Some customers have multiple service orders each month but want only one invoice. In Business Central, you can combine service invoice lines from several shipments into a single document using the Get Shipment Lines function. This guide walks through the full process, from shipped service orders to a posted combined invoice.
When to Combine a Service Invoice
Indeed, a service order in Business Central looks a lot like a sales order. You add service items, resources, and parts to the service lines. Then you ship and invoice. However, some customers send in multiple items for repair each month. Each repair gets its own service order and its own shipment. But those customers often want just one invoice at the end of the month, not one per repair.
In that case, you need to combine service invoice lines from those shipments into a single document. Business Central supports this through a service invoice, not through the service order directly. So instead of invoicing from each service order, you create a service invoice, pull in the shipment lines, and post that one document. The customer receives one invoice that covers all their repairs for the period.
There is also a practical reason to use this method from an accounting point of view. Instead of receiving several separate invoices, the customer has one document that covers all the work for the period. This reduces their processing time and helps with month-end reconciliation. So the combine service invoice approach benefits both sides.
Prepare the Service Orders
Before you combine a service invoice, you need to ship the service orders first. Shipping and invoicing are two separate steps in Business Central. For this scenario, you ship each service order on its own but hold off on the invoice step. You wait until you are ready to create the combined invoice.
In the example in the video, there are two service orders for the same customer. The first has two service lines: a technician resource and a spare part. You have shipped both, and the quantity to invoice column is still open, so the invoice step has not happened yet. The second service order covers a different repair and has one service line – a keyboard – that is also shipped.
So at this point, two shipments exist for the same customer, and neither has an invoice yet. The physical work is done. The items have been repaired, shipped back, and received by the customer. From a logistics point of view, everything is complete. The only thing left is the financial step – the invoice. And in this case, you are holding that step back on purpose so you can combine both shipments into a single invoice. Also note that the customer must be the same across all service orders you want to combine. The Get Shipment Lines function filters by customer, so it only shows shipments for the customer on the invoice. Otherwise, the combine service invoice logic does not apply.
How to Combine Service Invoice Lines
First, go to Service Invoices and create a new one. Select the customer. Then go to the Lines section. Instead of adding lines by hand, open the Functions menu and select Get Shipment Lines. This is the step that links your combine service invoice to the existing shipments.
Selecting Lines for the Combine Service Invoice
When you run Get Shipment Lines, Business Central shows all shipped but uninvoiced lines for that customer. In the example, you get three lines across two shipments: the technician resource, the spare part, and the keyboard. Each line also shows the quantity shipped and how much is still open for invoicing. You can select all lines or just a subset. For a combined monthly invoice, select all of them.
After you click OK, the lines appear on the service invoice. Business Central groups them by shipment document. So the invoice shows a shipment reference for each set of lines. As a result, the customer can match each invoice line to the shipment they received when the repaired item came back. All pricing, quantities, and location codes from the original service orders carry over automatically.
Post the Invoice and Close the Service Orders
Once the lines look right, post the service invoice. The result is one posted document that covers several shipments from several service orders. However, this is where the combine service invoice flow differs from the standard flow: the service orders do not close on their own after posting.
Normally, when you ship and invoice a service order in one step, Business Central closes the service order after it creates the posted document. But with a combine service invoice, the service orders stay open. The system first needs to update the invoiced quantities on the original service lines. So when you check the service orders after posting, they still appear as open. The quantities now show as invoiced, but the order is still there.
It is also important to use the Get Shipment Lines function rather than typing lines in by hand. If you manually enter lines on the service invoice, Business Central does not know there is a link between the invoice and the service order. As a result, the invoiced quantities on the service orders never update, and the orders stay open forever. So always use Get Shipment Lines – that is the only method that creates the correct connection.
Clean Up With Delete Invoiced Service Orders
To close the remaining open service orders, search for the Delete Invoiced Service Orders job and run it. It checks each service order and removes those that are fully shipped and fully invoiced. It will not touch orders that still have open quantities. So it is safe to run at any time, whether daily or weekly.
After you run it, your service order list will only show orders that still need attention. The completed ones are gone. In short, this keeps your list clean and avoids confusion about which orders are truly done versus which ones still need work. For example, if you process combined invoices every month, running this job at the end of the month is a simple way to stay organized.
Wrapping Up
To combine service invoice lines from multiple shipments in Business Central: ship the service orders first, create a service invoice for the customer, use Get Shipment Lines from the Functions menu, select the lines you want, and post. Then run Delete Invoiced Service Orders to clean up. This is the correct combine service invoice approach in Business Central. It keeps the link between the invoice and the original service orders intact and gives customers one clean, consolidated invoice for all their repairs.
Watch the full walkthrough video above to see each step. And if you have questions about service invoicing or service order setup in Business Central, reach out to NAV SEAL. Overall, the process is straightforward once you know the right path.
For more Business Central guides and tutorials, visit NAV SEAL Blog and watch more videos on our YouTube Channel.
