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Managing Invoices

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This content applies solely to Contract Writing, which must be purchased separately from the Appian base platform. This content was written for Appian 26.9 and may not reflect the interfaces or functionality of other Appian versions.

Invoices in Contract Writing

Contract Writing (CW) lets you log invoices against released awards and agreements so you can see, in one place, how much is obligated, invoiced, and paid on a contract. This page explains how to view, create, update, and delete invoices, and how invoices behave on modifications.

An invoice tracks the amount an agency owes a vendor for products or services delivered under a contract. Most agencies manage invoices and remittance in an external financial system. Contract Writing does not connect to that system, so you enter invoice details manually to tie them to the award or agreement.

Each invoice belongs to one award or agreement. You can also associate an invoice with one or more of the line items on that record. An invoice includes the following information:

  • Details: Invoice ID, status, total amount, received date, and due date.
  • Team: The contracting officer, contract specialist, contracting officer representative, and Finance Representative responsible for the invoice.
  • Budget codes: Up to 10 budget codes with optional descriptions.
  • Payments: Each payment made toward the invoice, with its payment ID, amount, and date.
  • Line items: The base and exercised line items the invoice covers.
  • Disputes: Free-form text that records any disputes about the invoice.

The Invoices tab appears on the summary of released awards and agreements. It does not appear on records in other statuses.

Note:  Invoices are not shared with Vendor Management or Procurement Analytics in this release.

Invoice access by role in Contract Writing

Access to invoices depends on your role. For what each role can do with invoices, see Invoice access by role on the Groups Reference Page.

View invoices on an award or agreement in Contract Writing

The Invoices tab shows summary figures for all invoices on the record and a grid of the invoices themselves. If you have access to the record, you can see the tab even when no invoices exist yet.

To view invoices:

  1. Navigate to the summary of a released award or agreement.
  2. Click the Invoices tab. The tab appears between Line Items and Funding.

The following screenshot shows the Invoices tab on a released award, with the four summary cards and a grid of three invoices.

The Invoices tab on a released award in Contract Writing showing the Total Obligated Amount, Total Invoice Amount, Total Paid Amount, and Remaining Obligated Amount cards above a grid of three invoices with different statuses and payment statuses.

Summary cards

The Invoices tab displays four summary cards. The cards include every invoice on the record, regardless of which invoices you can edit. A card shows $0.00 when there is no amount to display.

Card What it shows
Total Obligated Amount The sum of the obligated amounts on the base and exercised line items.
Total Invoice Amount The sum of the total amounts of all invoices.
Total Paid Amount The sum of the payments made toward all invoices.
Remaining Obligated Amount The Total Obligated Amount minus the Total Invoice Amount.

Use these cards to compare how much is available to spend on the contract, how much has been invoiced, and how much has been paid.

Invoice grid

The invoice grid shows the number of invoices next to the Invoices heading. By default, the grid sorts invoices by status, then by payment status, then by requested due date. The grid shows 25 invoices per page.

The grid includes the following columns:

  • Invoice: The invoice ID. Select it to open the invoice summary.
  • Status: The invoice status.
  • Paid?: The calculated payment status.
  • Total Amount: The total amount of the invoice.
  • Paid Amount: The total of the payments made toward the invoice.
  • Received Date: The date the vendor's invoice was received.
  • Requested Due Date: The date payment is due.

To find an invoice, enter text in the search box and click SEARCH. You can also filter the grid by Status, Paid?, Received Date, and Requested Due Date. If the record has no invoices, the grid displays "No related invoices available".

Use the row menu to update or delete an invoice. See Update an invoice and Delete an invoice.

Invoice status and payment status in Contract Writing

Each invoice has two separate statuses:

  • Status: The stage of the invoice in your review process. You set this value yourself. Valid values are Draft, Under Review, and Approved. New invoices start as Draft, and Contract Writing never changes the status for you.
  • Paid?: The payment status. Contract Writing calculates this value from the payments on the invoice, so you cannot edit it. The grid shows it in the Paid? column, and the invoice summary shows it as Payment Status.

Contract Writing calculates the payment status as follows:

Payment status When it applies
Not Paid The invoice has no payments, or the payments total $0.00.
Partially Paid The payments total more than $0.00 but less than the invoice's total amount.
Fully Paid The payments equal the invoice's total amount.

If you reduce an invoice's payments to zero, the payment status returns to Not Paid.

Create an invoice in Contract Writing

Contract Writing guides you through creating an invoice in four steps: Overview, Budget Codes, Payments, and Line Items. You can move between the steps in any order. You must have membership in the invoice permission set for your role to create invoices. See Invoice access by role.

To start creating an invoice:

  1. Navigate to the summary of a released award or agreement.
  2. Click the Invoices tab.
  3. Click CREATE.
  4. Complete each of the following steps:
    1. Enter the invoice overview.
    2. Add budget codes to an invoice.
    3. Add payments to an invoice.
    4. Select the line items for an invoice.
  5. Click CREATE.

Contract Writing links the invoice to the award or agreement you started from. You do not select the record in the form.

The following screenshot shows the Create Invoice dialog on the Overview step, with the details, team, and disputes sections.

The Create Invoice dialog in Contract Writing on the Overview step, showing the Details fields for invoice ID, status, total amount, received date, and requested due date, the Team section, and the Disputes editor.

Enter the invoice overview

On the Overview step, enter the invoice details, assign the team, and record any disputes. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.

Field Description
Invoice ID Required. A unique ID you enter, up to 255 characters. The ID can include special characters. Contract Writing does not generate IDs.
Status Required. The invoice status. See Invoice status and payment status.
Total Amount Required. The total amount of the invoice.
Received Date The date you received the invoice. The date does not have to be in the past.
Requested Due Date The date payment is due.
Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, Contracting Officer's Representative, and Finance Representative Optional. Search for and select a user for each role.
Disputes Optional. Text describing any disputes about the invoice. The editor offers basic formatting options.

Contract Writing does not validate received dates, due dates, or payment dates against each other.

Add budget codes to an invoice

On the Budget Codes step, add the budget codes that apply to the invoice. Budget codes are optional.

To add budget codes:

  1. In the dialog, select Budget Codes.
  2. In the Code field, enter the budget code, up to 50 characters.
  3. (Optional) In the Description field, enter a description for the code, up to 255 characters.
  4. To add another budget code, click Add Code.

The step starts with one empty row. If you leave the row empty, Contract Writing ignores it. You can delete every row if the invoice has no budget codes.

Keep the following in mind:

  • You can add up to 10 budget codes to an invoice.
  • A description requires a code. You can enter a code without a description.
  • Budget codes do not have to be unique.

Add payments to an invoice

On the Payments step, record each payment made toward the invoice. Payments are optional. You can add payments when you create the invoice or later. See Update payments on an invoice.

To add payments:

  1. In the dialog, select Payments.
  2. Click Add Payment.
  3. Enter the following information:
    • Payment ID: (Optional) An ID for the payment, up to 50 characters, such as a check number or wire transfer ID. Hover over the help icon next to Payment ID to see this guidance.
    • Amount: The amount of the payment. This field is required for each payment.
    • Date: (Optional) The date of the payment.
  4. To add another payment, click Add Payment.

Above the grid, the step shows the invoice's Total Invoice Amount and Total Paid Amount, so you can compare them as you add payments. The step does not add a payment row by default.

Note:  The total of an invoice's payments cannot be greater than the invoice's total amount. If the payments exceed the total, Contract Writing displays a validation message and you cannot save the invoice. Adjust the payment amounts or the invoice's total amount so they match.

Select the line items for an invoice

On the Line Items step, select the line items the invoice covers. Selecting line items is optional.

The step displays two grids. Available Line Items lists the base and exercised line items on the award or agreement, with each line item's number, title, and option. It does not list unexercised options. Selected Line Items lists the line items you chose, with their number, title, quantity, unit price, and total amount. Until you select a line item, the grid displays "No line items selected".

To select line items:

  1. In the dialog, select Line Items.
  2. (Optional) To narrow the list, search in Available Line Items or filter by Option. The Option filter offers Base and Exercised.
  3. Select the checkbox for each line item to associate with the invoice.

To remove a line item from the invoice, click the trash icon in the Selected Line Items grid or clear its checkbox in the Available Line Items grid.

Selecting a contract line item (CLIN) adds only that line item. Contract Writing does not add its subline items (SLINs) automatically. You can associate a line item with more than one invoice.

Select a line item number to open the line item summary in a new tab.

Confirm the invoice

After you click CREATE, Contract Writing displays a confirmation message. From the confirmation, you can open the invoice summary in a new tab. When you close the confirmation, Contract Writing returns you to the Invoices tab.

View an invoice summary in Contract Writing

The invoice summary shows everything about a single invoice in one place. To open it, select an invoice ID in the invoice grid.

The invoice summary includes the following areas:

  • Header: The invoice ID, a Back to Invoices link, and the UPDATE INVOICE action.
  • Summary details: The invoice's Status, Payment Status, Total Invoice Amount, Total Paid Amount, Received Date, and Requested Due Date. The total paid amount is the sum of all payment amounts.
  • Payments: A grid of the payments with their payment ID, amount, and date.
  • Line Items: A grid of the associated line items with their number, title, quantity, unit price, and total amount. Hover over the help icon next to Total Amount to see that it is the total amount that needs to be paid for the line item.
  • Award or Agreement: A link to the record the invoice belongs to. The link opens the record summary in a new tab. For agreements, the section is labeled Agreement and uses a handshake icon.
  • Budget Codes: The invoice's budget codes and descriptions.
  • Team: The people assigned to the invoice.
  • Disputes: The invoice's disputes text.

Fields without a value display a dash. When an invoice has no payments or line items, the section displays an empty-state message.

The following screenshot shows the invoice summary for an invoice with a partial payment, one line item, three budget codes, and a contracting officer.

The invoice summary for INV-2023-0001 in Contract Writing, showing the status, payment status, total invoice amount, total paid amount, received date, and requested due date, with the Payments and Line Items grids and the Award, Budget Codes, Team, and Disputes sections on the right.

Update an invoice in Contract Writing

You can update an invoice's overview, budget codes, payments, and line items. You must have access to update the invoice. See Invoice access by role.

To update an invoice:

  1. Open the invoice summary, or find the invoice in the grid on the Invoices tab.
  2. Click UPDATE INVOICE on the invoice summary. Or, in the grid, click the row menu and select Update.
  3. In the dialog, update the information on any step.
  4. Click UPDATE.

After you save, Contract Writing confirms that the invoice was successfully updated.

Update payments on an invoice in Contract Writing

Record new payments or change existing ones directly from the invoice summary, without stepping through the full form.

To update payments:

  1. Open the invoice summary.
  2. In the Payments section, click the update icon .
  3. In the Update Payments dialog, add, edit, or remove payments.
  4. Click UPDATE.

The same rules apply as when you create an invoice: each payment requires an amount, and the payments cannot total more than the invoice's total amount. Contract Writing recalculates the total paid amount and the payment status when you save.

Update line items on an invoice in Contract Writing

Change which line items an invoice covers directly from the invoice summary.

To update line items:

  1. Open the invoice summary.
  2. In the Line Items section, click the update icon .
  3. In the Update Line Items dialog, select or remove line items.
  4. Click UPDATE.

Delete an invoice in Contract Writing

Deleting an invoice removes it from the Invoices tab and from the totals in the summary cards. The invoice is deactivated rather than permanently erased.

To delete an invoice:

  1. In the grid on the Invoices tab, click the row menu for the invoice.
  2. Click Delete.
  3. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.

Contract Writing returns you to the Invoices tab.

View invoices on a line item in Contract Writing

The line item summary lists the invoices associated with that line item, so you can see which payments apply to it.

To view the invoices for a line item:

  1. Navigate to the Line Items tab on the award or agreement and select the line item.
  2. In the Details section, click the Invoices tab. The tab shows the number of invoices.

The tab shows a read-only grid with the same columns, search, and filters as the grid on the award or agreement. You cannot create invoices or take actions on invoices from the line item. Select an invoice ID to open the invoice summary. If the line item has no invoices, the grid displays "No invoices available".

How invoices behave on modifications and other records in Contract Writing

Invoices follow the contract through its lifecycle:

  • Modifications: Until you release a modification, you create and manage invoices on the active award. A modification represents the latest conformed version of the award, so when you release it, the modification carries the award's invoices. You can create a modification while the award has invoices in any status. Mass modifications work the same way: each released mass modification carries its award's invoices.
  • Duplicated awards: Duplicating a released award does not copy its invoices.
  • IDV task orders: When you import line items from a referenced IDV into a task order, Contract Writing does not copy invoices. Invoices are unique to the task order's line items.

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