Monthly Billing (Invoice Group List)

Overview

The Monthly Billing page is the operational command center for the billing cycle in the dZV2 system. It provides a comprehensive view of all invoice groups ready for billing, organized by billing month, allowing finance teams and account managers to review, process, and finalize invoices for clients. This page bridges the gap between finalized project work and revenue recognition by managing the transformation of completed work into client invoices.

Location: Navigate to Reports from the main navigation menu, then select Monthly Billing from the Billing section. Available to all authenticated users, with enhanced functionality for administrators.

URL: /reports/invoices

Access Levels:

• All Users: View invoice groups assigned to them, generate PDF reports, and review invoice details
• Administrators: Full access including billing/unbilling operations, invoice management, time record manipulation, pushing/splitting invoices, and override capabilities

Business Value

For Finance and Billing Teams

The Monthly Billing page transforms the end-of-month billing process from a tedious manual effort into a streamlined workflow:

• Consolidated billing view showing all invoice groups with finalized time ready for billing
• Real-time visibility into billing status, payment tracking, and outstanding invoices
• PDF invoice generation for client distribution with multiple format options
• Billing verification ensuring all time records and artworks are properly captured

For Account Managers

Account managers gain critical oversight of their client accounts:

• Invoice group monitoring across assigned clients
• Approval workflow tracking showing account manager sign-offs before billing
• Notes and communication capability for billing-specific instructions
• Purchase order alignment ensuring billing maps correctly to client POs

For Operations Leadership

Executives and operations managers benefit from:

• Billing pipeline visibility showing finalized vs. billed work
• Revenue timing control through invoice date management
• Bottleneck identification via unfinalized timesheet warnings
• Cross-period billing management through push forward/backward functionality

Business Benefits

1. Accelerated Cash Flow - The consolidated view enables rapid billing processing, reducing days sales outstanding (DSO) by ensuring all billable work is invoiced promptly at month-end.
2. Billing Accuracy Assurance - Visual status indicators, approval checkmarks, and detailed drill-down capabilities catch discrepancies before invoices reach clients, preventing disputes and credit memos.
3. Audit Trail Compliance - Every billing action is logged, providing complete traceability for financial audits and client queries about specific charges.
4. Flexible Invoice Timing - The ability to push time records forward or backward between billing periods enables strategic revenue recognition while maintaining accurate client billing.
5. Multi-Format Invoice Support - Detailed, summary, and override report formats accommodate different client requirements and internal review needs.
6. Approval Workflow Integration - Account manager approval status is visible directly in the billing interface, ensuring proper authorization before invoices are sent.
7. Payment Tracking - Paid status indicators provide immediate visibility into accounts receivable status for each invoice.
8. Purchase Order Management - Direct visibility into PO amounts, dates, and utilization percentages prevents over-billing and ensures contract compliance.

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Monthly Billing Cycle Processing

Role: Finance Administrator

At the end of each month, the finance administrator opens the Monthly Billing page to process all pending invoices. They:

1. Select the target billing month using the month/year dropdowns
2. Review the "Display unfinalized timesheets" warning to identify any blocking items
3. Work through each invoice group in the Finalized section
4. Click on invoice amounts to review project-level detail
5. Generate PDF invoices by clicking the PDF icon
6. Bill invoices either with email (automatic client notification) or without (manual distribution)
7. Verify billed invoices appear in the Billed section

Scenario 2: Account Manager Invoice Review

Role: Account Manager

Before month-end billing, an account manager reviews invoices for their assigned clients:

1. Navigate to Monthly Billing and identify their invoice groups (filtered by role)
2. Click on each invoice group name to expand details
3. Review PO numbers, amounts, and date ranges
4. Check the "OK to Review" flag for invoices requiring attention
5. Add approval notes for the billing team
6. Mark invoices as approved (checkmark indicator turns green)

Scenario 3: Resolving Billing Discrepancies

Role: Administrator

A billing discrepancy is identified where work from the previous month needs to be moved:

1. Open Monthly Billing for the current period
2. Locate the affected invoice group and click on the amount to expand
3. Navigate to the project showing incorrect timing
4. Use the arrow buttons to push individual time records or entire projects backward/forward
5. If time needs to be billed separately, use the Split function to create a separate invoice part
6. Verify the adjusted amounts in the invoice totals

Scenario 4: Handling "Never Bill" Items

Role: Administrator

Some billable work needs to be excluded from client invoices (internal use, courtesy work, etc.):

1. Find the relevant invoice group in Monthly Billing
2. Expand the invoice to view project and time record details
3. Identify specific time records that should not be billed
4. Click the "Will never be billed" (X) icon for those items
5. The records remain in the system for tracking but are excluded from invoice totals

Scenario 5: Processing Invoice Overrides

Role: Finance Administrator

A client has negotiated a flat fee rather than time-based billing:

1. Expand the invoice group details by clicking the invoice group name
2. Enter the override amount in the Invoice Override field
3. Add a description explaining the override (e.g., "Flat fee per contract amendment")
4. The invoice will now show both the calculated amount and the override amount
5. Generate the Override PDF format for client delivery

Scenario 6: Unbilling and Corrections

Role: Administrator

An invoice was billed incorrectly and needs to be reversed:

1. Navigate to the Billed section of Monthly Billing
2. Find the incorrectly billed invoice
3. Click the Unbill button (blue circular arrow icon)
4. Confirm the unbilling action
5. The invoice returns to the Finalized section for correction
6. Make necessary adjustments and re-bill

Industry Context

Standard Practice in Professional Services

Time-based billing with monthly invoicing cycles is the dominant model for professional services and creative agencies. The Monthly Billing page implements industry best practices:

• Period-based billing organization aligns with standard accounting periods
• Approval workflows mirror industry requirements for manager authorization
• PDF invoice generation meets client documentation requirements
• Accrued vs. actual tracking supports revenue recognition standards (ASC 606/IFRS 15)

Enterprise Client Requirements

Large enterprise clients typically require:

• Detailed billing backup showing time records and activities (addressed by Detailed PDF)
• Summary views for approval workflows (addressed by Summary/Override PDF options)
• PO tracking and alignment (addressed by PO number and amount display)
• Electronic invoice delivery (addressed by email billing capability)

Regulatory Compliance

The Monthly Billing system supports financial compliance through:

• Complete audit trails of all billing actions
• Separation of duties between review and billing roles
• Historical record preservation enabling period-over-period reconciliation
• Override documentation maintaining transparency in billing adjustments

Business Logic Details

Invoice Group Lifecycle

The billing process follows a defined lifecycle managed through the Monthly Billing page:

1. Time Entry - Staff log time against projects during the work period
2. Finalization - Supervisors finalize timesheets, locking hours and rates
3. Review - Account managers review invoice groups and mark them OK to bill
4. Billing - Finance processes the invoice, generating PDFs and updating status
5. Delivery - Invoice is emailed to client or manually distributed
6. Payment - Receipt of payment is recorded, marking the invoice paid

Time Record Aggregation

The system aggregates billable work from multiple sources:

• Hourly time entries from employee timesheets
• Per-piece artwork charges based on complexity and type
• Fixed costs representing flat-fee arrangements
• Adjustments for corrections and special billing situations

Time records are grouped by Invoice Group, Purchase Order, and Invoice Date Part, allowing flexible billing organization while maintaining detailed tracking.

Invoice Date Management

The "Invoice Date" concept (format: YYYYMM) controls billing period assignment:

• Time records are assigned to invoice dates based on their week-of date
• Administrators can push records forward or backward to different invoice dates
• Split functionality allows separating time records into different invoice parts within the same period
• Original invoice date is preserved for audit purposes when records are pushed

Purchase Order Integration

Each invoice line connects to client Purchase Orders:

• PO Amount shows the total contract value
• PO Dates indicate the valid billing period
• PO Percentage (hidden by default) tracks utilization against contract limits
• Time records can be locked to specific POs through priority settings
• Projects without POs are flagged for assignment before billing

Account Manager Approval Workflow

The approval process ensures billing authorization:

• Invoice groups are assigned to account managers
• Account managers can mark invoices as "OK to Review"
• Approval status (checkmark icons) shows green for approved, red for rejected, gray for pending
• Approval notes are captured for billing team reference
• Quality-specific approvers are indicated with "(Q)" prefix

Invoice Override System

For non-standard billing situations:

• Administrators can add invoice overrides with specific amounts
• Each override includes: amount, description, timestamp, and responsible user
• The most recent override amount appears in the billing total
• Override PDF format uses the override amount instead of calculated totals
• Historical overrides are preserved in the detail view

Report Generation and Storage

PDF invoices are generated and archived:

• Reports are generated on-demand or retrieved from cloud storage
• Multiple report types: Detailed (itemized), Summary, Override (flat amount)
• Master invoices combine child invoice groups for consolidated billing
• Generated reports are automatically uploaded to cloud storage for retrieval
• Historical reports can be regenerated from billing data

Key Features

Invoice Status Indicators

Billing Period Management

• Month/Year Selection - Navigate to any historical or current billing period
• Refresh Button - Reload data after external changes
• Period Statistics - Shows total projects and pushed record counts

Invoice Grid Columns

Time Record Manipulation (Administrators)

• Push Forward/Backward - Move time records between billing periods
• Split/Unsplit - Separate or combine time records into invoice parts
• Never Billed - Mark items to be excluded from all invoicing
• Finalize and Push - Process in-progress time and move to next period

Invoice Detail Panel

Expanding an invoice group reveals:

• PO Details - Number, acknowledgement date, 3M system entry date
• Invoice Timing - Date sent, overdue notice date, EDI status
• Payment Tracking - Invoice paid date
• Review Status - OK to Review checkbox
• Billing Status - Billed timestamp (read-only)
• PM Notes - Notes from project managers for billing reference
• Invoice Number - Custom invoice numbering
• Non-PO Numeration - Sequence number for non-PO billing
• Client Note - Special instructions for the invoice

Functional Components

Finalized Invoice Section

Displays invoice groups with finalized (but not yet billed) time:

• Shows all time records that have been finalized by supervisors
• Grouped by Invoice Group ID, PO, and Invoice Date Part
• Yellow highlighting indicates pushed items from previous periods
• Expandable to show project-level and time record detail

Billed Invoice Section

Displays invoice groups that have been billed:

• Shows historical billing record
• Supports unbilling operations to reverse incorrect billings
• Master-billed invoices show consolidated child invoice groups
• Payment status tracking with paid date indicators

Unfinalized Timesheet Warning

Prominent warning panel showing:

• Employee names with unfinalized timesheets
• Week-of dates for the problematic timesheets
• Blocking issues that prevent complete billing

Not In Any Invoice Panel (Administrators)

Identifies orphaned time records:

• Time records not assigned to any invoice
• Artworks with "Never Billed" status not on invoices
• Push capabilities to assign to appropriate billing periods

Project Detail Drill-Down

When expanded, shows:

• Finalized - Time records ready for billing
• Billed When Complete (BWC) - Projects waiting for completion status
• In Process/Completed - Time not yet finalized (will not be invoiced)
• Individual time record details with employee, date, activity, hours, and dollars

Relationship to Other System Components

Integration with Time Tracking

• Consumes finalized timesheet data
• Displays time entry details (employee, week, activity, hours, rate)
• Supports drilling down to individual time records
• Links back to project time tabs for corrections

Integration with Purchase Orders

• Displays PO assignment for each invoice line
• Shows PO amounts, dates, and utilization
• Respects PO date ranges for time record assignment
• Supports PO-locked time record handling

Integration with Invoice Groups

• Primary organization unit for billing
• Links to Invoice Group detail pages
• Supports account manager assignment and approval
• Manages client contact and communication preferences

Integration with Approval System

• Displays account manager approval status
• Triggers approval notifications when OK to Review is set
• Captures approval notes for billing documentation
• Shows quality-specific approver assignments

Integration with Document Storage

• Uploads generated PDF reports to cloud storage
• Retrieves historical reports for re-download
• Maintains report versioning through file naming conventions
• Supports multiple report format types

Integration with Email System

• Sends invoice emails with PDF attachments
• CC's billing department on all invoice communications
• Supports custom subject and body text
• Tracks email sent status

Link to Billing Approval Worksheet

• Billing Approval Worksheet provides estimate vs. actual comparison
• Monthly Billing handles the actual billing transaction
• Both reports work together in the end-of-month billing workflow
• Navigation links connect the two views

Link to PO Spend Report

• Quick access link to PO Spend Report for detailed PO analysis
• Supports drilling down from invoice view to PO utilization details
• Enables context-aware navigation when viewing PO-specific data

Summary

The Monthly Billing page is the critical operational tool for converting completed work into client revenue. It serves as the final checkpoint in the project lifecycle, ensuring that all billable work is accurately captured, properly authorized, and correctly invoiced to clients.

Key Takeaways:

• Central billing hub consolidating all invoice groups by billing period
• Two-stage view separating Finalized (ready to bill) from Billed (completed) invoices
• Rich status indicators providing at-a-glance billing status assessment
• Flexible time management with push, split, and never-bill capabilities
• Multiple PDF formats accommodating different client and internal requirements
• Approval workflow integration ensuring proper authorization before billing
• Complete audit trail supporting financial compliance and client queries
• Cloud storage integration for reliable invoice archive and retrieval

The Monthly Billing page ensures that the company captures all earned revenue while maintaining the documentation and approval standards expected by enterprise clients and required by financial regulations.