Accept or dispute a proforma invoice
When a merchant or the platform sends your company a proforma invoice, you answer it: accept it so the issuer can go ahead with the VAT invoice, or dispute it with a reason so the issuer can correct it.
Before you start#
- You need the Tenant Owner, Tenant Admin or Tenant Accountant role in the tenant the proforma bills; only these roles can answer a proforma.
- The proforma must be Sent. You only see a proforma once the issuer has sent it; drafts are not shown to you.
- When a proforma is sent, everyone in your tenant who can answer it gets a notification, "Proforma invoice … received", naming the issuer, the invoice number and the amount.
Steps#
- Open Finance > Proforma Invoices and select the proforma.
- Check the invoice number, the issuer and the total. What each field means is on Proforma invoices.
- To accept, select Accept. The proforma is accepted at once; there is no confirmation step. The page shows "Proforma invoice accepted."
- To dispute instead:
- Select Dispute.
- In Dispute reason, say what is wrong, for example "VAT is wrong". A reason is required.
- Select Submit dispute. The page shows "Proforma invoice disputed."
What happens next#
- After you accept, the proforma is Accepted and the detail page shows Accepted at and Accepted by. The issuer is not notified; they see the new status on the proforma. The issuer can now finalize it; see Finalize an accepted proforma invoice.
- After you dispute, the proforma is Disputed and your reason is shown on it as Dispute reason. The issuer's users who can issue proformas, or the platform operators for a proforma the platform issued, are notified with your reason. The issuer can reopen it, correct it and send it to you again, and it then comes back to you as Sent; see Revise and resend a disputed proforma invoice. While the issuer corrects it, the proforma is a draft again and is not shown to you; it reappears as Sent when they send it again.
Rules and limits#
- You can accept or dispute only a Sent proforma, and only once each time it is sent to you; Accept and Dispute appear only while it is Sent.
- An acceptance cannot be undone from the portal. Check the proforma before you accept it.
- A dispute reason can be up to 500 characters; the field accepts no more.
- Tenant Supervisors, the issuer and platform operators cannot answer a proforma for you.
- How the statuses follow one another is on Proforma invoice statuses.
If something goes wrong#
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "Only a sent proforma invoice can be accepted." | The proforma is no longer Sent: someone in your tenant already answered it, or you used a copy of the page that was open from before | Reload the proforma and check its status |
| "Only a sent proforma invoice can be disputed." | As above | As above |
| "A dispute reason is required." | Dispute reason was empty or only spaces | Select Dispute again and enter a reason |
| No Accept or Dispute button | The proforma is already Accepted, Disputed or finalized | Check its status; there is nothing left to answer |
| Page not found after Accept or Dispute | The issuer reopened the proforma to correct it, so it is a draft again | Wait until it is sent to you again |
| No Proforma Invoices in the Finance menu | Your role, for example Tenant Supervisor, has no access to proformas | Ask a Tenant Owner, Tenant Admin or Tenant Accountant |