Hi there Sparhawk,
Congratulations on starting up a new business. You're really doing your research by reaching out here for support, and I commend you for that. It's so important that you're familiar with the best way to account for your income and expenses, and the process is straightforward when using QuickBooks Self-Employed. I'll help.
When it comes to how you'll specifically charge your customers, you'll want to consult with an accountant. They'll be able to advise you on best practice for your industry, as well as the proper accounting methods to follow. I'm trained to support you with the technical side of QuickBooks, so I'll help you out with creating Invoices so that once you've connected with your accountant you'll be ready to start entering transactions.
If you're using QuickBooks Self-Employed in your internet browser, to create an invoice you'll want to navigate to the Invoices page, then choose to Create invoice. Select your customer, decide on a Due Date, add your Products or Services, choose between Flat rate, By hour, or By item, then enter the amount and hit Add to invoice. When you've added all of the line items, choose to Send invoice so your customer receives it. You can hit Preview to see what they'll see. If you've set up sales tax you'll want to choose whether or not you add tax to each line item as per your accountant's recommendations. Learn more on this here: Create invoices in QuickBooks Self-Employed.
If you don't already have an accountant, you can check out the QuickBooks-certified accountants in your area by navigating to our website: Find an Accountant.
Take care and let me know if you have further technical questions related to using QuickBooks Self-Employed.
