SyteLine customer order to invoice, step by step

Short answer

In SyteLine a customer order goes through four stages. Enter it on the Customer Orders form and add lines on Customer Order Lines. Check credit and availability. Ship it. Invoice it on the Order Invoicing/Credit Memo form, choosing Invoice and clicking Process. Printing the invoice also posts it to Accounts Receivable. An order can only be invoiced for what has actually shipped, and lines on invoice hold are skipped. Most "the order won't invoice" tickets come down to one of those two rules, a failed credit check, or a stuck background task.

The flow at a glance

Stage	Where	What can stop it
1. Enter the order	Customer Orders, then Customer Order Lines (or Customer Orders Quick Entry)	Missing required fields, obsolete or slow-moving item warnings
2. Check credit and availability	Credit check on save; Get ATP / Get CTP on the line	Order fails the credit check and goes to status Planned
3. Ship	Shipping transactions; packing list before or after	Not enough stock, wrong location or lot, a long-running packing slip task
4. Invoice and post	Order Invoicing/Credit Memo	Nothing shipped yet, invoice hold on the lines, blocked or failed background task

Stage 1: Enter the order

Open Customer Orders and complete the required fields.
Save the order.
Click Lines to open Customer Order Lines and add the lines and releases.

For a whole order in one go, Customer Orders Quick Entry is faster.

SyteLine warns you when an item is flagged obsolete or slow-moving. Don't train users to click past these. They're often the first sign that the item master needs attention.

If a line needs to be tied to a specific job or purchase order, cross-reference it to that supply at this point, so planning and shipping know where the goods are coming from.

Stage 2: Credit and availability

Credit check

When a line is saved, SyteLine runs its credit checks, unless the customer is allowed to go over their credit limit. If the order fails, its status changes to Planned, a warning appears, and the record still saves.

This catches people out. The order looks entered, but a Planned order isn't ready to ship. When sales says "the warehouse can't see my order," check the status first.

Availability: ATP and CTP

On the line, Get ATP (available to promise) or Get CTP (capable to promise) returns a realistic date. Which button you see depends on your planning mode. MRP mode disables them. See MRP vs APS in SyteLine.

Use these before promising a date, not after.

Order acknowledgement (optional)

Print the Order Verification Report only when the customer wants a hard-copy acknowledgement, for example on long lead-time orders.

Stage 3: Ship

Shipping transactions move the stock out and record what was shipped. The packing list can be printed before or after shipping.

Two things to watch here:

Ranges on packing slip runs. A mistyped order range can keep the task running for days and block invoicing for everyone. That's a real case, explained in Why a SyteLine task runs for days.
Stock in the right place. Shipping needs the quantity in the location, and the lot if lot-tracked, that the shipment uses. Inventory that's "there" in the item total but not in that location won't ship.

Stage 4: Invoice and post

Open Order Invoicing/Credit Memo.
In Invoices or Credit Memos, choose Invoice.
Fill in the selection fields: the orders, customers and dates you want to invoice.
Click Process.

Printing the invoice also posts it to Accounts Receivable. There's no separate posting step for order invoices, which is why the invoice run deserves the same care as a posting utility. Check the selection before you click Process.

Two rules decide what gets invoiced:

Only shipped quantities are invoiced. Nothing shipped, nothing to invoice.
Lines on invoice hold are skipped.

For the purchasing side of the same cycle, see SyteLine purchase order to voucher.

For invoices that aren't for shipped or returned inventory, such as service charges or adjustments, use Invoices, Debit and Credit Memos instead.

When the order "won't invoice": a checklist

Work through this in order:

Was it shipped? Check shipped quantity on the line. Unshipped lines can't be invoiced.
Invoice hold? Check the line.
Status? A Planned order (failed credit check) never reached shipping.
Selection? Re-read the ranges on the invoicing form. The order may simply be outside them.
Is the invoice task running or stuck? Check Active Background Tasks. If it's RUNNING far longer than usual, something may be blocking it. See the wrong-range article for how to find and confirm the blocker.
Did it fail? Check Background Task History for the invoicing task and read its messages.

Good habits

Invoice daily, not weekly. Smaller runs finish faster, fail less, and errors are found while people still remember the orders.
Watch Planned orders. A short daily list of orders stuck in Planned because of credit checks stops sales and the warehouse arguing about "missing" orders.
Know your normal run times for packing slips and invoicing, so a long runner stands out the same day.

FAQ

How do I invoice a customer order in SyteLine?

Open Order Invoicing/Credit Memo, choose Invoice, enter the selection, and click Process. Printing the invoice also posts it to Accounts Receivable.

Why won't my SyteLine order invoice?

Usually because nothing has shipped, the lines are on invoice hold, the order failed its credit check and is Planned, or the invoice task is stuck behind another task.

Why did my SyteLine order go to Planned status?

It failed the credit check when the line was saved. The order is saved, but it isn't released for shipping.

Does printing an invoice post it in SyteLine?

Yes. Printing the invoice from Order Invoicing/Credit Memo also posts it to Accounts Receivable.