This article explains how to invoice a customer who pays for goods before they are delivered, with the payment split into installments.
Create the sales order and the first invoice
Create the sales order. Read how to create a sales order in tracezilla.
In the order header, select the payment term Paid in advance.
In the field below the payment term, describe the agreement as text, e.g. “Prepayment. Agreement with J. Jensen” or “Prepayment Oct 26 2026".
Click Add Lot Line to add the goods you are selling.
Enter the price per unit of measure.
Click Save. Repeat for every order line.
Click Select lots and choose the batches the customer will receive.
Click the Service Lines tab.
Click Create Service Line.
In the Price field, enter the amount the customer does not pay now as a negative amount.
Remember the minus sign (-) in the Price field. The negative service line subtracts the amount that will be invoiced later.
Click Create Invoice in the top right corner.
In the Delivery selection field, select Invoice everything - do not deliver. The order is invoiced, but the goods are not marked as delivered yet.
Select the correct Payment Date and click Create Invoice.
tracezilla does not calculate the payment date automatically when the payment term is Paid in advance or Custom. You need to enter it yourself.
Create the final invoice
On the Service Lines tab, Edit the price of the negative service line to 0. tracezilla then calculates the amount the customer still owes for the goods.
Optionally, change the line text of the service line, e.g. to add a reference to the first invoice.
Click Create Invoice in the top right corner.
In the Delivery option field, select Deliver all lot lines and invoice. The goods are marked as delivered when the invoice is created.
Change the payment date. Tip! Click Create first as Draft to see a proforma.
Example of a prepayment split into two invoices/installments
A customer orders goods for a total of EUR 1,140. The customer pays in two installments: EUR 500 on 26 October 2026 and the remaining EUR 640 on 1st November 2026.
For the first invoice, you subtract EUR 640 from the total price of EUR 1,140 with a negative service line. You create an invoice for the EUR 500 and send it to the customer.
When the final installment is due, you change the negative service line to EUR 0 and create another invoice. tracezilla registers that the first invoice has a total of EUR 500 and the service line that was previously negative is now 0 and issues an invoice for the remaining EUR 640 (1,140 - 500).
First invoice
Final invoice
Find the invoices for the order
You can find all invoices for the order in the yellow section Shortcuts.
