📌 Stage 6 · Invoicing & Dashboard · Sales Pipeline CRM · Invoicing · 35–45 min

Due dates by formula, sales tax excluded

Learning goals

  • Turn orders into invoices with company and amount borrowed by lookup
  • Compute NET 30 due dates with plain date arithmetic
  • State the sales-tax convention and why it varies by state

Concepts

From order to invoice

Five invoices, INV-1001 through INV-1005, one per order. The invoice types its number, its date, and the order number - the company (column E) and amount (column F) arrive by VLOOKUP from Orders, continuing the one-typed-dollar chain from Lesson 16. Invoice numbers follow their own sequence on purpose: quotes, orders, and invoices are three different documents with three different legal meanings, and each keeps its own unbreakable numbering.

=$C5+30

NET 30 terms: due date = invoice date + 30 days. INV-1001 was raised Mar 23, 2026, so payment is due Apr 22, 2026. Plain serial arithmetic - no special date function needed.

💡 Tips:

  • If different customers carry different terms (NET 15, NET 45), add a Terms column to Companies and replace the constant 30 with a lookup - the pattern is identical to the stage weights.

The sales-tax note - say it once, say it everywhere

Every amount in this workbook EXCLUDES sales tax. US sales-tax rules vary by state and by what is being sold - a coffee equipment sale and a consulting day can be taxed differently in the same zip code, and some buyers (like the Meadowlark school district) may be exempt entirely. Before you invoice real customers, confirm the treatment for your state with your state Department of Revenue, and if you must charge tax, add the rate and the computed line to the invoice itself rather than silently inflating the register.

The convention is recorded in two places on purpose: the Read Me sheet (row 'Sales tax') and Settings row 9's currency note. A workbook that states its assumptions survives its author's vacation.

💡 Tips:

  • Amounts also exclude shipping. If you bill freight, put it on the invoice as its own line - mixing it into the goods amount muddles both the pipeline and the tax question.

Practice

Fixed case (Jan-Jun 2026, aging date Jun 30, 2026). Pale-green cells are formulas; white cells are typed entries. This lesson opens on Invoices.

  1. Type the NET 30 due date — G5 is blank. Click it and type =$C5+30 then Enter. INV-1001 (Mar 23, 2026) shows due Apr 22, 2026.
  2. Cross-check the risky one — G8 (INV-1004, raised May 12, 2026 for the Foxglove pour-over kit) shows Jun 11, 2026 - eleven days before the aging date. Keep that date in mind for Lesson 18.
  3. Read the borrowed columns — E5 (Harborview Cafe LLC) and F5 ($6,500.00) both arrive from the order register - nothing was re-typed from the quote.
  4. Census the statuses — Column J: INV-1001 and INV-1002 Paid; INV-1003 and INV-1005 Open; INV-1004 Overdue. Two paid, two open, one overdue - Lesson 18 shows how those labels are earned.

Online exercise

The spreadsheet below is editable — follow the practice steps right on this page. Steps that need ribbon menus should be done in your own Excel with the downloadable practice file.

表格加载中…

Checklist

Work through each item; when every box passes, this lesson is done:

  • ☐ G5 returned Apr 22, 2026 (Mar 23 + 30) and G8 = Jun 11, 2026
  • ☐ Confirmed E5/F5 borrow company and amount from Orders with no re-typing
  • ☐ Status census confirmed (2 Paid, 2 Open, 1 Overdue) and can state the sales-tax convention