Invoicing a percentage to several parties

Sometimes you carry out a single job that is paid for by two parties: one part goes to the company and one part to the private individual, or the managing agent and the owner each carry a share. You then want to draw up one quotation but send two invoices, each with its own percentage.

There are two ways to do this.

• With an allocation key, Robaws creates a separate invoice per customer when you invoice. This is the recommended approach as soon as the split can differ from one quotation line to the next.
• With invoicing instalments in the financial planning, you create two invoices with a fixed percentage yourself. You then have to change the customer on one of the two invoices.

Allocation key: one invoice per party, automatically

An allocation key is the measure by which you spread the cost of a quotation line across several customers. You create the key once, fill in the percentages per customer and attach it to the lines that have to be split.

What you set up once

1. Go to settings > progress claims > settings.
2. Switch on the Use of allocation keys setting.
3. Activate your settings at the bottom right.

How it works

1. Draw up your quotation as usual, with the party that handles the file as the customer.
2. Create a key in the allocation key column, add the customers involved and fill in the percentage per customer.
3. Select that key on every quotation line that has to be split.
4. Invoice the quotation, or invoice an instalment from the financial planning. Robaws creates a separate invoice per customer, each for the amount that goes to that customer according to the allocation key.

The full explanation of creating and assigning an allocation key is in the allocation key article.

Points to watch

• A quotation line without an allocation key ends up in full on the invoice of the quotation's own customer. The other parties do not see that line.
• Discounts and surcharges are split proportionally, per VAT tariff.
• If there is nothing left to invoice for a customer, Robaws does not create an invoice for that customer.

Invoicing instalments: two invoices with a fixed percentage

If you split the whole job in one fixed ratio, 80/20 for example, you can also work with invoicing instalments in the financial planning of your quotation.

Preparation

1. Draw up your quotation with the first party as the customer.
2. Open the financial planning tab in the quotation.
3. Click Add and create two phases, one per party. Give them a clear Name, for example company share and private share.
4. Set the Invoice column to Percentage for both phases.
5. Fill in what each party pays in the Percent column. Together the two percentages come to 100.

Invoicing

Hover with your mouse over the line of the first phase and click the Invoice action button. Robaws creates an invoice for the amount of that instalment, with your default status (draft, for example). The invoice is not sent to the customer automatically. Then do the same for the second phase.

The amount and the invoice number now appear next to each phase. Using the arrow icon to the left of the invoice, you click straight through to that invoice.

Changing the customer on the second invoice

If you work without an allocation key, Robaws creates both invoices in the name of the quotation's customer. So open the second invoice and put the second party in the Customer field. The invoicing details and the invoicing address are then taken from that customer.

Questions

Which of the two methods should I choose?

If the split can differ from one quotation line to the next, for example because only the work in the communal areas is shared, use an allocation key. If the ratio is fixed for the whole job and you simply want two invoices, invoicing instalments are quicker — but you then change the customer on the second invoice yourself.

If you also want to invoice in instalments (an advance first and then the rest, for example) and split across two parties, combine the two: an allocation key on the lines and invoicing instalments in the financial planning.

Can I use customer and end customer to invoice two parties?

No. The customer and end customer fields are there to mention two parties on your document and to link the document to both, not to invoice. On an invoice, only the customer field determines who is invoiced. See what is the difference between a customer and an end customer?

My percentages do not come to 100. What happens then?

In the allocation key itself, the total turns red as soon as the percentages do not add up to 100%. Top it up to 100, or do not assign a key to the remaining lines — those then end up in full on the invoice of the quotation's customer.

With invoicing instalments you can quite happily stay below 100%: you can add another instalment later, or set the last invoice to Final invoice. Robaws then carries over all the quotation lines and deducts the instalments already invoiced.

Where do I find these invoices later on?

In three places: next to the phase in the financial planning of your quotation, in the overview of your sales invoices under the name of the customer concerned, and — if the quotation is linked to a project — in the financial planning and the financial overview of that project.

Updated on: 08/09/2026