Invoice & Estimate Issues

[bradrsi]

Since invoices aren't editable after they are paid, a solution to this would be to begin with an estimate.  In our case, the invoices require editing after an order is placed but before it is paid.  So, if a customer pays too soon, they have locked us out of editing their order.  The problem with estimates is they cannot be printed from the invoice app which makes no sense to me.  Anyone that receives an estimate would most likely want a copy for their records.  I know we live in a digital age but certain demographics still want hands on paper and we also need copies for filing.  That knocks out using an estimate and then updating and invoicing the customer after estimate is converted into an invoice.  I have ran into so many issues with trying to use square invoicing.  Square is hurting themselves by not correcting some of these issues that have been going on for years now.  Anyone have any recommendations?  Also, I don't think the invoices are calculating loyalty rewards when a refund is issued.  Thank you for your help!

[Donnie-M]

@bradrsi I am thinking about your issue here and trying to understand, what type of changes are you running into that you need to change the order after it is paid?  I think the easy answer as to why this functionality doesn't exist is that it opens up a can of worms as payments and refunds are there so there can't be any kind of chicanery in accounting.  You wouldn't want someone to willy nilly change and ring things up and then change them from a security perspective on running a business.

On estimates, you could try sending them with a deposit required and then payment milestones.  You could set it up as 10% down, 50% in 7 days, & balance due at end maybe?

As far as printing from the app, you could always add an additional recipient and get an email version you can print for the customer or share manually and load the link and print.  But most of this functionality is in the online dashboard which you can load in a browser on a mobile device, but I typically prefer the online dashboard for manipulating invoices and printing.

The third option you could look at is use open tickets in the point of sale app, you can print a bill, and then when you are ready you can convert the open ticket into an invoice to send to the customer for payment.  It isn't ideal but it works well for me for several applications.

[bradrsi]

You bring up some good points but still not what is ideal for us.  It's not that we need to edit AFTER payment, it's that when a customer pays before we finalize their invoice, they lock us out of making changes.  This specific area I am referring to is the custom floral arranging section of our retail business.  They always give estimated prices at the time of order and it always varies 10% +/- by the time the order is finalized.  That's the point the customer needs to be invoiced.  However, like I said, I can't do estimates because they can't be printed from invoices app and if we start with an invoice, it's open immediately for them to pay.  I can't future date the payment because that then becomes the date the order was taken and then we will never know the actual order date.  I prefer that they all use the invoices app and not the dashboard.  Either way, they will have to do it with an ipad for mobility and pictures.  Also, no matter how we do it, they must also be able to attach pictures to the orders.  Does the ticket option offer attachments?