Proforma invoices

A proforma is a quotation or advance-payment request. It is not a tax invoice: it is never submitted to Taxilla, never counted in VAT reports, and its PDF carries the footer "THIS IS NOT A TAX INVOICE".

To start from an accepted quote or order confirmation, open it and click Convert to proforma: the buyer, lines, currency and payment terms are copied, and the proforma remembers the quote. When you invoice that proforma, the quote's order reference (or its number) and buyer reference are carried into the tax invoice.

1. Go to Proformas → New Proforma. The number comes from the proforma series (for example PRO-0001) and Valid until defaults to 30 days ahead.
2. Pick the buyer. Alya Books fills in the contact's default currency and, if the field is empty, its payment terms (for example "Net 30 days"). Add lines with quantity, unit, price and VAT, and add notes or payment terms text.
3. Click Save. Use Download PDF or Send by Email to deliver it; sends are listed in the delivery log.
4. From the list menu (⋯), use Mark as Sent and Mark as Accepted to track the buyer's response, or Cancel.
5. When you are ready to invoice, click Convert to Tax Invoice and choose:
   • Invoice the remaining N% when the goods or services are supplied. The invoice notes read "Final invoice (N%) against proforma PRO-…" and each line ends with "remaining N% of proforma PRO-…". Converting 100% at once reads "Issued against proforma PRO-…".
   • Advance payment (part) with a percentage. The notes read "Advance invoice (N%) against proforma PRO-…".
6. Click Create draft invoice. The invoice number in the dialog is only a preview; the number is allocated when you click. Alya Books opens the draft; validate and submit it like any other invoice.

Invoiced share and locked lines

• The share shown on a proforma (for example "30% invoiced") counts the tax invoices created from it that still stand. Rejected invoices and credit notes do not count.
• Deleting a draft invoice created from the proforma, or an invoice being rejected, gives its share back. A Converted proforma returns to Accepted when one of its invoices drops out.
• While any part is invoiced, the line items are locked, and Alya Books's server refuses line changes too. The label reads "locked: N% already invoiced; delete or reject that draft invoice to change the lines, or duplicate this proforma".
• The dates, buyer, notes and payment terms can still be edited and saved. After saving, the page reloads the proforma so it shows exactly what was stored.

Duplicate and copy from an invoice

• Duplicate (button on the proforma, or the row menu on Proformas) opens a new proforma with the same buyer, texts and lines, today's date, valid for 30 days and the next number.
• Create proforma from this in the row menu on Invoices (tax invoices only, not credit or debit notes) opens a new proforma with that invoice's buyer, currency, payment terms and lines, and the notes "Based on invoice INV-…". It is a one-off copy: later changes to either document do not affect the other. The action is hidden when the Proformas section is hidden.

A proforma is never updated from a tax invoice. The proforma is a quotation that comes before the invoice, while the invoice is a legal document reported to the FTA, so the link runs one way: each invoice points to its proforma.

Good to know:

• Under UAE VAT, receiving an advance creates a tax point, which is why partial conversion produces a real tax invoice for the amount received.
• The proforma page lists every invoice created from it, and each invoice shows a banner linking back to the proforma. The Document trail card on each of them shows the whole chain from the quote to the last credit note, with a history of every step.
• Proformas can only be deleted while nothing has been invoiced from them.
• Proformas never appear in Invoices, Compliance, the dashboard or Analytics.
• Owners, admins and accountants can create and convert proformas; viewers can only view.

Related:

• Create a tax invoice
• Document kinds