Invoices are the billing record for every company you work with. ClientOS raises one automatically when a client pays at checkout or a subscription renews, and you can write your own for custom work. This page covers numbering, the invoice lifecycle, writing and sending invoices, recording payments and refunds, credit notes, share links, account credit and overdue reminders.

Where things live#

Screen	Menu path	Route
Invoice list	Invoices	/invoices
New invoice	Invoices → New invoice	/invoices/add
One invoice	Invoices → click a row	/invoices/[number]
Manual crypto payments to confirm	Invoices → Payments to confirm tab	/payments/manual
Tax, fees, dunning, manual payment	Settings → Payments	/settings/payments
Client's view	Portal → Invoices	/invoices in the portal

Numbering#

• Invoices are numbered INV-1001, INV-1002 and so on, in one running sequence.
• Credit notes have their own sequence: CN-1001, CN-1002.
• Order numbers are separate (ORD- followed by six random digits) and never share a sequence with invoices.

An issued invoice keeps its number forever. Voiding it doesn't free the number, so your series always reads in order.

Invoice states#

State	Meaning	Client sees it
Draft	Saved but not issued.	No
Sent	Issued and waiting for payment.	Yes
Overdue	A sent invoice past its due date with a balance left. This is worked out from the due date, not set by hand.	Yes, marked overdue
Paid	Nothing left to pay.	Yes
Void	Cancelled. Keeps its number and stays in the ledger.	Yes, marked void

A sent invoice becomes Paid by itself when payments and credit notes cover the total, and goes back to Sent if a refund reopens the balance.

What you can do in each state#

Action	Draft	Sent, nothing recorded	Sent, part paid or credited	Paid	Void
Edit	Yes	Yes	No, issue a credit note	No, issue a credit note	No
Send	Yes	Yes (send again)	Yes (send again)	No	No
Delete	Yes	No	No	No	No
Void	No	Yes	No, refund first	No, refund instead	No
Record a payment	No, send it first	Yes	Yes	No	No
Issue a credit note	No, edit it	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refund a payment	No	No	Yes	Yes	No

The short version: only a draft can be deleted, an issued invoice can only be voided while nothing has been paid or credited against it, and a paid invoice is unwound with a refund or a credit note.

The invoice list#

The list header shows Outstanding, Overdue and Drafts. Overdue invoices appear in a highlighted panel at the top with the days late and a Chase button.

The table has tabs for Overdue, Sent, Draft, Paid and Void, search, sorting (Top value, Due soon) and columns for invoice, client, order, PO, issued, due, paid, total and status. Each row's menu offers quick actions such as void or delete draft.

An invoice is a billing document. Finance counts revenue from invoices once they're issued, so a draft never moves your profit and loss.

Create an invoice#

1. Go to Invoices and click New invoice. (You can also start from a client's record with New invoice, or from an order with Create an invoice, which pre-fills its lines.)
2. Choose the Client (the company being billed).
3. Set the Date due. Leave it empty for "on receipt".
4. Choose the Currency. Payments and credit notes follow it, and nothing converts.
5. Optionally add a PO number. The client sees it as "Your reference".
6. Add lines. For each line, pick one of your services or Custom line item, then set the Price, a per-unit Discount (taken off each unit before quantity) and Qty. Add a Description if you want a second line of detail. Click Add line item for more.
7. Add a Note to client for payment terms or anything they need to see.
8. Switch on Send it to the client now to issue it immediately, or leave it off to save a draft the client can't see.
9. Save.

If tax is switched on under Settings → Payments and your prices exclude tax, the invoice adds tax at your rate on the lines less any discount. With tax-inclusive prices, nothing is added.

Currencies#

The composer offers your workspace currency plus USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD, CHF, SEK, NOK, DKK, SGD, INR and BDT. Each invoice stays in its own currency for good.

Send an invoice#

On a draft, click Send invoice. The client receives an email with the invoice and a link to view and pay it in the portal, and it appears on their Invoices page. On a sent invoice the button reads Send again.

Emails reach the people in that company who have Access invoices switched on.

The invoice page#

The page shows the invoice, the client and order it belongs to, and a Payments and credits panel listing every payment, refund and credit note. The actions are:

Action	Where
Send invoice / Send again	Header
Create order	Header, on a paid invoice that isn't linked to an order. Makes an order with the invoice's lines and prices.
Download	Header. The PDF.
Edit	Actions menu
Share link / Shared link	Actions menu
Record payment	Actions menu
Issue credit note	Actions menu
Void	Actions menu
Delete draft	Actions menu
Refund	Beside each payment in Payments and credits

Record a payment#

Payments through Stripe, PayPal, NOWPayments, CoinGate and BTCPay Server are recorded automatically when the gateway confirms them. Use Record payment for money that arrived another way.

1. Open the invoice and choose Record payment.
2. Enter the Amount. It defaults to the balance; lower it for a partial payment.
3. Set Received on.
4. Choose How it arrived: Bank transfer, Card, taken elsewhere, Cash, Cheque or Other.
5. Optionally add a Note such as a bank reference. The client doesn't see it.
6. Save.

Partial payments#

You can record as many payments as you need. The invoice stays Sent with the remaining balance until the payments cover it, then turns Paid. Overdue reminders name the remaining balance, not the original total. If a payment is more than the balance, the extra is kept as account credit for the company.

Refund a payment#

1. On the invoice, find the payment under Payments and credits and click Refund.
2. Under Where it goes, choose:
   • Back to Stripe or PayPal: sent back through the gateway as soon as you confirm. This can't be undone.
   • Returned the way it came: for a payment you recorded by hand. Nothing is sent from ClientOS; record it once you've returned the money.
   • Account credit: nothing leaves your account. The client spends it at their next checkout, or it's used on their next invoice.
   • Sent another way: a crypto or bank transfer you made yourself, recorded with Sent on, Sent by and a Reference.
3. Set the Amount. Lower it for a partial refund.
4. Optionally Keep the gateway fee, entering the Fee kept. It's taken off the refund.
5. Add an optional Reason.
6. Leave Issue a credit note for this amount on if the client no longer owes what you refund, so the invoice stays settled. Turn it off for a duplicate payment or a mistaken charge, so the refund reopens the balance.
7. Confirm.

Crypto gateway payments (NOWPayments, CoinGate, BTCPay Server) can't be refunded through the gateway from ClientOS. Send the money yourself and record it with Sent another way, or refund to account credit.

Issue a credit note#

A credit note reduces what an issued invoice claims without editing it.

1. Open the invoice and choose Issue credit note.
2. Enter the Amount (up to what's left to credit).
3. Enter a Reason. It's printed on the credit note and on the client's invoice.
4. Optionally add a Line description.
5. Save.

The credit note gets its own CN- number and PDF. The client sees it on their copy of the invoice under Credit notes. If credit notes and payments now cover the total, the invoice turns Paid.

Void an invoice#

Choose Void from the actions menu and confirm with Void it. The invoice keeps its number and stays in the ledger marked void, the client keeps their copy, and it stops counting as money owed. You can only void a sent invoice with no payments or credit notes against it.

To remove an invoice that was never issued, use Delete draft instead. That can't be undone.

PDFs#

Click Download on any invoice for its PDF. Credit notes have their own PDF. The client downloads exactly the same file from the portal with Download PDF. PDFs carry your company name, logo and the Business address from Settings → Company, and the client's billing details.

Share an invoice link#

Send an invoice to someone without a portal login, such as the client's accounts department.

1. Open an issued invoice and choose Share link from the actions menu.
2. Create the link and copy it from Invoice link.

Anyone with the link can view the invoice, download the PDF and pay the balance online, without signing in. Creating a link doesn't send anything; you choose who gets it.

• Copying it again gives the same link. The menu item reads Shared link while one is live.
• Stop sharing kills the link at once. The old link then shows "not found", and sharing again makes a new link.
• Share links are offered only on issued invoices, never on drafts.
• Sharing and stopping are recorded in the audit log.

Disputes and chargebacks#

When a client disputes a card or PayPal payment, the gateway tells ClientOS and the dispute is recorded on the invoice automatically. The invoice page shows a banner with the amount, the reason and the date your evidence is due, and lists every dispute in the side rail. Respond to the dispute from the gateway's own dashboard.

Opening a dispute doesn't change the books. If the dispute is lost, the money is taken back off the invoice and its balance reopens. Your finance team is notified (Payment disputed).

Account credit#

Account credit is money a company holds with you. It comes from overpayments, refunds to credit, cancelled orders and manual adjustments.

Rule	Detail
Owned by the company	Every person in the company spends the same balance.
Per currency	A balance only settles invoices in the same currency. Nothing converts.
Spent first	At checkout, signed-in clients see Use account credit, on by default.
Not revenue	Spending credit settles an invoice but isn't counted as money collected.

Ways to use it:

• Client: clicks Use credit on an unpaid invoice in the portal.
• Your team: in the invoice's Account credit panel, click Apply to this invoice (needs Record a payment).
• Adjust a balance up or down, with a note the client reads (needs Adjust account credit). Available on the invoice and on the client's Company section.
• Pay out credit as money from the client's record (needs Adjust account credit and Refund a payment).

Clients who want credit back as money can Request a refund from the portal's account credit panel, which opens a support ticket. See Clients and companies.

Manual crypto payments#

If you've set up Manual payment under Settings → Payments, clients can pay an invoice by sending crypto to one of your wallets and pasting the transaction ID. These wait under Invoices → Payments to confirm with tabs To confirm, Waiting for payment, Confirmed, Rejected and All.

Check your wallet, then confirm. The invoice is paid only then. If you reject it, the buyer is emailed your reason and a link to pay again. See Checkout and payments.

Overdue reminders#

ClientOS chases late invoices for you:

• The first reminder goes out on the first check after the due date passes.
• The second reminder goes out a week later if the invoice is still unpaid.
• That's the limit: two automatic reminders per invoice.
• An invoice already more than 60 days late gets no first reminder.
• Invoices for cancelled orders and invoices imported from another system are never chased.

Reminders name the remaining balance and link to pay. To chase by hand at any time, click Chase on the overdue panel. The client gets the invoice again; nothing is charged. You can turn the Overdue reminder email off under Settings → Emails.

What the client sees#

In the portal, the client sees every non-draft invoice for companies where they have Access invoices. Each one shows the issue and due dates, their reference, the linked order, every payment and credit note, and the balance. They can pay online, use credit, download the PDF and query the invoice. See The client portal.

Settings → Payments#

These options on Settings → Payments affect invoicing:

Option	What it does
What can take money	A read-only view of your connected gateways. Connect them under Settings → Integrations.
Manual payment	Name at checkout, Instructions and up to 10 Wallets (coin, network, address) for manual crypto payments.
Currency	Shows the workspace currency. It's set on Settings → Company and can change only until the first invoice, payment or checkout.
Tax	On or off, Name on the bill (VAT, GST, Sales tax), Rate, whether Your prices Exclude tax or Include tax, and your Tax registration number.
Processing fee	On or off, a name, and a percentage and fixed fee per gateway, charged to the buyer at checkout.
Dunning	For declined subscription cards: Retry the card on chosen days, and After the last retry choose Pause it, Cancel it or Keep it past due.
Invoices paid by hand are due	Days until a subscription invoice paid by PayPal or crypto is due.
Remind clients before a renewal	Email a set number of days before each cycle.
Clients may change their plan / Clients may cancel	Portal self-service for subscriptions.

See Subscriptions for renewal invoices.

Permissions#

Permission	Allows
See invoices	The list and invoice pages, and credit balances.
Raise an invoice	Creating invoices.
Edit an invoice	Editing drafts and untouched sent invoices.
Send and chase	Sending, sending again, chasing and share links.
Void an invoice	Voiding.
Export invoices	The CSV export.
Record a payment	Recording payments, confirming manual payments, applying credit.
Refund a payment	Refunds, and with credit permission, paying out credit.
Adjust account credit	Adding and removing credit.

Export#

Click the export button on the invoice list for a CSV with invoice, client, order, PO, status, issued, due, paid, voided, subtotal, discount, tax, total and currency.

Tips#

• Use Create order on a paid custom invoice to turn it into tracked work with a brief.
• Use credit notes rather than edits once money has moved. The document and the money always agree.
• Leave Issue a credit note for this amount on for normal refunds, and off only for duplicates.
• Share links are ideal for clients whose accounts team never logs in.