Data Flow: Quote to Invoice

MonetizeNow keeps the latest contract details on your Quotes and Invoices, no matter where in MonetizeNow you change them. The Bill Group is the record that holds them. Quotes write to it, and each new Invoice copies from it.

Why it matters

Your customer's details change over time. For example, a customer's Contact information might change, and you might not hear about it until after an Invoice is issued. The customer may ask you to fix it before they pay, especially if it affects Taxation. So when you make that change on the Invoice, where does it go? Will future Invoices use it?

The short answer: an Invoice is a snapshot. Changing an Invoice fixes that one Invoice. To change future Invoices, change the Bill Group, or process a Quote that changes it.

Data flow diagram

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flowchart TD
    NQ["Step 1 · New Quote<br/>created and processed"]

    subgraph S2["Step 2 · Source of truth"]
        BG["Bill Group<br/>contacts, addresses, net terms,<br/>PO, VAT, registration no."]
        C["Contract<br/>end action,<br/>auto-renewal notice period"]
    end

    AQ["Step 3 · Amendment or<br/>Renewal Quote<br/>created and processed"]
    INV["Step 4 · Invoices created<br/>snapshot taken at creation"]

    NQ -- "creates using<br/>data from Quote" --> S2
    S2 -- "uses data from<br/>Contract and<br/>Bill Group" --> INV
    INV -. "invoice edits<br/>never flow back" .-x S2
    S2 -- "new quote starts<br/>from current data" --> AQ
    AQ -- "on process:<br/>updates Bill Group<br/>and Contract" --> S2

    classDef quote fill:#FFFFFF,stroke:#7779F6,stroke-width:2px,color:#05115E;
    classDef core fill:#05115E,stroke:#05115E,color:#FFFFFF;
    classDef snapshot fill:#E6E7FE,stroke:#7779F6,stroke-width:2px,color:#05115E;
    class NQ,AQ quote;
    class BG,C core;
    class INV snapshot;
    style S2 fill:#F2F3FF,stroke:#7779F6,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray:6 4,color:#4659DA;
    linkStyle default color:#05115E,stroke:#4659DA,stroke-width:2px;

* PO number and VAT number flow between Quotes and the Bill Group only when Allow PO Number on Quotes and Allow VAT Number on Quotes are turned on in Quote Settings. When they are off, the Bill Group keeps its own values.

Diagram in words (for screen readers and AI agents):

1. A New Quote is created and processed. Processing creates the Contract (end action and auto-renewal notice period) and creates or updates the Bill Group (billing and shipping contacts, billing and shipping addresses, net terms, plus PO number and VAT number*).
2. The Bill Group and Contract hold the source of truth. Some fields can be edited on them directly, such as the Bill Group's contacts or registration number, or the Contract's end action.
3. An Amendment or Renewal Quote starts from the current Bill Group and Contract data. When it is processed, it updates the Bill Group and Contract with the data from the Quote.
4. Invoices are created using data from the Contract and Bill Group. Each Invoice is a snapshot taken when it is created. Some fields can be edited on an Invoice, but those edits change only that Invoice. They never flow back to the Bill Group or Contract, and future Invoices are not affected.

Where each value lives

What to change, and where