Article #166 How to Recreate Lost Invoices and Orders in Solid Business Central?

If something unfortunate happens to a route sales person's handheld computer where the contents of Solid Sales Pro™ are wiped out, so too will be gone all the invoices they created since their last successful sync session. Although the first reaction may be to have the route salesperson meticulously recreate all the invoices, this is not the ideal method of invoice recreation in Solid Business Central™. The route salesperson will have to recreate the invoices in the same order that they were originally created, so the invoice numbers match up, and repopulate them item by item, ensuring that the quantities and prices are correct, so that everything matches the originals, all the while under the pressure of wanting to get back out onto the road to make sales.

The obvious problem with this method is that if the route salesperson makes a mistake and saves the invoice with an error, then the company's data integrity has been compromised. There is an easier way, though, that not only ensures a greater chance of the invoices being recreated correctly but also gets the route salesperson back on the road immediately to continue making money. Using the [F11 - Fill] key in their mobile unit record allows their last invoice number created before losing their data to be entered. This will then create open orders in Solid Business Central™ to fill in all those lost invoice numbers, which can then be later modified to match the original invoices.

How to Use [F11 - Fill]:

1. To begin, copy down the invoice number of the last invoice the route salesperson created.
2. In Solid Business Central™, navigate to [Datafile / Cost Center / Mobile] and display the mobile unit record for that route sales person's handheld computer.
3. By using the [F11 - Fill] key, a screen will display that shows the last invoice number created by this handheld computer on record within Solid Business Central™, and it will ask that the 'Billno to fill up to' be entered. Type the last successful invoice number that the driver created and use [CTRL+END] to save it.
4. Now sync the route sales person's handheld computer.
5. Once the handheld computer has been successfully synced, the missing invoice numbers will have been added into Solid Business Central™ as Open Orders, and the route salesperson can resume making sales. Be sure to have printed physical copies of the missing invoices before proceeding to the next section, so the office employee has something to copy the data off of.

To Recreate the Invoices:
Once the missing invoices have been added to Solid Business Central™ as Open Orders, it's up to an office or warehouse employee to modify those Open Orders so they match the invoices that share the same invoice numbers.

6. In Solid Business Central™, navigate to [Sales], and if a second menu level opens up, select [Sales] once again to arrive at the 'Sales' screen.
7. In the 'Cst' Customer Number field, enter '000999' to select the 'Unassigned Orders' customer record. If the above [F11 - Fill] procedure was done correctly, there should be an option between the 'Lmt' field and the 'Item Code' field called [F2 - Open Bills].
8. Use the [F2 - Open Bills] key to display all the Open Orders created by the [F11 - Fill] procedure. Highlight an Open Order whose 'Bill' number matches that of one of the physical invoices to be recreated, and use the [Enter] key to select it.
9. With the order opened, recreating the original invoice is the same as creating any other invoice in Solid Business Central™. In the Header (top) of this invoice, adjust:
   • Customer: Set the 'Cst' field to be the original customer's number
   • Date: Adjust the 'Date' to be the date on which the original invoice was made, if applicable**
   • Type: Change the invoice type to be 'B - Bill' for finalized invoices.
   • Pay: What payment type was used?
   • Tax: Controls tax exemption
   • CC: Set this field to the handheld computer's number
10. When done in the Header, move down into the Body with [CTRL+Page Down] and populate the items that were sold on the original invoice:
    • Items: Whatever was sold on the original invoice, preferably in the same order as the original invoice
    • Quantity: Ensure the same amount is invoiced
    • Prices: Ensure the correct prices are used, as on the original invoice
    • Taxes: Verify that the taxes are the same
11. When all data is entered as per the original invoice, save the recreated invoice with [CTRL+END]. Then repeat steps 6 - 11 above for all other invoices that need to be recreated.

** If the 'Date' can't be modified, then Back Dating has not been enabled in Solid Business Central™. To enable this, navigate to [System / Configure / Company / Settings] and in the 'Edit Bill Date?' field, enter in how many days in the past an invoice/order can be backdated. The maximum is 90 days. Once set, use [CTRL+END] to save this change and resume operations.