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Creating a customer invoice

By the end of this guide, you will know how to issue an OHADA-compliant customer invoice, from entering the lines to sending it by email. Validation automatically generates the VT journal entry and adds an authenticity QR code to the PDF.

Two ways to create an invoice

Section titled “Two ways to create an invoice”

This is the recommended path. Information is carried over automatically without re-entry. See Converting a quote to an invoice.

The rest of this article covers creating a direct invoice.

Creating a direct invoice

Section titled “Creating a direct invoice”

  1. Access the form

    Open Sales → Customer invoices and click New invoice.

  2. Select the customer

    Type the name or tax ID in the Customer field. Select the customer: the 411xxx sub-account is loaded automatically.

    If the customer doesn’t exist, click + Create a new customer to add them without leaving the form. See Creating a customer.

  3. Fill in invoice information

    FieldRequirementDescription
    Invoice dateRequiredIssue date (default: today)
    Payment termsRecommendedCash, 30 days, end of month…
    Due dateCalculatedDerived from the payment terms, editable
    Subject / ReferenceOptionalShort description or purchase order number

    Your NIU and RCCM come from the company details; the customer’s come from their record. Complete the customer record so they appear on the invoice.

  4. Add billing lines

    For each product or service:

    • Description: from catalogue or free entry
    • Quantity
    • Unit price excl. VAT in XAF
    • VAT rate (19.25% Cameroon by default)

    Example service invoice:

    DescriptionQtyUnit priceVATTotal incl. VAT
    Monthly tax advisory1450,000 XAF19.25%536,625 XAF
    Bookkeeping1800,000 XAF19.25%954,000 XAF
    Tax return1250,000 XAF19.25%298,125 XAF
    Total1,500,000 XAF excl.288,750 XAF1,788,750 XAF incl.
    Customer invoice creation form with product lines, 19.25% VAT and automatic calculation of the total including tax.
    Entering the lines: the total including tax recalculates with each line added.

  5. Verify mandatory OHADA requirements

    Before validating, ensure the invoice includes:

    • Sequential non-reusable number (FC-26-AA00001 by default)
    • Seller legal name and address
    • Seller tax ID
    • Customer legal name
    • Issue date and due date
    • Line items with VAT rates
    • Amounts excl. VAT, VAT amount, total incl. VAT

  6. Preview the PDF

    Click PDF preview to check the rendering before validating.

    PDF preview of a standard OHADA invoice with mandatory legal information and the issuer's NIU and RCCM.
    The PDF preview: company details, NIU, RCCM, lines and totals.

  7. Validate the invoice

    Click Finalize, or Finalize & send to send it to the customer straight away. Confirm the validation. You can also Save as draft and validate later.

    On validation, the invoice gets its final number and SynkriaOps posts the entry to the sales journal:

    VT Customer invoice, 1,788,750 XAF incl. VAT
    Compte Intitulé Débit Crédit
    411001 Customer Cabinet Bâtir 1 788 750
    706000 Services sold 1 500 000
    4431 VAT invoiced 288 750
    Totaux Écriture équilibrée 1 788 750 1 788 750 XAF

    The validated PDF carries a verification QR code: your customer scans it to confirm the invoice is genuine. See Verification QR code.

  8. Send to the customer

    If you did not choose Finalize & send, open the invoice and click Send by email: the address comes from the customer record and the PDF is attached. If you handed it over another way, click Mark as sent.

Invoice statuses

Section titled “Invoice statuses”

An invoice goes through Draft, To send, Sent, then Partial or Paid, or Overdue if the due date passes. Each status and the actions it allows are detailed in Sales statuses.

Track the payment

Section titled “Track the payment”

When the customer pays, record the payment on the invoice: the customer’s 411 account is matched and the invoice status updates.

Detailed view of a partially paid customer invoice with payment history and the linked accounting entry.
The invoice record: payment history and linked VT entry.

Common errors

Section titled “Common errors”
MessageCauseSolution
”Customer required”No customer selectedChoose or create the customer
”Date required”The invoice date is emptyEnter the issue date
”At least one line”The invoice has no lineAdd a line
”Description required”A line has no descriptionComplete or delete the line
”Quantity > 0”Zero or negative quantityEnter a positive quantity
The advance exceeds the totalAdvance received larger than the amountCorrect the advance amount

See also

Section titled “See also”