The invoice for a job
By the end of this article you’ll have raised the invoice for a finished job from your phone, adjusted what’s on it, and know which number the customer is actually charged.
Payment is always collected against an invoice, so a job needs one before any money moves. If nobody at the office cuts invoices, this screen is where it gets done.
Open the invoice screen
- From the job. Tap Collect Payment. If the job has no invoice yet, the screen says Invoice needed first — tap Create invoice to open the invoice screen.
- From the customer. On the customer’s page, tap an invoice row under Activity.
- From the list of unpaid invoices. On Work, tap the … unpaid or unanswered row, then the invoice.
The screen is titled Invoice until one exists, then Invoice followed by its number.
Create it
- With No invoice yet on screen, tap Create invoice. The lines come from the work on the job — the services and add-ons it was booked with.
- If the job has nothing on it yet, you’ll see This job has nothing to bill yet. Add the work to the job first. Add the services to the job, then come back.
- Invoice updated. confirms it. The lines, the Totals and the Collect payment button appear.
You can only invoice a job assigned to you. On somebody else’s job the screen says so and points you to the office.
Adjust what’s being billed
Under What’s being billed:
- Tap Add line to open the catalog. Type in Search services to narrow it; add-ons carry an Add-on tag. Tap a service to add it at the price for the customer’s vehicle.
- Change the Quantity on a line, or tap Remove line to take it off. A line that isn’t taxed shows no tax.
- Tap Save lines. It stays greyed out until something has changed and at least one line is left — an invoice can’t be empty.
You can’t change a price on the phone. The way to lower a bill is a discount, below, because a discount is recorded under your name and a changed price wouldn’t be.
Apply a discount
- Tap Apply discount and choose Percent or Amount.
- Enter the figure — up to 100 for a percentage — and tap Apply.
- The app asks you to confirm: This lowers what the customer is charged, and it’s recorded under your name. Tap Apply again.
The Totals card then shows a Discount row and a note reading Discount applied by with your name. To take it off, open Apply discount again and tap Remove discount.
Read the totals
- Total, Subtotal, Discount and Tax are the office’s figures once the invoice is saved and nothing on your screen is unsaved.
- While you’re editing, or with no signal, the card shows Estimated total instead, with the note Estimated on this phone. The office’s total is what gets charged. Tax in particular depends on the customer’s address in a way the phone can only approximate.
- If your estimate and the saved invoice ever disagree, the screen says so and gives both figures. The invoice wins.
Working without signal
Everything on this screen except collecting works offline. The banner reads You’re offline. You can build the invoice now — it’ll be sent when you reconnect. Creating, saving lines and applying a discount each show Saved on your phone. It’ll be sent when you reconnect., and the invoice carries a Not sent yet badge until it does. The Collect payment button is simply absent offline — see No signal? Send a payment link instead.
Good to know
- The invoice you create here is a draft. The office sends it to the customer, and that email is what carries the Pay now button. Once it’s sent, the lines are read-only on the phone: This invoice has already been sent, so its lines can’t be changed here.
- You can collect against a draft. The money is held for the invoice and the customer’s paid-invoice email goes out when the office sends it.
- Creating, editing lines, discounting and collecting are each their own permission. A control you don’t have simply isn’t shown.