Creating Billing Documents from Contracts

You can create billing documents from active contracts that contain one or more contract line items. Billing documents are created based on the billing schedules that are due to be billed depending on the criteria you enter. The billing documents show the amounts to be billed for recurring charges based on the criteria you enter.

Billing document line items are created for usage records associated with contract line items where the billing type is Recurring Variable and the usage date is within the billing dates you enter.

Note:

If billing documents are already being processed for a contract, that contract is locked until processing is complete. In this situation, you cannot create billing documents for that contract until processing is complete.

If creation of billing documents fails because one or more contracts is already locked, try again when processing is complete.

Creating Billing Documents from Several Contracts

When you create billing documents for several contracts, a background process is started to create the billing documents. Depending on the option chosen for generating billing documents in the Billing Central Settings custom setting:

• A single billing document is created for each contract.
• A separate billing document is created for each billing type in a contract. For example, three billing documents are created if a contract contains three lines, one with a billing type One-off, one with a billing type Recurring Variable and one with a billing type Recurring Fixed.

To create billing documents from more than one contract:

1. Select the checkboxes of the contracts for which you want to create billing documents in the list view of the Billing Contracts tab.
   Tip:

   If you want to create billing documents for all active contracts that are due to be billed, you can select the checkbox in the heading.

   If the Salesforce Billing Contracts tab is displayed, clicking Create Billing Documents without selecting any contracts creates billing documents for all active contracts that are due to be billed.

2. Click Create Billing Documents.
3. Do one of the following to select the date criteria for which you want to generate billing documents:
   • Select Equals and choose a date. This creates billing documents for billing schedules that are due to be billed on the date you enter.
   • Select In range and choose a date range. This creates billing documents for billing schedules that are due to be billed within the date range you specify.
   • Select On or before and choose a date. This creates billing documents for billing schedules that are due to be billed on or before the date you specify.
4. In the Document Date field enter the date for which billing documents are to be created.
5. [Optional] In the Document Due Date field enter the date on which payment is due. If left blank, when the billing documents are created, each document's due date is calculated automatically using credit terms. Credit terms held on account take precedence over credit terms held on company. If none exist on either account or company the due date is set to the document date.
6. Select the billing document option you want:
   • Single document – A single billing document is created for each contract.
   • Separate document for each billing type – A separate billing document is created for each billing type in each contract. For example, three billing documents are created if a contract contains three lines, one with a billing type One-off, one with a billing type Recurring Variable and one with a billing type Recurring Fixed.
7. Click Create.

Note:

Depending on the configuration options your administrator has chosen, notifications are sent to you by email or Chatter when the contracts are processed. Only contracts that are due to be billed are processed. If the relevant automation options are configured in your org, tax will be calculated on the billing documents and they will be automatically completed. For more information, see Setting up the Automation of Billing Central Processes.

When ready to do so, you can mark billing documents as complete. See Completing Billing Documents.

Creating a Billing Document from a Single Contract

To create a billing document from a single contract:

1. Click Create Billing Document on the Detail page of the contract that you want to create a billing document for.
2. Do one of the following to select the date criteria for which you want to generate a billing document:
   • Select Equals and choose a date. This creates a billing document for billing schedules that are due to be billed on the date you enter.
   • Select In range and choose a date range. This creates a billing document for billing schedules that are due to be billed within the date range you specify.
   • Select On or before and choose a date. This creates a billing document for billing schedules that are due to be billed on or before the date you specify.
3. In the Document Date field enter the date on which the billing document is to be created for. On leaving this field, the Document Due Date is calculated automatically using credit terms. Credit terms held on account take precedence over credit terms held on company. If none exist on either account or company the due date is set to the document date.
4. [Optional] If you do not want to accept the calculated due date, override it by manually entering the date on which payment is due. If you clear the Document Due Date field, it is calculated afresh.
5. Select the billing document option you want:
   • Single document – A single billing document is created for the contract.
   • Separate document for each billing type – A separate billing document is created for each billing type in the contract. For example, three billing documents are created if the contract contains three lines, one with a billing type One-off, one with a billing type Recurring Variable and one with a billing type Recurring Fixed.
6. Click Create.
7. To view the billing documents either:
   • On the enhanced Billing Contract Detail page, click one of the billing document links or Open All from the success message that appears. This opens each billing document in a separate browser tab.
   • If you created the billing documents from the Salesforce Billing Contract Detail page, open the billing documents in a new tab.
8. If using the enhanced version, to view tax calculation errors for billing documents where the tax was not calculated, click the error link in the success message.

When ready to do so, you can mark billing documents as complete. See Completing Billing Documents.

Automatically Creating Due Billing Documents from a Contract

If you have the appropriate option enabled in the Billing Central Automation feature, billing documents due for billingBilling documents that have the Billing Date field set to today's date or before today's date. are automatically created when you activate a contract. For more information on the Billing Central Automation feature, see Setting up the Automation of Billing Central Processes.

When a contract reaches the "Active" status, billing schedules are automatically generated for a predetermined number of months. This number is set in the Billing Schedule Number of Months field of the Billing Central Settings custom setting. For more information, see FinancialForce Billing Central Settings.

While the billing schedule generation process is running, billing documents are automatically created for billing schedules that have the Billing Date set to today's date or before today's date. If you want subsequent billing documents to be automatically created when they become due, you can create a billing job. For more information, see Creating Billing Jobs.

Depending on the value set in the Billing Document Output field of the Billing Central Settings custom setting, a single billing document is created for the contract. Alternatively, a separate billing document is created for each billing type in the contract. For more information, see FinancialForce Billing Central Settings.

The billing document's Document Date is set to today's date and the Document Due Date is calculated based on credit terms. For more information, see Using Billing Documents with Foundations Credit Terms.

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