If you have the Optional Installments setting turned on for your implementation, you may wonder exactly how the invoices work and what shows on each one. The following is a breakdown of how it works:
When you set up the installments, each invoice is a ‘sub-invoice’ of the total.
- The assumption is that the association is sending the invoices one at a time
- They are actually the same number invoice – with a sub-number to indicate which installment it is
- These are designed to replace each other, so the ‘current due’ is a running sum
Example:
Company owes $3000, divided into 3 installments of $1000 each
Invoice # is 123
Use Case A: No payments
Invoice 123-1 says:
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $1000
Invoice 123-2 says:
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $2000
Invoice 123-3 says:
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $3000
Use Case B: $1000 is paid
Invoice 123-1 says:
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $0
Invoice 123-2 says
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $1000
Invoice 123-3 says
- Total Amount: $3000
- Amount Due: $2000
This design is based on a flow of the association sending out one invoice at a time, as the installment is ‘due’, and each sub-invoice is designed to represent a running total of the whole invoice. So, if a member hasn’t paid sub-invoice #1 or #2, all the association needs to do is send #3, and that covers them all. They don’t need to resend 3 invoices.
This system is definitely not designed with the idea of sending all the invoices at one time; this would definitely lead to confusion. These are invoice/statements, not the payment ‘stubs’ that banks used to give out when you got a loan, that you would tear out and send in each month with your payment.