Creating Invoices¶

Create, send, and track invoices for your customers.

Creating a new invoice¶

Navigate to Invoices in the sidebar.
Click New Invoice.
Select a Customer, or create one inline.
Check the Issue Date and Due Date.
Add your line items.
Optionally add a Reference for your own records.
Save as a draft, or send straight away.

Invoice number¶

If you leave the invoice number blank, FairBooks fills it in for you using your number prefix (the default is INV-) followed by the next number in sequence. You can also type your own number, and FairBooks checks that it is not already used. Set your prefix in Invoice appearance.

Due date¶

The due date fills in automatically from your default payment terms, for example 14 days after the issue date. You can override it on any invoice. Set the default in Settings → Invoices.

Line items¶

Each line item has:

Field	Description
Description	What you are billing for.
Quantity	How many units.
Unit	The unit of measure: ea, hrs, days, km, kg, m, m², or pcs.
Unit price	The price for one unit. Can be $0 for a free item.
inc. GST?	Tick this if the unit price already includes GST. Leave it unticked to have GST added on top.
Account	Optional. The income account this line is recorded against, from your chart of accounts.

A line can also be marked GST-free when GST does not apply to it.

Note

If your organisation is not registered for GST, the GST columns are hidden and GST is not calculated.

Tip

Save items you bill regularly in Products so you can add them from a searchable picker instead of typing the details each time.

GST¶

If you are registered for GST, FairBooks calculates GST at 10% on the applicable lines and shows the subtotal, GST amount, and total. Invoices are labelled Tax Invoice as the ATO requires.

FairBooks also checks a couple of ATO requirements when you save and warns you if something is missing:

Your ABN is required on tax invoices when you are registered for GST. Add it in Settings.
Your customer's ABN is prompted for invoices of $1,000 or more.

Online payment¶

You can let a customer pay an invoice online. On each invoice there is an Online Payment toggle that adds a "Pay Now" button to the emailed invoice. When you have connected Stripe, this is on by default for new invoices. See Online payments for setup.

Sending an invoice¶

Click Send to email the invoice to your customer as a PDF, with a pay-online link if you have enabled it. The reply-to address uses your Invoice Reply Email if set, otherwise your business email.

Note

The look of an invoice (your logo, colours, fonts, and layout) is locked in the first time you send it, so a customer's copy will not change later even if you update your invoice appearance. Reverting an invoice to draft clears this so it can pick up your latest style again.

Recording a payment¶

Click Mark as Paid to open a short dialog where you can record, both optional:

the payment method: Cash, Bank transfer, Cheque, Card, or Other
a reference, such as a cheque number or transfer reference

When a customer pays online, the method is set to Online automatically. Once recorded, the paid invoice shows the method, date, and reference.

Invoice statuses¶

Status	Meaning
Draft	Not yet sent to the customer.
Sent	Emailed to the customer.
Overdue	Sent and now past the due date.
Paid	Payment received. This is final and cannot be changed.

Overdue is shown automatically once a sent invoice passes its due date. It is not a status you set, and an invoice moves back out of overdue as soon as it is paid.

You can also revert a sent invoice to Draft to make further edits before re-sending.

Other actions¶

Apply Late Fee: add a late fee to a sent or overdue invoice. See Late fees.
Duplicate: create a copy with a fresh invoice number.
Preview PDF: view the invoice before sending.
Delete: move an invoice to the rubbish bin, from where it can be restored.

Bulk actions¶

Select several invoices at once to:

Delete them
Mark as paid
Send by email
Download them together as a ZIP