Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop

Learn how to create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

Invoices help you keep track of your accounts receivable. You can create an invoice in different ways based on your transaction with a customer. Here's how.

Create an invoice from scratch

If your business does not require creating sales orders or estimates, your A/R workflow starts with creating the invoice.

1. From the Home screen or the Customers menu, select Create Invoices.
2. From the Customer: Job dropdown, select a customer or customer job. If the customer or job is not on the list yet, you can select Add New.
3. Fill in the relevant information at the top of the form like the Date Invoice #, Bill to/Sold to, and Terms.
4. In the detail area, select the item/s. Note: When you select or add an item, the description and amount are automatically populated based on the description and unit cost entered when it was set up. You can delete or modify this when creating invoices.
5. (Optional) If you want to apply for a discount, you need to create a discount item.
   1. From the Home screen go to the Lists menu.
   2. Select Item List.
   3. Right-click anywhere, then select New.
   4. Select the Type dropdown, then select Discount.
   5. Enter an Item Name/Number and a brief Description.
   6. In the Amount or % field, enter the discount amount or percentage. If your discount amounts vary, you may want to leave the Amount or % field blank and enter the amount directly on your sales forms.
   7. From the Account dropdown, choose the income account you want to use to track discounts you give to customers.
   8. Select an appropriate Tax Code for the item.
   9. Select OK.
6. Select Save & Close.

Create an invoice for a sales order

If you have created a sales order and you've fulfilled it, you need to create an invoice. There are two ways to do this:

From the Sales Orders window

1. On the Sales Orders main tab, select the Create Invoice button.
2. On the prompt that appears, choose:
   • Select Create invoice for all of the sales order(s) to add all items from the sales order to the invoice.
   • Select Create invoice for selected items if you want to put only some of the items on the invoice.
3. Make the necessary changes in the Invoice. Note: In the list of items, enter a quantity in the To Invoice (Or Invoiced) column for each item. If you don't want to invoice any of the listed items, enter 0 (zero) as the quantity.
4. Select Save & Close.

From the Invoice window

1. From the QuickBooks Home screen or the Customer menu, select Create Invoices.
2. On the Customer: Job dropdown, select a customer or customer job.
   The available Sales Order window appears.
3. Choose one or more sales orders that have items you want to include in the invoice.
4. Make the necessary changes in the Invoice. Note: In the list of items, enter a quantity in the To Invoice (Or Invoiced) column for each item. If you don't want to invoice any of the listed items, enter 0 (zero) as the quantity
5. Select Save & Close.

Create an invoice for an estimate

When a customer has accepted your estimate and agreed to pay a fixed amount (rather than for actual time and costs), you can turn the entire estimate into an invoice.

From the Estimate window

1. Open the correct estimate.
2. Select Create Invoice at the top of the Estimate form.
3. If you have progress invoicing turned on, you may get a prompt asking what items and quantities to put on the invoice. Specify what to include as prompted.
4. When the invoice appears, edit the information as needed.
5. Select Save & Close.

From the Invoice window

1. From the QuickBooks Home screen or the Customer menu, select Create Invoices.
2. On the Customer: Job dropdown, select a customer or customer job.
   The available Estimates window appears.
3. Choose the estimate you want to include in the invoice. Note that QuickBooks will only allow you to select one estimate to invoice. Note: If you have progress invoicing turned on, you may get a prompt asking what you want to have on the invoice. You can simply specify what to include as prompted.
4. When the invoice appears, edit the information as needed.
5. Select Save & Close.