Invoices and billing

Invoicing takes work you have agreed or completed and turns it into a bill. The screen has four parts: Dashboard for the money view, Billing queue for work waiting to be billed, Invoices for the invoices themselves, and Settings for your firm's invoicing details.

Before you start

• A client business.
• Your invoicing details — firm details, numbering and notification channels — set under Settings on this screen. The number series matters: once an invoice is sent it has taken a number from that series.

Bill work that is waiting

1. Open the Billing queue tab.
2. Review the completed billable work sitting there, grouped by client.
3. Select the lines to bill and create the invoice from them.
4. Check the amounts, then send it for approval.

Create an invoice directly

1. Open the Invoices tab and start a new invoice.
2. Pick the client.
3. Add lines — pull in services from your catalogue or type them.
4. Set the due date.
5. Save as a draft.

How an invoice moves

Each stage is a real gate, not a label:

1. Draft — price the work, then send it for approval.
2. Internal approval — someone at the firm has to sign off the amount.
3. Client approval — you are waiting on the client to agree the amount, for clients who want to see it before it is issued.
4. Ready to invoice — everyone agrees. Schedule it.
5. Scheduled — queued. It goes out on its due date without anyone pressing send.
6. Invoiced — with the client, waiting for the money.
7. Paid — settled in full.

Record a payment

1. Open the invoice.
2. Choose Record a payment.
3. Enter the amount received, the date it came in and a reference.
4. Save. Paid in full moves it to Paid; part payments leave the balance outstanding.

What the system does on its own

• Scheduled invoices are sent for you each morning, on their due date, by email to the client.
• Recurring services invoice themselves on their cycle, from the arrangement agreed at onboarding.
• Approved amendments add to invoices that have not gone out. An invoice already sent is never altered — it has taken a number from your series.
• Completed billable work collects in the queue so nothing quietly goes unbilled.
• Unbilled billable expenses are chased weekly to the client's relationship manager.

What you cannot do (and what to do instead)

• You cannot send an invoice still waiting on internal approval. Approve it first, then send.
• You cannot send one waiting on the client's agreement. Record their approval, then send.
• You cannot change an invoice that is already paid. Raise a credit note.
• You cannot bill the same work twice. Work already on an invoice is refused by the queue.
• You cannot re-use an invoice number. Sent invoices have burned a number from your series — that is what keeps the series valid.

Common questions

Where did this invoice come from?

Probably a recurring service agreed at onboarding. Open it and the lines show which service and period they cover.

The client disputes an invoice that has been sent.

Raise a credit note and issue a corrected invoice. Editing a sent invoice would break your number series.

Can I skip the approval stages?

Yes — a firm that does not need them can move a draft straight to ready. The stages exist for firms where a second person signs off amounts.

Nothing appears in the billing queue.

It fills from completed work marked billable. Work that was never marked billable, or is already invoiced, does not appear.