Concepts/Invoice

conceptbillingCARE 3.0+

Definition

An invoice in Care groups one or more billable charge items from an account and bills them to the patient or payer. Care uses the invoice to track the amount that is owed and whether the payer has paid it. Every invoice belongs to one account.

Key Attributes

Components	What it captures
Account	The billing account that the invoice bills. This is required.
Charge items	The billable items on the invoice. You choose them from the account.
Title	A short name for the invoice. This is optional.
Payment Terms	The conditions for payment. This is optional.
Note	Extra information about the invoice. This is optional.
Issue Date	The date when you issue the invoice. Care sets this date when the invoice is issued.
Number	The invoice number. The facility's configuration usually generates it.
Status	The stage of the invoice in its lifecycle.

Issue Date

The issue date cannot be a date in the future.

Charge items

While the invoice is in Draft, the line items follow the live charge items. When you issue the invoice, Care keeps a snapshot of the line items at that moment. A later change to a charge item does not change an invoice that is already issued.

A charge item becomes Billed when you attach it to an invoice. It becomes Paid when the invoice reaches Balanced.

Payments and credit notes

You record payments and credit notes through Payment Reconciliation. A payment or a credit note can target one invoice.

Status

Status	Description
Draft	You are still preparing the invoice. You can change it.
Issued	You sent the invoice to the patient or payer. Care keeps a snapshot of the line items.
Balanced	The payer settled the invoice in full. This status is final.
Cancelled	You cancelled the invoice. This status is final.
Entered in Error	You created the invoice by mistake. This status is final.

An invoice moves from Draft to Issued, and then to Balanced. From Draft or Issued, you can move the invoice to Cancelled or to Entered in Error. An invoice cannot move backward. For example, an issued invoice cannot return to Draft. An invoice also cannot move from Draft directly to Balanced.

Permissions

Care checks these permissions at the facility level.

Permission	What it allows	Roles
Can Write Invoice	Create an invoice, edit it, issue it, add or remove items, and mark it as balanced.	Facility Admin, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Pharmacist
Can Read Invoice	View and list invoices.	Facility Admin, Administrator, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Volunteer, Pharmacist
Can Manage Locked Invoice	Lock or unlock an invoice, and view the full detail of a locked invoice.	Facility Admin, Admin
Can Destroy Invoice	Cancel an invoice after the facility's free-cancel window ends.	Facility Admin, Admin

📝 Note

By default the free-cancel window ends immediately. Cancellation therefore usually needs the Can Destroy Invoice permission.

Pages that link here:

Concept: Concepts/Patient
Reference: References/Payment Reconciliation