The first three days of every month
A builder's merchant has twelve vans on hire with you in a month: some for a day, some rolling, two extended, one swapped after a breakdown. Their accounts department wants one invoice, with each hire listed against the purchase order and site it belongs to. They also want PCN admin fees and a damage recharge on a separate line with the evidence.
Your office exports the month's agreements, filters by account, matches purchase orders from emails, adds the fines from the fines folder and builds the invoice in a spreadsheet before typing it into the accounts system. Then the customer queries two lines, and payment waits until that is sorted.
Why account invoicing takes so long
The rental system records each hire correctly. What business customers need is a view across hires, with their own references on it.
- Purchase order numbers arrive by email after the booking, and are not always put on the agreement.
- Customers want hires split by site, cost centre or project.
- Extensions and swaps create extra agreements or amended ones that need to be reconciled.
- Fines, admin fees and damage are handled in different places and added at the end.
- Each large customer has slightly different invoice requirements.
What slow account invoicing costs
Days of office time each month. Invoices that go out late and get paid late. Queries that hold up the whole invoice for one line. And missed charges, because a recharge that was not on the invoice this month is often never raised.
How we build account invoicing
- Each business account has a profile: required references, how hires should be grouped, who approves bookings, and invoice format and delivery.
- At booking, staff or the customer's own booking portal must provide the required references before the hire is confirmed. Late purchase orders sent by email are matched to the hire automatically where they quote the agreement or registration.
- Through the month, every hire, extension, swap, fine admin fee and approved damage recharge is added to the account's running statement.
- Before month end, the statement is checked against the account's rules: missing references, hires with no purchase order, overlapping hires on the same vehicle.
- The invoice is built in the customer's format and posted to Xero, Sage or your accounts system through its API, with a supporting schedule and evidence attached.
- Queries from the customer are logged against the line, so the rest of the invoice can be paid while one line is resolved.
| Item | Where it used to come from | Where it comes from now |
|---|---|---|
| Hire days | Monthly export | Running statement per account |
| Purchase orders | Emails | Required at booking or matched automatically |
| Fines and admin fees | Fines folder | Added when the notice is transferred |
| Damage recharges | Damage spreadsheet | Added when approved |
A portal for your bigger accounts
Larger customers often appreciate a simple portal where they can book vans against their purchase orders, see what is on hire, extend, and download their statements. It cuts the phone calls on both sides and means the references are right from the start. It is optional, and smaller accounts can carry on booking by phone.
Invoices out on the first working day
Swaps and extensions are where account invoices usually go wrong, so they get particular care. When a customer's van breaks down and is swapped, the replacement carries the same purchase order and site reference automatically, and the statement shows one continuous hire across two registrations rather than two unrelated agreements the customer has to piece together.
Month end becomes a check of a statement that has been building all month, rather than a rebuild from scratch. Invoices go out on time and carry the references each customer needs, so they are paid on time. Charges that used to fall through the cracks, like fine admin fees, are on the invoice because they were added when they happened.
Signs this is your office
- Month-end account invoicing takes more than a day.
- Purchase orders arrive by email and are matched by hand.
- Customers query invoices and hold the whole payment.
- Fines and damage recharges are added late or forgotten.
- Each big customer needs its own spreadsheet.