Storing and Deferring Invoices

Instead of immediately printing an invoice, it can be Stored or Deferred by clicking or either the Store or Defer button in the new invoice window.

The two are very similar, however deferring an invoice gives you more control over when the invoice is eventually printed.

When an invoice is stored, it is assumed that at the end of the month you will print all the stored invoices from within the Maintenance & Reports window (see Monthly Chores). When you do this, all stored invoices are immediately printed. Stored invoices are ideal for things like home visits.

Deferred invoices on the other hand are printed individually only when you choose to print them. For example, imagine that you admit a patient to hospital on the 28th of the month and whom you discharge on the 4th of the following month. You raise an invoice for each daily visit. If you stored these invoices then they would get printed with all the rest on the last day of the month. At the end of the following month, another set of invoices would be printed. In this situation it is much better to defer each invoice. Then, when the patient is discharged, go to File > Maintenance & Reports > Monthly Chores and click the Deferred Accounts button, select the patient from the list of deferred invoices and print all their invoices at once (For more information, refer to Monthly Chores) .

Stored and Deferred invoices can also be printed individually, using the Printer icon in the Patients Account History (Billing > Account History).