Skip to content

Inventory Invoices Documentation

Menu Location: Reports > Products > Inventory Invoices

Access Level: Manager / Administrator

Last Updated: 2026-03-01

Overview

The Inventory Invoices page generates professional PDF invoices for ordering inventory from your distributors. The system calculates demand based on customer orders, creates purchase orders for each distributor, and produces print-ready invoices showing what products to order, in what quantities, and at what cost.

Primary Functions:

  • Generate distributor-specific purchase invoices
  • Calculate product demand based on customer orders
  • View consolidated invoice for all distributors
  • Download PDF invoices for ordering
  • Track inventory costs per distributor
  • Plan weekly purchasing budgets

Page Layout

Header Section

  • Week Selection Dropdown: Choose which week to generate invoices for
  • Go Button: Load selected week's data
  • PDF Export Buttons: Generate PDFs for individual distributors

Main Content Area

Overview Grid (when no PDF selected):

  • Individual distributor invoice previews (3-4 per row)
  • Small scrollable preview of each invoice
  • PDF download button for each distributor
  • Company logo and distributor contact info visible

Individual Invoice View:

  • Company header with logo
  • Distributor name and contact information
  • Invoice number (formatted as distributor ID - week ID)
  • Week date range
  • Line items table with quantities and pricing
  • Total amount due

Invoice Components

Invoice Header

Your Company Information:

  • Company name
  • Business address
  • Company logo (right-aligned)

Distributor Information:

  • Distributor name
  • Street address
  • Email address
  • Phone number

Invoice Details:

  • Invoice Number (format: 0024-0450)
  • Week of (delivery date)
  • Balance Due (total order cost)

Line Items Table

Each product row shows:

  • Item Name: Product description
  • Case Count: Number of units per case
  • Unit: Unit of measurement (lbs, each, bunch, etc.)
  • Case Price: Cost per case from distributor
  • Qty: Quantity of product units needed (demand)
  • Line Total: Extended cost (qty × unit price)
  • Total: Sum of all line totals
  • Amount distributor should invoice you

How Demand is Calculated

The system analyzes customer orders for the selected week:

  1. Reviews Open Orders: Looks at all orders for the week
  2. Counts Product Needs: Tallies how many of each product customers ordered
  3. Factors in Recurring Items: Includes customers' recurring products
  4. Accounts for Substitutions: Considers typical substitution patterns
  5. Generates Demand Number: Total units needed to fulfill orders

Only products with demand > 0 appear on invoices

Actions & Operations

Generate Invoice for Single Distributor

Purpose: Create printable PDF invoice to send to one distributor

Steps:

  1. Select week from dropdown
  2. Click "Go" to load data
  3. Find distributor's preview panel
  4. Click "PDF" button for that distributor
  5. PDF automatically downloads

What You Get:

  • Professional invoice ready to email or print
  • One page with all products from that distributor
  • Properly formatted for distributor's reference

Use Cases:

  • Ordering from specific supplier
  • Email invoice directly to distributor
  • Print and fax to traditional suppliers
  • Attach to purchase order system

Generate Combined Invoice (All Distributors)

Purpose: See all purchasing across all distributors in one document

Steps:

  1. Select week
  2. Click "Go"
  3. Scroll through on-screen preview
  4. Or export combined PDF if needed

What You See:

  • Every product from every distributor
  • Distributor name in first column
  • Grand total across all distributors
  • Complete purchasing overview

Use Cases:

  • Budget planning
  • Total spend calculation
  • Cross-distributor comparison
  • Historical record keeping

View Different Week

Purpose: Generate invoices for future or past weeks

Steps:

  1. Open week dropdown
  2. Select desired week
  3. Click "Go"
  4. Review demand and invoices

Future Weeks:

  • Shows projected demand
  • Helps with advance ordering
  • Subject to change as orders edited

Past Weeks:

  • Historical invoices
  • Actual demand from that week
  • Good for record-keeping

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Weekly Ordering Workflow

Goal: Order all inventory needed for upcoming delivery week

Steps:

  1. Navigate to Inventory Invoices page
  2. Ensure current/next week is selected
  3. Review overview grid with all distributors
  4. For each distributor you need to order from:
    • Click their PDF button
    • Download their invoice
    • Email to distributor or place order
  5. Save PDFs to your filing system
  6. Track which distributors you've ordered from

Best Day: Early in weekly cycle, after orders are finalized

Example: Week 450 (March 5-11 delivery). Generate invoices Monday morning. Download PDF for "Smith Produce Co." showing 50 lbs lettuce, 30 lbs tomatoes, total $385. Email to supplier with subject "Purchase Order - Week 450 - Delivery March 5".

Use Case 2: Budget Review

Goal: See total purchasing cost for the week

Steps:

  1. Select week
  2. Generate combined view (or review individual invoices)
  3. Add up distributor totals
  4. Compare to budget
  5. Make adjustments if over budget

Tips:

  • Do this before finalizing orders
  • Consider swapping expensive items if over budget
  • Review substitution options
  • Plan promotions around available inventory

Use Case 3: Advance Planning

Goal: See what you'll need to order next week

Steps:

  1. Select next week from dropdown
  2. Review projected demand
  3. Note items with high demand
  4. Contact distributors about availability
  5. Plan for special ordering needs

When This Helps:

  • Holiday weeks (need extra inventory)
  • New product launches
  • Seasonal transitions
  • Distributor availability issues

Use Case 4: Historical Reference

Goal: Look up what you ordered 3 weeks ago

Steps:

  1. Select the historical week
  2. Review invoices
  3. Compare to current week
  4. Identify trends or changes

Use Cases:

  • Customer complaint investigation
  • Inventory discrepancy research
  • Seasonal comparison
  • Supplier performance review

Use Case 5: Distributor Cost Comparison

Goal: Ensure you're getting best pricing

Steps:

  1. Generate invoice for current week
  2. Note case prices for key products
  3. Compare to alternative distributors
  4. Verify pricing matches your agreements
  5. Follow up on price discrepancies

Report Data & Columns

Column Description Calculation
Item Product name From menu/inventory
Case Count Units per case From distributor setup
Unit Measurement type lbs, each, bunch, etc.
Case Price Cost per case From distributor pricing
Qty Units needed Demand calculation
Line Total Extended cost (demand ÷ case count) × case price

Troubleshooting

Invoice Shows Zero Products

Symptoms:

  • Distributor invoice is empty or very short
  • Expected products missing

Solutions:

  1. Verify week has open orders
  2. Check products are properly assigned to distributor
  3. Ensure products are active in inventory
  4. Confirm demand exists for those products
  5. Review inventory setup for that distributor

Common Causes:

  • No orders created yet for that week
  • Products not linked to distributor
  • Orders closed/cancelled
  • Inventory not set up correctly

Pricing Looks Wrong

Symptoms:

  • Case prices different than expected
  • Totals don't match manual calculations

Check:

  1. Review distributor setup for pricing
  2. Verify case quantity settings
  3. Check if pricing was recently updated
  4. Confirm unit of measurement
  5. Compare to previous week's invoice

If Problem Persists: Contact administrator to review inventory and distributor settings.

PDF Won't Download

Symptoms:

  • Click PDF button but nothing happens
  • Download starts but fails
  • PDF appears corrupted

Solutions:

  1. Refresh page and try again
  2. Clear browser cache
  3. Try different browser
  4. Check PDF viewer is installed
  5. Disable browser popup blocker

Common Causes:

  • Browser popup blocker
  • Slow server response
  • Large invoice causing timeout
  • PDF rendering issue with logo

Missing Distributor

Symptoms:

  • Expected distributor doesn't appear on page
  • Distributor has no invoice

Check:

  1. Verify distributor has products set up
  2. Check if any products from that distributor have demand
  3. Confirm distributor is active in system
  4. Review product-to-distributor assignments
  • Inventory Dashboard - Overview of all inventory levels
  • Inventory Manager - Add/edit products and pricing
  • Distributor Setup - Manage distributor information
  • Product Setup - Assign products to distributors
  • Weekly Demand Report - See product demand details
  • Order Management - View customer orders creating demand

Permissions & Access

Required Access Level: Manager or higher

Access Level Capabilities:

  • Customer Service: No access
  • Manager: Full access - generate and download invoices
  • Administrator: Full access
  • Kiva Admin: Full access

Best Practices

Weekly Workflow

  1. Wait until orders are mostly finalized before generating
  2. Generate invoices same day each week for consistency
  3. Download and save all PDFs to filing system
  4. Email or submit to distributors promptly
  5. Track confirmations from distributors
  6. Compare received inventory to invoices

Cost Management

  1. Review totals before ordering
  2. Compare week-to-week costs for trends
  3. Flag unusual price changes
  4. Verify pricing against contracts
  5. Document distributor pricing agreements
  6. Review annually for cost savings opportunities

Record Keeping

  1. Save all weekly invoice PDFs
  2. Name files consistently (e.g., "Invoice-Week450-SmithProduce.pdf")
  3. Keep for minimum 1 year
  4. Use for accounting reconciliation
  5. Reference when disputing charges
  6. Helpful for tax preparation

Quality Control

  1. Cross-reference invoice with actual orders
  2. Verify demand numbers make sense
  3. Check for duplicate products across distributors
  4. Review unit conversions
  5. Confirm quantities can fulfill orders
  6. Plan buffer for potential errors

Things to Avoid

  • ❌ Generating invoices before orders are ready
  • ❌ Ordering without reviewing totals
  • ❌ Assuming prices haven't changed
  • ❌ Ignoring zero-quantity items (may need manual ordering)
  • ❌ Forgetting to save invoices for records
  • ❌ Placing orders for wrong week

Export Options

Export Format: PDF only

PDF Features:

  • Professional invoice formatting
  • Company branding (logo)
  • Distributor contact information
  • Itemized line items
  • Clear totals
  • Print-ready layout

No CSV Export: This page is invoice-focused. For data analysis, use Inventory Dashboard or other reports.

Quick Reference Card

Task Action/Location
Generate distributor invoice Select week > Find distributor panel > PDF button
See all distributors Select week > Go > View overview grid
Download PDF Click PDF button in distributor panel
Check total cost Review "Balance Due" on invoice
View different week Week dropdown > Select > Go
See combined invoice Generate "all" view
Verify demand Check Qty column in line items
Review pricing Check Case Price column
Calculate budget Add Balance Due from all distributors
Save for records Download PDF > Save to filing system

FAQs

When should I generate invoices?

Generate early in the weekly cycle after customer orders are finalized but before you need to place distributor orders. This gives you time to review and submit orders.

Can I edit the invoice?

No, invoices are generated automatically from system data. To change what appears, update inventory, products, or customer orders.

What if a product I need doesn't appear?

Check that the product is active, assigned to a distributor, has inventory set up, and has demand from customer orders.

How far in advance can I generate?

You can generate for any week in the system. Future weeks show projected demand based on current order data.

What if I order from a distributor not in the system?

Contact your administrator to add the distributor to the system, or track those orders manually outside this system.

Can I email the PDF directly from here?

No, you'll need to download the PDF and email it separately using your email program.

Why are some weeks' totals so different?

Normal fluctuations based on customer orders, holidays, seasonal demand, promotional events, and subscription changes.

How do I fix incorrect pricing?

Contact administrator to update distributor pricing in inventory setup. Regenerate invoice after pricing is corrected.

End of Documentation

For additional help, contact your system administrator or Kiva Logic support.