Automate invoices from Excel: four routes

There are four routes to automate invoices from Excel, from least to most: improve the spreadsheet itself, move to an invoicing program that imports your data, connect the program where the order starts to the one that invoices, or build a custom module. Almost always the simplest one that solves your case is the right one.

And because an invoice has tax consequences, before choosing you need to check what the regulations require of your invoicing system.

They are not a recipe: each one works up to a point, and you move to the next when the previous one falls short.

1. A well-built Excel sheet

Validation, automatic numbering and a single person in charge. It works while few invoices are issued and the rules do not change. Move on when someone copies data from somewhere else or an invoice gets repeated by mistake.

2. An invoicing program with import

An off-the-shelf program that generates, numbers and sends the invoice, with data imported from the sheet. It works when invoicing is a standard process. Move on when the same data has to be typed or imported by hand every week.

3. Connect what you already use

A connection between the program where the order or work report starts and the invoicing program, so the data travels by itself. It works when the tools exist and only need to talk to each other. Move on when the process is your own and no connection covers it.

4. A custom module

A piece built for the way you invoice —rates, work reports, your own rules— and connected to what already works. It is the last step, not the first: it only pays off if the other three fall short.

What repeats in the same way is automated; what can go wrong is looked at by a person before it counts.

• Copying the data from the order or work report to the invoice is automated.
• Numbering, generating the document and sending it is automated.
• Flagging what is pending payment is automated.
• A person reviews what does not match the order.
• A person reviews new customers, unusual amounts and any change to tax details.

An invoice is a document with tax consequences, so the system that generates it can be subject to specific requirements depending on who you are and when. That weighs on the route you choose, and it is not something an automation should decide.

• Ask your adviser whether the way you issue invoices falls under what the regulations require, and from when.
• If you use an off-the-shelf program, ask its supplier how and when it will be adapted.
• In the Canary Islands the invoice carries IGIC, not VAT: validate the tax rules before automating the calculation.
• Keep a manual way of issuing an invoice in case the system fails.

Guide

Verifactu and IGIC: what Canary Islands businesses should know

• If only a few invoices are issued a month, automating them costs more than it saves.
• If each customer is invoiced under different rules nobody has written down, the first job is to write them down.
• If the source data —customers, rates, taxes— is not reliable, the automation multiplies it.
• If a well-built sheet solves the problem, nothing more is needed.

• Automating an invoicing process that already has errors.
• Jumping straight to the custom module without trying the simpler routes.
• Stopping the checks because “it does it by itself now”.
• Keeping no record of what was issued and when.
• Not deciding who responds when an invoice goes out wrong.

The first thing is to measure how many invoices you issue, where the data comes from and which rules you have. It is the first step of the automation service.

Automation and AI

How the work is done and what is delivered

Can invoicing be automated from Excel?

Yes, in several ways: from improving the sheet itself with validation and numbering to connecting the data source to an invoicing program or building a custom module. The route depends on how many invoices you issue, how many rules of your own you have and whether the regulations require a specific system from you.

Which is better, improving the Excel sheet or using an invoicing program?

While you issue few invoices under simple rules, a well-built sheet is enough. An invoicing program pays off when typing or importing the same data has become a weekly job, and it usually takes care of much of what the regulations require. What almost never pays off is starting with custom development.

Can invoices be generated automatically from orders or work reports?

Yes, it is among the most common cases. The order or work report becomes an invoice with the customer and rate data, and a person reviews whatever does not match before it is issued. Tax data is checked before anything is automated.

What should I bear in mind about Verifactu and the IGIC?

That an invoice has tax consequences and the system that generates it can be subject to specific requirements depending on who you are and when. In the Canary Islands, the invoice also carries IGIC, not VAT. Before automating, confirm with your adviser what applies to you: the Verifactu and IGIC guide explains who is obliged and from when.

What happens if the automation issues a wrong invoice?

It is designed so the error shows: it keeps a record of what it did, raises a flag when something does not fit and keeps a manual way of issuing while it is fixed. A wrongly issued invoice is corrected through the procedures the regulations provide for, not deleted, so a person should review anything that is not routine before it goes out.

What to automate first in a small business

Five tasks a small business usually starts automating with, how to decide the order and when you do not need to program anything or use artificial intelligence.

Verifactu and IGIC for Canary Islands businesses

What Verifactu is, whether it applies in the Canary Islands, how it affects IGIC and when it is mandatory, with the rules cited and questions for your supplier.