Editing/Viewing Invoices

There are two locations to access a drafted invoice in BigTime to make edits:

• Draft Invoices window in Invoicing Overview
• Billing history on the Project Dashboard for a specific project.

This article will show you how to access a drafted invoice from both locations, and you’ll learn about some important editing tools, including how to:

• Preview an invoice in multiple templates
• Take a snapshot of an invoice
• Add or edit invoice details, time entries, and expense entries
• Use the utility bar and the activity bar

Access Drafted Invoices From the Draft Invoices Window

Follow the steps below to get to your Draft Invoices window.

Access Drafted Invoices From the Project Dashboard

Another way to access drafted invoices is from billing history on the Project Dashboard. 

Tools To Edit Invoices

Either way you access a drafted invoice, your window should look like this:

This section will highlight several tools you can use to better edit your invoices.

Use the Tabs To View and/or Edit Information

Let’s walk through each of the four tabs—Preview, Invoice Details, Time, and Expenses—from left to right (see image above).

Preview an Invoice

Click on the PREVIEW tab to preview the invoice you’ve drafted in your various templates.

In the image above, we’re previewing the invoice using our Invoice Line Items template. However, it’s easy to preview the invoice in a different template on this window. This saves time because we don’t have to export the invoice multiple times in order to see what the invoice looks like before it’s sent to the client.

To change templates, click the GRAY ARROW next to the text box and a picklist will populate (see image below).

This tab is also where you can take snapshots of your invoices in various templates. Click on the SNAPSHOT button to save a copy of the invoice (see image below). Then, change templates and take another snapshot.

All of your snapshots will appear hyperlinked on the right-side of your window.

Note: If you use invoice review and approvals, this is also the window where you can kick off the review process by clicking FORWARD TO REVIEW.

Invoice Detail

Click the INVOICE DETAIL tab to see the line item charges that make up this invoice, along with many invoice details, like the invoice number and invoice terms, which are located on the right sidebar.

Here’s what you can do on this window:

• Edit an item by clicking on the text box, and then edit or add information.
• Add another item by clicking ADD MORE LINES.
• Delete a line item by clicking on the TRASH ICON.
• Rearrange line items by dragging the double row of dots and dropping it where you’d like.

Now that you’ve made some edits, it’s a good idea to recalculate the invoice. Click on the GREEN ARROW and click YES when the question box appears.

Click SAVE CHANGES to save your work.

You can also make updates to the column on the far-right of the window. Again, click on a text box to edit the information or select an option from the picklist.

Note: Learn more about invoice terms.

Time

Add or remove time entries on the TIME tab. To add time, click the button ADD TIME and a new window will populate.

Add details to the pertinent fields and click the SAVE button, located at the bottom of your window.

Back on your drafted invoice window, click RECALCULATE INVOICE AMOUNT to do just that.

Note: Click UPDATE RATES to apply your current billing rates to time entries.

You can also remove time entries. Check the boxes next to the entries you want to remove and click the GRAY TRIANGLE next to BULK ACTIONS.

A picklist will appear with two options:

• Drop means the entry will be removed from that invoice.
• Delete means you’re permanently removing the entry from BigTime.

Remember to click SAVE to save your work.

Expenses

Click on the TIME...EXPENSES tab and see all of your expenses. This is where you can edit an expense.

Click on a hyperlinked invoice name in the EXPENSE REPORT column to make a change. A new window will populate where you can edit or add information, such as the amount or task. Click SAVE to save your work.

Back in your drafted invoice, you’ll have the option to recalculate the invoice amount. Click on the green button RECALCULATE INVOICE AMOUNT to do just that.

You also have the option to remove expenses. Select the expense you want to remove and click the WHITE TRIANGLE next to BULK ACTIONS. A picklist will appear with two options:

• Drop means the expense will be removed from that invoice and will appear back in the WIP to billed for at a later date.
• Delete means you’re permanently removing the expense entry from BigTime.

The Utility Bar

Notice that the utility bar (the six icons on the far-right of your window) appear in each tab. The icons in this bar let you print, post, and email an invoice. On the Time and Expense tabs, you’ll notice two extra icons:

• The FUNNEL ICON applies filters to each column.
• The GEAR ICON allows you to customize your window, by adding or removing columns.

Activity Feed

Use the ACTIVITY FEED (located near the end of your window) to keep track of updates and status history. Each time your invoice is updated, emailed, printed, or paid, BigTime creates an activity log entry. You can click the Activity Feed link to toggle that activity log on/off to review changes that have been made to the invoice over time.