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QUESTION: W are trying to cancel an invoice so we can rebill it again as per client directions. The account has been posted but it has not been cancelled, however, we are getting the error below:
“You have only read only rights to this item as it was posted/cancelled”
RESPONSE: To cancel a posted invoice, once found within the "Show Invoice Details" filter form, right click to access the contextual menu, and select “Cancel” to trigger the process.
The cancellation function is only applicable to posted invoices. It generates GL operations as at the cancellation date and changes the status of the invoice from posted to cancelled. The cancelled invoice record and its association to the entries originally billed remain as an audit trail as well as to be able to report relevant measures historically, therefore it cannot be deleted. Although access into a cancelled invoice properties form is available, as with a posted invoice, the invoice properties form content is read-only. The continues existence of a cancelled invoice record with its invoice number, does not prevent the creation of a new invoice that would include the same entries previously included in the cancelled invoice.
The selection of the cancellation date must be made in context of what you need to do next. If the cancellation is because the invoice was not sent out and a new invoice will be created at a future date, then it can be cancelled with the current date. The impact of this decision is that if the time that was billed for a period is corrected (i.e., the time spent was 1.50 hour instead of 0.50), if you back date the WIP report the time entry would be reflected at 1.50 hours and not 0.50 after the change. This is not a problem, just an impact of a potential timing difference. If the cancellation was to replace the invoice as at the same date, then the cancellation should be back dated to the original date of the invoice. The impact of this decision is that if the month is closed your revenue and related measures may be different by the differential in fee between the original invoice and the new one, as well as unbilled disbursement positions if applicable.
Limitations
Due to the historical nature of most reports and the imbalances that can occur when not following a natural progression for actions taken, it is not possible to create an invoice that includes entries which were part of a cancelled invoice, with an invoice date that is older than the last cancellation date for the affected entries.
In practice, this means that a user who accidentally posts a post-dated or currently dated invoice, instead of backdating the invoice to its desired date, will only be able to execute the cancellation with a minimum date equal to the invoice date. As a result, the entries which are free for selection into a new invoice, can only be selected if the new invoice is dated on the same date or more in the future than the cancellation date of the original invoice for which they belonged.
Alternatives
If creating the new invoice with a prior date is the only way to move forward, the user has two options:
Option 1:
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Cancel the invoice on the best possible date;
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Print the entries affected;
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Copy the affected entries as unposted entries into the timesheet. Once on the timesheet updated their entry date to reflect the transaction date of the original entry. Do not post them.
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Reverse the original entries using the reverse option or by creating new negative entries to off-set them. Write-the positive and negative off – impact of 0.00.
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Reconcile the unposted time-entries copied onto the timesheet to the printed entries (second bullet) and once confirmed, post.
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Create the new invoice dated a date prior to the last cancellation date.
Option 2 :
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Create a “No Time Invoice” dated the date prior to the last cancellation date. The invoice will include presentation only entries (for time and disbursements) or where possible a paragraph cross referring to a supporting document for the entries.
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Create a second invoice dated the last cancellation with all the entries written down* to 0.00. Generate the entries as the details for the no-time invoice using word or print list view to excel.
The delete function is available from the same right-click menu, however it is only applicable to invoices not yet posted. The deletion of an invoice does not generate GL operations, nor is access to its properties form possible as only a log-entry of the meta data for the deletion is retained. Although the impact of a deletion on reported measures is limited, if the original invoice had anticipated disbursements and it is left unposted across a month end and then deleted, there is a reporting and GL impact on unbilled disbursements retroactive to the date of the anticipated (pre-billed) disbursements because the credit triggered at the time the anticipated disbursement was created, is reversed as at its transaction date. To mitigate this impact, it is recommended that unposted invoices which are not deleted as part of month end are moved forward to a future period by changing the invoice transaction date as well as by deleting any anticipated disbursements that may be included.