Setting payment terms and bank details

Engineer OS issues your invoices itself: it numbers them, builds the PDF, emails it and tracks payment. For that invoice to stand on its own, it needs three things from you: your legal details, your payment terms, and how to pay. This article covers the last two. Company details (registered name, address, VAT number, company number) live under Settings, Company.

Payment terms

Open Settings, Invoicing & payments.

Default invoice terms is how long customers have to pay, counted from the invoice date. Pick a preset (Due on receipt, Net 7, 14, 30 or 60 days) or choose Custom and type a number of days. The page shows the due date an invoice sent today would get, so you can check it reads the way you expect.

Default quote validity is how many days a quote stays open after it is sent, when you do not set a specific date on the quote.

Terms are resolved in this order:

1. The terms set on the invoice itself (you can change them on a draft).
2. The customer's own terms, if you have set an override on their record (open the customer, click Edit Customer, and choose Payment terms). Use this for a customer who always pays on 60 days, or one you want paid on receipt.
3. Your company default from this page.

The invoice shows the terms it was sent with (for example "Net 30 days") next to the due date.

Invoice dates and the due date

Every invoice has an invoice date and a due date.

• The invoice date is normally the day you send it. You can set it on the draft if the invoice needs to carry an earlier date.
• The due date is the invoice date plus the payment terms, unless you choose Specific date on the draft, in which case the date you choose is printed and the terms are ignored.
• Both dates are fixed when the invoice is sent and printed on the PDF.
• After sending, you can still move the due date (for example if you agree an extension) from the invoice page with Change due date. The due date can never be earlier than the invoice date. If the invoice has been pushed to Xero or QuickBooks, push it again so the new date reaches your accounts package.

The due date drives the ageing report and the "overdue" status, so keep it accurate.

Bank details

On the same page, the Bank details section holds the account customers should pay into: account name, bank, sort code, account number and, if you take international payments, IBAN and BIC.

• Only the account owner can change bank details. Admins can see them with the account number masked.
• Every change is recorded (who changed it and when is shown under the section) and every owner is emailed with the new sort code and a masked account number. If you receive that email and did not make the change, sign in, change the details back, and contact support.
• Invoices that have already been sent keep the bank details they were sent with, so changing your account does not alter an invoice a customer already has.

Payment instructions is free text printed under the bank details, for example "Please use the invoice number as your payment reference". The invoice number is always printed as the payment reference.

If you have not entered any bank details, the invoice has no "How to pay" section and the send screen warns you before you send.

Quote terms and the invoice footer

Quote terms and conditions are printed on every quote PDF, after the line items. Keep them to what a customer needs before they accept.

Invoice footer note is small print printed at the foot of every invoice, for example late payment wording. Engineer OS does not add any legal wording for you.

What the send screen checks

Before you send a quote or invoice, Engineer OS checks for the things customers and accountants notice and warns you if any are missing: no bank details, no company address, VAT registered without a VAT number, or a limited company without a company number. The warnings do not stop you sending.