Easiest way to create a invoice form and link fields to db?

[amike000]

Hi,A friend has asked me to help in digitizing his invoice generation. The problem is he is very scared of using technology. I have somehow convinced him to atleast try a very basic software.So he has agreed to try a solution in excel or access since he knows a little bit about them. Since excel doesnot seem like a good fit for managing a db of invoices, i want to use access.But i don't know anything about it, tried some tutorials and videos but they seem very advanced.Currently I just want to create a simple invoice/receipt form that includes the following info linked to tables.Invoice.No/Date/User/Customer/ItemId/ItemName/Qty/TotalSub TotalNet TotalAnother problem is that he wants to enter the inventory items at the time of sale, meaning he doesnot have a list of items.My questions:1- How to start designing this simple solution? How many tables to create and how to link them with the appropriate fields of the invoice?2- The line items of the invoice will need to be saved in inventory table, how to do that?3- This is a temporary solution, so will i be able to easily convert access db to sql server db?Many thanks!

[CJ_London]

have a look at the templates provided by Access, there are several with invoices in them. Do recommend you upgrade from 2002 tho' - at least to 2007

To answer your questions requires context - is there a client base or is it primarily one off sales? Are sales cash or credit? selling items or services? or something more complex - like double glazing? wholesale/retail?

but yes, line items can be saved to a transaction table, access can use either an access or sql server back end (or both at the same time). You would require a minimum of two tables but in reality probably 8 or 9. The two tables would be invoice header and invoice lines. The header contains 'one off' data such as customer, invoice date, invoice number whilst the line table contains product, quantity, item price, tax rate and link back to the header table - anything that can be calculated (such as subtotals/totals) is not stored but calculated when required

I don't want to put you off but if you are not an experienced developer it may be more cost (and certainly time) effective for your friend to try a basic accounting package rather than developing a bespoke solution.

[amike000]

Thank you for replying.I had browsed some access templates which he didn't like, i will check the 2007 version ones again. Answer to your questions:1- Is there a client base or is it primarily one off sales? [Client base]2- Are sales cash or credit?[Cash]3- Selling items or services?[Items]How much time do you think will be required to develop the most basic version?Thank you again.

[CJ_London]

From what you have said you will need at least two more tables - one for customers and one for items.

you need to understand what 'doesn't like' means - if you are talking about things like the color and position of controls these are easily changed. What is more important to understand is the sales process and how the invoicing form will fit within that

How much time to develop the most basic version - an experienced developer, perhaps a day, an inexperienced one anything up to a month. Use a template and potentially all you are making is cosmetic changes so perhaps a day or two - depends on how quickly you learn.