Documents and number ranges
For every event Consho issues a document of its own – a snapshot that cannot be changed afterwards. Documents come as PDF and as an accessible HTML version.
Which document is created when
| Invoice | for prepayment with the order, for “On account” and cash on delivery on shipment. A payment method from a payment module brings its own moment, such as when the payment comes in. If the invoice is issued before shipping and the customer pays in advance – prepayment, online payment, voucher –, it notes next to the delivery period that it settles an advance payment and that delivery follows receipt of payment. |
|---|---|
| Cancellation invoice | when the customer changes the payment method, on a full withdrawal with a refund and when you cancel the order through a status. |
| Invoice correction | on a partial withdrawal with a refund. “Refund” and “Correct” at a payment create no document; chargebacks appear on documents as “Charged back”, a corrected payment with its corrected amount. |
| Delivery note | when a delivery is reported as shipped, one per parcel, without prices; on a partial delivery it states what follows separately. Only if the shop has a “Delivery note number” range. |
Each document type that Consho numbers has its own unbroken number range. Consho's invoices are PDF/A; on invoices for prepayment or “On account”, Consho prints a Giro-Code on request (switch on the payment method, only in euros and with complete bank details). For business customers there is also the E-invoice.
Who issues invoices, cancellation invoices and invoice corrections is set in the shop configuration: Invoices issued by.
- Consho (default): as described above. An accounting module can also take over every document issued, PDF included, for accounting software, for instance.
- an installed accounting module: depending on the module, it issues the invoices itself, with its own number and its own PDF, or it passes Consho's invoices on. Whether it also sends the documents to the customer itself is up to the module as well; otherwise Consho attaches its PDF to the mails.
- Off: invoices are issued outside Consho. The mails then attach no invoice.
Consho stores the invoice data in every case; with “Off” it appears in the document list as “Invoice data (not issued)”. Order confirmation, delivery note and withdrawal receipt always come from Consho. A change applies to future documents: an invoice is cancelled and corrected by whoever issued it.
A module issues its documents after the purchase; until then the document list shows it as “waiting for …”. If it does not reach the module, a finding reports it. consho:document:verify --retry submits it again and sends it to the customer afterwards where Consho sends the documents.
Number ranges
In the shop configuration through the Number ranges operation: type, prefix, minimum length and the last number issued. The types are order number (gaps allowed), invoice number, invoice correction and cancellation number (unbroken) and delivery note number – which is optional: without it, Consho issues no delivery notes. Number ranges cannot be deleted, and the counter cannot be set below a number already issued.
It is quicker on the setup page with Create the missing number ranges; Consho suggests the prefixes B-, RE-, ST- and RK-. You create the delivery note range yourself if you need it, with LS-, for instance.
Every shop needs the order number. It needs invoice, cancellation and correction numbers only where Consho numbers the invoices: with “Consho” and with an accounting module that passes Consho's invoices on.
Invoice sender
In the section of the same name in the shop configuration: company name, legal form, address and country, the contact e-mail for invoices, the logo, the delivery time and the footer for invoices and mails. With Also archive invoices, Consho stores every invoice in an archive folder of the file manager; a public folder is protected in the process.
Invoice sender and delivery time have to be complete only where Consho numbers the invoices. The mails use logo and footer in every case.
Findings
- Number range missing: blocks the checkout – without it no order and no document can be created.
- Invoice sender incomplete: blocks the checkout where Consho numbers the invoices.
- No number range for invoice corrections (warning): refunds after a withdrawal cannot be booked.
- The same prefix in several ranges (note).
- Archiving failed or folder not protected (warning):
consho:document:verify --retryarchives missing invoices afterwards. - Shop issues no invoices (note): “Invoices issued by” is set to “Off”; the invoices have to be made outside Consho and reach the customers from there.
- Invoicing module not installed (warning): the shop configuration leaves its invoices to a module that is missing. Until it is installed again or you change the setting, the invoices wait.
- Documents that did not reach the invoicing module (warning): the error log names the reason; once it is fixed,
consho:document:verify --retrysubmits them again.