Void invoices (i.e. do not automatically erase invoices)
Current Situation
Invoices can only be created, edited, settled or deleted. And if a registration is cancelled the original invoice will also be erased.
Desired:
Ability to ‘Void' invoices. I.e. when an event registration is cancelled, the invoice will not be deleted but be switched to a "voided" status and as a result any payments associated with the invoice will be unsettled.
Released in update 5.9 – https://help.wildapricot.com/display/DOC/Release+5.9
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CVMG web Administrator commented
so, with this new approach, the invoice gets voided, not deleted, when you delete an event with paying registrants, correct? I'm just part-way through manually entering 300-ish invoices for an event I deleted in error.....
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brigid1950 commented
This helps us when looking at individual financials. Previously, if the invoice was deleted, we would see a payment and then a credit but you could never figure out what it was for unless you did some digging or kept detailed notes. Now at least, you should be able to see a trail - the invoice, the voided invoice, a payment and a credit. A complete story. I haven't tried this yet but I'm hoping this is the way it will work. Let's hope this makes it easier.
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Webmaster commented
Many times, a question comes up as to who paid/did not pay and with gaps in the invoices (because some are deleted because they can't be voided), there is no way to tell if a deletion was truly a "void" or if something else is going on. When you have a Treasurer position that rolls to different people year after year, it becomes essential to have that full audit trail to go back to. Even when dumping to an accounting system like QuickBooks, this audit trail needs to be preserved to avoid fraud and impropriety.
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CVMG web Administrator commented
instead of a cancelled status, why not treat dead invoices consistently with dead Contact and Members by Archiving them?
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Rob commented
These should never be deleted. A cross-referenced credit note would be a good way of handling the refund if necessary
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Rachel, thanks for idea. I merged it with existing one, exactly about Void invoice feature.
And good news, we are working on solution right now. I'll share it as soon as design will ready. -
rmckay commented
Better tracking of cancelled financial transactions. A "void" option that would leave evidence of the transaction but zero out the dollar amount would be helpful for historical data.
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Rob commented
I think this is important too - especially if an organization is relying on WA for record keeping.
This goes along with another thread where the request was to void invoices, and not delete them. -
Rob commented
I agree. Although there is some record kept in the audit trail, it would be nicer and clearer if the invoice would still show up in the list. Helps to quickly answer the question as to why there is a gap in the invoice numbers.
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Deric Wong commented
Need to preserve the audit trail of the invoice ledger in WA. Although WA is not an accounting application, its invoice-generating module needs to preserve the audit-ability of the invoice/accounts payable ledger. This becomes particularly important for those entities which import WA data into QuickBooks.
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FSSAMemberDir commented
This would allow retention of information without deleting
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Dmitry Buterin commented
Good point. I would appreciate opinions from other users on keeping invoices for deleted contacts.
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Greig Holder commented
If a contact record is deleted, any corresponding invoices are deleted (after a warning). I would like to prevent the deletion of invoices via a Setting within Finances. Missing invoices prevent us from doing a reconciliation to our bank records.
The situation arose because our membership manager, who is not trained in accounting, deleted contacts who had died, hence were never going to renew membership. While we can explain to the membership manager about the importance of not deleting member records (even from the archive), we can't prevent it from occuring. Now our finance manager has missing invoices to try to explain to the audit committee.
The whole Finance module is a wonderful addition to Wild Apricot. A few tweaks will make it even better.