How to Create a Request for Claim

In order to view content or perform actions referred to in this article you need to have the appropriate permissions enabled in your security group. Go to System > Setup > Security Groups and access your security group to update your permissions. The relevant security group tab and specific permissions for this article can be found here:

Create Invoices & Credit Notes

Approve Invoices

Print/Email Invoices & Statements

You can invoice individual or multiple jobs in the following ways:

You can then proceed to Create a request for claim as normal.

To create a request for claim:

1. Ensure all job details are updated, then Invoice a job as normal.
2. Select Request for Claim as the Invoice Type.
3. Select the Invoice Stage.
   • This indicates your business's internal approval, not the customer's approval, and depends on your security group permissions.
4. Next to Claim Amount, enter the percentage or amount you wish to request to claim.
5. Select and enter additional options and details as required.
6. Click Finish.

You cannot raise a customer credit note against a request for claim as it is not a financial transaction.

If you have selected Restrict Unapproved Invoices in System Setup, invoices must be in the Approved stage before they can be emailed to the customer, paid off, voided, or credited. If you have not selected Restrict Unapproved Invoices, invoices can be emailed to the customer before they are approved, but you must approve the invoice before applying payments.

To automatically approve requests for claim upon creation, go to System > Setup > Defaults > System > Invoices > Invoice Stage and select Approved. Alternatively, select Pending to require them to be manually approved by an employee with the correct security group permissions.

To approve a request for claim still in the Pending stage:

1. Access the applicable request for claim.
2. Click Unlock.
3. Under Invoice Stage, select Approved.
4. Click Finish.

After you have completed and approved a request for claim, you can then email a request for claim form directly to the customer from Simpro Premium.

Learn how to adjust how your request for claim form PDFs display, including the form title, form totals, materials and labour information, footnote, header fields, claim statement and more in How to Set Up Request For Claim Forms.

Learn more about using form builder templates in How to Use Form Builder Templates.

To email a request for claim form:

1. Click the Forms tab in the request for claim.
2. Select the form you wish to send from the Templates list.
   • You may wish to send the Payment Schedule form, which displays project information such as total contract value, claims to date, and the claim value remaining. It also shows a payment schedule table including project progress, and the claim amount for customer approval.
   • US only: You can also select and complete the AIA Preparation Form to assist in submitting requests for payment for certification by the architect and / or other involved parties. Learn more in How to Use the AIA Preparation Form - US Only.
   • See Assign form templates to appear when emailing a request for claim to learn how to update the forms that appear here.
3. Click View to preview and / or print the form.
4. Select a Primary Contact to address the form to and click to add additional Contacts if required.
   • This is automatically populated by the primary contact for invoicing defined in the customer card file.
   • Alternatively, you can manually enter email addresses and separate them with a comma. To remove recipients, click Clear Recipients.
   • Any secondary contacts selected when setting up the lead / quote / job are pre-populated in the Cc field. You can also add more recipients in the Bcc field if you want to hide their email addresses from other recipients.
5. Adjust the default Subject and Body template if required.
   • See Set up the email template for requests for claim to learn how to update this template.
   • Alternatively, click Clear Email to enter a new Subject and Body, or select a script from the Insert Script drop-down. Learn more in How to Use Scripts.
6. Click Send > OK > OK.

A log entry is then created in the Log tab, where you can view the email text and any form attachments.

It recommended that you do not generate DOCX when you click View as it allows you to alter the invoice outside of Simpro Premium. This can cause errors within your accounting system and impact reporting.

After a customer approves your request for claim, you can convert it to a deposit or progress claim to send to the customer.

To convert a request for claim approved by a customer:

1. Locate the relevant job.
2. Click next to Options on the job you wish to approve a claim for.
3. Under Unpaid Invoices, click the request for claim.
   • Alternatively, on the request for claim, click Options > View Invoice.
4. Click Unlock in the top right corner.
5. Select Progress Claim as the Invoice Type.
6. Confirm the issue date and update it, if required.
7. Create a progress claim as normal.

Click the Log tab to view a history of actions in that claim, along with the logged-in employee who performed them and the date and time.

Actions logged in the Message column of the log can include:

• Creation and modifications
• Status updates
• Printing and emailing forms
• Payment.

For additional training, complete an interactive material in the Simpro's Learning Toolbox. Learn more in About Simpro's Learning Toolbox.