Quotes and invoices are the same document at different stages. A quote is something the client accepts; an invoice is something they pay.
Building it
- Pick the client, and the job if it belongs to one — that's what ties the money back to the shoot.
- Add line items: description, quantity, unit price. One line per thing the client is buying.
- Set the due date. Terms your client can actually meet get paid faster than aggressive ones they ignore.
- Send it, and the client gets an email with a link to their own pay page.
Quotes: accepted, then invoiced
A quote's client page has Accept quote and Decline instead of a way to pay, and its date reads “Valid until”. When the client accepts, the invoice is raised for them straight away from the same lines and they're taken to it to pay; you get a notification either way, with their reason if they declined. A quote past its valid-until date with no answer shows as Expired and can no longer be accepted.
If the client says yes by phone or email instead, open the quote and press Accepted — raise invoice. That makes a draft invoice from the quote, due in 7 days, for you to check and send. Either way the quote and the invoice link to each other, and a quote can only become one invoice.
Download PDF
Download PDF on an invoice (or in a row's menu on the list) opens the client's own invoice page and your browser's print window: choose Save as PDF. It's laid out for A4 with your logo, ABN, the lines, GST, payments received and your bank details. Your client has the same button on their page and in their portal, so they never need to ask you for a copy.
Void, write off and duplicate
- Void cancels an invoice sent by mistake while keeping its number and history, and stops any reminders. It's only offered while nothing has been paid; with money received, write off the rest instead.
- Write off is for a balance you no longer expect to collect. Payments already received stay counted and the rest leaves your outstanding total.
- Reopen puts a voided or written-off invoice (or a withdrawn or declined quote) back.
- Duplicate makes a new draft with the same client, lines and terms, dated today, for the next booking from the same client or a package you sell often.
Start from a template
If you sell the same packages again and again, save each one as a template — its lines, what's included, your terms and its payment schedule. A new invoice then offers Start from a template before you've typed anything, and an invoice for your standard wedding package is a click and a date.
Prices with or without GST
If you charge GST, choose whether the prices you type already include it (Include GST) or have it added on top (Exclude GST). The invoice shows the working either way — “Includes GST (10%)” under the total, or GST as its own line. Your usual choice is set once under Settings → Tax & invoices; each invoice keeps its own, so changing your setting later never alters anything you've already sent. See GST and tax invoices.
How the client pays
The pay page shows the invoice and every payment method you've set up — card via Stripe, direct deposit, PayPal, or a custom link. Card payments mark the invoice paid automatically. Bank transfers you mark off yourself when the money lands, since we can't see your bank account.
Recording a payment yourself
On the invoice, press Record payment and enter the amount, the date it arrived and how it was paid — and tick the box if you'd like the client emailed a receipt. It doesn't have to be the full amount: record what actually came in, and the invoice reads Partially paid with the balance still owing until the rest arrives. Every payment is listed on the invoice, so you can see who paid what and when.
Set up at least one online method. An invoice that can be paid in the same minute it's opened gets paid far more often than one that requires the client to remember their banking password.
Chasing
Overdue invoices show up on Today, and the automations can send reminders for you so you're not the one writing the awkward email: Payment due reminder a few days before the due date (off until you switch it on), and the Overdue invoice chaser after it, which also covers an invoice that's been part paid. Each reminder checks the invoice again just before it goes, so a client who has already paid is never chased, and it asks for what's actually still owing. See email automations.