Invoicing
Estimates and invoices numbered by the server, a page for each client with what they owe, and deposits credited where they belong.
cinethreadEvery number comes from the server.
Estimates and invoices take their numbers from one place, so two people never give out the same one.
- A number never changes once a document has been sent or shared.
- An estimate and an invoice never share a number.
- With no signal, a new document saves with no number (“Number given when saved”) and can't be sent until it has one.
- Old duplicates are shown on Check your numbers, with a suggestion. Nothing is renumbered quietly.
The client sees what you published, and what they have paid.
Send an invoice and the client gets their own page, with the PDF.
- The page shows the revision you published. A payment you record shows on it at once, without publishing again.
- When you take cards, a Pay button charges exactly the amount shown, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- A payment schedule shows each stage and which is next.
- Receipts and the client's account page read the same published copy.
Deposits credited, lateness on your own day.
Convert an estimate to its invoices and the deposit is credited on the final.
- The final carries a “Less deposit” line for each deposit it credits. A deposit already credited can't quietly change.
- An invoice is late by its payment schedule, on your own calendar day. Home's late figure is Invoicing's.
- Reminders and late fees follow the same schedule; a late fee is an adjustment you can see.
- Refunds and moves are dated records. A void cancels only what is still owed.
Terms the client accepted, and a lost day billed by them.
An estimate can carry weather and cancellation terms. They print below its line items, the client accepts them, and a day that is cancelled or postponed is billed from them.
- The words come from Settings: eight clauses, and each reaches a client only once you mark it Approved for clients.
- Terms you turn on in Invoicing ask the client to accept. Approve stays off until they tick the box, and their name and email are recorded with the acceptance. Terms accepted with a proposal are printed and not asked again.
- An invoice made from the estimate cites them under its footer, with who accepted them and when.
- Bill weather day and Bill cancellation work out the fee from the accepted terms and put the lines on a draft invoice. Nothing is sent.
Your first invoice
- Add the client once, with their billing contact.
- Start from an estimate: made from the production's plan, or converted from an approved proposal.
- Convert it to invoices on a payment schedule; deposits are credited on the final.
- Send it. The client gets their page and the PDF; record payments as they arrive.
Worth knowing
From the plan
An estimate made from Costs says when the plan has moved since.
Pay online
Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, for the amount shown.
Your calendar day
Late means late on your day, in your time zone.
Your history
Clients and invoices can come across from FreshBooks.
Common questions
Can two people make invoices at the same time?
Yes. Numbers come from the server, so they never clash.
What does the client see after I record a payment?
Their page shows it straight away: what is paid and what is still due.
Can I change an invoice after it was sent?
Its number never changes. What the client sees is the revision you published; publish again to show changes.
How is a deposit handled?
The final invoice carries a Less deposit line for it, so the client pays the balance.
Does billing a weather day send anything to the client?
No. The lines go on a new draft invoice, or on an open draft from the same estimate. A sent invoice is never changed, and you send the draft when you are ready.
What if I add the terms after the client approved?
Their approval stands. When you update their copy, they are asked to accept the terms on their own, as a separate step.
Related guides
The money in,
on one record.
Request access for your team, or log in if your team already runs on Cinethread.