, and then select Purchase Contract > OK.
In the Account No. field, select the three dots on the right, and then select the number of the contract that you want to link to the invoice.

This will link the contract with the invoice, which can then be registered as a contract invoice.

To register an invoice as a contract invoice

Once you've linked a contract with an invoice as described above, you can register the invoice as a contract invoice in Business Central. To do this, simply register the invoice as any other invoice. This will automatically insert the lines of the contract into the invoice. The lines will be displayed on the Lines FastTab of the Purchase Invoice page, under a top line that indicates the number of the purchase contract from which the lines originated.

Note

The lines that are inserted into the invoice are exact copies of the lines in the linked contract, including amounts. If the amounts of the invoice and the contract differ, a dialog will notify you of this, and you will then have to perform any subsequent steps manually to confirm that everything is in order.

To create a contract invoice using the posting setup

You can automate the linking process using the posting setup, which enables you to decide how amounts are posted for incoming invoices when they're registered. By specifying that the amounts must be transferred from a specific purchase contract for all invoices using the selected template, you enable Document Capture to automatically create a link between the invoices and the specified contract during invoice registration. To do this, follow these steps:

Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the list of documents, select the invoice that you want to register as a contract invoice.
In the action bar, select Translations > Accounts for Amounts to open the Posting Setup page.
On the Amount Excl. VAT field line, under Translate to Type, select Purchase Contract.
Under Translate to No., select the contract that you want to link with the selected invoice and with all other invoices using the same template.
Close the Posting Setup page to return to the document journal.
In the action bar, select Process > Register to register the invoice.

This will automatically link the invoice with the selected contract and insert the lines of the contract into the invoice. The lines will be displayed on the Lines FastTab of the Purchase Invoice page, under a top line that indicates the number of the purchase contract from which the lines originated.