Consolidate several invoices into one

Overview

The system invoices per operation, but some clients prefer a single document with several operations. Consolidate invoices merges two or more invoices of the same client into a new one with all their lines, and voids the originals.

Before you start

Permission Void/Delete Invoices (Super Admin and Admin by default): consolidating voids the originals.
Decide before recording payments and before exporting to accounting: afterwards it is no longer possible.

How to consolidate

In Commercial › Billing › Invoices, filter by the client.
Tick the invoices to merge. With two or more ticked, the selection bar shows Consolidate invoices.
Click the button and confirm (“The originals are voided and their charges move to the new invoice”).
You land on the new invoice with “N invoices merged into number”.

The button doesn’t appear in the Archive.

Which invoices can be consolidated

At least two and at most fifty.
All from the same client.
All in the same currency.
None voided.
None with recorded payments: the payment would hang from a voided document.
None exported to accounting: that number already exists in QuickBooks.

If a single one fails, none is consolidated and the message says why.

What happens when consolidating

A new invoice with a new number is created. Its date is the latest of the originals, its period starts at the earliest, and the due date is calculated with the client’s credit days.
Lines are moved as they are, with the exact amount already issued. Each line remembers which number it came from.
The reference joins the originals’ (up to five).
The originals become Void, at zero, with the note “Consolidated into invoice …”. Their numbers stay in the sequence and they no longer count in Accounts receivable.
The consolidated invoice doesn’t receive late charges automatically: an accessorial arriving later for one of those operations goes out on another invoice.
Nobody gets an email: send the consolidated invoice when it is ready.

Example

Northern Trading Co. had four shipments in the week, four invoices of 85.00, 120.00, 60.00 and 95.00 USD, dated the 2nd to the 6th. You tick all four and consolidate: a 360.00 invoice is created dated the 6th, with a period from the 2nd and a due date of the 6th + their credit days. The four originals are voided with a note pointing to the new number.

If you made a mistake

There is no button to split a consolidated invoice. If needed, void the consolidated invoice: its charges return to Services to Invoice and you can generate again (one invoice per operation will come out). The originals stay voided. Lines that had been entered by hand don’t return and must be entered again.

Troubleshooting

The Consolidate invoices button doesn’t appear.

Tick at least two invoices.
Your role lacks the void permission.
You are in the Archive.

“All the invoices must belong to the same client” or “… share the same currency”.

Remove the ones that don’t match from the selection.

“An invoice with a payment applied cannot be consolidated.”

Leave that invoice out of the selection.

“An invoice already exported to accounting cannot be consolidated.”

That invoice already went out on a QuickBooks CSV. Consolidate in QuickBooks or keep it separate.

“Some of the selected invoices are no longer available.”

Someone else changed them meanwhile. Reload the list and select again.

FAQ

Isn’t it better to set the client to monthly?

If the client always wants one invoice a month, yes: on their Payment terms tab pick Monthly and the system builds a single invoice per closed month without you having to consolidate. Consolidating is for one-off cases.

Do amounts change when consolidating?

No. Lines are not recalculated; the consolidated total is the exact sum of the originals.