Getting Started | Electronic Invoicing

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Prerequisites
3. How to enable Electronic Invoicing for your Merchant
4. How to Add/Create an Invoice
5. Search Invoice Records
6. Billing History
7. Video

Overview

With Electronic Invoicing, merchants can invoice customers via a brandable email and have them pay just by clicking a link. Invoices are generated with line-by-line detailed information, automatically converted to PDFs, and then emailed directly to customers with a link to pay their bill securely within the Gateway's environment, removing the need for merchants to host a payment acceptance page of their own. The secure link will allow the customer to enter a credit card or bank account to pay their bill. Merchants can create and track invoices through their Merchant Portal or via API. This helps streamline the billing process by reducing time spent on paperwork and getting paid, so merchants can focus on their customers and business.

• Supports multiple currencies 
• Supports partial or full payments
• Setting a default processor per invoice
• Brandable emails and invoices instill confidence and encourage faster payments
• Enhanced reporting system helps maintain complete, secure transactional records
• Simple and intuitive, minutes to merchants’ first invoice
• Reduces PCI compliance headaches
• Customers can pay any way they like, by Credit Card, Cash, or ACH 
• Integrated with Product Manager to streamline invoicing process
• Sensitive data never touches merchants’ computers

Prerequisites

Partner - if you do not have Electronic Invoicing added as a Value-added Services and you would like to have it added to be able to resell it to your merchants, please email support@nmi.com and request Invoicing to be added to your portfolio. Please provide your Account ID, which is located on the top right corner when you log in to your Partner Portal, with your request.

Merchant - to access the Invoicing page, the merchant will need to have Invoicing active as a service. The merchant's user account will need to have Access Invoice checked off as a user permission. The merchant's Primary user will have this permission set by default once Invoicing is activated to their account. The Primary user can add this permission to any of their sub-users as needed. This can be found in their Merchant Portal → Settings → User Accounts → select the username → under Permissions (at the bottom) check Access Invoice. Once Invoicing is activated, in the Merchant Portal, head over to the left side panel → click on Invoices, this will give them access to the Add Invoice and the List Invoice pages.  

How to enable Electronic Invoicing for your Merchant

In your Partner Portal head over to List Accounts → click on the merchant name → under Value-added Services click on Update Services → you can set Invoicing as Active or Offered → click Submit. 

• If set to Active- the service will be immediately available to the merchant.
• If set to Offered- the merchant can sign up for it from their merchant portal by heading over to the left side panel and clicking on Invoices. They will see the Sign-Up page. The merchant will view and agree to their adjusted billing authorization and click on Sign-Up. Once signed up, they can proceed to using this service. Since there is no setup required, the service will be immediately available when the fees are approved.
• You can offer Electronic Invoicing as a Free Trail. 

How to Add/Create an Invoice

In the Merchant Portal, on the left side panel (1) → click on Add Invoice under Invoices; or from the homepage (2) → under Services → click on Add Invoice:

Enter the presented details as required such as Invoice Amount, Currency, Product Information, Invoice Terms, Customer Billing/Shipping Information and any additional custom fields.

• The required fields are the Amount (under Invoice Information) and Email Address (under Card Billing Address). The invoice will be sent to the email address provided here.
• Merchants can select due dates on all new invoices. This option is under Invoice Information → Invoice Terms. They have the option to select from: Due Upon Receipt, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or Custom (merchant can enter the number of days until due). 
• The Products table can be used to add-up products or services, and will autofill the total Invoice Amount when using the "Click to Set Amount" link (at the bottom right of the Product table).
• Merchants can select a default processor, per payment type, on each individual invoice if they have multiple processors: 
  • One processor per allowed payment method can be specified per invoice. 
  • Only payment types with multiple options will be displayed in the Processors section (e.g. if the merchant only has one Electronic Check processor, they won't see a dropdown to select an Electronic Check processor in the Processors section). 
  • When default processors are selected, payments processed through the payment link will process on that selected processor.
  • Default processors can also be designated using Payment API when creating invoices.
• Invoices can be paid with cash, but only when paying from the Merchant Portal, not the link that’s emailed to the customer. 
• Merchants have the option to preview invoice PDFs before they are sent out to customers by clicking on the Preview PDF button. This will help merchants have a better feel for what their customers will experience when receiving an invoice.
• Sensitive billing information is not entered when creating an invoice since payment is rendered by the customer directly through the secure link.

Once the Invoice is created, the customer will receive an email with the following:

• • • An attached PDF outlining the bill. They can save the PDF or print it as they see fit.
    • A Secure Link to Pay the amount. Depending on the payment method the Merchant has access to, or has allowed them to pay by, they will enter their payment details and process the payment on their own. When this happens, the Invoice will be marked paid, and the Merchant will be funded as usual after settlement.
    • Customer Invoice Notification email example: 

To customize the invoice emails and PDFs with the merchants logo, please see Invoice Look and Feel. 

Search Invoice Records

In the Merchant Portal, on the left side panel (1) → click on List Invoice under Invoices; or from the homepage (2) → under Reporting → click on Invoices:

Enter the presented details as required such as Invoice ID, Customer ID, Last Name, and select the date range. You can also filter by 'Include Paid Invoices', 'Include Closed Invoices', or 'Only Show Past Due Invoices'. Click Submit. 

From this search, merchants can view/update the invoice by click on the Invoice ID which will take them to the invoice detail page, and under Actions they can resend, close, pay, or download the invoice. 

If the customer partially paid the invoice, merchants will see the balance that is still due.

• Update Invoice - to update an invoice, click on the Invoice ID and edit the required fields → click on Update Invoice. Once updated, merchants can resend the updated invoice to the customer. Invoice ID, Balance Due, and Payments Applied fields cannot be changed. The Balance Due field will update once you click on Update Invoice. 
• Resend Invoice - from the list invoice search, under Actions, click on the  Resend Invoice icon. This will resend the invoice to the email address on file for the invoice. 
• Close Invoice - from the list invoice search, under Actions, click on the Close Invoice icon. You will be asked to confirm you want to close this invoice, if yes, click Ok. This will close the invoice and you can't reopen it. You can search closed invoices by checking the 'Include Closed Invoices' box in your search.
• Pay Invoice - from the list invoice search, under Actions, click on the Pay Invoice icon. This will give you the option to manually pay the invoice through the Virtual Terminal. If the customer paid in cash and the merchant has an activate Cash Processor, they can select the Payment Type as Cash here to record the cash payment. When making a payment here, you can send a receipt email to the customer. You can search paid invoices by checking the 'Include Paid Invoices' box in your search. 
• Download Invoice - from the list invoice search, under Actions, click on the Download Invoice icon. This will download the invoice PDF. 

Billing History

Once an invoice has been paid, merchants can view each individual invoices Billing History. To view the Billing History go to List Invoice → search for the paid invoice and click on the Invoice ID → at the bottom of the Invoice Information page, you will find the Billing History. 

The Billing History table will show the Type, Status, Transaction ID, Time, and Amount for the paid invoice. You will see the Sale and then settle actions. You can also see when a transaction was voided. Please note that voiding an invoice payment does not change the status of the invoice, it remains “paid”.

Video