I apologize for the length of this post. I have read three FileMaker books, and can't find the solution to the following problem. I am using FMPro 5.0.

I created an invoice layout for professional services containing several parts. A title header has client information. The body part contains the records of the services performed for the client (date/employee/services/hours).

There are two different trailing subsummary parts, each sorted by client code: (1) total hours--a summary field; and (2) expenses--this subsummary part contains a portal in which all the expenses from a related file are displayed.

I want a report to print out as designed with all the services in ascending date order appearing uninterrupted in the body part (could take up to several pages), followed by the total hours subsummary appearing once, and then followed by the expenses subsummary listing all the expenses incurred in ascending date order. This report is the actual invoice that will be sent to the client.

I have had several different problems in getting the desired results. The most common is that, after finding and sorting, the preview mode shows the contents of each subsummary part after every individual services performed record; and the expense subsummary appears before the total hours subsummary, all contrary to the layout design. In other words, a services performed record is followed by a list of all the expenses which is followed by the total hours subsummary; then another services performed record appears followed by the same list of expenses followed by the same total hours subsummary, and so on.

What do I have to do to get the desired results? Thanks in advance for any help.

There are a couple of ways to do this. If you wish to find the records for one client only, the following layout will work.

Title Header

Header (will show on page 2, 3, 4, etc.

Body

Trailing Grand Summary

Footer

To sort by client and print multiple invoices:

Header

Subsummary by Client (leading)

Body

Subsummary by Client (trailing)

Footer

You definitely don't want two trailing subsummaries for the same client/invoice. FM won't let you create two subsummaries with the same sort criteria. You don't need a separate subsummary for the expenses, they are still associated with the same client/invoice and can go in the exiting subsummary (trailing). I think this is why you are getting a subsummary after every body record. Also, the sort order must always match the order of nested subsummaries.

-bd

bd,

Thanks for your reply. I will go to work on your suggestions.

wjf