Proforma invoices
A proforma invoice is a draft bill for one completed order. The issuer sends it to the tenant it bills, the tenant accepts or disputes it, and once accepted it is turned into the real VAT invoice.
Overview#
A proforma lets the two sides agree on an invoice before the legally binding VAT invoice exists. Each proforma covers exactly one financial transaction — for a proforma an issuer drafts, one completed order; there are no period statements covering many orders. Proformas are found under Finance → Proforma Invoices in the portal menu. The steps a proforma goes through are described on Proforma invoice statuses.
Issuer and billed party#
Two separate things are recorded on every proforma:
| Who | How it is set | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | A merchant, or the platform | From the user who creates it: a merchant user issues for their own merchant; a platform operator issues for the platform. It is never chosen on the form |
| Billed party | The tenant whose order it is — or, for a platform subscription, the subscribing tenant or merchant | Taken from the chosen transaction, together with the currency; for subscriptions, from the subscription |
Proformas the platform raises for subscriptions are issued by the platform and created already Sent; see Subscription pricing and billing cycles.
Fields#
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Source transaction | The completed order being billed; searched by order ID, merchant order ID or tenant name |
| Invoice Number | Generated by the platform |
| Issue Date | Entered by the issuer; today by default |
| Subtotal | Entered by the issuer and must be greater than zero; Vietnamese number formatting is understood (1.000.000 is one million) |
| VAT amount | Entered by the issuer, never negative; leave empty for a zero-VAT proforma |
| Total | Always subtotal plus VAT; it cannot be typed in |
| Description | Free text |
| Status, Issuer, Tenant, Merchant | Status, Issuer and Tenant are shown on the list and detail pages; Merchant only on the detail page |
Subtotal, VAT amount and Description are entered on the form; the detail page shows the Total. The issuer can change them only while the proforma is a Draft.
Which orders can get a proforma#
The Source transaction search lists a transaction only when all of these hold:
- it belongs to a purchase, work or refuel order that is Completed and has not been deleted or deactivated, and the transaction is billed to a tenant;
- it was created in the last 2 months;
- it has no VAT invoice yet;
- it has no invoice obligation recorded yet, other than a cancelled one — an obligation is recorded, for example, when the transaction is paid;
- it has no other proforma.
A merchant sees only its own transactions; a platform operator sees all. The search shows up to 50 matches. When nothing matches, the form says: "No eligible order matches. Only completed orders from the last 2 months with no invoice and no live proforma are listed.". These rules stop one order being invoiced twice by two routes.
Who sees what#
| Viewer | Sees |
|---|---|
| Tenant users with access | Proformas billed to their tenant, from Sent onwards — never a Draft |
| Merchant users with access | Proformas their merchant issued, including drafts, and proformas billed to their merchant |
| Platform operators | All proformas |
| Supervisors | Nothing; they do not see the page |
A merchant never sees another merchant's proformas.
Permissions#
| Action | Merchant Owner, Admin, Accountant | Tenant Owner, Admin, Accountant | Platform Operator | Supervisors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View proformas | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Create, edit a draft, send, reopen, finalize | Yes (proformas their merchant issued) | No | Yes (platform-issued) | No |
| Accept or dispute | No | Yes (proformas billed to their tenant) | No | No |
| Delete | No | No | No | No |
From proforma to VAT invoice#
Once the tenant accepts, the issuer finalizes the proforma:
- Merchant-issued: the platform records that the merchant owes a VAT invoice. The merchant issues it on its own e-invoice system; when that invoice reaches the platform, the obligation is closed once the invoice is matched and the order has been paid. See Finalize an accepted proforma invoice.
- Platform-issued: the platform requests its own VAT e-invoice, which is then issued in the background. Finalizing is refused when the proforma total differs from the order's amount, or when an e-invoice has already been requested for that transaction.
A disputed proforma cannot be finalized: the issuer reopens it as a draft with Reopen, corrects it, and sends it again for acceptance. The finished invoice appears with the company's other VAT invoices; see VAT invoices.