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Creating orders

Create a new order as soon as you want to realize an order with your clients. You have the possibility to send orders for confirmation to clients and thus keep a good overview of your orders and their status. An order is the basis for invoicing. Please fill out an order for each project or service for which Smart should issue an invoice.

To do this, please click on the +New order button at the top right of the dashboard. You can access the order view in various ways:

Dashboard

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Menu - Orders

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When creating an order, please pay close attention to the input of data, such as the order and service description, as they will be taken over exactly for invoicing to the clients. In the next step, in the status of Smart Confirmation, we will review the order and make minor adjustments if necessary. We will not make any changes that affect the content of your orders and agreements with clients (scope of services or amount of fees).

Below we will guide you through all the steps of order creation

Client

Type the first 3 letters of the client to select from the client database or create a new client. If you haven't done this step yet, please go to the previous chapter 'Adding a new client' in this tutorial.

Contact person

The contact person is linked to the individual order and must therefore be entered for each new order, even if the client has already been created in the database. You can send different orders with the same client to different contact persons.

The contact person is only visible to you and does not appear publicly in the client profile. The contact person receives all e-mails and invoices related to the order (order confirmation, invoices, cancellation). To be sure who is the contact person for the order confirmation, there is the possibility to enter an e-mail address here. 

In the client profile you can specify another e-mail address to which all invoices and cancellation invoices will also be sent (see chapter 'Adding a new client - e-mail for invoice'). The e-mail addresses of the contact person and the invoice address can also be the same. In such case only one e-mail will be sent. If no additional e-mail address for invoices is specified under client details, the contact person given in the order will receive the invoice.

Sector (Activities)

In the next step, please select the sector according to the service you provide.

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Order details - your service
Place of service
Please select the place of service from the EU-Zone, Germany or Other.

Based on the parameters 'Sector /Activity' and 'Place of service' as well as the client data, the correct VAT rate for your order will be calculated automatically.

Project name
This field will appear on the invoice in the header and is meant for a short text such as a specific project number or an abbreviation that helps you and your clients to recognise the order fastly. Please keep information short as the detailed description in the order should be written in "Description of order"

Please note that your name will not appear on the invoice. If it is important for you, please write your name either under Project name or in the Description of order.

Special Agreement
This is not a mandatory field. Here, you can describe specific conditions with clients, if they are to be agreed upon.

Description of order

This is the field where the description of your service is entered. Example: Teaching activity for Event X. In this field please enter text only, no tables etc., as these cannot be displayed well on the invoice. For detailed service overview please use the function 'Add new item' or 'Add file'.

Additional documents such as timesheets or other details can be sent to the client via the portal in the course of the order confirmation. Currently, documents submitted during the order creation do not automatically appear on the invoice. The client will receive an automatic e-mail with the invoice as a PDF-file (the exact e-mail templates sent from the portal can be found in the chapter Communication with clients). We will make sure that the attachments from the orders are sent to the client together with the invoice.

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Add new item
Here you can indicate specific services that belong to one order and choose between different units (days / lump sums / hours / months / weeks and other units), which will be added together and listed on the order and later the invoice, as seen below.

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Currency
Currently it is possible to create invoices in the following currencies:
EUR, USD, CAD, PLN, GBP, CZK, CHF, AUD, DKK, JPY, SEK.

If your client would like to receive an invoice in another currency, please contact our member support team.

Service period
Please indicate when exactly the service will be provided. The service period also defines when the order can be completed. Finished orders, for which the service period lies is in the past and for which invoicing has taken place can be completed by the member manually (go to Check order status for further instructions).

Client confirmation

OfferBefore validthe until
Pleaseinvoice setis issued to your client, your order can first be sent to them for confirmation. This is a deadlinerecommended untiloption, whenespecially for clients within the clientsEU, as we can confirmoffer payment guarantee for these orders, as long as they are confirmed.

If you do not actively skip this option, an e-mail with the confirmation link will be sent to your order.client. AfterAt this point they can still request changes, confirm or reject the deadline, the order will change its status to "Rejected". Please check regularly if your client has confirmed the orders in time. 
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Skip client confirmation and create an invoice
Use this option if you want to skip the confirmation by the client and go directly to invoicing. Please select an appropriate reason for skipping. 

Please note: If there is no other confirmation of the order from your client, e.g. a separate agreement that you can upload in the portal, the order will be processed without payment guarantee.

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 Offer valid until

Please


set a deadline until when the clients can confirm your order. After the deadline, the order will change its status to "Rejected". Please check regularly if your client has confirmed the orders in time. 

Payments

Now you can indicate the mode of payment, the billing date and when the payment is due. Please note that this information is especially important, as it influences the timing of invoicing and reminders. 

Recurrent payments
Recurring orders or frame contracts refer to the same service that is invoiced on a regular basis. If the invoice for the same amount should always be issued at a certain time, you can specify this as follows: 

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Duplicating orders

Orders in any status can be easily duplicated, which is convenient for example for frame contracts on call (with variables when it comes to amounts and invoicing date). By duplicating an order, you save some time entering the data for a similar order. Be sure to double check if all fields are correctly specified for your new order, especially: service period, payment type and invoice date.

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Comment

You can leave a comment for the Smart Advisors' Team here. It will be only visible for us and not for the client. 

Save as draft or save and submit

Now the order can be sent directly to the Smart Team for confirmation or to the client for confirmation. You can also save it as a draft and edit it later. Drafts are not visible for the Smart team.

Request for cancelation

Attention: When canceling orders, invoices that have already been issued or planned are not automatically canceled.

Please inform the advisor's team if invoices that have already been issued are also to be cancelled. We will contact you, if it is not clear when the invoices should be cancelled or no longer issued.

Blocked clients

If clients already have too many unpaid invoices or there have been other issues, it may be necessary for us to temporarily block these clients. Depending on the problem, only orders with advance payment may be possible, or we might not be able to accept new orders at all.

If you personally haven't had any issues with the client, please contact Smart for more information. We would communicate together with you and your client to resolve the issue.

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Payment Guarantee
If you handle your orders through Smart and are employed by Smart, you can benefit from the payment guarantee.

The three basic requirements of the payment guarantee are:

  1. Your client has formally confirmed the order by signing the order form (or framework agreement). Only then does Smart have the legal basis to demand payment from your client and send a payment reminder or effect debt collection.
  2. Your client is based in the European Union. For clients outside the European Union, it is very difficult for Smart to demand payments and send payment reminders.
  3. New clients who have never received an invoice from Smart must be verified before invoicing. This means that Smart will send an email to your client and ask them to confirm company details (address, contact).

The payment guarantee includes two aspects:

  1. The Salary Guarantee means that you receive an averaged salary from Smart at the end of the month based on future orders. Smart advances your salary and pays it out to you even if Smart has not yet issued the invoice to your client or is awaiting payment from your client. This ensures that you receive a regular salary at the end of each month, making you less dependent on fluctuating payments. You can determine with Smart which salary category suits you best and can adjust this category depending on your planned orders.

  2. Under the Payment Default Guarantee, you continue to receive your salary even if your client is in payment default, i.e., Smart has not been paid on time by your client. In this case, Smart will take care of contacting your client in the background and reminding them to pay the invoice. If, despite multiple payment reminders, your client does not pay the invoice from Smart, Smart will formally demand payment from your client. Before Smart takes this step, you will be contacted to discuss the details. If your client does not pay the invoice even after a payment demand, Smart is liable with the assets of the cooperative.

When does the payment default guarantee not apply?

  • Your client has not signed the order form or framework agreement. In this case, Smart has no legal basis to demand payment from your client or send a payment demand.
  • Your client is based outside the European Union. In this case, it is very difficult for Smart to demand payments.
  • A new client has not responded to Smart before invoicing to verify company details.
  • Smart has not yet issued an invoice. Only with already issued invoices can a payment demand be made.
  • You have not completed the order to the satisfaction of your client. As there are often different interpretations in such cases, Smart offers to act as an intermediary in close communication with you to reach an agreement with your client that satisfies all parties. This can be advantageous for you, as Smart has a lot of experience in mediating disputes and can be seen as a stronger counterpart. If an agreement is reached with your client to only pay a portion of the invoice, the payment default guarantee applies only to that partial amount. If you disagree with the agreement, you can convene an independent committee consisting of other Smart members.
  • You have only partially completed the order. In this case, the payment default guarantee applies only to the part that has actually been completed and invoiced.
  • The order could not be fulfilled due to force majeure (e.g., COVID-19). If an individual contractual arrangement exists with your client regarding order failures due to force majeure (e.g., compensation payment), the payment default guarantee applies only to the contractually regulated compensation payment.
  • If you do not allow Smart to send a payment reminder or demand to your client.

Special considerations for framework agreements / orders with recurring payments:

If you have agreed to a confirmed and signed framework agreement with a client in the European Union, the following applies:

  1. Estimate the planned units or hours you will provide to the client per month and select an appropriate employment category. A minimum estimate of units or hours must be included in the signed framework agreement so that a realistic employment category can be chosen.
  2. If the estimate does not materialize as expected (if you work more or fewer units or hours per month), your employment category can be upgraded or downgraded to balance your budget.
  3. The payment default guarantee applies only to the units or hours actually invoiced and provided.

Clients outside the European Union or unsigned order forms or framework agreements: There is no payment default guarantee in these cases.

Payments to Smart via a credit without a signed order form and invoice: Your employment with Smart can only begin or be extended in these cases when your client has paid invoices or credits totaling the first or next month's salary in your chosen employment category. There is no payment default guarantee in these cases.

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