The new Estimates and Invoices application is included in Banana Accounting Plus. Creating and printing estimates and invoices becomes quick and easy.

To start, just download for free the Free Plan. You may enter up to a maximum of 20 invoices and 20 offers.

With the yearly plan, you can add an unlimited number of estimates and invoices. 

How to set up estimates and invoices

To create estimates and invoices, just set up your customer data, items or services to be invoiced, unit prices and VAT rates, while the program takes care of everything else.

There are many automations to make your work easy and with immediate professional results.

• Automatic retrieval of addresses from contacts to avoid having to re-enter the data in the invoice.
• Data import from SmallInvoice with specific Banana extension.
• No manual calculation. All calculations are automatic, always accurate and updated.
• Detailed estimates that can be quickly converted into invoices and sent to the customer.
• Invoices created with QR code for Switzerland.
• For every invoice, language, currency, number of decimals and rounding system can be set up.
• Changes and/or duplicates of invoices and offers already made to the customer. You just need to to add quantities and the new invoice is ready to be sent.
• Annotations for memos or other.
• Payment date to check receipts.
• View of overdue invoices to check due dates.
• PDF saving and paper-printable.
• Invoice archiving to have a history that is always organised and ready for possible tax inspections.
• Dark Mode on Mac and Windows.

Excel-like features

• Add as many rows as you want without limit, or delete the rows you don't require.
• You don't need to enter formulas because the calculations are updated instantly and you have a contextual view (like in spreadsheets).
• The columns are customizable, you can change their position, add new ones and change their width.
• Work with the format that suits you best.
• Colour the rows to immediately identify pending invoices or for other purposes.

Based on spreadsheets

The estimate and invoice application is built upon various tables, which are used in a similar way to those of Excel, but that are already fully set up and programmed with everything needed to manage your inventory in a fast and safe way.

• Contacts table
  This is the table where customer data can be registered in a precise and orderly way. The data can always be updated and modified.
• Items table
  This is the table where the data for the management of the items or services to be invoiced are inserted. By assigning an ID it is possible to group the various categories of items or services to be invoiced. You enter the quantities, the unit price and you can indicate the reference account in the accounting. Columns are also available for entering the date of entry and exit of the goods and for annotations.
• Invoices table
  This table is intended for entering the items which need to be invoiced.It is the most automated:
  • Automatic resumption of the customer's address by simply selecting the customer's contact ID.
  • Automatic retrieval of all invoice data: by double clicking on the cell in the Total column, an invoice dialogue opens up where you will find all the data entered in the other columns of the Invoices table (customer address, date and invoice number, reference, order number, unit price, VAT rate and other possible data). Just enter the quantities and the invoice is ready.It can be saved in PDF or printed on paper.
• Estimates table
  The offer data is entered. It is completely similar to the Invoices table, with the same functions, calculations and printing methods, obviously the wording changes. The estimates can be converted into invoices at any time with automatic recovery of the data in the invoice, which can be immediately saved, printed and sent to the customer with automatic recovery of the data in the invoice, which can be immediately saved, printed and sent to the customer.
• VAT codes table 
  VAT codes are set up for creating invoices. Whilst preparing invoices, both the rates and calculations are taken up automatically . The rates can be modified if the regulations in force change.

Accounting set up

Headings and basic data of Estimates and Invoices set up in a single dialog box, easy to display.

• Headings with free texts
• Address with all company data
• Link to predefined or customized extensions
• Password to secure your estimate and invoice
• You can create multiple Estimate and Invoice files in different languages.

File and data saving

• All your data is saved in a single file, where you can easily find everything without wasting time.
• Give the file the name you want.
• You can manage an unlimited number of files.
• Save data on any media, computer, network, cloud or send it by email. You can have access from wherever you are.
• Simultaneous access by multiple users, where, however, only one person can open the file to be edited.
• Make your accounting more secure by inserting password protection.

Handling Estimates and Invoices

• In the columns you can see the amounts in the format used by your computer.
• You choose the identifier of the article freely (numeric or alpha-numeric account, up to 256 characters).
• Balance, item movement and totals displayed at the same time and always updated.
• In the Links column of the Items table you can add a digital link for the registered item.
• In all tables you have predefined columns that you can make visible by choice.
• The Search command allows you to quickly search for the invoice or estimate data.
• The Replace command allows you to automatically replace texts or other data in the tables.
• You can sort the rows according to different sorting keys.
• Export to PDF for data storage.
• Export to other formats for data re-processing.
• Data import from other programs in Text, Ascii and CSV format.
• Data import from SmallInvoice.

Error reporting and control

• Command to quickly check accounting.
• Reporting of any wrong settings, differences or errors.
• Each report is linked to a help page that explains the causes and the solution.
• Possibility to amend at any time.

Prints and reports

• Print invoice with QR code.
  • It is possible to print the invoice with a QR bulletin even without an amount and without an address, leaving an empty box to manually insert the data. More information is available on the QR-Code Customization page, section Include/Exclude from printing.
• Print invoice for all other countries.
• Print invoice on paper or in PDF format.
• Add your own logo in the printouts of estimates and invoices.
• Open invoice report.
• On the Customise invoice printing page you will find all information for printing and its settings.
• Customise the estimate and invoice print.
  • With Banana accounting Professional you can use the preset settings and customize the printing of estimates and invoices.
  • With Banana Advanced, you can not only customize the printing of estimates and invoices, but also add additional customisations.

Data export and storage

• Copy and paste directly to and from Excel.
• Export tables to PDF and various other formats.
• Storage of printouts and data to PDF or other formats.
• Saving of the accounting file on any device.
• Export estimates and invoices data in .csv format with the extension Estimates and Invoices Tools.

Comprehensive documentation

• Constantly updated estimate and invoice application documentation.
• Banana accounting Plus documentation.
• Banana Accounting Plus questions and answers.
• Documentation also available in PDF format.

History of updates

The Estimate and Invoice application is constantly subject to updates and improvements.

For further details, consult the page Change history of estimates and invoices extension. 

 Features only available with the Advanced plan

• Set the discount for each item, both in terms of percentage and final amount.
• Insert the date when the service took place for each item.
• Add fields to the invoice for additional specific information (project, additional references, etc..).
• Print delivery notes with or without amounts.
• Print payment reminders with or without Swiss QR payment slip.
• Add an interim total (Banana Accounting+ 10.1.8 or newer).

Some customisations of the printing layout CH10 and UNI11 are available only with Banana Advanced.

 Features currently not available

The Estimates and Invoices application is one of the latest additions to the family and for the moment it supports the essential functions related to the preparation and printing of estimates and invoices. It does not yet support the following functionalities:

• It is not possible to import invoice data into the accounting file.
• Connect with Inventory application.
• Export individual invoice data.
• Automated sending of invoices by email.
• Automated sending of invoices by eBill.
• Define multiple IBAN codes.
• Add additional columns in the invoice details.
• Define a discount for a single contact.
• Define a discount for a single item - see Invoice Details page (only available with the Advanced plan).
• Importing QR-Code payments.
• Send a payment reminder.
• Create a new year.
• Enter the shipping address.
• The order number and date are not listed in the invoices table (this must be done manually).
• Automatically adding a charge for the reminder on the invoice.

To use the Invoice application you must have downloaded and installed Banana Accounting Plus.

For a quick and easy start we recommend the use of one of our templates.

 Create an Invoice file

Create an Invoice file starting with an existing template or by creating an empty file as follows:

• Menu File → New.
• Select Region / language.
• As Type, select Invoices.
• In the section on the right select the required template.
• Double-click on the template name or click the Create button. The program will open the selected file directly.
• Save the file indicating it's name.

 Enter basic data

• Via File → File and accounting properties → Address tab, set the address of your company, which will be included in the header of the invoice.
• If you wish to insert a logo, see the Set up logo page.

Create new Invoice

Via the Invoice → New Invoice ... dialog a new invoice will be created.

1. Enter the basic information of the invoice (invoice no, date, object, initial text and final text).
2. Enter your billing address (customer address).
3. Enter the invoice details (product, description, quantity, amount).
4. Check subtotals and grand totals and enter any discounts.
5. In Settings ... define some basic parameters of the invoice (currency, decimal points, rounding, payment term and VAT mode).
6. Save and print the invoice.

Print an invoice

You can print the invoice via the Invoice menu → Print Invoice command. or by clicking Print in the dialog for creating or modifying an invoice, you access the window for printing the invoice.

On the Print Offers and Invoices page you will find information on how to customise and print invoices.

The tables

The Invoice file consists of the following tables:

• Contacts table where to enter customer addresses.
• Items table where to enter the data for the management of the articles and the warehouse.
• Invoices table where to enter all the data relating to the invoices.
• Estimates table where to enter all data relating to offers.
• VAT Codes table where to enter the VAT codes with the relative rates.

The Contacts table displays the columns where you can enter customer addresses.

Contact addresses will be immediately available in the invoice dialogue when creating or editing the invoice, simplifying data entry.

Changing the data in the Contacts table does not change the data of existing invoices and offers. If you want an existing invoice or offer to be updated  with the new customer data, you must:

• Change the invoice or the estimate in the invoice dialogue.
• You must select the customer again from the list in the customer address section.

The columns

The Contacts table contains many columns, those displayed in the image are those in the Basic view. The complete list is visible in the Complete view. To customise the columns see the Columns Setup page.

Id

The contact number is entered.
The ID should be used only once and must not be repeated, even if multiple years are managed in a file.

Organisation

Enter the name of the company or organisation.

Title (Prefix)

Enter the title of the contact

Name

Enter the name of the contact.

Family name

Enter the surname of the contact.

Street

Enter the address.

Address extra

Enter extra address.
If you require the QR invoice layout, refer to the documentation Common elements for the QR invoice Switzerland for further information.

ZIP

Enter the postcode.

Locality

Enter the location.

Country code

Enter the Country code.

The country code must be formed by two characters conforming to the ISO 3166-1 standard (eg CH, LI, AT, DE, IT, FR).

Language

Enter the customer's language.

Invoice texts are printed in the customer's language, provided that it is set in the corresponding column.
The language is an ISO code, usually 2 lowercase letters (it=Italian, de=German, en=English, fr=French).

If no language is specified for the customer, the language of the file is used. This language is defined in the menu File → File properties (basic data) → Other → Current language.

Tax Code

Enter the customer's tax code

VAT number

Enter the customer's VAT number

Note

Any notes may be inserted.

 

The Items table presents the columns where to insert the data for the management of the items and the warehouse.

The items will be available in the Invoice Dialogue when creating or editing the invoice, simplifying data entry.

The columns

The items table contains many columns; those displayed in the image are those in the Base view. The complete list is visible in the Complete view. To customise the columns, please refer to the Columns setup page.

All column contents can also be printed on the invoice. See customisation print layout detail CH10.

Links

Link to a product image file or descriptive PDF file

Id

The item number is entered.
The ID should be used only once and must not be repeated, even if multiple years are managed in a file.

Description

The description of the item is entered.

Unit

The type of unit is entered (pieces, hours, etc.).

Unit Price

The unit price is entered.
In the invoice settings dialogue you indicate whether the amounts are VAT excluded or including VAT.
Please note that if you change the setting from VAT excluded to including VAT or vice versa, the program changes the amounts, so that the same invoice can be printed with VAT excluded amounts or amounts including VAT.

Account

Any account is entered as information to be used for manual entry in accounting.
This value serves only as information, it is not used for creating invoices.

Note

Any notes are inserted.

 Import of catalogue

Using the import functions, it is possible to automate the import of data from an existing product catalogue. See Retrieving data from other software.

It is also possible to integrate product catalogues into the invoicing program.

The Invoice table displays the columns where all invoice data that have been entered in the Invoice Dialogue are automatically retrieved.

From this table you can:

• Create new invoices
• Edit existing invoices
• Duplicate invoices
• Delete invoices
• Print invoices
• File invoices

The columns

The Invoices table contains many columns, those displayed in the image are those in the Base view. The full list is visible in the Complete view. To customise the columns, please refer to the Columns setup page.

Id

Enter the invoice number.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue.
The ID should be used only once and must not be repeated, even if multiple years are managed in a file.

Date

Enter the invoice date.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue.

Description

Enter the subject of the invoice.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue
This text will also be used as the title of the invoice. If defined, it overwrites the title entered in the settings.

Contact Id

Enter the contact ID number, as used in the Contacts table.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue

Address

The program will automatically resume the customer's address data, based on the contact id number entered.

Discount Amount

Enter the amount of the discount to be applied to the invoice.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue.

Total Amount

The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue.

Expiration

The expiration date is entered.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the Invoice dialogue.

Payment

The payment date is entered.

Notes

Further notes are entered.
The program automatically resumes the text entered in the End Text field of the Invoice Dialogue.

 

The Estimates table presents the columns where all offer data that has been entered in the Invoice dialogue are automatically taken over.

The columns

The Estimates table contains many columns, those displayed in the image are those in the Basic view. The complete list is visible in the Complete view. To customise the columns, please consult the Columns setup page.

Id

Enter the estimate number.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.
The ID should be used only once and must not be repeated, even if multiple years are managed in a file.

Date

Enter the estimate data.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.

Description

Enter the subject of the invoice.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.

Contact Id

Enter the contact ID number, as used in the Contacts table.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.

Address

The program will automatically resume the customer's address data, based on the contact id number entered.

Discount amount

Enter the amount of the discount to be applied to the estimate.
The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.

Total

The program will automatically resume the value entered in the estimate creation dialog.

Notes

Any notes may be inserted.

 

The VAT codes table displays the columns where you can enter the VAT codes with the respective rates.

The data must be entered manually. When VAT rates change, the table must be updated by changing or adding the ID codes and percentages of the new tax rates.

VAT Codes will be automatically taken over in the invoice dialogue when creating or editing the invoice, simplifying data entry.

The columns

The VAT Codes table contains many columns; those displayed in the image are those in the Base view. The full list is available in the Complete view. To customise the columns, please consult the Columns setup page.

Id

The VAT code is entered.
The ID should be used only once and must not be repeated, even if multiple years are managed in a file.

Description

Enter the description of the VAT code.

%VAT

The VAT rate is entered.

Notes

Any notes may be inserted.

VAT on the gross or net amount

The setting for calculation on the net or the gross amount is done at the individual invoice level, in the Invoice settings dialogue.

 

 

Invoices menu

In the Invoices menu you will find the commands to:

• Create new invoices
• Modify existing invoices
• Duplicate invoices
• Delete invoices
• Print invoices
• Show open invoices
• Show customer's invoices
• Archive invoices

 Create a new invoice

To create a new invoice you have two options:

• From the Invoices menu
  • Use the command Invoices → New Invoice.
  • The invoice dialogue is then opened where the data is entered.
  •  The new progressive invoice number is allocated by the programme. You can change it manually.
  •  Enter the invoice data and save
• Directly from the Invoices table:
  •  Select a new row in the table.
  • In the Id column (invoice number), click on the small 'New Invoice' icon that appears at the top of the cell.

• The invoice dialogue then opens where you enter your data.
• Enter the invoice data and save.

When you create a new invoice, the programme automatically updates the Invoices table. The data of the new invoice are added to a new row in the table.

 Edit Invoice

To edit an existing invoice, you have two options:

• From the Invoices menu:
  • Select the line with the invoice you wish to edit.
  •  Use the command from the menu Invoices → Edit Invoice.
  • The invoice dialogue opens where you can enter and edit data.
  • Make the timely changes and save.
• Directly from the Invoices table
  • Select the row with the invoice you want to edit.
  • In the Id column (invoice number), click on the small 'Edit Invoice' icon that appears at the top of the cell.
    
    
     
  • The invoice dialogue then opens where you can enter and edit data.
  • Make the timely changes and save.

When you edit an invoice, the programme automatically updates the data in the Invoices table.

 Duplicate invoice

To duplicate an invoice, you have two options:

• From the Invoices menu:
  • Select the row with the invoice you wish to duplicate.
  • Use the command from the menu Invoices → Duplicate Invoice.
  •  The new progressive invoice number is allocated by the programme. You can change it manually.
  • Then the Invoice dialogue opens with the data of the invoice you have chosen to duplicate.
  • Make the timely changes and save.
  • The programme automatically updates the Invoices table.
• Directly from the Invoices table:  
  • Select the row with the invoice you want to duplicate. You can also select several rows to duplicate several invoices at once.
  • Use the command from the menu Edit → Duplicate rows.
  • The programme automatically updates the Invoices table by adding the duplicate rows.
  • For each duplicate invoice, you must then manually edit the invoice number and data.

 Delete invoice

To delete an invoice:

• Go to the Invoices table.
• Select the row with the invoice you wish to delete. You can also select several rows to delete several invoices at once.
• Use the command from the menu Edit → Delete rows.
• The invoices are deleted from the table.

 Print invoices

On the Print Offers and Invoices page you will find information on how to customise and print invoices.

To print an invoice you have two options:

• From the Invoices menu:
  • Select the row with the invoice you want to print.
  • Use the command from the menu Invoices → Print Invoice.
• Directly from the Invoices table:
  • Select the row with the invoice you want to print.
  • In the column Id (invoice number), click on the small icon 'Print Invoice' which appears at the top of the cell.

 Show open invoices

You can extract invoices that have not yet been collected into a table:

• Go to the Invoices table.
• Use the command from the menu Invoices → View open invoices.
• The programme extracts all rows of invoices without a payment date.

Each time a new invoice is collected, enter the date of collection in the Payment column of the Invoice table.

 Show customer's invoices

You can extract customer's invoices into a table:

• Go to the Invoices table.
• Under the Contact Id column click on the customer number whose invoices you want to have.
• Right-click on the selected field and select the Extract rows command

The program extracts all rows belonging to the customer.

 Archive invoices

With the Estimates and Invoices application:

• You can enter as many invoices as you want, there are no limits.
• You can keep invoices from several years in one file.
• You do not need to create a new file for each new year.

Invoices from previous years can be archived at any time:

• See how to archive invoices.

The Invoice and Estimate dialog allows invoice data to be entered and edited. 

Open the Dialog

The dialog can be opened via:

• For the Invoice
  • The Invoice menu > New invoice.
  • The Invoice menu > Edit invoice.
  • The Invoice table > Double-click on the invoice line of relevance, in the Address column.
  • The Invoice table > Double-click on the invoice line of relevance, in the Total Amount column.
  • From the ID column, click on the small icon Edit invoice on the right-hand-side of the cell.
• For the Estimate
  • The Invoice menu > New estimate.
  • The Invoice menu > Edit estimate.
  • The Estimate table > Double-click on the estimate line of relevance, in the Address column.
  • The Estimate table > Double-click on the estimate line of relevance, in the Total Amount column.
  • From the ID column, click on the small icon Edit estimate on the right-hand-side of the cell.

Dialog Sections

The dialogue is divided into two sections:

• Invoice
  • In the Invoice section you enter the invoice data.
• Settings
  • In the Invoice settings section, parameters for new documents and interface settings of the invoice dialogue are defined.

 

 

With the Estimates and Invoices application you can also manage estimates.

The creation, modification, duplication and printing of estimates are handled exactly as the invoices.
Here is the dialog to create or edit Estimates:

From the Estimates table:

• Create a new Estimate with the menu command Invoices > New estimate.​​​​
• Edit an offer with the menu command Invoices > Edit estimate.
• Duplicate an estimate with the menu command Invoices > Duplicate estimate.
• Print an offer with the menu command Invoices > Print estimate.
• Convert an estimate into invoice:
  • Via the Invoices menu > Create invoice from estimate command.
  • Or using the Create invoice button from the estimate creation / modification dialog (Invoices > Edit estimate)

The dialogue for creating and modifying an estimate is the same as that of the invoice. For more information visit Invoice dialogue.

You can easily customise and adapt invoice printing to suit your needs.

Set your company address (sender)

In the File menu > File and accounting properties (Basic data) > Address , set the address of your company.

Set customer language

You can print invoices in the language of your customers. For each customer set the language in the Contacts table. You can also change it from the Edit Invoice dialog.

Retrieving customer addresses from Excel

When customer data are on an Excel file, they can be easily transferred to the Contacts table.

Proceed as follows:

• Select from Excel the column with the data to be copied and use the Copy (Ctrl+C) command.
• Go to Banana, Contacts table, position yourself in the corresponding column and issue the Paste (Ctrl+V or Paste) command from the Edit menu.
• Repeat this operation for all address columns (Account, First Name, Last Name, Organisation, Street, Zip, Country Code, Language).
  The data corresponding to the mentioned columns are required for printing the invoice.
• If you do not have all the columns mentioned in the Excel file, you must add the missing information manually.

Logo setup position and sender address

To set the logo, you must:

• Upload the logo image in the menu File > Logo setup.
• To use the logo in the invoice, in the Invoice Settings you must activate the Logo box and enter the name of the customisation you used, respecting upper and lower case, in the Logo Name field.

For example, you can place the logo on the left and the address on the right and change the size of the logo.

The address is automatically taken from the file basic data.

The sender's address, if the default settings are not changed, is entered on the right, regardless of the presence of the logo.

If you want to set the sender address on the left without any logo, please see the following page:

• Invoice with no logo and header address on the left.

If you want to enter a different address, via the Invoice Settings:

• Enter the texts you want using the Line 1 Text , Line 2 Text, Line 3 Text, Line 4 Text, and Line 5 Text.

Set the logo without the sender's address

On the Logo setup page you will find information on how to add and place the logo.

Through the Invoice Settings:

• Uncheck the Page header option to exclude the address in the header from printing.
• View the Logo option to include the logo in the printout.

Customise address in invoice header

The style of the sender's address in the invoice header (colour, size, font..) is set by default by the program.

The Advanced Plan of Banana Accounting Plus allows you to customize the style of the address. For more information see the Examples page.

Set invoice information

Invoice information is information about the date, customer number, due date, etc., which is usually located just below the header and next to the customer address.
The CH10 and UNI11 layouts allow you to define which invoice information to include and which to exclude from printing. You can find instructions on the Invoice Settings page.

For the other print layouts (CH01-CH09 / UNI01-UNI08), the information cannot be modified.

Add a new invoice information field

In addition to the default information fields (invoice number, date, customer number, etc.), you can also enter other custom fields.

In the Invoice section of the Invoice dialog:

• Go to the Complete view (top).
• Use the fields Additional info 1... Additional info 8 to add your own additional information fields.
• In the Information section of the Invoice Layout settings, view the Custom fields field.
• The new additional information fields are added at the end. It is not possible to change the order.

In the Settings section of the Invoice Dialog:

• Edit the texts of the Invoice User Fields as you wish.
• You can enter translations for each language.

Set the payment term

The payment term for invoices by default is 30 days.

To change the payment term you have two options:

• Change the default settings for all new invoices.
  • Go to the Settings section of the Invoice dialog.
  • In the New documents > Invoice Payment term(days) section set the value you want (e.g. 10).
  • The invoice due date will be recalculated with the new payment term.
• Change the payment term individually for each invoice.
  • Go to the Invoice dialog.
  • In the Due date field enter the payment deadline date (e.g. 31.12.2022).
  • The invoice due date will be replaced with the new payment term.

Set customer address position and composition

The CH10 and UNI11 layouts allow you to define:

• The location of the customer address.
• The elements of the address.

On the Invoice Settings page > Customer address section:

• In the Address composition field:
  • Choose how to compose the address by entering the XML names of the columns in the Contacts table.
  • You can use only the following columns (XML names):
    NamePrefix, OrganizationName, FirstName, FamilyName, Street, AddressExtra, POBox, PostalCode, Locality, Region, Country, CountryCode.
  • Change the location of the address using the Move horizontally and Move vertically options.

For other print layouts (CH01-CH09 / UNI01-UNI08), the location and composition of the customer address cannot be changed.

If you need more than one line to print your customer's address, see print customer/company address on four lines.

Set title/object

To enter the title/object of the invoice, you have two options:

• Enter the text in the Invoice dialog > Object field.
  • For each invoice you can define a title.
  • If you leave the field empty, the default text is used.
  • This title always has priority over entering the title in the layout settings (see next point).
• With the CH10 and UNI11 layouts, you can enter the text in the invoice Settings > Texts section > Invoice title.
  • The title applies to all invoices printed with this layout.
  • The title applies only if no title has been defined as per the first point.

Set initial text

To enter the title/object of the invoice, you have two options:

• Enter the text in the Invoice dialog > Begin text field.
  • For each invoice you can define a title.
  • If you leave the field empty, the default text is used.
  • This title always has priority over entering the title in the layout settings (see next point).
• With the CH10 and UNI11 layouts, you can enter the text in the invoice Settings > Texts section > Begin text.
  • The title applies to all invoices printed with this layout.
  • The title applies only if no title has been defined as per the first point.

Setting up the invoice details table

The Invoice Details Table is the central table in the invoice where the invoiced items/services appear, with quantities, unit prices, totals, etc.
Use the Invoice dialogue to enter items or other items to be invoiced.

See also pages:

• Invoice details
• Discounts and totals
• Advanced Settings

Set invoice item columns

With the CH10 and UNI11 layouts, you decide which columns to display in the printout. See how to do it in the page Invoice Settings > Invoice Details.

For the other print layouts (CH01-CH09 / UNI01-UNI08), the columns are not editable.

Create a Credit Note

To create a credit note:

• In the Invoices table, add a new invoice for the credit note.
  The invoice can be created as new or you can copy an existing invoice and then modify it.
• Open the newly created invoice for editing.
• Change the title/subject to "Credit Note."
• In the details table, add a row and set the quantity with a negative sign. This way, the total for the row will be negative.
   

Set final texts

To enter the final text of the invoice, you have several options:

1. Enter the text in the Invoice dialog > End Text field.
   • It is applied to any print layout.
   • The text is inserted just below the invoice details.
2. Enter the text in the Invoice Print Dialog > Options section > Final text.
   • It is applied to any print layout.
   • If you have already entered text as per step 1, the new text is added right after the previous one.
3. Enter the text in Invoice Settings > Texts section > End text field.
   • This text has priority over the text entered as per step 2.
   • If you have already entered text as per step 1, the new text is added right after the previous one.

Set bank account number

If you don't use the QR-Code, you need to enter the bank account number as a reference for the invoice payment.

You have three ways to enter the bank account number as the final text:

1. Invoice dialog > End text field.
   • The bank account number appears in the printout only for the invoice you are creating/editing.
   • It is applied to any print layout.
   • The text is inserted just below the invoice details.
2. Print Invoice dialog > Options > Final text.
   • In this case, the bank account is inserted in all invoices you create.
   • It is applied to any print layout.
   • If you have already inserted text as per step 1, in this case the new text is added right after the previous one.
3. Invoice Settings > Texts > End text.
   • In this case the bank account is inserted in all invoices you create using this layout.
   • This text has priority over the text entered as per step 2.
   • If you have already entered text as per step 1, the new text is added right after the previous one.

Set IBAN for Swiss QR-Code printing

If you want to create QR invoices with IBAN account, you need to:

• Set up IBAN account
• Set up the printing of the Swiss QR-Code

On the QR-Invoice with IBAN account page you will find more information for setting up QR-invoices with IBAN account.

Set up QR-IBAN for Swiss QR-Code printing

If you want to create QR-invoices with QR-IBAN account, you have to:

• Set up QR-IBAN account
• Set up Swiss QR-Code printing

On the QR-Invoice with QR-IBAN page you can find more information about the settings of QR-invoices with QR-IBAN account.

Print QR form without amount and address

If you want to print only the QR-bill without amount and customer address, you have to:

• Use the QR-Invoice extension without amount and address.
• Set the currency, address and IBAN account.
• Create the bulletin with QR code.

See also how to print an Invoice without amount.

Set styles and colors

On the Invoice Settings page you will find instructions for defining:

• Font and font size.
• Colors.

Set Bold texts

In the Invoice settings page you will find information on how to apply bold style to invoice texts.

 Add images in Offers or Invoices

The Advanced Plan of Banana Accounting Plus, with the new application Offers and Invoices, allows you to add images to the offers and invoices to be sent to customers.
This functionality makes the invoice even more customisable and the client who receives it has a more complete and direct vision of the invoicing of the items.

See our information pages on how to add images:

• Customise invoice print with Javascript
• Offers and Invoices with product images

 Print customer/company address on four lines

When the addressee is a company with several sectors/departments or a customer living in a housing complex with interiors, it may be necessary to have several lines available for printing the address.
This option is only available with the Advanced Plan of Banana Accounting Plus.

To activate the possibility of printing the recipient address on several lines, proceed as follows:

• Update extensions from the Extensions menu > Manage extensions > Update extensions.
• Open the invoice under Edit and in the Settings dialogue > Address section, make the fields Sector 1 ... 4 visible for the Basic view.
  
  

 

• Possibly switch from the Basic view to the Complete view without making the fields visible (in the Complete view all fields are visible).
• In the invoice address, enter text in the sector fields.
  
  

 

• In the print layout settings, add the Sector fields to the customer address composition.
  The content will be as follows:
  <OrganisationName>
  <OrganisationUnit>
  <OrganisationUnit2>
  <OrganisationUnit3>
  <OrganisationUnit4>
  <NamePrefix>
  <FirstName> <FamilyName>
  <Street> <AddressExtra>
  <POBox>
  <PostalCode> <Locality>
  
  

 

• If you wish to take these fields automatically from the Contacts table, add columns OrganisationUnit2, OrganisationUnit3 e OrganisationUnit4 to the Contacts table.
  
  

Other resources

• Customise invoice print

With the Estimates and Invoices application, included in Banana Accounting Plus, invoice printing is highly customisable and adaptable to all requirements.

Command Print Estimates/Invoices

Invoice printing is done from the menu Invoices → Print Invoice.

This command creates a print preview of the invoice. Directly from the preview, by clicking on the settings symbol (cogwheel) in the toolbar, you access the following dialogue box:

• Print Invoices dialogue. From this dialogue box you can do various things:
  • Set the layout to be used for printing the invoice.
  • Access the layout settings to customise the printout.
  • Change the print settings.
  • Export the invoice in pdf or other formats.

With the Advanced plan of Banana Accounting Plus it is also possible to print several invoices at the same time and obtain single PDFs for each of them! For more information visit the page Print invoices or customer statements as separate PDFs.

Print layout and customisation

The printing of the offer or invoice is highly customisable for several reasons:

• You can choose the Print Layout.
•  You can customise invoice printing by changing the layout settings.
•  Several layouts are available for invoice printing, here are the recommended ones:
  • The CH10 layout for all users in Switzerland.
    With the option to include the Swiss QR-Code in the printout.
  • The UNI11 layout for all users in other countries.
    Same as the CH10 layout, but without the QR-Code.

For more information on customisation, please consult the following pages:

• Customise your invoice print layout
  Find all the information you need to start creating a print-out according to your needs.
• Customise CH10 layout (also valid for UNI11 layout).
  • Activate and customise QR-Code for invoice printing in Switzerland.
• Insert item picture
  This option is only available with the Advanced Plan of Banana Accounting Plus. In the Estimates and Invoices application it is possible to insert the photo or an image of the article.
  For further details consult the page Print Photo.

Print table content

To print the contents of the Contacts, Items, Invoices, Estimates and VAT Codes tables, proceed as follows:

• Position yourself on one of the tables whose data you want to print.
• Go to the menu File → Preview/Print.

A PDF is displayed with a list of the data contained in the various columns of the chosen table.

Banana Accounting Plus, with the CH10 and UNI11 layouts, also allows you to print reminders.

Requirements for using layout preferences:

• Banana Accounting+ (version 10.1.7 or later).
• The Advanced plan

On the basis of the Invoice data entered in the Invoices table, reminders can be printed.

How to print a reminder

In the Invoices table select the row where the invoice for which you wish to print the reminder is located and proceed as follows:

• From the menu Invoices > Print invoices
• Select Layout CH10 or UNI11
• Under Print as, select one of the following options:
  • 1st reminder
  • 2nd reminder
  • 3rd reminder
• Confirm with OK

Print customization

All settings that characterise the CH10 and UNI11 layouts are also retained in the call-out printout.

To change the settings, go to Print Layout Settings.

Under Texts > Reminder you can define the start and end texts in the reminder

Print example:

Banana Accounting Plus, with the CH10 and UNI11 layouts, also allows delivery notes to be printed.

Requirements for using layout preferences:

• Banana Accounting+ (version 10.1.7 or later).
• The Advanced plan

Delivery note data are entered in the Invoices table, as is the case for invoices.

If the data on the invoice match those on the delivery note, the same data can be used for both the printing of the delivery note and the invoice.

How to print a delivery note

In the Invoices table select the row where the delivery note to be printed is located and proceed as follows:

• From the menu Invoices > Print invoices
• Select Layout CH10 or UNI11
• Under Print as, select:
  • Delivery note with amounts
     In this case, amounts in the details and total amount are included in the bulletin.
  •  Delivery note without amounts
    Only the details of the dispatched goods are displayed in the delivery note, without any amounts.
• Confirm with OK.

Print customization

All settings in Layout CH10 and UNI11 are also retained when printing the delivery note.

To change the settings, go to Print Layout Settings.

Under Texts → Delivery Note you can define the initial and final texts in the delivery note.

Print example:

With the Offers and Invoices application you can archive your offers and invoices at any time of the year. The file in which the invoice data is entered remains the same over the years.

Archive invoices individually

If you want to archive one or more invoices individually, proceed as follows:

• From the Invoices table go to the Archive view.
• In the Archive date column, enter the date of when you wish to archive the invoice.
• Archive the invoice with the command Invoices > Archive data > Archive table data.

Archive invoices for the year

To archive invoices for the entire year, proceed as follows:

• From the Invoices table go to the Archive view.
• In the Archive Date column, enter the date 31.12 in the first line and copy and paste on all lines.
• Archive the invoice with the command from the menu Invoices > Archive data > Archive table data.

Invoice archive

In the invoice archive you will find all archived offers and invoices.

Archived invoices are displayed in the Archive (Invoices) table and removed from the Invoices table.

The Archive (Invoices) table:

• Is displayed automatically when archiving invoices.
• If you close the table, use the command from the menu Invoices > Archive data > Show archived data to display it.

Archiving Table Data

This feature is available in Banana Accounting+ Dev Channel.

Data from the following tables can be archived:

• Contacts
• Items
• Invoices
• Estimates

To archive table data:

• Position yourself in the table where there is data to archive.
• Activate the Arch. Date column.
• In the Arch. Date column, enter the date of when you want to archive.
• From the menu Invoices > Archive Data > Archive table data, choose the table with the data to be archived.

The programme creates the Archive table where all archived data (Contacts, Items, Invoices or Estimates) are stored.

Viewing Archived Data

This feature is available in Banana Accounting+ Dev Channel.

Archived data is saved permanently in the Archive table.

To view the tables with archived data

• From the menu Invoices > Archive data > Show archived data
• Choose the table with archived data to display

The programme shows the Archive table where all archived data (Contacts, Items, Invoices or Estimates) are stored.

In the Estimates and Invoices application, it is possible to have all invoices created from one year to the next in a single file, without having to create a new file for the new year.

If, however, you wish to have separate invoices from one year to the next or not display the invoices from the previous year, there are two possible solutions:

1.  Archive the registered invoices to empty the Invoices table

•  From the Invoices menu, choose the option Archive data > Archive table data. More information can be found on the page Archiving Invoices.
• Archived invoices are displayed in the Archive (Invoices) table and removed from the Invoices table.

2.    Create a new file by making a copy of the previous year

•  Start from the current file and from File in the menu, click onto Save As command, naming the new year.
   You can also create a copy of the file from the menu, Tools > Create file copy command.
• In the Invoices table delete all rows where the previous year's invoices appear

For the Estimates and Invoices application, on the topic Create New Year, new developments will be possible in the future.

Estimates and Invoices Tools

Import/Export Estimates and Invoices

You can use the Estimates and Invoices Tools extension to import or export the following data from Banana:

• Invoices
• Offers

The imported/exported file format is described in the Estimates and Invoices Tools .

Import/Export Contacts and Items

You can use the "Data" menu to import or export the following data from Banana: 

• Contacts
• Items

The imported/exported file format follows Text file with columns header.

 Using catalogues for invoicing

It is possible to integrate product catalogues into the Estimates and invoice application. Companies can make catalogues available to their dealers so that they can prepare estimates and invoices more easily.
If you have any questions about this, please contact our customer service.

 

With the Estimates and Invoices Application, you can quickly create serial invoices from a data list in Excel. It is ideal for sending bulk invoices to clients or members of an association.

• Enter the data in Excel.
• Import it into Banana Accounting Plus using the import functions.
• Create and print the invoices.

Prerequisites

To create serial invoices with the Offers and Invoices Application, you need to:

• Use the following pre-prepared Excel file to enter the contact data.
  • [Download] Excel file for contacts.
• Use the following pre-prepared Excel file to enter the invoice data.
  • [Download] Excel file for invoices.
• Use the Offers and Invoices Tools extension to import the invoice data into Banana.
• Install the Beta version of the 'Estimates and Invoices Dialog Extension' of the Estimates and Invoices application.

Create Serial Invoices

Serial invoices can be created as follows:

1. Install the Offers and Invoices Tools extension.
2. Create the Offers-Invoices file and enter the basic data.
3. Create and import the contacts.
4. Create and import the invoices.
5. Print the invoices.

Install the Estimates and Invoices Tools Extension

Launch Banana Accounting Plus and install the Estimates and Invoices Tools extension.

From the menu Extensions > Manage Extensions, search for Estimates and Invoices Tools among the online extensions and click on Install.

Create the Estimates-Invoices File and Enter the Basic Data

There are two ways to prepare the file:

• Create a new file from the menu File > New, select the region and language, select the type Estimates and Invoices, select the blank template.
• Use your existing Estimates and Invoices file.

In the menu File > File Properties (Basic Data) > Address section, set the address of your association, which will appear in the invoice header.

If you have a logo you want to use, refer to the Logo setup page.

Create and Import Contacts

Contact data can be created using an Excel file. In this file, all the data is entered and then subsequently imported into Banana. There are two ways to do this:

Method 1

The first method is described on the page Retrieving data from Other Programs > One-Time Data Importing using Excel.

• In Excel, arrange the columns exactly in the same sequence as they appear in the Contacts table of Banana accounting.
• Select the data in Excel that you want to copy and use the Copy command (Ctrl+C or Copy from the Edit menu).
• Go to Banana accounting and issue the Paste command (Ctrl+V or Paste from the Edit menu).

Method 2

The second method uses the Import Rows command from the Data menu.

• Download the specific Excel file to enter the contact data.
  • The file is already set up with the necessary columns for entering the data.
  • Row 1 contains the column headers. This row should not be deleted, and the column names should not be changed.
  • The subsequent rows are example contacts.
  • To enable editing of the file, click "Enable Editing" in the yellow bar at the top.
• Open the file and enter the address data of your contacts in the appropriate columns. The columns are as follows:
  • RowId: The unique ID of the contact.
  • OrganisationName: The name of the organization or company.
  • FirstName: The first name.
  • FamilyName: The last name.
  • Street: The street.
  • PostalCode: The postal code.
  • Locality: The place.
  • CountryCode: The country code.
  • LanguageCode: The language of the contact used to create invoices. The invoice texts are printed in the defined language (it=Italian, de=German, en=English, fr=French).
    
    
     
• Save the file
• Select all the rows and use the Copy command (Ctrl+C or Copy from the Edit menu).
• Import the contacts into Banana accounting.
  • In Banana accounting, open the Estimates and Invoices file type.
  • Select the Contacts table.
  • From the Data menu, select the Import Rows command.
  • In the dialog that opens, check the option Import data from clipboard, then confirm with OK.

Create and Import Invoices

Invoice data can be created using an Excel file. In this file, all the data is entered and then subsequently imported into Banana accounting.

• Download the specific Excel file to enter the invoice data.
  • The file is already set up with the necessary columns for entering the data.
  • Row 1 contains the column headers. This row should not be deleted, and the column names should not be changed.
  • The subsequent rows are example invoices.
  • To enable editing of the file, click "Enable Editing" in the yellow bar at the top.
• Open the file and enter the invoice data in the appropriate columns.
  • For more information on the columns, see the Column paragraph of the Estimates and invoices import page.
  • Each row represents an invoice.
  • You can enter an invoice with multiple items. For each item, add a row to the invoice (see example in the image, rows 5-6).
    
    
     
• Save the File.
• Convert the Excel invoice file into one of the two required formats (*.csv or *.txt) to import the data into Banana Plus.
  • Open the Excel file with the invoice data.
  • Click on File > Save As.
  • Choose the option CSV (Comma delimited) if you intend to use the *.csv format; or choose Text (Tab delimited) if you intend to use the *.txt format.
  • Save the file (once the file is created, it's advisable not to open it to avoid making any changes, even unintentional ones, that could compromise the import into Banana Plus).
• Import the Invoices into Banana.
  • In Banana Accounting Plus, open the Estimates and Invoices file type.
  • Select the Invoices table.
  • From the Extensions menu, select Estimates and Invoices Tools > Import Invoices.
  • Select the *.csv or *.txt file you saved.
  • A dialog will show the changes that will be applied to the Banana file. Confirm by clicking OK.
  • In the Invoices table you see the rows with the imported invoices.
    If you do not see the imported invoices (you only see blank rows), use the command from the Invoices > Recalculate All menu.

Print Invoices

See how to print invoices and customize the print settings.

Error Messages and Troubleshooting

Per eventualFor any error messages encountered during the import process, refer to the documentation on Error Messages and Troubleshooting.