Add Comment Lines
Electronic Invoicing with Sproom includes the Add Comment Lines feature to carry descriptive text lines from your sales documents into the electronic invoice or credit memo. Comment lines — often used for additional information, terms, or explanations — are preserved in the electronic document rather than being silently dropped during OIOUBL XML generation.
Feature Overview
Add Comment Lines includes document lines of the blank type (lines with a description but no item, quantity, or amount) in the OIOUBL electronic document. Standard Business Central OIOUBL generation only exports lines with quantities and amounts, which means descriptive text lines and notes are normally excluded from the XML output. With Add Comment Lines enabled, these blank-type lines are rendered as zero-amount invoice lines or credit note lines in the XML, preserving the explanatory text so that the recipient sees the same line-level detail as the original printed document.
Typical Use Cases / User Stories
- A sales coordinator adds a comment line to an invoice explaining the terms of a promotional discount, and needs that explanation visible to the customer in the electronic invoice — not just on the printed copy.
- As an accounts receivable clerk, I want warranty terms and special conditions entered as comment lines on credit memos to appear in the electronic document, so the customer has full context for the credit.
- A project manager includes a comment line referencing a specific contract clause for a milestone invoice, and the customer's automated system needs this text for internal routing and approval.
- As a billing administrator, I want delivery instructions and reference notes added as comment lines on the sales order to flow through to the electronic invoice, so nothing is lost in the electronic transmission.
- A finance department uses comment lines to annotate grouped charges on an invoice, and these annotations must be preserved in the electronic document for the customer's three-way matching process.
Key Concepts
- Comment lines: In Business Central, these are document lines where the type is blank and only a description is filled in. Comment lines carry no quantity, unit price, or amount.
- Zero-amount lines: When included in the electronic document, comment lines are represented as invoice lines or credit note lines with zero amounts and a quantity of one. This ensures OIOUBL XML schema compliance while preserving the descriptive text.
Relations to Other Features or Apps
- Add Comment Lines enriches the standard Business Central OIOUBL output, which by default omits blank-type lines from the generated XML.
- The feature applies to both sales invoices and sales credit memos sent through the Sproom connector.
- Comment lines are added alongside the regular document lines in the electronic XML, maintaining the same line order as the original document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are comment lines not included in electronic invoices by default?
Standard Business Central OIOUBL generation only exports document lines that have a quantity and amount. Blank-type lines with descriptions only are excluded from the XML. Add Comment Lines overrides this behavior to preserve descriptive text in the electronic output.
Do comment lines affect the invoice totals in the electronic document?
No. Comment lines are rendered as zero-amount lines in the OIOUBL XML. They carry no monetary value and do not change the invoice or credit memo totals.
Does this feature apply to both invoices and credit memos?
Yes. Add Comment Lines includes blank-type description lines for both posted sales invoices and posted sales credit memos sent through Electronic Invoicing with Sproom.
When This Feature Adds Value
- Your invoices contain important descriptive information in comment lines that customers need to see in the electronic document.
- Recipients use the text from comment lines for matching, routing, or approval workflows in their own systems.
- You want the electronic invoice to mirror the printed document as closely as possible, including all explanatory text lines.
- Your business practice relies on comment lines for terms, conditions, or references that are critical for the customer's processing.