Creating an Invoice
Fill in header fields, build the line item table, choose optional fields, then post. Revenue is recognized the moment you click Post.
Navigate to: Sales → Invoices → + (New)
The invoice form is divided into three areas: the header (who, when, and terms), the items table (what and how much), and optional field pills (enrichment fields hidden by default). Draft invoices are free to edit. Save is the financial event — a saved invoice is posted to the ledger and is immutable from then on.
Header Fields
| Field | Required | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Yes | Searchable dropdown. Selecting a customer loads their default payment terms, currency, and credit limit. Outstanding invoices are surfaced to help you spot duplicate billing. |
| Date | Yes | The invoice issue date. Defaults to today. This date determines when revenue is recognized in the ledger. |
| Payment Terms | Yes | Controls the due date. Options: Due on Receipt, Net 7, Net 14, Net 15, Net 30 (default), Net 45, Net 60, Net 90. Override per invoice when a customer has been given different terms. |
| Due Date | Auto | Calculated from Date + Payment Terms. You can override it manually for custom arrangements. Overdue status is calculated from this field. |
| Document Number | Auto | Assigned when you save, as customer prefix + INV + a six-digit sequence — for example ACMEINV000127. A draft carries a D- marker instead. There is no document-number field on the form. |
| PO Number | No | The customer's purchase order reference. Printed on the invoice. Searchable in reports. Toggle to show. |
| Currency | Auto | Defaults to the customer's configured currency. Click "Change Currency" to select a different currency and set the exchange rate for this invoice. |
When you change the invoice currency, the system applies the current exchange rate from your rate table. All line item totals are entered in the selected currency. The ledger records both the foreign currency amount and the base currency equivalent. Exchange differences on settlement are handled automatically when the receipt is posted.
Building the Invoice
Start by selecting the customer. This loads their defaults — payment terms and currency. A credit limit on the customer record is advisory and is shown on the customer page, not on the invoice form.
Confirm the invoice date and payment terms. The due date calculates automatically. Adjust if needed.
Click into the items table. Search for items by name or SKU. Add quantities. Unit prices auto-populate from the item catalog. Apply discounts and tax rates per line if needed.
Click any pill along the bottom of the form to reveal optional fields — center assignment, project link, tags, notes, attachments.
Open the menu beside Save and choose Save as Draft — the invoice is kept without posting, so it can still be edited. The same menu offers Save & Print, Save & Duplicate and Save & New.
Click Save to post the invoice and recognise revenue. A permanent invoice number is assigned from the real sequence — the draft number is not carried over. The journal is written. AR is created. Inventory is reduced for product items.
Form Actions
| Action | What Happens | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Save | Posts the invoice to the ledger. Revenue recognized. AR created. Inventory reduced. Invoice number finalized. Cannot be edited after posting. | When the invoice is final and ready to send to the customer. |
| Save as Draft (Save menu) | Saves the invoice in Draft status. No journal entry. No AR. No inventory impact. Can be edited freely. | When the invoice is not ready to post — pending approval, awaiting final line items, or needs review. |
| Save & Print (Save menu) | Posts the invoice and sends it to the printer immediately. | Counter or walk-in sales where the customer leaves with a printed copy. |
| Save & Duplicate (Save menu) | Posts the invoice and opens a new form pre-filled with the same data. | Several similar invoices in a row. |
| Save & New (Save menu) | Posts the invoice and opens a fresh, empty form. | Entering a batch of unrelated invoices. |
A posted invoice cannot be edited. If you find an error on a posted invoice, you have two options: void the invoice and reissue a corrected one, or issue a credit note for the difference. Voiding is cleaner when the customer has not yet received the invoice. A credit note is appropriate when the customer already has the original and you need a paper trail of the adjustment.
After Posting
The invoice detail page displays the full posted record. From here you can:
- Send the invoice by email or WhatsApp
- Copy the customer portal link for self-service viewing
- Record a payment directly with the Record Payment button
- Duplicate the invoice to create a similar one for another period
- Download or print the PDF
- Void the invoice if it was issued in error
Drafts and recovery
The form saves what you have typed to your own browser about two seconds after you stop typing, and mirrors it to the server on a longer beat. Nothing about that posts anything — it exists so a closed tab does not cost you an afternoon.
A chip beside Save reads Saving…, Unsaved or Saved so the state is never a guess. If you leave with unsaved changes the browser asks "You have unsaved changes. Are you sure you want to leave?"
Returning to a form you abandoned raises Unsaved Draft Found — "You have an unsaved draft from your previous session. Would you like to restore it?" — with a card showing when it was last edited, the customer, the item count and the total, and two buttons: Discard and Restore Draft. Drafts older than seven days are dropped.
Files are stripped before the draft is stored. Re-attach them after restoring.
Draft recovery is a create-mode feature. Editing an existing document does not autosave.
What stops you saving
The Save button stays disabled until the invoice is complete, and tells you why. Before you have tried to submit, an amber marker beside Save carries the reason — either the single message, or "3 fields need your attention" with a tooltip headed To submit, please: listing each one. After a failed submit the same text turns red, and each field is marked inline.
| Message | What it wants |
|---|---|
| Please select a customer | The Customer field is empty. |
| Please select a date | The Date field is empty. |
| Add at least one item to continue | The items table has no rows. |
| Select an item and enter a quantity | There are rows, but none has both an item and a quantity above zero. |
If the server rejects the save, the offending fields are highlighted and a message summarises: "Please fix 2 field(s) highlighted below". If the request never reached the server at all you get a deliberately careful message — "Network problem — could not confirm the submission. Your entries are kept in your draft. Check the documents list before retrying to avoid a duplicate."
Related
- Building the lines: Items table and tax.
- The fields hidden behind pills: Optional field pills.
- What the saved invoice posts, and what its page shows: Invoices and The document page.
- Fixing an invoice you have already saved: Editing, voiding and restoring.
- Billing the same customer on a schedule: Recurring invoices.