The invoice bounced back again
A builder's accounts department emails back: 'Invoice rejected, no PO number.' Another: 'Please split this invoice by site.' A third: 'We do not recognise the job Fenwick Rd, please re-issue.' Each one means finding the contract, ringing the site manager for the order number, re-issuing the invoice and waiting for their next payment run, which may be a month away.
The tools were hired, used and returned. The money is stuck on paperwork.
Where the order number goes missing
- The hire is taken at the counter at 7am from a site operative who does not have the order number.
- Each contractor has different rules: order number per site, per job or per hire; separate invoices by site; a particular reference format.
- Those rules live in the credit controller's head, not on the account.
- Hires for different sites are added to one contract to save time.
- Nobody checks an invoice against the account's rules before it goes.
What rejected invoices cost
Slower payment on work you did weeks ago. Credit control time on phone calls and re-issues. Some invoices that fall into a gap and are never paid because they were never re-sent. And strain on the relationship with site managers who are asked for order numbers again and again.
Invoices that match the account's rules
- Each trade account holds its own invoicing rules: whether an order number is required, whether invoices must be split by site, and any reference format.
- At the counter or on the phone, the contract screen asks for what that account needs and will not accept a hire without it, unless a manager allows a temporary 'to follow' flag.
- Hires marked 'order number to follow' trigger a text or email to the site contact with a link to add it.
- Before an invoice run, each invoice is checked against the account's rules, and ones that would be rejected are held for fixing.
- Invoices are split by site or order number automatically where the account asks for it.
- Rejections that still happen are logged with the reason, so the account rules can be updated.
Examples of account rules
| Account | Rule | What the counter sees |
|---|---|---|
| Main contractor A | Order number per site | Order number required, pick site |
| Builder B | One invoice per job | Pick job, invoices split |
| Local authority C | Reference in their format | Field checks the format |
| Cash trade D | None | No extra fields |
Illustrative. Your accounts' real rules are set up from your credit control notes.
Paid on the first try
Invoices go out with what the contractor's accounts team needs. Missing order numbers are chased while the hire is still fresh. Credit control spends time on real disputes. And the account rules are written down, so they do not leave when a person does.
What makes hire invoices harder than most
Hire invoices are awkward for contractors' accounts teams because they cover time, not just goods. A single contract can span two invoice periods, move between sites, pick up extra items halfway through and have an off-hire date the site manager disputes. If the order number or site on the hire is wrong, every one of those invoices inherits the mistake.
That is why the check has to happen when the hire is written, not when the invoice is produced. Getting the order number and site right on the contract at 7am, or chasing it automatically the same day, is far easier than correcting three months of invoices later.
Are your invoices bouncing?
- Contractors reject invoices for missing order numbers.
- You re-issue invoices to split them by site.
- Account rules are known only by your credit controller.
- Site operatives hire without the order number.