What is an invoice contact?

 For Procore Customers in the United States

flag-us.png  When your company applies the 'Owners English' or 'Specialty Contractors English' point-of-view dictionary, you'll see different tool names and term changes in the user interface. Learn how to apply the dictionary options. 

  • To learn the differences: Show/Hide      

    • This table shows the differences in tool names (bold) and terms across the point-of-view dictionaries for Project Financials. These dictionaries are available in US English only. The default dictionary is designed for general contractors, which means that you will need to work with your Procore Administrator at your company and your Procore point of contact to access the other dictionary options. 

      General Contractors

      English (United States) - Default

      Owners

      English (Owner Terminology V2)

      Specialty Contractors

      English (Specialty Contractor Terminology)
      Invoicing Invoicing Progress Billings
      Owner Funding Owner
      Owner/Client Owner/Client GC/Client
      Prime Contract Change Order Funding Change Order Client Contract Change Order
      Prime Contracts Funding Client Contracts
      Revenue Funding Revenue
      Subcontract Contract Subcontract
      Subcontractor Contractor Subcontractor
      Subcontractor Schedule of Values (SSOV) Contractor Schedule of Values (CSOV) Subcontractor Schedule of Values (SSOV)

Answer

An Invoice Contact is a person who ensures that an invoice is submitted to an upstream contractor for payment. In Procore, an invoice contact is always an employee of the designated 'Contract Company' on a purchase order or subcontract. The contract company is the party responsible for performing work and/or supplying materials for a project. For customers in the United States using Procore's Progress Billings tool, this term is synonymous with progress billing contact.

What permissions do invoice contacts need to create & submit subcontractor invoices in Procore? 

This table details the permissions that invoice contacts need to create subcontractor invoices in Procore. 

  Permissions Level on Commitments
Action None Read Only Standard Admin
Accept or Decline an 'Invite to Bill' as an Invoice Contact :minus: :check_mark: icon-inactive-checkmark-pfcp.png 1 :minus:
Submit a New Invoice as an 'Invoice Contact'  :minus: :check_mark: icon-inactive-checkmark-pfcp.png 1 :minus:
Create a New Subcontractor Invoice as an Invoice Contact :minus: :check_mark: icon-inactive-checkmark-pfcp.png 1 :minus:

1 Some Procore clients choose to provide invoice contacts with 'Standard' level permissions on the Commitments tool. It is important to note that providing external collaborators with permissions higher than 'Read Only' level permissions is NOT recommended by Procore.

Do invoice contacts need to be granted special access permissions to Procore?

No. When designated as an invoice contact on a commitment, Procore automatically adds the contact to the 'Private' list for that commitment. An invoice contact can then view the commitment and its invoices in Procore.

 Note
On a subcontractor invoice, the contact's name appears in the 'Invoice' section of the 'Advanced Settings' tab in the 'Invoice Contacts' area.

How do I add invoice contacts to Procore?

To add an invoice contact, an authorized user for the company managing the commitment in the Procore project must:

  1. Add the subcontracting company to the Company Directory. The subcontracting company corresponds to the 'Contract Company' on a commitment. See Add a Company to the Company Directory. The user who will be the invoice contact must be added to the company. See Add Users to the Company.
     Notes 
  2. Grant the invoice contact's user account 'Read Only' level permissions on the Project level Commitments tool. Procore recommends managing invoice contact permissions with a project permissions template. See Manage Project Permissions Templates.
  3. Add the 'Contract Company' and 'Invoice Contact' to the commitment. See Add Invoice Contacts to a Purchase Order or Subcontract. 
  4. Optional. Configure optional email notifications for the invoice contact: 

Unsure about your invoice contact status or missing an 'Invite to Bill'?

When does Procore send an 'Invite to Bill'? 

When an invoice administrator for the Procore company account creates a new billing period, that user has the option to send out an automated billing invite to anyone who is either (1) named on the 'Private' list for the invoice or (2) a member of the Commitment tool's default 'Invoice Contact' list. See Add Invoice Contacts to a Purchase Order or Subcontract.

Does an invoice contact need an 'Invite to Bill' to create an invoice?

No. An invoice contact has several options for creating an invoice. 

There are two ways to respond to an 'Invite to Bill' as an invoice contact: (1) from the 'Invite to Bill' email or (2) from the upstream collaborator's Project level Commitments tool. Use the second option when you know you have invoice contact permissions but the 'Invite to Bill' is missing or lost.

When responding to an invite, you can accept or decline it as follows:

  • To respond to an 'Invite to Bill' email: Show/Hide      
      1. Open your email Inbox. 
      2. Look for the email message with the subject line, " "Project Name: User Name has invited you to bill." 
      3. Open the 'Invite to Bill'. 

        invite-to-bill.png
         
      4. Review the Invoice Details:
        • Commitment. Shows the commitment number and name. 
        • Invoice Type. Shows the invoice type. See Configure Settings: Invoicing. 
        • Billing Period. The date range for the Open billing period. 
        • Invited By. The first and last name of the sender. Typically, this is the invoice administrator. 
        • Due Date. The date your invoice is due. Invoice contacts cannot create or submit an invoice in the Procore project after this date.  
      5. Click one of these buttons to respond to the Do you want to bill this period? prompt:
        • Yes. Accept the invite and submit an invoice. This changes the invoice status to Accepted. Continue with the steps in Submit a New Invoice as an Invoice Contact.
        • No. Decline the invite if you don't want to submit an invoice for the Open billing period. This changes the invoice status to Declined.  
  • To respond to an 'Invite to Bill' in the Commitments tool: Show/Hide      
    1. Navigate to the project's Commitments tool. 
    2. Locate the commitment to which you were added as an invoice contact. 
    3. Under Do you Want to Bill this Period?, indicate your intent to submit an invoice by clicking the Yes button. 
      do-you-want-to-bill-this-period.png
    4. Click the Post Response button. 
 Tip

Can't find your 'Invite to Bill' or uncertain if one was sent?  An invoice contact always has sufficient permissions to create a new invoice for an open billing period in the upstream collaborator's Procore project. See Create a New Invoice as an Invoice Contact.

What can invoice contacts add or update in Procore?

You can only perform tasks in Procore when you are added as an invoice contact on a commitment in the upstream collaborator's Procore project. What you can do and how you do it depends on the options used by the upstream collaborator. 

Invoice contacts can... To learn more...
Accept or Decline an 'Invite to Bill' from the email sent by an invoice administrator. See Send an 'Invite to Bill' to an Invoice Contact.  Accept or Decline an 'Invite to Bill' as an Invoice Contact
Respond to an 'Invite to Bill' sent by an invoice administrator. See Send an 'Invite to Bill' to an Invoice Contact.  Submit a New Invoice as an Invoice Contact
Create an invoice in the Commitments tool without an 'Invite to Bill' from an invoice administrator. You must grant the recipient invoice contact permissions.  Create a New Invoice as an Invoice Contact
Update a Subcontractor Schedule of Values. This feature must be enabled on the project. See Enable or Disable the Subcontractor SOV Tab on the Commitments Tool.  Update a Subcontractor Schedule of Values as an Invoice Contact
Revise and resubmit any invoice line items that are rejected by an invoice administrator. Revise & Resubmit a Subcontractor Invoice as an Invoice Contact

Do invoice contacts receive emails from Procore?

Yes.  Procore sends email notifications to invoice contacts when these actions occur:

Actions Details & Learn More Next Step
When a commitment with a designated invoice contact is created. The email is sent when the upstream collaborator clicks 'Create & Email' or 'Save & Email' on the General tab of the commitment. See Send an 'Invite to Bill' to an Invoice Contact from the Invoicing Tool.
If an invoice administrator sets the 'Remind Subcontractors to Bill' option.   If an invoice contact accepts an 'Invite to Bill,' a reminder is sent at the specified interval until the 'Draft' invoice is submitted. Reminders are no longer sent once the invoice's status changes to 'Under Review'. 
When the Subcontractor Schedule of Values is 'Rejected.' See What is a Subcontractor Schedule of Values? An email is sent when the upstream collaborator changes the status of a Subcontractor Schedule of Values to 'Revise & Resubmit.' See Review a Subcontractor Invoice as an Invoice Administrator.
If the upstream collaborator configured the Send Expiration Notification setting for insurance in the Company level Directory tool.  An email is sent when the insurance is within two (2) weeks of its expiration date. See Add Insurance to a Company Record in the Company Directory.
If the upstream collaborator configured the Notify Subcontractors when Invoices are Approved setting in the Project level Invoicing tool.  An email is sent when the upstream collaborator changes the invoice status to 'Approved.' See Configure Settings: Invoicing and Bulk Edit the Status of Subcontractor Invoices. -

 

See Also