Welcome to GrandTotal 3

This manual can be printed or opened in your Web Browser by right clicking it.

Getting started

Setup your Preferences

In Preferences you can enter all the basic data about your business and your documents.

There you can also set the conditions for all the different document types, e.g. "Thank you for your business. Payable until…"

Customize your layout

A selection of templates can be downloaded in the layouts section. You may modify the layouts to fit your company's design needs.

Screencasts

A selection of Screencasts is available here: Show Screencasts

GrandTotal 2 Users

What has changed?

Invoices and Estimates are now located in Clients. The newest documents appear on top of the table.
The client data can be accessed using the ⓘ-Button in the left table.
Projects are now folders. The project field on documents is gone. The title of the project now is taken from the enclosing folder.
Item groups are now located in the taxes preferences
The elements for BezahlCode (Germany only) and swiss OCR have been changed and need to be added to your layout again.
Placeholder for custom fields need to be added to the layout again because the syntax changed

Buy an upgrade

The old license is migrated automatically if found. Otherwise you need to double-click your license.

Your Licenses are listed in the GrandTotal/Licenses menu. From there you can buy an upgrade.

Once you have purchased and activated an upgrade License you may delete the old one.

Preferences

Organization

Enter your own contact data here.

Additional fields can be used in your layouts. The same fields are added to all of your clients as well

Clients

Decide if newly created clients have net or gross prices calculated.

The format of the client number and the current counter can be changed here. (Counter shows the number the next client will get)

Invoices

Define what label you want to use for your invoices and credit notes. Invoices with a grand total below zero are treated as credit notes

The payment terms are copied to newly created clients and my me changed there individually. In addition you can set custom terms while sending an invoice.

Invoices not being paid within this terms are marked as due. When the date passes the value in the second field they become overdue.

For each payment type you can define own conditions. Those appear at the end to the invoice

The numbering of invoices can be customized as well

Estimates

The settings for estimates are similar to the one for invoices. Instead of payment terms you can specify a validity here.

The conditions are shared for all estimates

Other Documents

You may attach follow up documents to invoices. E.g. reminders or delivery slips. These documents will show the same items as their parent invoice.

Here you can setup your additional document types and their conditions.

Mail

In this section you define the contents of an E-Mail for the various document types.

In case you are using stationary paper for printed invoices you may add backdrop for mailed documents here. (Don't use backgrounds in your layout then).

Following mail clients are supported:

Apple Mail

Comes with Mac OS X

MS Entourage

Discontinued. See Outlook.

File

At the time you send a document a PDF is created. Here you define where you what to save them.

Base: The directory where all the documents are saved in.

Folder: The sub directory in which the documents are saved. (use "/" between the elements to create further sub directories)

File name: The name of the document.

Taxes

Here you setup how taxes are calculated.
In the vertical axis of the matrix the client groups are listed. Horizontally you can add tax groups.

The tax groups are assigned to the item groups.

Once used in a sent document taxes can't be changed anymore.

In case taxes are being raised or lowered over time you have to create a new tax group. This group needs to be assigned to the item groups.

* Ask your  tax adviser in case of questions

Payments

GrandTotal supports multiple currencies.

You may add an exchange rate relative to the default currency. This will be used to covert rates when changing the currency of a document and to calculate the values in the dashboard to your native currency.

Define the conditions for the different payment types in Preferences/Invoices

Work time

Define here how items of supported time trackers are imported.

Using rules you can declare what item groups should be used for the items. If there are no rules the default value of your item groups is applied.

Advanced

GrandTotal can be synced using Dropbox. Dropbox needs to be installed and running. This option also has to be turned on to check open documents on the go using the free iPhone app.

The language menu allows you to set the interface language of GrandTotal. This does not affect your layouts.

Switzerland

Enter your information for ESR/BVR slips here.

Contact you Bank for details.

Overview

Dashboard

The dashboard gives you a quick overview of open invoices. You also can compare revenues to last year's period.
All values are converted to your default currency using the exchange rate entered in Preferences/Payments.

Drafts

Here you will find all the documents that have not yet been sent.

Templates

Here you can see your Document-Templates (if you have created any) and edit them. Templates are created by right clicking an existing invoice.

Use the "Edit/Delete" Menu to remove unused Templates.

Work time (optional)

GrandTotal supports various time tracking applications. Their recordings appear in the corresponding section. Already invoiced items are listed in the "Invoiced" section.
"Invoice selection" is looking for the client for the items. In case there is already an invoice draft the entries will be added. Otherwise a new draft is created with the selected item.
If the option "Auto-group" is turned on, items with the same title are grouped.

Timings

Timings is a Time recording application compatible with GrandTotal.

Entries archived in Timings will not appear in this list

TimeLog

TimeLog is the predecessor of Timings.

.mite

«Time tracking is vital for invoicing, accounting, and scheduling. Yes, it’s been an annoying necessity for all too long. Let’s strike back. With an advanced, yet simple tool to help you get things done.»
.mite

Mite accounts saved in your keychain are listed automatically. You can add accounts in Preferences/Work time

Entries archived in .mite will not appear in this list

Sent

All sent documents are listed here. They are grouped by year and month.

Reporting

There are several tools to analyze invoices and payments.

In "Date range" you may summarize you data in various ways. Use "File/Export" to save CSV files.

Smart lists

Using smart lists you can group invoices, estimates and payments according to different criteria.

Clients

All documents for the corresponding client are listed here. On top you will always see the most recent document.

Info

Click the ℹ-button to change the client information. Here you define the client group, the default currency, terms and what layouts should be used for this clients documents.

Contacts

A client may contain multiple contacts. These can be assigned as recipient to a document.

Invoices

And invoice always consists of at least one item. Additional items can be added when needed.

Info

State
State only appears on on sent unpaid invoices. Use this to cancel an invoice or mark it as completed.
Sent
The date you sent the Invoice. This will be set to the current date in the send dialog unless you change the date there manually.
Due
The date the invoice becomes due. This date is calculated from the send date and the terms you set in the send dialog.
Recipient
Usually this is the main contact of your client. If your client has more than one contact, you can change it here.
Number
The number of the invoice. This will be set automatically while sending the document. If you pre fill this value no new number will be generated.
Subject
Optional subject for the document.
Reference
Use this field in case you want to add a reference.
If you turn an estimate into an invoice the number of the estimate will be copied into this field.
Currency
The currency the Invoice is issued in. For a new invoice this is taken from the clients settings. When changing the currency the prices are changed according to the rate entered in Preferences/Payments.
Payment Type
The kind of payment to be expected from the client. This is taken from the clients settings.
Payment Terms
The time in days until the invoice is due. This value is taken from the clients settings.
Date range
If the items of your invoice contain dates this the range is calculated automatically. You may set a custom range here.
Recurring
Invoices can be marked as recurring. Recurring Invoices are listed in the Overview.
Custom Fields
You may add custom fields. The fields are the same for all Invoices but they can contain individual values.

Table

The Table of an invoice consists of at least one item. if needed you may add other items as described below.
Item
An item consists of a quantity and a unit price. Both values multiplied result in the price of the item.
Optionally you can add a unit like "pcs" or "h".
If you enter a discount the percentage is deducted from the items price.
Items can also have a date.
The item group defines if how much taxes are added for that particular item. Taxed are calculated at the end of the document.
Notes
Add notes if you want to add information without any cost.
Title
Use titles to structure your documents if needed.
Subtotal
In complex documents it can be useful to add subtotals. The sum is calculated from all items from the last subtotal. (Or the beginning of the document if there is none)
Page break
Page breaks are added automatically when an item does not fit on a page. With this element you can enforce a page break.
Grouping
Items can be grouped into one item using ⌘G. Only the grouped item is then visible to the recipient.

Preview

In this view you can see the document in the form it reaches your client.

If the document is still a draft you can edit the layout. More on layouts

Credit notes

And Invoice automatically turns into a credit note as soon the total is less than zero. Keep in mind that you need to mark credit notes as paid as well.

Estimates

Estimates work like Invoices. An estimate can be converted to an invoice using the action button. The resulting invoice is a copy an can be modified.

Payments

Each invoice can hold as many payments as needed. If the sum of the payments reach the total of the invoice it becomes paid.

If you add a payment before sending the invoice it is considered as a progress payment (Date of the payment is earlier than the date of the invoice)

If you get a Deposit from a client you add this to the top hierarchy of the documents. If you drag this payment on an unpaid invoice later it will be assigned to the invoice.

Projects

Use projects to organize you documents. The name of the project will be showed in the documents when you add the <document.project/> placeholder.

Account statments

The document list of the client can be changed to history mode using the clock symbol. There all invoices and payments are listed in chronological order.

Using multiple selection you can select which item should appear on the account statement.

In account statements the layout placeholder <quantity/> is replaced with the date of the invoice/payment

Catalog

The catalog is used for commonly used items. It also appears on the right side of the list in documents. From there you can drag items either to the document of from the document to the catalog.

Layouts

The layout defines how your documents are looking. This is fully customizable.

In case you need layouts in multiple languages you need to create a separate layout for each language.

Usage: this number shows you how many times a layout has been used. This also counts how many times this layout is assigned as default in client settings.

Pages

A layout consists of at least 2 pages. The "First page" is used in every document. In case there is insufficient space for the items on page one, the "Following page" will be used subsequently until all items are listed.

Additional pages can be used to append extra pages. E.g. terms of service.

Backdrop

Each Page can hold a PDF-File as a Backdrop. You create the background in the program of your choice in the same paper size your layout needs to be. Drag the PDF on the page.
If you have a multiple pages in your background, right click the background to pick the correct page.

Table

The table consists of different sections that are used for different types of items.

The sections are only used if needed in a document. There is no need to delete fields in unused sections.

Introduction

The introduction appears on the first page if you have typed an introduction above the items in the documents.

Header

The header holds the captions for the items. It appears once per page above the items.

Item

The invoice item.

If you use discounts on items you need to add the <discount/> placeholder.

Quantities (<quantity/> ) are automatically formatted as duration when the unit is "h". Use the <qty/> placeholder to always show decimal values.

Title

Titles are added manually to documents.
This section will only be shown when needed.

Note

A note is like a regular item, but does not contain price information. It needs to be added manually to your document.
This section will only be shown when needed.

Sub total

Subtotals are added to the document manually.

Net

If your document contains taxable items this line will be added, showing the net value off all items.

Taxes

This line is added when taxes are calculated to the document.

Total

This is shown if your document contains prepayments. It displays the cost before payments,

Payments

Prepayments are listed using this line. This are payments added before sending the document.

To Pay

This section defines how the grand total is displayed on your document.

End note

The end note always appears als the last item of the table.

Tools

Text

With this tool you can add text fields to your layout. You can add placeholders or regular text to those fields.
If you use a placeholder, the style of the first character of the placeholder will be applied to the whole substitute.

Rectangle

Colored rectangles.

Image

You can place PDF images in your layout using this tool.

PayPal

Creates a link in your invoice that allows to pay using PayPal.
The link has to be configured after adding (double click to edit the settings)
PayPal does not support all currencies.

BezahlCode (Germany)

Bezahlcode is a machine readable QRCode. The recipient can scan it with specialized App like iOutDank to start a payment.
The Bezahlcode has to be configured after adding (double click to edit the settings)
This only works with german bank accounts

SEPA QR-Code (Austria only)

SEPA QR-Code is a machine readable QRCode. The recipient can scan it with specialized banking application.
The QR-Code has to be configured after adding (double click to edit the settings)

ESR/BVR Elements (Switzerland)

The ESR/BVR elements are for payment slips of the swiss post. The settings are in Preferences/Switzerland.

Table area

The table area can be placed on the first and the following page of a layout. It defines where on the page the table is placed. Only one table can be placed per page.

Export/Import

Export

Lists

Clients, catalog items and listsin the reports section can be exported as CSV files. Menu File/Export.

Documents

Documents can be exported in PDF format to the Finder or another application using drag'n'drop. In the lists of the overview you may select more than one document at a time and export them.

Layouts

Export layouts using the File/Export menu. (On the other mac double click that file to import it)

Import

Import clients and catalog items using the File/Import menu. The files need to be in CSV-Format.

Printing

Documents

Documents can be printed using the regular Print menu.

For drafts you will see a warning in the print dialog. Drafts are not intended to be sent to the client. Use the "Send" button for this.

Lists

Things you should know

Filtering & Searching

Above the lists you may filter the list by typing a string. If you like to search for an item, use the "Find window" (⌘-F).

Copy & Paste & Duplicate

Items can be copied and pasted to other documents.

This works with documents as well. After copied you can paste them in the list of another client.

Duplicate items and documents using ⌘-D.

Drafts

All documents are drafts after creating them. As long you don't have sent them they don't have a send date and can be edited.

In the preview you will see a red question mark instead of send and due dates. Those will be replaced with the actual dates after hitting the send button.

Editing

Once a Document has been sent it can't be edited unless you unlock it.

Deleting

A lot of records can't be deleted after all relations have been removed.
An item group for instance can't be deleted when all items that are pointing to it are removed. Documents that have been sent can't be trashed unless you have unlocked them.
A client may not be deleted as long it contains documents or payments.

Net/Gross

Net: The prices of the items don't include taxes. Tax will be added at the end of the document.

Gross: Tax is already included in the items. Taxes are declared a the end of the document

Payments are always a part of the gross amount and have no net value

Stationary and PDF

In case you are using preprinted stationaries you should not add background elements to your layout.

Save your stationary template as a PDF and add it as backdrop to Preferences/Mail. This background will be added to all documents you send by mail.

Formats

Numbers and dates in documents are always shown in the locale format of the recipient.

Europeans will get a DD.MM.YYYY date while americans will see a MM/DD/YYYY format. German recipients get a comma as decimal separator, while swiss have a period.

Backups

Use the File menu to save or restore backups.

Discounts

There are two different kind of discounts in GrandTotal.

One is on a single item. This is deducted directly from the item itself. Your item section in the layouts table needs to contain the <discount/> placeholder to display the discount.

The global discount entered below the items affects all items. (Including the ones already having an individual discount). This discount will be shown in separate line after the net section.

Sandboxing

Since OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 Apple has introduced so called sandboxing. This prevents sandboxed application to access arbitrary data on your computer.
But it also makes integration with 3rd party apps more complicated or impossible. For this reason some features are not longer existing or more complicated to handle.