Navigate the Invoices section in Liquid to control costs, reject Invoices, and match Invoices to Work Orders.
Paying Invoices in Liquid gives you visibility into costs while helping you manage those costs against Work Orders. Here’s how to navigate the Invoices section in Liquid as a Client (if you are a Vendor who needs help navigating the Invoices section in Liquid, visit this post).
Invoices Section
In the Invoices section in Liquid, you can view all Invoices sent to you by your Vendors, as well as invoices you have uploaded on behalf of your Vendors. You can choose to sort this list of invoices in a variety of ways by clicking on the header row. At the moment, you can sort by Invoice Number, Invoice Transmittal Date, Vendor Name, or Invoice Status. You are able to filter your view of the Invoice table based on Invoice status as well – so that you can see, for example, only those Invoices that are Ready to Pay.
Clicking any of the rows that appear in the Invoices section in Liquid will navigate you to the detailed Invoice view for that specific Invoice.
Uploading Invoices via + Invoice Button
Also in the Invoices section in Liquid, you can use the + Invoice button to upload Invoices on behalf of your Vendors. You may want to use this feature when your Vendor mails or emails you an Invoice outside of Liquid that you want to approve and/or pay via Liquid. When using this feature, you will first be asked which Vendor you would like to upload an Invoice for. The dropdown here will only show Vendors that have completed the Onboarding Process you sent when you invited them to join Liquid. Once you have selected your Vendor, you will then be required to select the Work Order this Invoice is for.
At that point, you are then able to upload your Invoice and will be asked to enter the Invoice amount. An Invoice number will be pre-populated, but you should adjust this manually to match the actual Invoice number from the Vendor’s Invoice. The payment terms default to the setting found on the back of the Vendor Card, which will typically be Net 30 but you can change that either on this specific Invoice or on the Vendor Card to match the payment terms agreed to with your Vendor (for example, Net 60).
You can also upload Invoices from specific project pages.
Detailed Invoice View: Approvals and Print Invoice
At the top of the detailed Invoice view for a specific Invoice is an area titled Here are the actions you can take for this Invoice. This area is hidden by default but can be expanded by clicking that section. Within this section is where you can take action on Invoice approvals. If you have not set up approvals, you will see “No approvals required” instead of the buttons to take action on approvals.
You can also press Print Invoice to print the invoice. Some users use this feature to save a PDF of the Invoice for record-keeping elsewhere.
Detailed Invoice View: Invoice Status
The Invoice Status is listed on the top right of each Invoice. The Invoice Statuses are:
Ready to Pay: This will be shown when your Invoice is ready for your payment. If you have invoice processing or approvals turned on (Settings—> Approvals), this will appear when the Invoice is fully approved and has been sent to the Invoice Payer. If you do not have Invoice processing or approvals turned on, this will be shown as soon as you receive the Invoice.
Rejected: This will be shown when you have rejected the Invoice and sent it back to your Vendor. (Note that rejecting an Invoice triggers a credit memo to reverse A/P.) You will always be able to view these Rejected Invoices. If your Vendor sends you a revised Invoice, the revised Invoice will appear as a new Invoice. This new revised Invoice will reference the original Rejected Invoice.
Needs Processor Review: This will be shown upon receipt of the Invoice if you have turned on Invoice processing until your designated Invoice Processor is finished reviewing it.
In Approvals: This will be shown if the Invoice has been sent by your designated Invoice Processor to an Invoice Approver, and is not yet fully approved and ready for payment (Ready to Pay).
Payment Initiated: This will be shown once you have initiated a payment but before it has reached your Vendor’s bank account (Payment Complete).
Payment Failure: This will be shown in the unlikely event that there was an issue with the payment, whether it was an issue with debiting your account or crediting your Vendor’s account.
Payment Complete: This will be shown once the payment has arrived in the Vendor’s bank account.
Paid Outside of Liquid: If you have paid the Invoice outside of Liquid, you can manually change the Invoice state to Paid Outside of Liquid. This is the only manual Invoice state change. When Clients manually mark an Invoice as paid, this changes the status for the Vendor; however when Vendors manually mark an Invoice as paid, that only changes the status for the Vendor. Note that 1099 data will include payments you’ve made on Liquid as well as payments you’ve manually marked as paid in Liquid.
Detailed Invoice View: Invoice – Work Order Matching
Liquid has a robust proprietary Invoice – Work Order matching system that flags potential issues with Invoices to provide you with additional information to help you decide whether to pay or reject an Invoice.
Invoices received in Liquid have a badge that states whether or not the Invoice matches an existing Work Order. This provides quick visibility into whether Invoices are appropriate, preventing a host of potential issues — double payment, overpayment, etc.
If the Invoice matches, there will be a green badge stating “This Invoice matches your Work Order.”
If the Invoice has any potential issues, there will be a red or yellow badge with a message stating what issues you should be aware of.
The appearance of a red or yellow badge will not prevent your Vendor from sending you the Invoice, nor will it prevent you from paying the Invoice.
Detailed Invoice View: Work Order Details Tab
In order to make comparing the Work Order against the received Invoice easier, you can find the Work Order Details tab on the bottom of this detailed Invoice view. Listed on this tab are details about the Work Order related to this specific Invoice (details that are shown on the Work Order detailed view — accessible by clicking the Work Order card from the Work Orders section). If the specific Invoice you are viewing is not associated with a Work Order (i.e. the Invoice was uploaded from a file rather than created in Liquid), then this tab will have a red warning symbol (a triangle with an exclamation point inside) and you will not be able to view any Work Order details.
Detailed Invoice View: Finance Details Tab
On the bottom of this detailed Invoices view is also a Finance Details tab. Listed on this tab is the Account from your Chart of Accounts that is associated with this Invoice. In this Finance Details tab, you can change the Account associated with this invoice. Your full Chart of Accounts is available via Settings. If you have turned on Liquid’s integration with QuickBooks Online, then you will also have additional options to sync with QuickBooks here.
Detailed Invoice View: Invoice History Tab
Also included in this detailed Invoices view is an Invoice History tab. All Invoices between your business and this Vendor, except for those Invoices with Rejected status, are listed on this tab. In other words, Invoices with these statuses will be visible — Ready to Pay, Rejected, Needs Processor Review, In Approvals, Payment Initiated, Payment Complete. Clicking on a particular row in this Invoice History tab will pull up a mini pop-up version of the specific Invoice.
Recorded Audit Trail Tab
Also included on this detailed Invoices view is a Recorded Audit Trail tab, coming soon! Listed on this tab will be information on all actions taken on each specific Invoice.
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