Create invoices and record payments

1Read the invoice list

Open Invoices. Each row identifies its invoice, job, account, status, total, due date, paid amount and balance. Use search, column sorting, Views or Customize to find the intended work; Export downloads the offered list output.

The money bar groups draft invoices, overdue invoices, open invoices that are not yet due and invoices paid in the last 30 days. These cards show invoice totals, so a partially paid invoice's card amount is not the same as its remaining Balance column.

2Choose the quote to bill

Choose New Invoice and search for the quote by its number, account or project. Select it and check the project and Quote total. Change returns to the picker if you selected the wrong quote.

Quote-based invoices belong to a job. An attached quote bills its attached job; when no job exists, creation can create one and apply the shop's default activity template. A change order must be accepted before it can be invoiced.

3Set the deposit, partial or full amount

The initial amount follows a configured deposit on the quote, its payment terms or the shop default. If no deposit is configured, it uses the full quote total. Use the Deposit button, 25%, 50%, 75%, Full, a custom percentage or the Amount field to choose what this invoice bills.

Percentages apply to the quote total, including its tax. For example, 30% of a 6,300 quote creates a 1,890 invoice. A partial invoice uses a proportionate share of the quote's tax; it must not copy the full project's money into the deposit.

4Choose the due date and recipient

Enter the Due date explicitly when your agreement requires one. Leaving it blank uses the creation flow's default of 30 days; it does not calculate a different date from the account's payment-term label.

Bill To offers Account, Site contact, Parent account when available, or Someone else. Custom recipients have name, email, phone and address fields. This snapshots the invoice recipient; it does not change which account owns the job or the QuickBooks customer association. Review the email and address before Create & sync.

5Verify the created invoice

Check Invoice Details, especially Job, Account, Billed To and Due Date. Review Subtotal, Tax, Total, Amount Paid and Balance Due.

A deposit or progress callout distinguishes this invoice from the whole project. Paying a deposit invoice in full can leave money to bill on the job. Check the remaining project amount before raising the next invoice.

6Customize a quote-derived invoice

From quote or Single line indicates calculated lines. Choose Customize line items to create invoice-owned editable rows. A partial invoice starts with its partial summary, while a full invoice can carry the source quote's itemized work.

To give a deposit a specific description, customize its line and edit Description. The saved description belongs to the invoice; it does not rename the quote or edit the price list.

7Edit quantities, prices and totals

Edit Description, Qty, Unit, Unit Price or Total and leave the field to save. Wait for the save to finish before the next change. Changing quantity or unit price recalculates the line total; directly editing Total creates a manual amount.

Changing only description, unit or visibility preserves the invoice's existing money. Check tax and the final total after a price or taxability change. A failed save shows an error and returns the field to its confirmed value.

8Control taxability and customer visibility

Taxable controls whether the line contributes to the invoice's taxable base. The Show eye controls whether its description is visible on the customer invoice. A hidden line still counts toward the invoice total.

Internal editing and customer presentation serve different purposes. When area bundling is enabled, the customer document groups work by area and tax treatment; hiding a description does not remove its charge.

9Add, remove and undo lines

Choose Add line, then enter its description, quantity and rate or total. The trash icon removes that line. Undo reverses the latest successful line edit, addition or deletion, including restored taxability, visibility and area grouping.

The Undo history is held in this page session and is limited to the latest 20 line changes. It is cleared when you leave or reload the invoice. Undo remains available after removing the last editable row; it is not an invoice-deletion undo or a refund control.

10Refresh deliberately from the quote

Refresh from Quote opens a replacement preview. Compare the current invoice and source work before confirming Replace lines & refresh. This replaces invoice-owned lines and can update QuickBooks; it can discard custom descriptions and prices.

A saved deposit percentage is reapplied when refreshing the deposit. Recheck both its amount and tax afterward. Use Cancel when you only intended to inspect the differences.

11Choose invoice PDF display settings

Invoice Settings on the list sets shop defaults. PDF Display on one invoice can inherit those defaults or override them for that invoice. Return to the default option to clear the override.

The five controls cover miter material, backsplash or waterfall material, quantity counts, per-line pricing, and material square-foot or slab-count prefixes. The grand total still appears when line pricing is hidden. These are display choices; they do not change billed quantities or money.

12Preview and download the customer document

Open Download PDF. Choose the default tenant branding or an active invoice template. The eye opens a document preview in another tab; the download icon saves a PDF file.

Open the downloaded PDF and check all pages, recipient details, visible descriptions, grouped areas, tax, total and balance. Use Settings → Templates to maintain invoice templates. A template's field layout can differ from the default customer document.

13Review invoice email before sending

Send to Customer sends with the default template. Open its adjacent menu and choose the customization option to inspect the recipient, template, subject and message before sending. Review CC and BCC where used and confirm any payment link belongs to this invoice.

System emails use the SlabOS mailing engine by default. To send them through your own Gmail or Outlook account, connect that mailbox and enable Send system emails as me in its connection settings. Connecting a mailbox alone does not change system-email delivery.

The Emails card below the invoice shows linked mailbox conversations. Its Compose action belongs to the personal mailbox workflow; it is separate from the system invoice-sending controls.

14Create a miscellaneous invoice

Choose Misc Invoice for work without a quote, such as a repair or an extra sink. Select the Account, optionally attach it to an existing job, enter Description and Due date, then review Bill To. This flow offers account, parent or custom billing rather than a site-contact choice.

Leaving Attach to as a new Counter Sale creates a minimal job for this invoice. It does not schedule a fabrication activity template. The description seeds the first editable invoice line. Enter its quantity and price before using the finished invoice; the blank invoice starts at zero. A new counter-sale invoice keeps the shop tax rate configured when it is created. When attached to a job with a quote, it keeps that quote's effective tax rate. Taxable controls which lines use the saved rate; later changes to the shop default do not rewrite the invoice.

15Record money already collected

Open Take Payment and choose Record. Enter Amount, select Cash, Check, Credit Card, Bank Transfer or Other, and optionally enter Reference / Check #. Choose Record Payment only for money already received.

The Record form does not include a date field. Choosing Credit Card as its method records an earlier transaction; it does not charge that card. Check Payment History, Amount Paid and Balance Due after saving, and avoid recording an imported payment a second time.

16Use Mark as Paid only for a received balance

Mark as Paid records the remaining invoice balance using method Other and reference Marked as paid. It does not collect money from a customer. Use the full Record form when you need the actual method or reference.

A paid invoice has zero invoice balance, but a paid deposit may still leave a project balance. Review the deposit or progress callout and the job's other invoices.

17Review and email a receipt

Email Receipt sends a receipt for payments recorded so far, including a partial payment. Its adjacent customization menu lets you review the recipient, subject and receipt message first.

A receipt reports recorded payments; it does not create another payment or establish that a bank payment has settled. Automatic payment-received emails are a separate shop setting.

18Understand card and bank processing

Charge Card and Bank (ACH) are real processing actions through QuickBooks Payments. If the connection is unavailable, the form explains the setup requirement. Do not use Record as a substitute for processing money that has not been received.

When available, Charge Card shows the amount, saved cards or new card fields, expiry, CVC, ZIP/postal code, name and the option to save the card to the account. Verify the displayed QuickBooks customer before using a saved card, especially when a mismatch warning appears. Removing a saved card removes that stored method; it does not refund an earlier charge.

Bank (ACH) asks for the amount, account holder, routing number, account number and personal or business checking type. Submission and settlement are different stages. Reconcile the provider result before treating the transfer as finally settled, and check existing history before retrying an uncertain charge.

19Check QuickBooks status and recovery

Read the invoice's QuickBooks status and any error before using Push or Re-push. The list's Import from QB brings external invoices in; Sync to QB pushes eligible SlabOS invoices out. These actions are available with the appropriate connection and access.

The owner-only Don't sync (cash) option excludes this invoice from future QuickBooks pushes. It does not remove an invoice already created in QuickBooks. Refresh from Quote changes the source lines used for future synchronization, so check the replacement preview and final money.

20Correct a mistaken record carefully

Remove a Payment History row only when the SlabOS payment record itself is wrong. Removing it changes this invoice's recorded balance. It does not reverse a charge, refund money or delete a QuickBooks payment.

Delete on the invoice is blocked while payments remain recorded. Confirm the invoice number before deleting an unwanted invoice without payments. Invoice deletion is separate from line Undo and from removing a corresponding external accounting record.