The General Rule
In general, you can follow this rule:
Novi AMS: Create invoices in Novi if you're following a rule or doing something that you do a lot of.
QuickBooks Online: QuickBooks is the best place to create "exceptions to the rule." This is the best place to create custom, one-off invoices or to make exceptions to rules for certain members/customers.
4 Ways to Create an Invoice
Specifically, there are four ways to create an invoice for your member or customer.
1. Dues Invoices: Create in Novi AMS
The short answer is that dues invoices are created on the member/customer record. They are generated when:
Manually converting a prospect to a member
Manually renewing a member
Automatically renewing a member
Dive Deeper: Manually create a dues invoice
2. Event Registration Invoices: Create in Novi AMS
To create an event registration, you'll need to locate the event in the Novi admin section (the backend) and then click the plus sign in the top-right of the screen. This will walk you through the process of creating a registration and give you the option to create an invoice.
3. Ecommerce (Product) Invoices: Create in Novi AMS - Sometimes
If you have the product already in your Ecommerce store: then you can create an order for your customer. Click on the Ecommerce tab in the left navigation & then Orders. From there, you'll click on "Add Order" in the upper right-hand corner to start the order process.
If the product isn't in your Ecommerce store and you're not likely to sell many of them: then you should consider generating the invoice directly from QuickBooks.
4. Special Invoices: Create in QuickBooks
The best place to create special invoices is inside QuickBooks Online. This gives you the flexibility to create invoices exactly how you'd like them. It also allows to create & send them quickly.
If you need to see them inside of Novi automatically, then you can always click the "Sync Manually" button at the top of the Members tab (on the backend of Novi). Otherwise, transactions will be synced to Novi AMS four times per day.
A Note on Access to QuickBooks
Not every Novi user has access to their company's QuickBooks account, so they may have to ask the bookkeeper or controller for help. This friction has been put in place by design and at the request of the association professionals who have guided Novi since our inception.
When Dues, Event, and Ecommerce transactions are created in Novi, they're done so following a transparent formula. Creating one-off transactions carry higher financial risk, so we have made the business decision to leave that privilege to those authorized QuickBooks users who have been granted access by their organization.