The economy of Australia has been changing due to the emergence of new business ideas on a daily basis. New technologies, scientific breakthroughs as well as changes in international policies have had an impact on the business landscape, and it is important to note from the onset that invoicing has become part and parcel of business operations in Australia.
Pro-forma Invoice
A Pro-forma invoice happens to be one of the most common types of invoicing as it is meant to notify the customer on how much is supposed to be paid for a service rendered or goods that are supposed to be delivered. It prepares the customer psychologically at an expense that will be met.
At times it is used to estimate the value of goods that someone will give out as a gift or what someone will receive as a gift. This mostly happens when rewarding loyal customers.
In Australia, Pro-forma invoices act as a commitment to offer something or provide a service to completion, and the value indicated is subject to change depending on market changes.
Interim Invoice
Due to technological advancements, there are projects which may require lots of funds to complete, and the capacity of the balance sheet of the companies handling the projects may not handle. In such cases the projects are divided into different phases, enabling the payment for the project to be made in phases to enable the contractors to execute the project to completion.
In such cases, the invoice that is raised after each phase is referred to as an interim invoice and it must have a brief explanation of what has been executed and how much funds the invoice is supposed to raise. This helps upcoming contractors who might not be having funds to execute a big project neither can they access a loan facility but have the capacity to execute a particular project.
Final Invoice
In Australia, it is a requirement that at the completion of a particular project, the contractor is duty-bound to notify the client that the project is complete so that the client can fulfill his part of bargaining.
It is different from a Pro-forma invoice in that it is given out once a project has been completed, and it also acts as a demand for payment because the work that the two parties agreed has been completed. It normally harbors inventory of the products and services that were included in the project, their total cost, the due date that the money is required, and the mode of payment that will be used.
In Australia, final invoices are normally sent electronically to avoid wasting time in going to pick them manually and funds are normally requested to be sent electronically.
Past Due Invoice
When there is a delay in settling a payment, it is a requirement in Australia that a person or organization is reminded of the pending bill before resorting to taking legal action. This is normally sent after the final invoice has not been honored, and it is supposed to act as a reminder normally quoting the details of the final invoice including the invoice number and the date the same was raised.
Depending on the nature of the agreement and the time that the funds have been delayed, at times the delayed money may attract some interest in form of a penalty, and this is meant to put pressure on the client to pay.
In Australia, when a final invoice is not honored, the party that is looking for funds will solicit for collection agencies and auctioneers may be employed.
Recurring Invoice
At times there are expenses that are ongoing or made periodically. For example, we have paid for utilities that may include rent and subscription to different clubs whereby the amount of money charged periodically is the same. In this case, the organization offering the service will supply the customer with a recurring invoice, and this is required to ensure that a good working relationship is maintained between the two parties, and the service provider gets his money in good time to improve on service delivery.
Credit Memo
At times people send goods and they might be damaged, be stale or not be the right goods, to keep the relationship between the client and the customer the client will issue a credit memo of the same amount of money that the client parted with when paying for the goods that are in contention. In Australia, this is supposed to acknowledge a mistake hence repaying the customer and maintaining a good working relationship.
