A partial invoice is used when payments for a sales order are made in multiple stages, such as advance payments, deposits, or installment payments. Instead of issuing a single invoice at the end of a project or delivery, this method allows for progressive invoicing throughout the process.
With the Partial invoice module in Xentral, multiple partial invoices can be created from a sales order and later consolidated into a final invoice. This ensures compliance with tax regulations by transparently listing all previously made partial payments in a table below the item list.
This approach is particularly relevant for businesses that need to bill long-term services or large sales orders while allowing customers to pay in multiple installments. It provides transparency for both parties and ensures that all payments are correctly documented until the final invoice is issued.
Important
The Partial invoice module is only available if you are using Xentral on the Pro plan.
For more information on the available Xentral plans, please visit our website.
The module Partial invoice in Xentral provides the following functions:
-
Creating partial invoices directly from a sales order.
-
Recording multiple partial payments with a detailed breakdown.
-
Automatically generate the final invoice, incorporating all previous partial payments.
-
Tax-compliant overview of already paid amounts and the remaining balance.
Caution
A partial invoice alone is not a full invoice but a record of a partial payment, which is fully reconciled in the final invoice.
Before using partial invoicing, ensure compliance with your local tax regulations by consulting your tax advisor or the relevant tax authority.
A partial invoice is based on an existing sales order and allows for the billing of installment payments. Depending on the use case, products from the sales order can be carried over, or specific products can be defined for the partial payment. The following section explains the step-by-step process of creating a partial invoice.
For a partial invoice, you can either use products from the sales order or create a new product specifically for the partial payment (e.g. "Partial payment 50%"). Quantity and price can be adjusted as needed. The choice depends on the business model—whether billing is based on unit quantities, machinery, or custom-made products.
A partial invoice is based on an existing sales order. Therefore, a sales order must first be created for the customer.
Proceed as follows to create a sales order.
-
Navigate to Sell > Sales orders > + NEW.
-
Select the customer and add the products for the delivery or service.
-
Save the order and release it.
-
In the Partial invoice tab, you will later see an overview of all related partial invoices. From there, you can create both partial invoices and the final invoice.
Once the sales order is created and released, you can generate the first partial invoice from it.
Caution
Before creating a partial invoice, ensure compliance with applicable tax regulations by consulting your local tax office or the appropriate financial authority.
Proceed as follows to create a partial invoice.
-
Open the sales order and click on Generate Partial Invoice.
-
Enter a name for the partial invoice (e.g. "Deposit 1" or "Deposit 2").
-
Select whether to transfer the positions from the sales order. These will appear with quantity 0 to prevent premature VAT calculation.
-
Select the product for the partial payment that should appear on the invoice.
-
Optional: Adjust the product name, description, quantity, and price if needed.
-
Click on Create to generate the partial invoice.
-
Click on Preview" to display a preview of the draft invoice.
-
Send the partial invoice to the customer.
Field name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Name for partial payment invoice |
Name that is displayed on the partial invoice, e.g. "1st partial invoice" or "2nd partial invoice". |
|
Apply positions: Transfer all items with quantity 0 from original invoice |
The positions from the sales order are carried over with their price, but with a quantity of 0. This ensures that VAT is not applied prematurely while keeping the products visible in the partial invoice for reference. |
|
Partial payment item |
Select a product that should be listed as the position for the partial payment on the partial invoice. |
|
Product name |
Optional if different: Name of the product as it should be displayed on the partial invoice. |
|
Item description |
Optional if different: Description of the product as it should be displayed on the partial invoice. |
|
Quantity |
Optional if different: Quantity of the product displayed on the partial invoice. |
|
Price |
Optional if different: price of the product displayed on the partial invoice. |
The final invoice consolidates all previously created partial invoices and shows the final invoice amount. After all partial invoices have been created, the final invoice can be generated.
Proceed as follows to create a final invoice.
-
Go to Sell > Sales orders.
-
Open the desired sales order.
-
Open the Partial invoice tab.
-
Click on Generate final invoice.
-
The final invoice includes an overview of all previous partial payments and the remaining balance.
-
Click on Save.
-
Open the invoice in the preview.
-
Send the final invoice to the customer.
Field name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Please assign an appropriate name |
Label that is displayed on the final invoice, e.g. "Final Invoice". |
Caution
Before creating the final invoice, ensure compliance with applicable tax regulations by consulting your local tax office or the appropriate financial authority.
The final invoice provides an overview of all previous partial payments, allowing the customer to clearly see which amounts have already been paid and which are still outstanding.
Example content of the final invoice:
Receipt number |
Paid |
Incl. VAT |
Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1st partial invoice 400056 from 20.01.2025 |
71,39 |
11,40 |
|
|
2nd partial invoice 400159 from 22.02.2025 |
35,70 |
5,70 |
|
|
Total (all amounts in EUR) |
107,09 |
17,10 |
178,46 |
Note
The final invoice includes acomplete list of all previous partial payments, ensuring transparency of the total amount paid and the remaining balance. Furthermore, a record of all payments applied to partial invoices at the time the final invoice is created is included.
Caution
If additional payments for outstanding amounts from previous partial invoices are received after the final invoice is issued, youu should book them directly to the final invoice and not retroactively to the partial invoices.
You can mark partial invoices as paid in two ways:
-
Booking an incoming payment: When a payment is received in the bank account, it can be directly allocated to the corresponding partial invoice. This is done via the standard payment booking process, marking the invoice as paid. Further information is available in the Payment reconciliation (Xentral Receipt of payment) article.
-
Manually setting the payment status: If the payment has already been recorded elsewhere or no automatic reconciliation is performed, the partial invoice can be manually marked as paid. To do this, change the payment status in the invoice to Manually set to paid and click on Save.
All completed payments are consolidated and taken into account in the final invoice. Outstanding amounts are only visible to the customer in the final invoice, not in the partial invoices.