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Create invoices in QuickBooks Self-Employed

by Intuit5 Updated 5 months 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.

Step 1: Set up your invoice preferences

When you create your first invoice, enter your business info. Enter your business name, email address, website, and location so your customers can see them when you send invoices. You only need to set it up once. Here’s how.

  1. Go to Invoices and select Create invoice.
    Note: If you don’t see the Invoices menu, go to Settings and turn on the Invoices switch.
  2. Select Edit work info.
  3. Enter your business info, then select Save.

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 color 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 the 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 dropdown menu. Or select By item 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 Create invoice.
  3. Select the Set up payments to begin setup.
  4. Follow the steps, then select Activate payments.
  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 Invoices.
  2. Find the invoice.
  3. Select the small arrow ▼ icon in the Action column.
  4. Select Mark as paid. If you're on a web browser, select Send to send your customer a copy of their paid invoice, or select Email if you're on the mobile app.

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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