Editing Invoices

Layout

The edit screen defaults to a single column layout, but this can be changed to multi-column under “Screen Options” at the top right of the page.

Quick Links

“Quick Links” are provided to perform specific actions faster. Quick links include:

•       Mark Invoice as Temp
•       Mark Invoice as Pending
•       Mark Invoice as Paid
•       Mark Invoice as Written Off
•       Send Notification (link to option on edit page)
•       Duplicate current invoice (redirects to newly created invoice)
•       Delete invoice

These are found at the top of the edit screen next to the Invoice subject field and descriptions are shown on hover. For the free version of this plugin, the quick links are located in a drop-down menu next to the Invoice subject field.

Line Items

Each line item has a description, rate, quantity and discount field. The rate field accepts negative values and could be used for non-percentage based pricing adjustments, and the discount field accepts negative values and could be used as a method to add tax.  

Sub line-items can be created by dragging the shuffle icon under another line-item. The parent item will not have options for rate, quantity, and percentage since those will be calculated totals from all sub-items. This feature allows you to better distinguish line-item costs via sub-items without it being too complex for a client to understand.

Add new line items with the Add button. The add button will have a drop-down option if you have any pre-defined line items.

The Deposit field sets the payment due date. It’s a method that sets the deposit for an invoice, or simply adjusts the total amount that the client needs to pay. Once a deposit payment is paid, the value is removed and the payment total due is now the remaining balance. Check the marketplace for add-ons that improve this functionality by adding payment terms. 

Detail Information

The information box allows you to edit:

•       The invoice status
•       The date the invoice was issued
•       The invoice due date
•       The selection or addition of a client
•       The selection of an associated Estimate
•       The invoice ID
•       A PO Number
•       A total discount (for all line items)
•       Tax rate (for all line items)

Creating a client

If a client doesn’t exist already, create one by clicking Edit next to “Estimate for None (N/A).” The plus sign to the right will bring up a dialog box for client creation. 

After the required fields are complete and you click save, the client will be automatically created and associated with the estimate. This means that there’s no need to go to another admin page and create the client before adding/editing another estimate. 

Terms and Notes

If these fields are left blank than the default terms and notes will be used.

Invoice History

The invoice history shows all the events concerning the current invoice, including status updates, notifications, client views, and more. Additionally, there is a text area at the bottom of the history section for private notes. You can add a project, status, or any other information that you don’t want the client to see.  

Sending out the Invoice

Sending an invoice from the edit screen can be done in two different ways: Quick Send or by selecting a Recipient and updating the invoice. The quick send will send the notification in the background, but requires any edits to the invoice to be saved first (unless the information isn’t critical to the estimate notification being sent). 

The Note field is used for the [sender_note] shortcode. If you don’t need to add a note, leave this blank and the shortcode will return nothing. There are many ways to use the [sender_note] shortcode. A popular method is to let your client know about any changes you made to the invoice; another method is to add a personal note for the client to increase engagement.

Sending a copy to yourself first is a great way to test out what your client will see on the invoice before you send it out.