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Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•179• Updated 2 weeks ago

Learn how to personalize and add specific info to your sales forms.

QuickBooks Online gives you the tools to create personalized and professional-looking invoices, estimates, and sales receipts.

Customizing the appearance and layout of sales forms is a simple yet effective way to enhance your business' communications. You don’t need to be a designer to make eye-catching forms. And you get to decide what info your customers see and only add the info that matters most to your business.

Your estimates or invoices will look different depending on whether you have the old or new estimate and invoice experience. Find out which experience you have.


Customize the look and info on your forms

Customize invoices and estimates with the new layout

With the new version of invoicing and estimates, you can update and personalize your forms as you’re creating them. All the tools you need to customize invoices and estimates are on the form itself.

Keep in mind that any customizations or logo updates you make on your invoices or estimates will apply to all existing and future invoices and estimates. Any edits to your company info will update your company info everywhere in QuickBooks.



  • To customize invoices:
    1. Go to Sales, then select Invoices (Take me there).
    2. Select Create invoice to create a new invoice. Or, to edit an existing one, find the invoice from the list and select View/Edit from the dropdown ▼ under the Action column.
  • To customize estimates:
    1. Go to Sales, then select Customers (Take me there).
    2. Select a customer, then select Estimate from the New transaction dropdown ▼ to create a new estimate. Or, to edit an existing one, find an estimate from the list and select View/Edit from the dropdown ▼ under the Action column.
  • To update your company info, select Edit company on the form. Make changes as needed, and then select Save. 
  • To edit your company logo, select the logo on the form. Then select an image from your computer, and select Open to update the logo. 
  • To add or remove fields, change the colour scheme, or turn on payments on invoices, select Manage ⚙, if not selected already.
  • Select the dropdown ▼ for each section to see customization options. 
  • Choose what info displays on your form by turning the switches on or off. The form preview updates as you make changes.
  • Select Payment options or Discounts and Fees to customize payment options, or turn them off.
    Note: Payment processing is an add-on service.
  • Optionally, in case of invoices, select Automation to set up a Recurring invoice.
    Note: This option takes you to the recurring invoice form.
  • When you're finished customizing, select Save.


Let's look at how to customize with the old layout.

Create customized templates for your invoices, estimates, and sales receipts. You can also save multiple templates for each type, choose a default, or switch between them.

Important: The "Standard" default template represents all your forms. If you make any edits to this template, QuickBooks will apply them to all your forms. If you want to customize a specific form, create a new template for that form first. After you apply customizations to the new template, make it the default template to reflect changes.

This section of the article will cover:

Customization steps are slightly different for different editions of QuickBooks Online. Follow the steps for your edition.

Here’s how to customize your sales forms.

Step 1: Create a new template

  1. Go to Settings ⚙ and then select Custom form styles.
  2. Select New style.
  3. Select the type of form you’d like to create a template for.

Step 2: Customize the appearance

Let's start with the layout and the design. As you make changes, you'll see a preview of the changes in the template.

  1. Select Design.
  2. Give your template a name.
  3. Select Change up the template to choose a layout. These layouts are fixed. Note: If you plan to use Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) or create progress invoices, use the Airy new design.
  4. Select Make logo edits to adjust or hide your logo.
    • To change the logo, select add + on the image. Select one of your saved logos or add a new one. Note: You can save multiple logos but you can only use one at a time.
    • To adjust to logo size and placement, select the size and placement icons.
    • To hide the logo, select Hide logo.
  5. Select Try other colours to pick a colour scheme. You can enter a HEX code (the six-digit combination of numbers and letters for a colour) for a truly custom colour.
  6. Choose Select a different font to change the font and size.
  7. Select Edit print settings to adjust the margins. This is important if you send printed forms to your customers.

Step 3: Customize the info on your forms

There are several options for customizing the details of your forms. We won't cover them all, but here’s how to get started and a few tips for each section of the form:

  1. Select Content.
  2. Select the header, table, or footer on the sample form to start editing that section. You’ll edit each section separately. 
  3. Select the checkmarks next to the fields you want to display on your form. Then select a different section (header, table, or footer) on the sample form to customize it.
  4. Whenever you're ready to save your changes, select Done.

Learn more about some customization options for the header, table, and footer:

Select the header section to customize what displays. Here's some things to keep in mind as you customize the header:

  • Your company info automatically appears in sales form headers. Use the check boxes to add or remove what your customers see. You can also update the text fields to edit what displays.
  • Check the Form numbers checkbox to have QuickBooks add invoice or estimate numbers to your form. 
  • You can add custom fields to your form. Here’s how. Note: Custom fields are not available for EasyStart users.
    1. Select the header section.
    2. Select Manage custom fields.
    3. Depending on your QuickBooks Online plan, follow the steps to add custom fields for Plus and Essentials or Advanced.

Select the table section to customize it. Here’s some things to keep in mind as you customize the table:

  • When you select a checkbox, a preview displays on the sample form. 
  • You can choose how you want to display your description, quantities, and rates:
    • To display separate columns for item descriptions, quantities, and rates select the Description, Quantity, and Rate checkboxes.
    • Or, keep things in a single column by selecting the Product/Service checkbox and then the Include description here checkbox. 
    • Or, select the Description checkbox and then Include Quantity and Rate. 
  • To reorder the columns, drag a grid icon to a new place on the list. 
  • To change the column name or size. Then select Edit labels and widths.
    • Change the column names by editing the text fields.
    • Adjust the width by moving the sliders.

The Show more activity options section contains the following options, depending on the form style (Invoice, Estimate or sales receipt) that you select:

  • Group activity by - with the option to select Day, Week, Month, and Type.
  • Collapse activity rows - Combine rows that have the same rate and description. Omits dates.
  • Show progress on line items (email only).
  • Show markup on billable expenses.
  • Show billable time - with 2 more options when selected:
    • Include employee name
    • Include hours and rate
  • Show tax inclusive amounts - This shows the sales tax-inclusive amount on the print previews and on the invoices sent to customers.

Select the footer section to customize what displays on your footer. Here are things to keep in mind as you customize the footer:

  • Select the Discount checkbox if you offer a discount and want it to display on the form.
  • You can customize a message to your customer and add text to the footer of the form. Just fill out the message and footer fields. Then choose the font size and/or placement with the dropdown ▼ fields.

Step 4: Personalize your email message

Make things personal by changing the message customers see when they get their estimate, invoice, or sales receipt. If you want to use QuickBooks default messaging, you can skip this.

  1. Select Emails. 
  2. Choose if you want to display details or a summary by selecting Full details or Summarized details. 
  3. If you’d like to attach a PDF with a full pricing breakdown, select the PDF Attached checkbox. 
  4. Change the subject line, greeting, and message body by entering your customized text. Note: QuickBooks doesn't show shortened URLs when you send emails to customers.

Step 5: Turn on online payments for invoices

By default, invoices aren't set up for digital payments. To get paid faster, set up QuickBooks Payments so your customers can pay their invoices online. Note: Payment processing is an add-on service.

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Invoice.
  3. In the Online Payments section, select Get set up.
  4. Fill out your info and select Activate Payments.
  5. After you sign up, go back to the invoice. Select and check the payment options you want to make available like cards or a bank transfer.

Step 6: Select and use a template for invoices, sales receipts, or estimates

QuickBooks uses your default template each time you make a new invoice, sales receipt, or estimate. You can select a different template for specific transactions directly from the form:

  1. Create or open an existing invoice, sales receipt, or estimate.
  2. Select Customize in the footer. Note: In case of an existing invoice, you may have to edit the invoice to see the Customize option.
  3. Select a custom template from the list.

Step 7: Set a default custom template

QuickBooks uses the first custom template you create as your default for invoices, sales receipts, and estimates. To change the default custom template:

  1. Go to Settings ⚙ and then select Custom form styles.
  2. Find your template.
  3. Select the dropdown ▼ in the Action column.
  4. Select Make default. You'll see (default) displayed by the default template name.

Step 8: Edit custom templates

To manage your custom templates:

  1. Select Settings ⚙ and then Custom form styles.
  2. Find your custom or standard template.
  3. Select Edit in the Action column.
  4. Make any edits. Then select Done.

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