Accounting Zones for Invoicing

Problem Statement:

Clients need a more flexible way to define default income/expense accounts for invoicing based on various criteria, such as job types, client-specific settings, and location-specific settings.

Proposed Solution:

1. Accounting Zones: Introduce a new section on /crm/accounts named "Accounting Zones". This will allow clients to define zones with preset income/expense accounts.

2. Client & Location Specific Zones: Clients can set zones specific to them. Additionally, zones can be set for a location. If a location doesn't have a zone set, it will inherit the client's zone.

3. Account Item Modification: Modify account items to decide if they should use their preset income/expense account codes or inherit from a higher level.

4. Invoice Line Item Evaluation: When creating an invoice, line items should determine which codes they use based on a priority:

   • Use item's default codes if set and does not inherit.

   • Use codes from the location's accounting zone if defined.

   • Use codes from the client's accounting zone if defined.

   • If none of the above, use company defaults.

Current Workaround: Currently, the desired functionality isn't available. The recommended approach for now is to use job types to set up the invoices.

Impact: Implementing this feature would provide clients with a more streamlined and customizable invoicing process, allowing them to define income/expense accounts based on various criteria.