Alya Books

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    Guides for Alya Books and UAE e-invoicing

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    Custom fields and templates

    Add your own fields such as PO number or cost code to documents and lines, group them in a template per document kind, and print them on the PDF.

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    Custom fields hold information Alya Books does not have a standard field for: a purchase order number, a project phase, a cost code per line. A template decides which fields appear on which document kind.

    Define fields

    1. Go to Settings → Documents → Custom fields (owners and admins).
    2. Click Field and fill in:
      • Label and Label (Arabic). The Key is derived from the label (lowercase letters, digits, underscores) and is what integrations send as metadata.<key>. It cannot be changed after saving.
      • Type: Text, Number, Date, Yes / no, or Choice list. For a choice list, enter the options one per line, optionally as value | Label.
      • Applies to: Whole document or Each line.
      • Order, Required and Print on PDF.
    3. Click Save.

    Build a template

    1. Click Template, enter a Name and choose the Document kind.
    2. Tick the fields it should contain and leave Active on.
    3. Click Save. Only one template per document kind can be active; activating another one deactivates the previous.

    Where the fields appear

    • In the invoice and quote editor: a Custom fields section in the right panel for document fields, and a tag icon on each line for line fields.
    • On incoming invoices: a Custom fields card when a template for incoming invoices is active.
    • On the PDF: fields marked Print on PDF are printed (document-level fields only): on invoices, credit and debit notes and proformas with the invoice details, or in the Shipment panel of a Logistics design; on quotes and letters under "Additional information".
    • In the API and webhooks as metadata.

    Good to know

    • Required fields block saving until filled, in the app and through the API.
    • Values can still be edited on issued (locked) invoices, because they do not change the tax content.
    • Deleting a field removes it from templates; stored values on old documents are kept.
    • Categories and cost centres are separate lists at the bottom of the same tab, meant for reporting rather than free-form data.

    Still stuck? Contact support