Invoice Screen: Invoice #, Customer # and Drop Shipment

This is the number of the invoice. The program automatically numbers invoices for you. If desired, you can choose the number at which you want invoices to start. Invoice numbers are set in the Basic Setup portion of the program which is reached by selecting FILE from the Menu Bar and clicking on BASIC SETUP. At times you may find it helpful to copy the invoice number to the clipboard. To do so, place your mouse on the number and double click.

The date of the invoice appears directly after the number. The date is inserted automatically for you as you create new invoices. Generally, you should let the program insert the date, but, if desired, it can be changed. The date format can be changed in the Basic Setup part of the program.

If you have customers that order from you on a regular basis, you should assign them a customer number. By entering a customer number, the program will automatically print their billing and shipping address and other information on the invoice for you. (For more information on Customer Numbers, see Customer Numbers and Customer Information Database.)

If you click on the "L" button ("L" is for "List") or double-click your mouse in this blank, a pop-up list of all of your customers & customer numbers will appear, and you can select the one you want.

You can also bring up this list by 1) pressing Ctrl+L; 2) by selecting EDIT from the Menu Bar and PASTE FROM LIST; or 3) by clicking the right mouse button and selecting "Customer or Product List" from the Speed Menu.

If your customer has a Customer Number, then appearing directly after it will be another number: the customer's Billing Group Number. A Billing Group Number is used for billing purposes. Some customers may have two more addresses to which you ship. If you ship regularly to these locations, you'll probably assign a different Customer Number to each shipping address. (Customer Numbers and Group Numbers are assigned in the Customer Information Database.) Even though the Customer Numbers may be different, all would have the same Billing Group Number. AnyOrder will use the Group Number when preparing billing statements. It gathers all invoices with the same Group Number together on one statement, providing you and your customer with an accurate record of account activity.

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If you are shipping to a location other than the customer's normal shipping point, check this box. (Note that you don't have to check this box if you've already set-up a customer with several shipping points in your Customer Information Database.)
This is handy if you ship to corporate chain customers. The corporation will have one central office where you send billings, but they may have hundreds of different shipping locations. From an efficiency standpoint, you may decide not to enter all those separate shipping addresses in the Customer Database.
When you don't have a separate shipping address in the Customer Database, this is helpful. By checking this box, it serves as a visual reminder to you that customer's shipping address is different than the usual.
Additionally, it puts AnyOrder on guard that the shipping address is different. For example, let's say you are filling out the fields on the Main Invoice Screen, and you enter customer's different shipping address first - which is common way of doing it. Next, you select from the customer number pop-up list.
Before pasting the customer's address, AnyOrder will ask if you want to keep the shipping address. You would respond with "Yes." AnyOrder pastes the billing address but leaves the shipping address. Everything works fine. If, however, the box is not checked, then AnyOrder would paste over the shipping address and you'd loose it.
Note that if you have "Drop Ship" checked and if you use the Past Customer pop-up, AnyOrder will assume that you want to keep the shipping address and will not overwrite it. No message is triggered when you use the Past Customer number pop-up. However, AnyOrder will trigger a message and ask whether you want to keep "Drop Ship" turned on (keep the checkmark) if the new customer being pasted doesn't have drop ship turned on.

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Secondly, you can use this checkbox to indicate that the invoice is for a drop shipment. Drop shipments are when you order a product from a supplier, and the supplier ships the product directly to your customer.
If you have Level 4 or higher, you can use AnyPO (the purchase order system) to automatically create PO's for drop shipments. The checkbox helps you keep track of drop shipments. If you need to review all such orders, you can filter for drop shipments. Or, if needed, you can create a report which lists drop shipments. Customized reports such as this one can be created in the export portion of the program.