QuickBooks HelpQuickBooksHelpIntuit

Create invoices in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•1• Updated 3 months ago

Learn how to create and send invoices in QuickBooks Online.

If you plan to get paid in the future for products and services you sell, send your customers an invoice. You can add the product or service you’re selling to an invoice and email it to your customer.

 We'll also show you how to handle things if you use an external payment processing platform.

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.

Step 1: Create and send an invoice

There’s more than one way to create an invoice in QuickBooks. If you send an estimate and the customer approves it, you can convert your estimate to an invoice. You can also create a new invoice from scratch.

  1. Select + New.
  2. Select Invoice.
  3. Select Add customer and select a customer from the ▼ dropdown. Make sure all of their info is correct, especially their email address.
  4. Review the Invoice date, Due date, and Terms. Enter new dates or terms, if you need to. Tip: In the Terms field, Net refers to the number of days until the payment is due. 
  5. Select Add product or service and select a product or service from the ▼ dropdown.
    Tip: While adding a new product or service, you can select how you want to calculate the charge amount—flat rate, by item, or by hour.
  6. Select how you want to calculate the charge amount—by unit or by hour. Enter a quantity and rate, if needed.
  7. To customise the info or design of your invoices, select ⚙ Manage. Then select the options from the side panel. QuickBooks remembers your choices and applies them to all existing and future invoices. 
  8. When you’re done, there are several options for saving or sharing the invoice:
    • If you're ready to send the invoice, select Review and send to email the invoice to your customer. Adjust the email if needed, then select Send invoice. 
    • To send the invoice later, select Save and close.
    • To print a paper invoice, select Print and download. 
    • If you’ve received a payment from the customer, select Receive Payment.
    • To send your customer a link to their invoice through text message, select Share link.

Want to change up the look of your invoice? Learn how to customise your invoices using templates. 

If you're a project-based business, you can create progress invoices to request partial payments during a project.

Step 2: Review open invoices

QuickBooks puts unpaid invoices into your accounts receivable account. You'll see this account on your Balance Sheet and other financial reports.

Here are few common statuses that you might see:

  • Open: You haven’t emailed the invoice yet.
  • Open (Sent): You’ve emailed the invoice to the customer.
  • Open (Viewed): Your customer has opened the invoice. 
  • Paid: Your customer has paid the invoice.
  • Overdue: The invoice has not been paid yet.
  • Overdue (Viewed): Your customer has opened the overdue invoice, but not paid it.
  • Delivery issue: The invoice could not be delivered. Check the email address and resend. 
  • Voided: The invoice was voided in QuickBooks. 

You can also go to Get paid & pay and select Customers (Take me there) and open a customer's profile to see their invoices.

Need to notify customers about upcoming invoice due dates? Here's how to send them a reminder message.

Step 3: Receive payments for invoices

If you use an external platform to process payments, you can keep track of those payments in QuickBooks. Learn more about how to record invoice payments manually.

Sign in now for personalized help

See articles customized for your product and join our large community of QuickBooks users.