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Create invoices in QuickBooks Self-Employed

by Intuit Updated 1 year ago

Learn how to add products and services to an invoice and send it to your customers.

Here's how to send invoices to your customers in QuickBooks Self-Employed so they can pay for their purchases in the future. If your customer wants to make a payment right now or already paid you, enter the transaction manually.

Follow these steps if you need to collect sales tax.

If you are VAT registered, switch to QuickBooks Online.

Step 1: Set up your invoice preferences

Go to the Invoices menu and select Create invoice.

When you create your first invoice, enter your business info. Choose the default name, email, address, and logo your customers will see when they get their invoices. You only need to do this set up once.

You can customize invoices right on the form itself. If you want to use the default settings, you can skip this step.

You have one set of customizations that apply to all invoices. If you make a change, it applies to all invoices going forward.

  1. Sign in to QuickBooks Self-Employed in a web browser.
  2. Select Invoices from the menu, then select Create invoice. You won't create an actual invoice, this just opens the customization window.
  3. Select Customize.

You have several customization options. Most let you add or remove fields:

  1. Select the Invoice details ▼ section to add or remove the invoice number, date, and due date fields.
  2. Select the Design  ▼ section to change the colour scheme. Select Add logo or the (+) icon to add your business logo to invoices. You can only use one logo at a time. The file must be a JPEG or PNG.
  3. Select the Email  ▼ section to customize the message your customers see with their invoice.

Step 2: Create an invoice

On a web browser

  1. Select Invoices from the menu, then select Create invoice.
  2. Select an existing customer, or create a new one by entering their name, address, and email address.
  3. Decide when you want to be paid by and set the date in Due Date field.
  4. Select Add product & service to add items or services you sold. Enter a description of the service.
  5. Select Flat rate or By hour from the drop-down menu. Or select Bitem if you're charging for a product. Enter an amount. Then select Add to invoice.
  6. To add more items to the invoice, select Add work.
  7. When you're ready, select Send invoice to email your invoice. You can also select the arrow and Preview to see what your customer will receive.

On an iPhone or iPad (iOS)

  1. Select Invoices from the menu.
  2. Select the Plus sign.
  3. Select Add customer to select a customer.
  4. Select Add product or service. You can choose one of your frequently used items or create a new one.
  5. If you create a new product or service, give it a name. Select flat rate or hourly for services. Select quantity for a product. Then enter an amount. Select Add to add the product or service to your invoice.
  6. To add more items to the invoice, select Add another product or service.
  7. Select the Invoice contact info section if you need to edit your business info. Select Save to save your changes.
  8. Select the Invoice details section if you need to change the due date, creation date, or invoice number. Select Save to save any changes.
  9. When you're ready, select Email to send your invoice. You can also tap Preview to see what your client will receive.

On an Android phone or tablet:

  1. Select the menu ☰ icon and then select Invoices.
  2. Select the Plus sign.
  3. Select Add customer to select a customer.
  4. Select Add product or service. You can choose one of your frequently used items or create a new one.
  5. If you create a new product or service, give it a name. Select flat rate or hourly for services. Select quantity for a product. Then enter an amount. Select Add to add the product or service to your invoice.
  6. To add more items to the invoice, select Add another product or service.
  7. Select the Invoice contact info section if you need to edit your business info. Select Save to save your changes.
  8. Select the Invoice details section if you need to change the due date, creation date, or invoice number. Select Save to save any changes.
  9. When you're ready, select Send invoice to send your invoice. You can also tap Preview to see what your client will receive.

You can set up online payments so customers can pay you for their invoices electronically. By default, this feature isn't turned on. Learn more about QuickBooks Payments.

To turn on QuickBooks Payments so customers can pay their invoices online:

  1. Go to the Invoices menu and create a new invoice.
  2. Select Customize.
  3. Select the Payments ▼ section.
  4. Select the Activate payments link and follow the steps.
  5. After you activate payments, select the Credit card or Bank transfer (ACH) toggle to turn on the options. 

Step 3: Process an invoice

After you get the invoice payment, mark it as paid.

If you use QuickBooks Payments, we do this for you automatically. If you use another payment processing service, you need to manually mark the invoice in QuickBooks:

  1. Go to the Invoices menu.
  2. Find the invoice.
  3. Select the small arrow ▼ icon in the Action column.
  4. Select Mark as paid. You can also select Send receipt to send your customer proof you received their payment.

Next steps: Manage invoices

You can see all of your open and completed invoices on the Invoices menu. This is where you can print invoices, export them as PDFs, and send reminders for ones that are overdue.

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