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Create an invoice without an estimate

Who can do this: Admin, Manager

By the end of this article, you have an invoice for a client, with its lines, saved as a draft or marked sent. You make the invoice yourself when the work had no estimate. When your client accepted an estimate, the app has already made its invoice; see Turn an accepted estimate into an invoice. The From Estimate box on the Invoices page lists your accepted estimates, and when you have none it says "No accepted estimates".

Before you start​

Steps​

To create an invoice from nothing:

  1. Open your invoices. On a computer or tablet, select Invoices in the sidebar. On a phone, select More at the bottom of the screen, then select Invoices.
  2. Select New Invoice. The New Invoice page opens.
  3. Under Details, open Client and choose the client.
  4. If the invoice is for a project, open Project and choose it.
  5. To add a line from your catalog, select Add from Catalog, type part of the item's name in the search box, and select the item in the list below it.
  6. To change how many of that item the invoice charges for, type the number in the line's quantity box: the box under the QTY heading on a computer, or the box below the description on a phone. The line's type, unit, price and markup come from your catalog and are greyed out.
  7. If that catalog line shows a markup, the invoice will not charge it (see What you see). Select the unlink button at the end of the line, a broken-link icon beside the bin, so that the line's boxes can be changed. Then type the price you charge in UNIT $ and clear the markup box: the box under the MARKUP heading on a computer, or on a phone the box beside the unit price, which shows "%" when it is empty. You can instead add the item as a line of your own, with steps 8 to 10.
  8. To add a line of your own, select Add Line Item.
  9. Open the line's TYPE and choose Material, Labor, Equipment, Mileage, Fee or Allowance.
  10. Fill in the line's DESCRIPTION, QTY, UNIT and UNIT $ (the price of one unit), and leave the markup box empty. Every line needs a description. On a computer these are the headings above the lines; on a phone the boxes come in the same order under the type, without headings.
  11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 for each line.
  12. If you charge sales tax, type the rate in Tax Rate (%), as a percentage.
  13. Choose the Due Date.
  14. If you want, type a message for your client in Notes to Client. Terms already holds payment terms; change them if you need to.
  15. Select Save Draft to keep the invoice as a draft, or Save & Send to save it and mark it sent.
  16. To get a copy to send your client, open the invoice from the list and select Download PDF. It is available once the invoice is saved.

To start from an accepted estimate instead:

  1. On the Invoices page, select From Estimate. A box opens that lists your accepted estimates, each with its client and total.
  2. Recording your client's acceptance creates the invoice, so open that invoice from your invoices list instead, as Turn an accepted estimate into an invoice describes.
  3. Close the box with its close button.

What you see​

  • While you add lines, the totals box is marked "ESTIMATED" and shows the "Subtotal", the tax and the "Total".
  • After Save Draft, the app shows "Invoice created" and returns you to the invoices list, where the invoice is listed as Draft. The invoice number is set when you first save; before that the page shows "Number assigned on save".
  • After Save & Send on a new invoice, the app also shows "Invoice created", and the invoice is listed as Sent. When you save an invoice you opened again, the app shows "Invoice updated".
  • The invoice saves each line's total as its quantity times its unit price. A markup, whether you type it in MARKUP or it comes from your catalog, shows in the "ESTIMATED" totals but is not in the saved invoice, so the saved "Total" can be lower. Put the price you charge in UNIT $, after unlinking a catalog line as step 7 describes.
  • In the list, a draft offers Mark Sent and a sent invoice offers Mark Paid. To record what your client pays, see Record a payment you received outside the app.

If something blocks you​

  • "Please select a client before saving." after you select Save Draft or Save & Send. No client is chosen. Choose the client under Client and save again.
  • Project shows "Select client first" and cannot be opened. Choose the client first.
  • "Validation failed" after you select Save Draft or Save & Send. A line has no description. The app has already saved the invoice without its lines, and the page stays open. Do not save again from this page, because that saves a second invoice. Instead, open your invoices list, open the newest invoice for that client, whose total is zero, add the lines again with a description for each, and save it.
  • "No accepted estimates" in the From Estimate box, which adds "Accept an estimate first, then convert it to an invoice." Your organization has no accepted estimate to start from. Either record your client's acceptance first, as Record the customer's decision and revise an estimate describes, which creates the invoice for you; or create the invoice without an estimate, with the steps above.
  • "Estimate has already been converted to an invoice" after you select an estimate in the From Estimate box. That estimate's invoice already exists, and the box stays open. Close the box and open the invoice from your invoices list; it is listed under the client's name.