An Avaza invoice can include the billable time and expenses you've already recorded. You don't need to type the timesheets or expenses again. Customers can view the invoice online. They can pay it by card or another online method.
This guide shows which settings to check first. It then explains how to create and send an invoice, and how to see what has been paid.
Set up invoicing
Most settings are already filled in from your sign-up. Check these pages under Settings before you send your first invoice. Only Administrators and Finance Managers can change these settings or create invoices.
- General: your company name and your default currency. Your company name appears on every invoice. Each invoice uses its customer's currency. See multiple currencies.
- Invoice & Bill Settings:
- your billing address and tax number
- the default trading term, which sets the due date of each invoice
- number prefixes, and whether amounts are shown tax inclusive or tax exclusive
- Default Inventory Item for Timesheets and Default Inventory Item for Expenses: the items (and their default taxes) that invoices use for time and for expenses
- Enable Project Invoice Link (see below)
- your invoice templates, where you add your logo, colours and default notes
- e-invoicing, if you use it
- Tax: the taxes you charge. See setting up tax.
- Online Payments: connect Stripe, PayPal or Payoneer so that customers can pay online. Then switch on each payment method in your invoice templates. See online payments.
- Inventory Items: the products and services you bill for. You can't delete or hide an item that is used as a default. See inventory items.
- Email Templates: the wording of invoice and reminder emails. See email templates.
Switch on Enable Project Invoice Link before you create your first invoice. With this setting, you can link the lines you type yourself to a project. Lines from timesheets, expenses and fixed amounts are linked automatically. Project reports, such as the Project Summary report, only count invoice lines that are linked to the project. If you switch the setting on later, it doesn't link the lines on invoices you've already created.
You can have several invoice templates. Each template has its own Online Payments tab. A template can also rename the invoice statuses that your customer sees. See invoice and estimate templates.
Create an invoice
Go to Invoices and click Create Invoice. A panel opens at the top of the page.
Choose the Customer, or click Add new customer. For a shorter list, tick the option to show only customers with uninvoiced timesheets, expenses or task fixed amounts. Then click Create.
Use the buttons at the top of the invoice to add what you're billing for:
- Add Time: billable timesheets, grouped the way you choose.
- Add Expense: billable expenses, with any markup.
- Add Fixed Amount: fixed amounts set on tasks.
- Or type your own lines.
To bill time, click Add Time and choose what to bill.
Tick the projects. You can also filter by timesheet users, by timesheet categories, or by sections and tasks. Choose All uninvoiced billable hours or a date range. Choose how to group the entries, for example by project and task. Then tick the details that each line shows, such as the date, people and notes. Click Add Time.
To bill expenses, click Add Expense and choose what to bill.
You can filter by project, expense user or date. You can also group the expenses by Project & Category. Tick the expenses to include. An expense may be in a third currency, which is neither your customer's currency nor yours. For such an expense, you can set the rate under Override Exchange Rate.
To bill fixed amounts, click Add Fixed Amount and tick the projects.
Completed Tasks Only is ticked by default. Fixed amounts on unfinished tasks then stay off the invoice. To bill them too, untick the option.
Check the dates, subject and notes, then save the invoice. Most fields are filled in from your settings. Filling out an invoice explains each field.
Add Time and Add Expense only list billable entries that are approved (or auto-approved) and not yet invoiced. If something is missing, see why time and expenses can't be added.
After you save the invoice as a draft, you can attach files to it, such as timesheet details or a report.
Send it and get paid
Open the invoice to send it and to follow up on payment.
- Send via Email: email the invoice to your customer. The email has a link to view the invoice online. See emailing invoices.
- Send e-Invoice: send the invoice over the e-invoicing network, if you and your customer use it. See e-invoicing.
- PDF and Web View: download the invoice, or see the online version that your customer gets. If online payments are set up, the web view has a Pay Now button.
- Record Payment: record a payment that you received some other way, such as a bank transfer.
- Actions: more things you can do with the invoice:
- mark it as sent, or revert it to draft
- apply a credit note or an existing payment
- send a reminder
- copy, void or delete it
No Pay Now button? Open the template that the invoice uses (Settings › Invoice & Bill Settings). Switch on the payment method in the template's Online Payments tab. Connecting Stripe or Payoneer doesn't switch it on for you. The payment method must also accept the invoice's currency.
The invoice shows the date of its next reminder and how many reminders have been sent. The invoice's activity history records each edit and each email. It also records when the customer viewed the invoice. To leave a note for your team, click Add Internal Note next to Activity History. Administrators and Finance Managers can add these notes. The notes show in the activity history, and your customer never sees them.
Keep track of your invoices
The Invoices page lists every invoice with its status and dates. It also shows how much has been paid on each invoice and how much is still owed. You can filter the list by status or customer. To sort the list, click a column heading.
Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Draft | Not sent yet. You can still change anything. |
Sent | Sent to the customer and not yet due. |
Late | Past its due date and not fully paid. |
Partially Paid | Some of the amount has been paid. |
Paid | Paid in full. |
Void | Cancelled. The invoice stays on record, but it no longer counts as owed. |
In the status filter, choose Open to see four statuses together: Draft, Sent, Late and Partially Paid.
Go further
- Recurring invoices: bill the same amount on a schedule.
- Retainer subscriptions: bill a retainer on a schedule, and apply it to your invoices for the work.
- Auto Charge: charge a customer's saved card automatically.
- Create a project from an invoice: if you invoice before the work starts, Actions › Convert to Project turns each invoice line into a task. You need permission to create projects.
- Adding uninvoiced time: all the options for grouping and describing time on an invoice.