Can I stop an invoice to be viewed by my customer until it is fully paid?

The only way I know of, is to just not send it in the first place. But then, how will they know what they owe, if you don't send it? 

Why would you not want them looking at it?  That doesn't make sense. 

Hi there, userluminantremodeli.

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing different details on how you can stop an invoice to be viewed by your customer. Then, perform an alternative way to ensure you can achieve your goal.

QuickBooks Online has the feature to automatically send reminders to customers when the invoices are, or soon to be, overdue. If you're referring to this option, you can turn off the said invoice email reminders so you can stop the entry to be viewed by your customer.

Here's how:

1. Go to Gear icon ⚙ and select Account and settings.
2. Choose the Sales tab. Then, click  Edit ✎ in the Reminders section.
3. Turn off Automatic invoice reminders.
4. Click Save and Done.

You may open this article to see extra details on how automatic reminders works in QBO: Send invoice reminders automatically or manually in QuickBooks Online.

However, if the said option is already disabled and you want to prevent the invoice from being viewed by the customer after you manually send it, this is currently unavailable. This is because the purpose of sending the entry is to ensure that the receiver knows how much they will pay.

For now, you can manually send the total amount of the invoice to your customer via email, and don't send the actual invoice through QBO. Then, you can partially record the invoice payment so QuickBooks applies the payment to the invoice line items in an order. Additional payments apply to the next line items until the payment is complete or fully paid.

Lastly, you may refer to this article to see various details on how the Sales page shows you a great at-a-glance view of all the status of sales transactions like open and paid invoices: View sales transactions.

Don't hesitate to click the Reply button below if you have follow-up questions on this matter or referring to something else. Please know I'm always around to help with any QuickBooks issues you may be having. Have a good day, userluminantremodeli.

Of course, I want my customers to see how much they owe. However, I don't want them to see the invoice each single time that I make an adjustment to it... such as adding additional charges or credits, etc. I want them to see it at the completion of the project.

I've got your point, userluminantremodeli.

I understand how important it is for you to have complete control over the information your customers see on the invoice. It isn't possible to prevent your customer from viewing the invoice after it has been sent. They will be able to access and read it once you deliver the information to them.

In the meantime, you can control the invoice that appears in your customer emails. You'll have the option to customize your invoice template to show only the amount and due date. I'll show you how.

1. Click the Gear icon, then select Custom form styles.
2. Locate the invoice template that you use, then choose Edit.
3. Select the Email tab, then checkmark the Summarized details in the How your invoice appears in email.
4. You can also leave the PDF Attached unchecked to prevent your customer from seeing the full details of your invoice.
5. Review the email message template and make necessary changes based on your preference.
6. Once done, hit Done.

For your reference, feel free to visit this article for more details: Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

The idea of preventing your customer from accessing the invoice is great for future product enhancement. I encourage you to send your product suggestion inside QuickBooks by going to the Gear icon and selecting Feedback.

In addition, I've added this link to guide you in recording payments for future use: Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online.

If you need further assistance with managing invoices in QuickBooks, let us know. We're always here to help you.

I have the same issue. Sometimes I make adjustments or changes to an invoice like adding or eliminating items or even just changing my category for internal purposes to better keep track of certain services, however, that does not mean I want my client to see each change, correction, or adjustment I make to an invoice. Those are internal accounting changes that the client does not need to know about. Sometimes I even start an invoice and keep adding items and services throughout the month and bill monthly at the beginning of the next month, why would I want my customer to see the invoice 10 or 15 times or more when they are not the final one? I want them to see the final one, not everything in between. I do not send the invoices directly from QBO, I print or download them to a PDF, save them on my computer and/or OneDrive and then send them using Outlook. I only use QBO for sending reminders when they are past due and even that, I do manually, I do not have the automatic reminders option ON. The fact that if my customer uses QBO, they will see every time I make a change to their invoice, whether I am ready to send it or not, is an issue for me. Even after sending the invoice, some of the changes I make have nothing to do with the amount or services provided but more as notes and clarifications for future reference that are not the customer's concern. None of the answers presented here give a solution to my issue, they don't even tell me if there is a way to prevent this from happening. Some of the answers mentioned that once sent, the customer will see all changes made to it after, but again, I do not send them through QBO and this still happens to me. If you were able to figure out how to prevent this, can you please share?

Same thing happens to us.  My co-worker is wondering, "what if we take off the email after we send the first one?

Thanks for reaching out to the Community, robs62.

I would love to help you, but I need some information about your concern. Could you please provide more details regarding the email that you want to take off after sending the first one?

Any additional info or a screenshot of the interface will be greatly appreciated. We are looking forward to your reply. Have a good one!

Wondering if you ever found an answer or work-around to this issue? I have the same issue.

Thanks!

I greatly value your feedback and understand that having these options is crucial for us to improve our products and services. I appreciate your understanding that the unavailability of features can sometimes be a part of any product, and we strive to address them to the best of our ability.

As we value your ideas, I recommend sending your feedback to our Product Development Team. Here's how to send feedback: 

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner.
2. Select Feedback under Profile.
3. Share your feedback.
4.  Click Next to submit.

Our product engineers will consider your suggestions, and you can always check the status of your request through this link: QuickBooks Online Customer Feedback. 

You can utilize these articles to guide you in the future:

• Create invoices in QuickBooks Online.
• Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online.
• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to post here again if you have further QuickBooks-related concerns. We are available 24/7 to lend a hand with each of your queries. Stay safe!

Not really. The only thing I found that worked was not having the client's email on their QBO "Customer Profile".