When to Use Void, Edit, and Waive on an invoice

Learn how to edit draft invoices or fix finalized invoices which may have been issued erroneously.

Waive the Remaining Balance of an Invoice

Waive: Use this action to waive the entire remaining balance due on a finalized invoice. Once you waive the balance, the invoice will be marked as paid in full. Waived amounts are kept separate from payments in Billing reports.

Learn more about waiving an invoice.

Apply a Discount to an Invoice

Discount: This is an invoice-wide action which is applied before the invoice is finalized. You can choose to apply a discount by dollar amount or as a percentage-discount to time and fees on the invoice. You cannot apply discounts to expenses on an invoice.

Learn more about applying discounts to individual invoices

Issue a Credit Memo

Credit Memo: Use this action to give your client credit on their account. The credit will then be applied to future invoices, and credit can be applied to an invoice that is before or after finalization. You can use credit to account for mistakes on prior invoices or to reward clients who make expedited payments. 

Credit will be separated from your income on Billing reports.

Learn more about applying a credit memo

Write Off or Mark Invoice Items as Non-Billable 

Write-off: Use Write-Offs to remove line-item entries from a draft invoice before it is finalized. You can use a write-off to show your clients the value of the time you are making free. This action is best used to mitigate potential complaints from picky clients.

Non-Billable: The Non-Billable action is like a Write-off and is also applied to line items on a draft invoice prior to finalization. There are two differences: 1) non-billable entries can be hidden from the invoice; 2) if you make non-billable entries visible, they show a value of $0. It is best practice to use the Non-Billable action when you want to account for all the time spent on a matter for productivity tracking purposes.

Learn more about Non-Billable Entries

When to Edit or Void a Finalized Invoice

Edit: This action returns the invoice to a pre-bill, or draft, status and retains the original invoice number. Edit an invoice when you need to make a correction while keeping the original invoice number.

Void: This action will keep a record of the original invoice, and all time billed on the voided invoice will be marked as “unbilled” again. The invoice number will not be re-usable. Use this action when you need to track an invoice sent to a client that needed to be recreated due to client or court specifications.

Learn more about editing or voiding an invoice

When to Delete or Reverse a Transaction

Delete: Use the delete action to correct typos, incorrect entries, or transactions. You can view deleted transactions by using the Show Deleted Transactions toggle.

Reverse: Use this action for entries that need to remain on a client’s record permanently. A reversed transaction cannot be deleted. It is best practice to use this action for keeping records of transactions which need to be recorded for reconciliation purposes. Examples include reversing NSF checks, chargebacks, or funds which may have been physically deposited into an incorrect bank account (e.g., trust instead of operating).

Learn more about reversing or deleting transactions

Did You Know 

If you are unable to delete a transaction, there are three primary reasons:

  1. If the transaction involved the transfer of funds between two matters, then the transfer cannot be deleted. You will need to transfer the funds back to the original matter and contact the institution where the funds were transferred from. 
  2. If you reconciled your trust account in Smokeball, then the transaction you are attempting to delete may have been reconciled. Contact our Support team to have the trust account reconciliation undone.
  3. If checks were written, or if invoices were paid out of the deposit, then the transaction cannot be deleted. It is not possible to delete a transaction if funds involved in the transaction are allocated elsewhere in Smokeball Boost. 
    • We recommend checking your matter transactions to determine if you paid an invoice or wrote a check out of the deposit you are trying to delete. 
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