Best way to enter records containing repeating information?

[jayC]

In my billing, I send out invoices once a month to mostly the same customers
each month. The amount charged for services remains the same. Extra
charges, if any, are added to the same invoice and is the only major
variation in the bills from one month to the next.* Each month's billing
might also contain a minor amount of billing for work requiring a seperate
invoice.

What is the best way to create new invoice records
without having to re-enter all the same client information each month?

People in this group probably have a better solution, but thought I'd
mention my initial uninformed idea.
I would create a table containing just the current month's billing invoice
records. I would also have a large table containing all the invoices from
every month.
Each month I would modify the 'current month' table by changing
transactions, deleting or adding records, etc., and then, when finished,
appending a copy of all the records in the 'current' table to the 'large'
table. The following month I would repeat the procedure, modifying the
records from the prior month in the 'current' table.
The reason I mentioned my approach is because it would be far easier for me
to modify the existing records than to create a whole batch of new ones.
I would guess there is a way of doing it without having a seperate table,
perhaps using a query.

Also, is there a way to enter the same information in a certain field for a
subset of records?
Every invoice (in the current month) has the same invoice date so it would
be a lot of work to retype the invoice date for each record. (The invoice
date is always the first of the month (of the following month), not the
actual date the invoice is being prepared, so a time stamp wouldn t work.)

Many Thanks.

* I don t want to create a seperate record for each extra charge at this
time, though that is probably the kosher way of doing it. I don t track
inventory anyway.

 

[Larry Linson]

* I don t want to create a seperate record for
each extra charge at this time, though that is
probably the kosher way of doing it.

Why, pray tell, would you not want to do it both the right way _and_ the
easiest way?

I don't track inventory anyway.

OK, though I'm not at all sure what this would have to do with the preceding
statement.

What is the best way to create new invoice records
without having to re-enter all the same client
information each month?

Keep your client information in a Client table, separate from the invoice
items, and include in the invoice items a "foreign key" to the Client table,
which indicates for which client you performed the service. Orders and order
details in the Northwind sample database is an example, although I haven't
reviewed the underlying logic, queries, code, etc. in a while to know
whether they accomplish it the same way that I would.

I understand you have a monthly charge... as I don't know how you determine
that, I can only say you can most likely run a query to add the monthly
charge for each client, and along with the special or extra charges, that
would be the "detail" lines for the invoice. The invoice itself might be
just the printed (or electronically-transmitted) copy, or, you may want to
save a summary, or all the information for a record of what was billed,
discussed, etc..

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP