Invoice Consolidation

Overview

The consolidation setting that you choose determines how timesheet items are grouped together on invoices. This can be set at different levels within your portal, and follow a hierarchy that makes it customisable based on your requirements. 

Invoice Consolidation Method

The default Invoice Consolidation Method can be set:

• as a system default in Config > Invoicing > Invoice Admin
• at an Entity level from Config > Company Management > select the entity > Invoicing
• at a Customer level from Users > Customers > select the customer > Default Settings
• on a Billing Group from Users > Customers > select the customer > Billing Groups

The Astute system will first check if a consolidation method has been set on Billing Group, then Customer, then Entity, before applying the system default.

The following table outlines the different consolidation methods that can be set in your portal. 

Job	All timesheets relating to one job will consolidate on one invoice as the primary method, regardless of the period that they are for. Items can be split further by another rule, such as Billing Contact.
PO Number	All timesheets from Jobs that share the same purchase order number will consolidate on one invoice, regardless of the employee or Job they were generated from or the date they relate to, as long as there is no other forced split.
Workplace	All timesheets generated for Jobs at the same Workplace (within the Customer record) will consolidate on one invoice, regardless of the period they relate to.
Customer	All timesheets relating to a specific Customer will consolidate on one invoice, regardless of the employee, workplace or period they relate to.
Timesheet	An invoice will be generated for every single timesheet. No other rules will apply. Expenses on that timesheet or submitted in the system for the same Job will not be included on the invoice.
Timesheet AND Expense Report	A single timesheet and expense for the same period will consolidate on one invoice
Project	Selected Invoiceable Items with the same Project name, Billing Entity and Customer or Billing Group will consolidate into one invoice. Will appear as an option if the Project Management module is enabled for the portal
Project Activity	Selected items with the same Project Activity name, Project name, Billing Entity and Customer or Billing Group will consolidate into one invoice Will appear as an option if the Project Management module is enabled for the portal
Cost Centre	Selected items with the same Cost Centre, Billing Entity and Customer or Billing Group will consolidate into one invoice. Cost Centre set in Users > Employees > select employee > select Job > Payroll Admin
Buyer Reference	Selected items with the same Buyer Reference will consolidate into one invoice. Will only appear for portals where e-Invoicing is enabled Cannot be set as the portal default consolidation setting, but can be set on the Entity, Customer, or Billing Group.