Special Invoices in ConnectWise PSA

ConnectWise has three special invoice types: Credit Memo, Down Payment, and Miscellaneous. All three live under Finance > Special Invoices and share the same fields as a standard invoice. Defaults for each type’s template come from the Billing Setup Table.

A few things apply to all special invoices:

• The invoice type must be set before saving. Once saved, it cannot be changed — delete and recreate if you select the wrong type.
• The Location field pulls from the default location of the member creating the invoice. Set that under System > Members.
• Special invoices can be routed and emailed exactly like standard invoices.
• The Time and Expense tabs appear on special invoices but do not save or function — they only work on standard invoices.

Note: With the exception of credit memos, special invoices cannot be applied against one another. For example, a down payment invoice cannot be applied to a miscellaneous invoice.

Credit Memos

A credit memo issues a credit to a customer. Applying a credit memo to an invoice reduces the invoice’s remaining balance — it does not change the invoice total. Credit memos are not tied to specific time or expense entries.

On printed credit memo invoices, Credit Applied and Credit Remaining both display.

Create a credit memo

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices.
2. In the Billing Information pod, select a company from the Company drop-down.
3. In the Invoice pod, set the Invoice Type to Credit Memo.
4. In the Calculations pod, enter a negative amount in the Credit Memo Total field.
5. Select Save.
6. In the Invoice pod, change the Billing Status to Closed. A credit memo must be closed before it can be applied to other invoices.
7. Select Save.

Note: Credit memos use Revenue or Revenue-Products and Accounts Receivable GL mappings. If you enter an amount in the Total field, a Revenue-type GL mapping must exist at the My Company: Owner, My Company: Structure, or My Company: Groups level for the posting to succeed.

Create credits for services

To credit a customer for labor you have already billed:

1. Go to Finance > Company Finance and select the company.
2. Select the Time tab.
3. Select the time entry you want to credit.
4. Select the Copy Time Entry icon to clone the entry.
5. In the Invoice Hours field, change the value to a negative number.

Create credits for products

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a new invoice.
2. Select the New Item icon, then select Save.
3. On the Invoice tab, select the appropriate Tax Code drop-down if applicable, then select Save. The Products tab will now be available.
4. Select the Products tab and select the New Item icon.
5. In the Product ID drop-down, select the product to credit.
6. In the Quantity field, enter a negative number for the quantity you are crediting.
7. In the Unit Price field, enter the amount to credit.
8. Select Save.
9. In the Picking and Shipping pod, select the New Item icon. The quantity defaults to the negative value you entered.
10. Select the Warehouse and Warehouse Bin, then select Save. This returns the product quantity to the warehouse bin’s on-hand count.

Note: If you have the Procurement module, shipping a negative quantity from the invoice automatically returns the product to on-hand stock.

Credit an agreement invoice

These steps ensure the credit memo debits the correct income accounts for agreement additions in your accounting package.

Note: These steps do not work for one-time agreements. To credit a one-time agreement, apply the credit directly to the agreement invoice.

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices.
2. In the Billing Information pod, select the company.
3. Set the Invoice Type to Credit Memo.
4. In the Calculations pod, enter a negative amount in the Credit Memo Total field.
5. In the Apply To drop-down, select the agreement.
6. Select Save.
7. On the Products tab, add the products you need to credit from the agreement’s Additions tab. Enter a negative quantity in the Quantity field.
8. Return to the Invoice tab and set the Billing Status to Closed.
9. Select Save.
10. Review the GL Entries tab to confirm that revenue-agreement product GL mappings were applied instead of revenue-product mappings.

Note: Products must be added before closing the invoice — you cannot add products to a closed invoice.

Credit a service ticket

Note: Only open tickets can be selected in the Apply To field. Credit memos cannot be applied against specific time entries.

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices.
2. Select the company in the Billing Information pod.
3. Set the Invoice Type to Credit Memo.
4. In the Calculations pod, enter a negative amount in the Credit Memo Total field.
5. In the Apply To drop-down, select an open service ticket.
6. Set the Billing Status to Closed, then select Save.

Apply a credit memo to an invoice

1. Go to Finance > Invoice Search.
2. Search for and open the invoice you want to apply the credit to.
3. Scroll to the Credits and Payments section.
4. Select the New Item icon.
5. In the Apply a drop-down, select Credit.
6. Select the Apply Credit from drop-down. Filter by Credit Memo in the Invoice Type column if needed.
7. Select the credit memo to apply.
8. Select Save. The credit is applied and the invoice balance is adjusted.

Note: Applying a credit memo affects only the Invoice Balance, not the Invoice Total on the Invoice tab.

Note: To unapply a credit memo, select the Delete icon next to the credit in the Credits and Payments pod.

Note: If you create a credit memo in ConnectWise, push it to QuickBooks, and then apply the credit to an invoice in QuickBooks, it syncs back to ConnectWise as a payment on the next sync. If you apply the credit in ConnectWise first and then push to QuickBooks, the association does not carry over — you must apply it manually in QuickBooks.

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Down Payments

A down payment collects a prepaid portion of a job before the work is complete. It can be applied to a specific agreement, project, service ticket, or sales order, and offsets the balance on the final invoice.

If the fee is non-refundable and not tied to job completion, a miscellaneous invoice may be more appropriate than a down payment. Down payments are generally mapped to a deferred revenue account in your chart of accounts.

Create a down payment invoice

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices.
2. In the Billing Information pod, set the Company.
3. In the Invoice pod, set the Invoice Type to Down Payment.
4. In the Apply To drop-down, select the agreement, project, service ticket, or sales order this invoice applies to.
5. In the Calculations pod, enter the prepaid amount in the Down Payment Total field.
6. Select Save.

Note: Do not add products or expenses to a down payment invoice. Only the Down Payment Total field should carry the prepaid amount.

Note: When selecting an agreement in Apply To, the Restrict Down Payment checkbox is automatically selected. Clear it if you want the down payment to apply to any invoice for this company, not just that agreement.

Note: To cancel a down payment invoice, create a new down payment invoice (not a credit memo) with a negative amount in the Down Payment Total field.

Note: If Apply To is left blank when you save, you cannot edit it later — delete the invoice and recreate it.

Unrestricted down payments

To make a down payment unrestricted, leave both the Restrict Down Payment checkbox and the Apply To drop-down blank. The down payment is automatically applied to each new progress or agreement invoice for that customer until the balance reaches $0.

Unrestricted down payments cannot be applied to miscellaneous invoices.

Restricted down payments

A restricted down payment limits the down payment to a single job. Selecting any item in the Apply To drop-down automatically restricts the down payment to that item.

Note: When restricting a down payment, select the final billing record in Apply To. If you are creating a sales order that will later be converted to a service ticket, select the service ticket — not the sales order — in Apply To.

Restrict to an agreement

Note: Down payments cannot be restricted to agreements with a one-time billing cycle.

Note: Down payments restricted to agreements apply only to agreement invoice amounts, not to overages.

1. Go to Finance > Agreements and open the agreement.
2. In the Recurring Invoice Parameters section of the Agreement tab, select the Restrict Down Payment checkbox, then select Save.
3. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a down payment invoice.
4. Set the Company, then select the agreement in the Apply To drop-down.
5. Complete the remaining fields and select Save.

Restrict to a project

Note: To apply a down payment to a specific project phase, the Bill Phase Separately checkbox must be selected on the Work Plan tab of the project.

1. Go to Project > My Projects and open the project.
2. On the Finance tab, select the Restrict down payment to this project checkbox, then select Save.
3. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a down payment invoice.
4. Set the Company, then select the project in the Apply To drop-down.
5. Select Save.

Restrict to a service ticket

1. Open the service ticket.
2. On the Finance tab, select the Restrict down payment checkbox, then select Save.
3. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a down payment invoice.
4. Set the Company, then select the service ticket in the Apply To drop-down.
5. Select Save.

Restrict to a sales order

Note: If you convert a sales order to another record type after restricting the down payment to it, the down payment will not apply when the converted item is invoiced. Convert first, then create the down payment against the resulting record.

1. Create and save a sales order.
2. On the sales order, go to the Finance tab > Invoicing Options section and select the Restrict Down Payment checkbox, then select Save.
3. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a down payment invoice.
4. Set the Company, then select the sales order in the Apply To drop-down.
5. Select Save.

Apply a credit memo to a down payment invoice

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices and create a new credit memo invoice with a negative value in Credit Memo Total and Billing Status set to Closed. Select Save.
2. Open the down payment invoice. If it is not already closed, set Billing Status to Closed and select Save.
3. On the down payment invoice, select the New Item icon to add a new payment or credit.
4. Select Apply Credit.
5. In the Credit to Apply drop-down, select the credit memo you just created.
6. Select Save.

The down payment invoice remains available to apply to other invoices after the credit memo is applied.

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Miscellaneous Invoices

Miscellaneous invoices cover billing situations that do not fit a standard, project, or agreement invoice — for example, products not associated with a ticket, or mid-cycle additions to an already-billed agreement that you want to bill before the next scheduled date.

If you are billing an addition mid-cycle, select the agreement from the Apply To drop-down before saving.

Note: Backdated agreements auto-generate all past invoices when created — no miscellaneous invoice is needed for back-billing.

Note: When products with serial numbers are added, the serial number displays on the printed invoice.

Create a miscellaneous invoice

1. Go to Finance > Special Invoices.
2. Set the Invoice Type to Miscellaneous.
3. Select the customer in the Company field.
4. In the Apply To drop-down, select the agreement if applicable.
5. In the Reference field, enter the month the invoice covers.
6. Complete the remaining fields and select Save.

Note: Selecting an agreement in Apply To updates the Billing Start Date on that agreement. If you have not yet generated the current month’s agreement invoice, the system will not generate it automatically — it treats this miscellaneous invoice as the billing for that period.

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If you want your special invoices — credits, down payments, and miscellaneous charges — to look as polished as your standard invoices, Better Invoice gives you full control over the template that ConnectWise uses to render all of them.