Create invoices in QuickBooks Online

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. If you have QuickBooks Payments, your customers can pay you online. If you use a different payment processing platform, you can record their payment manually.

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Create 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. To watch more how-to videos, visit our video section.
2. Select + New, then Invoice.
3. Select a customer from the Add customer ▼ dropdown. 
4. Make sure all of their info is correct, especially their email address.
5. 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. 
6. For each line item on the invoice, select a product or service from the ▼ dropdown. To add additional line items, select Add product or service.
7. Select how you want to calculate the charge amount - flat rate, by hour, or by item. Enter a quantity and rate, if needed.
8. To customize 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.
9. Select Save and close. If you want to send it, select Send and save, then follow the prompts on screen.

Review invoice status

Any time you wish to review your invoices, go to Sales and select Invoices (Take me there). The Status column shows where your invoices are in the sales process, such as:

• Due in [days]: You haven’t emailed the invoice yet.
• Due in [days] Sent: You’ve emailed the invoice to the customer.
• Due in [days] Viewed: Your customer opened the invoice. 
• Deposited: Your customer paid the invoice.
• Overdue [days]: The invoice is past due and unpaid.
• Overdue [days] Viewed: Your customer opened but didn’t pay the past-due invoice.
• Delivery issue: Invoice was undelivered. Check the email address and resend. 
• Voided: The invoice was voided in QuickBooks.

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

Post requisites

Once you create an invoice, send it to the customer in QuickBooks Online to inform them.

When your customer pays an invoice, record the payment in QuickBooks Online. There are two ways for customers to pay your invoices.

• With QuickBooks Payments, customers can pay their invoices directly by credit card, PayPal, Venmo, or ACH transfer. We automatically process and handle everything for you. When you get paid, QuickBooks puts transactions into the correct accounts.
• If you use an external platform to process payments, you can record these payments manually in QuickBooks Online.

Related links

• Learn common accounting terms
• Send an invoice to a customer in QuickBooks Online
• Send invoice reminders automatically or manually in QuickBooks Online
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online
• Connect QuickBooks Payments to QuickBooks Online