Managing a service does not necessarily give access to invoices
An agency can manage a client’s website without ordering the client’s subscription. When looking for an invoice, separate four facts: who uses the service, which business ordered it, who is named as the billed entity and what payment evidence you have. Record anything unknown. Access to the service alone will not answer the other questions.
Contentful provides a specific example. Its documentation gives the organisation role Owner access to invoices, while Admin has none. The service sends invoices to the organisation owner and recorded billing contact; an Owner can download a copy in organisation settings under Billing. These are Contentful’s rules, not rules for all suppliers. Documentation links are at the end of this article.
Owner here is an access-role label. It does not prove which business actually ordered the service. For document collection, the practical distinction is that the person who can edit a website and the person who can obtain an invoice may be different.
Record who ordered each service and whom to ask
Record the service, supplier, known account reference and the period you need. Add the confirmed purchasing organisation, known billed entity and payment information separately. If you do not yet have the invoice, state where the billed-entity information comes from, for example: ‘According to the order; not yet checked against the invoice.’
Add the name of someone who can obtain the document through authorised access. This need not be the project administrator or your usual correspondent. The record helps you ask the right person for the right document; it is not a list of legally required invoice fields.
All businesses, people, services, purchases and dates in the following examples are fictional. They illustrate practical arrangements for collecting documents, not accounting or tax treatment or whether an agency should recharge a client.
1. The client ordered the service; the agency manages it
Client Zahrada confirmed ordering the Web Space subscription for its business. Agency Javor manages the content. Nobody at the agency has the September invoice. Eva at the client arranged the order and is the agreed contact for finding it.
Ask Eva for the invoice already issued for that service and period. If she does not have it in email, ask her to obtain it through someone with the appropriate access. There is no need to request the client’s credentials or extend access across the agency.
Use this completed example as a model for recording a client purchase. Replace the fictional details with those of your purchase.
2. The agency ordered the service for a client project
Agency Javor confirmed ordering the Design Workshop subscription itself for client Zahrada’s project. Tomáš at the agency arranged the purchase. Producing designs for the client in the tool is not a reason to ask the client for the supplier invoice for this purchase.
Ask Tomáš for the issued document. Record the Zahrada project connection separately, so it is retained without replacing the billed-entity details. Passing a supplier invoice within the agency and potentially invoicing the client are separate matters; this record concerns only obtaining the supplier document.
Use this completed example as a model for recording an agency purchase. Replace the fictional details and keep the client project context separate.
3. The agency has access, but the purchasing organisation is unknown
Agency Javor has administrator access to Content Space for the Zahrada project. Petra found confirmation of a payment with the agency’s card, while the customer details name Zahrada. These two records do not yet establish who ordered the service or what the issued invoice says.
Petra therefore asks Eva, who arranged the original order, to confirm the purchasing organisation and obtain the document. She retains both known records and the discrepancy. She will neither rewrite the originals nor choose a billed entity to suit a filing folder.
Use this example to record an unresolved purchase. Replace the fictional details, keep unverified information marked and add a specific question, contact and next step.
Send one specific request instead of ‘we’re missing an invoice’
Use the details in the record. Name the confirmed purchasing organisation if you know it. Otherwise describe the discrepancy and ask whoever arranged the order to explain it. Keep the handoff open until the recipient and delivery method are confirmed.
Copy the following template into email or a work chat. It asks for a document or a specific answer about what is missing, without requesting a password, verification code or access to the other party’s account.
Copy the message into an email or work chat, replace the details in square brackets and check the recipient before sending.
Close the search only after checking the received document
Open the issued document on receipt. Compare the billed entity, service, available account or project reference and requested period with the known purchase. A matching amount alone does not identify the document. Keep payment confirmation as separate evidence; do not treat it as the supplier invoice.
If details differ, retain the original and ask the purchasing contact a precise question, such as: ‘The order names Javor, but the invoice names Zahrada. Could you check which purchase this belongs to?’ Until clarified, do not mark collection complete or automatically forward the document.
The result is either a located and checked document delivered to the confirmed recipient, or an open item with a specific question, person and follow-up date. Choose one missing invoice now and complete its record: you will know whom to ask, or exactly what still needs finding out.