The lines grid is the body of an invoice: one row for each item or service the customer is buying. The same grid is used on estimates, sales orders and pending invoices. This article explains every column and how SeroBooks works out each line's price, discount and tax.
Adding lines
Lines are added from the item bar above the grid (Scan barcode or type item name / SKU — Enter adds the line):
- Scan a barcode, or type part of the item's name, variation or SKU.
- Use ↓ and ↑ to pick from the matches (each shows its SKU and the stock you hold: at this location, or here/all when you hold more elsewhere). Click, or press Enter, to add it.
- Adding the same item again adds another line or raises the quantity, depending on the item.
Other ways to add lines:
| Way | How |
|---|---|
| Grid entry (size / colour run) | The grid icon at the end of the item bar. Enter quantities for several sizes or colours of one item at once; SeroBooks adds a line for each and confirms how many were added from the grid. |
| New product | Shown when nothing matches what you typed. Creates the item and adds it to the invoice. |
| TIME & COSTS | On the right-hand panel: adds billable time and costs waiting for the customer as lines. See Add Time/Costs to an invoice. |
Services are items too: add them from the same bar.
The columns
| Column | What it shows / what to enter |
|---|---|
| LOCATION | The location (warehouse or store) the item ships from. Stock is taken from here. Change it for a line if it is going out of a different location; if the change could not be saved, SeroBooks asks you to reselect it before saving. |
| ITEM | The item's name. Double-click it to open Product 360 — the item's stock, prices and history. Under the name there may be a strip to choose a lot/batch, enter serial numbers or pick a warranty for items that track them, and a class chip when your company uses classes (to code this line to a class different from the invoice's). |
| SERIAL / IMEI | For serial-tracked items: scan or type the serial number of the unit sold. A serial-tracked line always has quantity 1 — Serial-tracked: one unit per line — scan the item again for another. SeroBooks checks the serial is a unit you hold; if it is not, it says so when you save. |
| QTY | The quantity. Type it, or use − and +. From the item bar, Tab jumps to the last line's quantity; Enter or Tab in the quantity moves to the price. Items sold by weight show a weight field instead. |
| U/M | The item's unit of measure (each, box, kg…), from the item record. — when none is set. |
| PRICE | The unit price before tax. It starts at the item's selling price, or the customer's price-level price. Type a new price and press Enter or Tab to apply it; the cursor returns to the item bar. For a customer billed in another currency the price is shown in that currency. |
| DISCOUNT | The line discount, as a percentage or an amount, or —. Click it to change it. See Line discount. |
| TAX | The tax code on the line. Click it to choose another. See Tax on a line. |
| NET AMOUNT | Quantity × price, less the line discount, before tax. |
| × | Delete line (Ctrl+Del). |
Below the grid, the footer counts the lines and units and shows Items — the total of the lines. With no lines the grid says Scan or search above to add the first item.
Prices
A line's price comes from, in order:
- The item's standard selling price (its shelf price).
- The customer's price level, if any: a percentage off or on the shelf price, or the item's price on the level's price list. See Price Levels.
- A price you type on the line.
If you type a price below the item's cost, SeroBooks warns Selling below cost, shows the cost, your price and the loss on the line, and asks whether to sell anyway.
Line discount
Click the DISCOUNT cell to open Line discount:
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Percent % / Amount | Whether the discount is a percentage of the price or an amount off each unit. |
| Discount % / Discount amount | The discount. Leave empty or 0 to remove the discount. More than 100% is capped at 100%; an amount above the price is capped at the price. |
| Unit price, Discount, New unit price, Line total | A preview of the effect. |
Click OK. The discount always works from the line's list price, so changing it replaces the old discount rather than adding to it. Line discounts show in green in the grid.
For a discount on the whole invoice — a percentage, an amount, or a second percentage after the first — use the DISCOUNT tile on the right. See Create Invoices.
Tax on a line
Each line carries a tax code, starting with the item's own. SeroBooks then adjusts it for the customer:
- Destination tax: the customer's billing province decides which taxes apply (GST, HST, GST and PST, GST and QST). SeroBooks re-works each line's tax for the province when you choose the customer and again just before you save, and shows a note under Taxable amount when it changed something.
- Resellers: for a customer marked Buys to resell — no PST, lines carry GST only.
Click the TAX cell to choose another rate for that one line — for example an item that is exempt for this sale. Choose No tax to sell the line untaxed. The cell warns you when something is wrong:
| Warning | Meaning |
|---|---|
| No tax rate is set on this product, so it is being sold UNTAXED. Pick the correct rate — it applies to this line only. | The item has no tax code. Pick one, and fix the item so it is right next time. |
| This product uses a tax rate this till has not synced yet… | The rate exists on the server but not yet on this computer. Pick a rate or wait for the sync. |
The right-hand panel shows each tax separately with its total. The tax you charge is what posts to GST/HST payable and PST payable. See Tax on invoices, bills and expenses.
Changing and removing lines
- Change the quantity, price, discount or tax in place; totals update immediately.
- Remove a line with the × at its end, or Ctrl+Delete on the line.
- On a saved invoice, removing a line that was on the original invoice asks Returning "(item)" — What happens to the item?: Keep on invoice (cancel), Damaged (the stock is written off as damaged) or Restock — sellable (the stock goes back on the shelf). See Edit, copy, void or delete an invoice.
What the lines post
Each line's net amount is credited to the item's income account (or Sales revenue when the item has none); the tax is credited to the tax payable accounts; for stock items, the cost is debited to Cost of goods sold and credited to Inventory. A line coded to a class or job stamps that class or job on its ledger rows. See Item accounts and Create Invoices.
Common problems
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Nothing in the catalogue matches… | Check the spelling or SKU; if the item is new, click New product. |
| A line shows the wrong tax. | Check the customer's province, then click the line's TAX to fix that line. Fix the item's tax code so future sales are right. |
| The quantity cannot be changed. | The item is serial-tracked: scan it again for each unit. |
| The price keeps changing back. | Changing the customer re-prices lines from their price level. Set the customer first, then type special prices. |
| Stock shows in amber. | You have none at this location. Change the line's LOCATION if it ships from elsewhere. |