Tailor invoice structure, grouping, and ID formatting to suit each Operation
Invoice settings are configured on an Operation-by-Operation basis, giving you control over how invoices are structured, from how line items are split and grouped through to how your reference and ID numbers are set up.
Getting these right from the outset means your invoices will consistently reflect your business requirements each time you generate and issue them.
In this article, we will cover:
- Splitting invoices by purchase order
- Grouping invoice line items by employee
- Setting an Operation as 'no-charge'
- Including the date on invoice line items
- Invoicing for TOIL
- Invoicing for entitlements
- Customising invoice reference & ID numbers
- Displaying employee ID instead of name on invoices (on request)
- Displaying weeks to address when generating invoices (on request)
For information on managing client invoicing and billing in your foundU platform, see our Invoicing guide here.
Operation quick settings
When generating invoices for an Operation, this setting determines whether an invoice is created per purchase order. It's possible to have separate purchase orders for each roster, shift, employee, or position.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Clients who require separate invoices for different cost centres, departments, or projects
- Businesses invoicing across multiple purchase orders for the same Operation within a billing period
Options for this setting:
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No – Invoices are generated as a single invoice per Operation, regardless of purchase order.
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Yes – A separate invoice is created per purchase order.
For further reading on purchase orders/cost codes, please refer to our article here.
This setting controls how line items are displayed on your invoices, specifically whether they're grouped under each employee's name or presented as a single flat list. Choosing the right option can make it easier for your clients to read, review, and reconcile their invoices, depending on how much detail they need to see.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Businesses that want a cleaner, employee-grouped invoice for clients to review
- Businesses that prefer a flat list of line items without employee groupings
Options for this setting:
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No – The invoice will display a list of all employees and their individual line items, ordered by employee name.
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Yes – Every employee will sit under their own heading, with their individual line items grouped beneath it.
This setting determines whether invoices can be generated for the Operation at all.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Employees paid for staff meetings or training that isn't charged to a client
- Internal or non-billable Operations
Options for this setting:
- No – Invoices can be generated as normal for this Operation, and it will appear on the Sales/GM Report.
- Yes – No invoices can be generated for this Operation. It will also not appear on the Sales/GM Report, as invoices cannot be generated from this type of Operation.
This setting determines whether the date worked is shown in the line item description on the invoice.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Clients who require a breakdown of hours by specific date for reconciliation
- Businesses wanting more detailed, auditable invoices
Options for this setting:
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No – The date worked is not shown in the line item description.
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Yes – The date worked is included in the line item description on the invoice.
This setting determines whether the roster name is shown in the line item description on the invoice.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Businesses running multiple rosters within the same Operation and wanting invoices to reflect which roster the hours relate to
- Clients who require rostered shifts to be clearly attributed to a specific site, event, or department for reconciliation
Options for this setting:
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No – The roster name is not shown in the line item description.
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Yes – The roster name is included in the line item description on the invoice.
If your business utilises TOIL (Time Off In Lieu), this setting determines whether accrued hours are invoiced at the applicable overtime rates.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Businesses that pass on TOIL accrual costs to clients
- Operations where overtime rates are billable under the client agreement
Options for this setting:
- No – TOIL accrued hours are not invoiced to the client.
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Yes – TOIL accrued hours are invoiced at the applicable overtime rates.
This setting lets you select which entitlements (leave types) will be invoiced to clients. When an employee takes an eligible leave type, those hours are invoiced to the client.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Labour hire businesses where clients are billed for employee leave taken while working on their Operation
- Businesses wanting to invoice certain leave types (e.g. annual leave) selectively but not others
Options for this setting:
- No – Leave taken by employees is not invoiced to the client.
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Yes – Selected entitlements are invoiced to the client when taken by an employee.
To turn on invoicing for entitlements:
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Navigate to Leave Configuration and edit the entitlements you want to invoice (e.g. Annual Leave, Personal Leave) and enable the Invoice Operation setting for each leave type. This setting is set at the entitlement level, so it may already be on if you've enabled invoicing for that leave type in other Operations.
For more information on how to edit leave entitlements, see our 'Leave entitlements' guide here. - Navigate to the Operation you'd like to set this up for, then open Quick Settings. Under Invoicing for entitlements, select each leave type you'd like invoiced to the client for this Operation.
- With your leave type(s) selected, navigate to Rates Book > Edit for this Operation. Add or confirm the charge rate for each entitlement you've just enabled for invoicing, then select Save to apply your changes.
Contact: Please reach out to our support team at help@foundu.com.au for more information on reviewing the charge rates for entitlements.
Other invoicing customisation options
Each invoice you generate has its own number. The invoice number consists of a reference code and an ID code; it will look like this: 005-166. Depending on your business's process, you may want to customise the reference and ID codes for your clients.
Some use cases where you may want to customise this include:
- Keeping invoices continuing from a particular number when changing invoicing systems (e.g. starting at 167 in foundU if 166 was the final invoice in your previous system)
- Creating a visual custom reference for invoices (e.g. changing 005-167 to GetStrong-167)
Options for this setting:
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Default – Reference number stays as the Operation ID# number. The ID number starts at 001 when you begin generating invoices in foundU.
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Custom – Reference number can be a free text name or number (no spaces). The ID number can be set to any value greater than the latest Invoice ID for this Operation.
To customise invoice reference ID numbers:
- Navigate to the Operation you would like to customise, then select the Details tab > Details.
- Select the Edit button on the right to change the fields.
- Scroll down to Invoice number and select the 'Custom' toggle.
Hot tip: Select the 'i' tooltip for a reminder of the difference between 'reference' and 'ID' numbers. - Make your changes to the Reference number and ID number fields, then save your changes.
Please note: This number must be higher than the latest Invoice ID for this Operation, or you will experience an error when trying to save.
The settings below control how employee and billing period information is displayed on your invoices. Unlike other invoicing settings, these aren't available as self-service toggles; they can be enabled for your platform by contacting our support team at help@foundu.com.au.
Display employee ID instead of name on invoices
This setting determines whether an employee's name or their Employee ID is displayed on invoice line items.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Clients who require employee data on invoices to be de-identified for privacy reasons
- Businesses that prefer to reference employees by ID for reconciliation against other systems
Options for this setting:
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No – The employee's name is displayed on invoice line items.
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Yes – The employee's ID is displayed on invoice line items instead of their name.
Display weeks to address when generating invoices
This setting determines whether the specific week(s) being invoiced are displayed when generating invoices.
Some use cases where you may want to enable this setting include:
- Businesses invoicing across multiple weeks at once and wanting clearer visibility of which weeks are included
- Clients who require the billing period to be clearly referenced on the invoice
Options for this setting:
- No – Weeks being invoiced are not displayed when generating invoices.
- Yes – The weeks being invoiced are displayed when generating invoices.
To enable either of these settings:
- Contact our support team at help@foundu.com.au.
- Let them know which of the above setting(s) you'd like enabled for your platform.
- Our support team will confirm once the setting(s) have been applied.