Running schedules

8 minute read

In Found, once you’ve created an invoice schedule or billing contract, you’ll need to run the schedule before any financial document(s) (invoices or credit notes) can be generated and issued to fee payers.

There are two ways to run an invoice schedule:

• At an individual level via the resident profile
• At a location level via the Invoices & Accounts dashboard

Billing contracts, however, must be run at the location level through the Invoices & Accounts dashboard, as they can include multiple residents.

Running schedules from the Invoices & Accounts dashboard

You can run up to 500 schedules at once via the dashboard. This is the best option for processing financial documents in bulk.

To run schedules at the location level:

1. Navigate to the Billing tab.
2. Click Invoices & Accounts.
3. Select a Location.
4. Open the Upcoming Invoices & Credit Notes tab.

Before running the schedules, apply relevant filters. The number of schedules visible on the screen determines how many will be run.

Filter options include:

• Fee Payer
• Billing Contract
• Default Schedule
• Funding Type
• Payment Method
• Delivery Method
• Issue Date
• Generation Date

You can increase the number of schedules shown per page (up to 500) to speed up the process.

1. Click Run X Schedules (where X = number of visible schedules).
2. A confirmation screen will appear showing the filters and the number of documents to be generated.
3. Click Run Schedules to continue.

Once run, financial documents will be generated. If the individual schedules are not planned to stop, the next documents will appear in the Upcoming Invoices & Credit Notes section for review and have a generation date in the future.

To view the generated documents:

1. Select either:
   1. View Invoices & Credit Notes Line Items (shows all individual charges), or 
   2. View Invoices & Credit Notes Headers (shows a summary view).
2. You’ll see a Batch Reference, which identifies the group of documents generated. This reference
   1. Is searchable via the search bar accessible within the invoices and credit notes table
   2. It will be automatically emailed to you for future access.

After a financial document has been generated, its status will be set to Incomplete, and its stage will be marked as In Progress.

Top tip: Always review filtering before running bulk schedules to avoid generating unexpected documents.

Running schedules from a Resident profile

Use this method to run an individual invoice schedule for private fee payers at a resident level

To run a schedule from the resident profile:

1. Navigate to the Resident Profile.
2. Click the Billing tab.
3. Select Invoices & Credit Notes.
4. Open the Upcoming Invoices & Credit Notes tab.
5. Review the upcoming document to confirm all information is accurate.
6. Click the three-dot menu next to the schedule.
7. Select Run Schedule, then confirm by clicking Run Schedule.

The document will then be generated. If the schedule is ongoing, the next invoice will appear in the Upcoming section.

To view the document:

1. Select either:
   1. View Invoices & Credit Notes Line Items, or
   2. View Invoices & Credit Notes Headers.
2. You’ll see the Batch Reference, which helps identify the document run and is also sent via email.

Understanding the Ready to Run and Upcoming tabs

The Upcoming Invoices & Credit Notes table is divided into two tabs: Ready to Run and Upcoming. These tabs help you manage and track invoice schedules based on their generation dates. 

Tab overview

Each schedule will only appear in one tab at a time, depending on its generation date.

When does a schedule move from Upcoming to Ready to Run?

A schedule automatically moves from the Upcoming tab to the Ready to Run tab on the day of its generation date. The product checks this date daily and updates the tab assignment accordingly.

• Before the generation date → the schedule appears in the Upcoming tab
• On or after the generation date → the schedule moves to the Ready to Run tab

You can track when a schedule is due to be run using two key data points:

• Generation Date – the planned date for document generation
• Generate In – the number of days until the schedule is ready to run

Running schedules early

In some cases, you may need to run schedules before their generation date. For example, if a generation date falls on a bank holiday and the fee payer is set up for Direct Debit, you may want to generate documents early to meet the 14-day collection requirement.

To run schedules early:

1. Navigate to the Upcoming tab within the Upcoming Invoices & Credit Notes table
2. Apply the relevant filters (e.g., payment method, fee payer, issue date) to ensure only the correct schedules are selected
3. Click Run X Schedules (where "X" is the number of schedules displayed)
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm and generate the documents

Important: Running schedules early will not change the financial dates on the invoice. The Issue Date, Due Date, Payment Collection Date, and Billing Period will reflect the original planned values, as if the document were generated on the intended date.

Top tip: By understanding how the Upcoming and Ready to Run tabs function and when to run schedules early, you can better manage your invoicing workflow and ensure timely document generation for all fee payers.