Generating PDFs
Every customer-facing document in REDA Financials — invoices, receipts, payment vouchers, purchase orders — can become a polished, branded PDF with one click, or with no clicks at all. This article covers the three ways a PDF comes into being and what happens to it afterwards.
Access you'll need. There's no special permission to generate — anyone who can open a posted record can run Generate PDF, and what the PDF shows honors that user's field access. Creating and posting the underlying document follows its own tier: Accounts Receivable v2 or Accounting Admin v2 for sales invoices and cash receipts; Accounts Payable v2 or Accounting Admin v2 for cash disbursements and purchase orders. The entity auto-generation switches and the territory public-link switch are set by your Accounting Admin v2.
1 — On demand: the Generate PDF button
On a posted document, click Generate PDF. The screen shows what it resolved — the record, the entity whose branding applies, and the template (or Default when none is configured) — renders the document, saves it, and previews it right there, with Open in New Tab and Back to Record. Only posted documents qualify; a draft is refused with "PDF can only be generated for Posted records." — customers should never receive paper for uncommitted numbers.
The button lives on the four documents your organization issues: sales invoices (credit memos included — a credit memo is an invoice whose type is Credit Memo), cash receipts, cash disbursements, and purchase orders. Here is the whole interaction on a real Meridian Properties Group document — MSI001021, NovaTech's $9,800 invoice:
Click Generate PDF on the posted invoice
A panel opens headed Generate PDF with the document type, and three rows that answer "what am I about to produce?": Record (MSI001021), Entity (Meridian Properties US LLC — whose letterhead applies), and Template — the name of the template the system resolved (Meridian US — Sales Invoice), or an italic Default when no template is configured. If the template row surprises you, stop here and read Template Hierarchy.
Wait a moment
The screen shows "Generating..." and "This may take a few seconds" while the engine resolves the template, renders the pages, and saves the file. Generation is immediate — there is no queue for the button.
Review the result
On success you see "PDF generated successfully" and "Saved to Files on the record", a Preview of the finished document right on the screen, and two buttons: Back to Record and Open in New Tab. The file — MSI001021.pdf — is already attached to the invoice either way.
If it fails, fix and retry
A failure shows "PDF generation failed" with the reason underneath and a Retry button. The same reason is stamped into the record's PDF Generation Error field, so it isn't lost when you close the screen.
The compact version of the same action — the quick action on the record page — runs the moment it opens: a spinner reads "Generating PDF..." over "Resolving template, rendering, and saving to Files.", then a banner reports "PDF generated." / "Opening in a new tab." (or "PDF generation failed." with the reason), with Close and Retry buttons — Retry re-runs right there. The new tab shows the shareable public link when your region creates one, or the internal file when it doesn't — see Public URLs & Versioning.
2 — Automatically at posting
Each entity carries five opt-in switches — Auto-Gen Sales Invoice PDF, Auto-Gen PDF: Credit Memo, Auto-Gen Cash Receipt PDF, Auto-Gen Cash Disbursement PDF, Auto-Gen Purchase Order PDF. Switch one on and every posting of that type generates its PDF in the background.
| Switch (on the entity) | Generates at posting |
|---|---|
| Auto-Gen Sales Invoice PDF | An INVOICE for every posted sales invoice |
| Auto-Gen PDF: Credit Memo | A CREDIT MEMO for every posted credit memo — its own switch, separate from invoices |
| Auto-Gen Cash Receipt PDF | A RECEIPT for every posted cash receipt |
| Auto-Gen Cash Disbursement PDF | A PAYMENT VOUCHER for every posted cash disbursement |
| Auto-Gen Purchase Order PDF | A PURCHASE ORDER for every posted purchase order |
All five start unchecked — automatic paper is a choice, never a surprise. Each switch's help text says the same thing: automatically generate a PDF when that document is posted; disable to skip auto-generation — users can still trigger via the Generate PDF button. Two designed-in guarantees:
- Auto-generation never blocks a post. It runs after the fact, in a queued job with its own governor budget, generating the batch of just-posted documents together; a generation problem is recorded on the record (see below), the posting stands.
- Documents posted by bulk processes may skip auto-generation quietly (background limits); the Generate PDF button always works afterwards.
3 — From automation
Administrators can wire generation into their own flows with the Generate PDF Document action — found under the REDA Financials category when building a flow. You hand it the record to render; it runs the same engine with the same rules (posted records only, same template resolution, same storage). Typical uses: a nightly "generate all of today's postings" flow, or a catch-up flow after a bulk posting run that skipped auto-generation.
Where the PDF lives
| Artifact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| The file | Saved to the record's Files, named after the document (MSI001007.pdf). Regenerating creates a new version of the same file — the history of what was produced is preserved, never duplicated. |
| Generated PDF URL | The shareable public link, when the territory enables public links — see Public URLs & Versioning. |
| PDF Generated At | Timestamp of the last successful generation. |
| PDF Generation Error | The last failure's message, kept until the next success — the field's own advice: use the Generate PDF button to retry after fixing the cause. |
Lifecycle follows the document: unposting revokes the public link and clears the stamps but keeps the file for audit; voiding deletes the files outright — cancelled paper shouldn't circulate.
The messages you may meet
Every message below is the exact wording the screen uses, with what it means alongside:
| The message | What it means / what to do |
|---|---|
| "PDF can only be generated for Posted records. Current status: Draft." | The document isn't final yet (the message names the actual status). Post it, then generate. |
| "A public link has been created. Opening in a new tab." | Success, with your territory's public-link mode on — the shareable link is now on the record in Generated PDF URL. |
| "PDF saved to Files. Opening in a new tab." | Success in private mode — the file is on the record's Files; there is no outside-the-org link. |
| "PDF generation failed." (with a reason beneath) | Read the reason, fix the cause, click Retry. The same reason waits in PDF Generation Error on the record. |
| "Source record not found: …" | The document being rendered no longer exists or isn't visible to you — check that the record is still there and that you can open it. |
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for auto-generation after a bulk posting run | Background limits can quietly skip auto-generation for documents posted in bulk — the PDFs never arrive | Generate manually afterwards, or have your administrator run a catch-up flow with the Generate PDF Document action |
| Fixing a document, re-posting, and sending the file you already had | The saved file still shows the old numbers until you regenerate | Generate again after re-posting — the file versions up, and a public link keeps working and serves the newest version |
| Assuming a failed auto-generation blocked the posting | It never does — you go hunting for a posting problem that doesn't exist | The posting stands; read PDF Generation Error, fix the cause, and use Generate PDF to retry |
| Generating a draft "just to preview it" | Refused every time — and a draft's numbers aren't commitments anyway | Review drafts on screen; generate once the document is posted |
| Switching all five auto-gen switches on "to be safe" | Paper nobody sends piles up as files on every posting | Decide per document type: on where paper always goes out (Meridian: invoices, credit memos), on demand elsewhere |
Who can generate
There is no special permission: anyone who can open the record can run Generate PDF (posted records only). One subtlety worth knowing: the file always saves and the record is always stamped, but what the PDF shows honors the generating user's field access — a field the user can't see simply doesn't print. Configuring templates is a separate, admin-level topic (PDF Template Configuration); the entity auto-generation switches and the territory public-link switch live on entity and territory records, which in practice means your Accounting Admin.
Where to go next
- Supported Document Types — what renders, and what each looks like.
- PDF Template Configuration — controlling the appearance.
- Public URLs & Versioning — sharing outside your org.
Frequently asked questions
Read PDF Generation Error on the record (the screen shows the same message with a Retry button). Typical causes are template configuration issues; fix and retry — the field clears on the next success.
Generate again after re-posting: the file versions up, so the latest version reflects the document as it now stands and older versions remain for the audit trail.
Anyone who can open the record — generation changes presentation, not books. What the PDF shows respects the generating user's field access, and the record must be posted.
Deliberate: a purchase invoice is the vendor's document — they sent it to you. REDA Financials generates the paper you issue (invoices, receipts, vouchers, orders), not reproductions of paper you received.
Probably not: documents posted by bulk or background processes can skip auto-generation quietly, by design. The Generate PDF button works on every one of them afterwards, and a flow using the Generate PDF Document action can catch up the whole batch.
No — in public-link mode the link stays the same across regenerations and always serves the newest version. See Public URLs & Versioning.
PDF Generated At on the record holds the timestamp of the last success. It's cleared when the document is unposted or voided — an empty field on a posted document means no current PDF exists.
Was this article helpful?