Customer and invoice accounts

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 finance and operations apps, invoices are an essential part of the sales process. The assumption is that the customer who places an order also receives the invoice. However, there might be situations where the customer who must be invoiced differs from the customer who places the order. This article explains the concept of customer accounts and invoice use.

Sales order fields

When an order or sales order is created in finance and operations apps, the Invoice and delivery FastTab provides the fields that are needed to manage the invoicing process.

In the Invoice account field, users can select the customer account to invoice, and that customer account can differ from the one that's associated with the order. This capability is useful when parties such as resellers or distributors act as intermediaries between the order customer and the invoicing party.

Examples

• Same customer account In most cases, the customer account that's selected for invoicing is the same as the customer account that's associated with the order. This scenario is applicable when the order customer is also responsible for receiving the invoice directly. In these cases, the Invoice account field is updated with the order customer's account. Therefore, there's no need for manual selection.
• Separate customer accounts In some cases, the customer who places the order isn't responsible for receiving the invoice directly. An example is a sales scenario where a distributor places an order on behalf of a retailer. In these cases, the distributor's account can be selected in the Invoice account field.

Other fields to consider

• Billing address – When a different customer account is invoiced, it's essential to provide the correct billing address that's associated with the invoice recipient.
• Financial agreement – Any financial agreements, such as payment terms or credit limits, should be aligned with the selected invoice account.
• Communication – Clear communication and information exchange between involved parties, including the order customer and the invoice recipient, are critical to preventing misunderstandings or delays.